For the third consecutive game, the Red Sox jumped out to at least a three run lead and then immediately began coughing it up. But this time, there were two key differences that allowed them to hang on and escape with a win.
First, Garrett Crochet started the game throwing up six scoreless frames, so when he ran into trouble in the seventh, he was much closer to the high leverage relievers who could milk the lead to the finish line.
After the game, Crochet even talked about how part of his goal as
a starter is always to go deeper than the other starter, and tonight he not only did that, but it was kind of the key to the whole night as the bridge to Whitlock and Chapman was (just barely) short enough to complete without totally collapsing.
I say this because the second difference key difference for the Sox tonight is they got some good bullpen work from an unexpected place. That occurred when Zack Kelly came into a 3-1 game with the bases loaded and just one out and managed to get both guys he faced out despite falling behind each of them 2-0.
Here’s his final pitch to escape the mess with a groundout:
Now as some of you may be aware, I’m not the biggest Zack Kelly fan. He has excellent pure stuff, but the inconsistency from outing to outing and the tendency to melt down mentally when he faces adversity always leaves me on edge. So as far as tonight is concerned, the good news is Zack Kelly got out of it. The bad news is that means we’re probably going to get a lot more of Zack Kelly in high leverage spots, and it’s only a matter of time before the baseball gods come to collect on that debt.
Offensively, the Red Sox managed just three hits all game, but they also got three runs in a single inning when Jacob Misiorowski came unglued in the sixth and walked the bases loaded. It was the classic dominant outing by a starter who ran out of gas look, and because it happened one inning before Crochet cracked, it allowed Trevor Story to get a bases loaded at bat against a middle reliever in DL Hall. The result was an extremely well timed only extra base hit of the night for the Sox and only hit against a left handed pitcher for Story so far this season.
Studs
We’re gonna hand out five of this tonight.
Garrett Crochet: Obvious first choice! 6.1 innings of work, allowed just two runs, and even though he stumbled in the seventh, he kept the Brewers off the board long enough to outlast Misiorowski.
Garrett Whitlock: Strong bounce back outing after coughing up the winning run last night. He also had to go right through the strong part of the order in his scoreless inning of work.
Zack Kelly: Credit where credit is due. The Sox probably don’t win this game if he gives up a missile into the gap somewhere.
Trevor Story: He had by far the biggest hit of the night, and his defense also got better as the game wore on.
Caleb Durbin: It’s very, very rare to give a stud out to a guy who went 0-1 as a pinch hitter, but do you know why he’s here? Situational baseball! Durbin came to the plate with runners on second and third and one out after Trevor Story’s two run double, and you know what he did? He put the ball in play and produced the winning run.
This is not a sexy play, but tonight, that run proved to be the difference maker, and it was so much better than watching a guy with less than elite power strike out swinging for the fences.
Three Duds
Marcelo Mayer: 0-2 with an error before being pinch hit for by Durbin.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa: 0-3 and didn’t run out of the box on a ground out. The boo birds will come after him hard if things don’t improve.
Hitting David Hamilton: This is a situation and not a man, but it’s worth noting because this was almost the key play of the game in what would have been a brutally ugly loss. David Hamilton stinks at hitting! The only way he can hurt you is with his legs, so when he came up with the bases loaded and one out in a 3-0 game, all Garrett Crochet had to do is be around the zone and Hamilton is probably carved up. Instead, Crochet plunked him on the first pitch and nearly let Milwaukee back in this one.
Play of the game:
Overall though, the headline of the night is how good Crochet was for the first six frames. He did exactly what an ace needs to do for most of his outing. Here’s his seven strike outs:
Since the start of last season, Garrett Crochet leads all of baseball with 12 wins in games after his team lost. Oddly, the guy who is second on that list with 11 is Sonny Gray, and he starts the series finale tomorrow afternoon at 1:35pm.
