All eyes were on Garrett Crochet in this outing after a lot of talk of fatigue in recent days for the pitcher who now leads all of baseball in innings pitched with 185 1/3. Crochet responded by dominating with all four of his pitches (Four Seam, Cutter, Sinker, Sweeper) and even a few changeups, allowing three hits, walking none, and striking out ten batters over seven innings, for his 15th victory of the season. After limited whiffs on the four-seam in the previous outing, Crochet got 42% Whiffs
on that pitch tonight.
The broadcast referenced Crochet’s dominance on 5+ days rest, compared to four, which he had made each of his previous two starts on.
Crochet will pitch three more times this season, and it can be done on five days’ rest without manipulating the rotation at all, since the Red Sox have an off day in each of the final three weeks of the season.
Monday, 9/8 @ ATH
Sunday, 9/14 vs NYY
Saturday, 9/20 @ TB
Friday, 9/26 vs DET
If the Red Sox play in the Wild Card round (likely), this would line Crochet up to pitch Game Two of that series on Wednesday, October 1st, on four days’ rest.
The only way I see this changing is if the team still has a chance to win the division, they could throw Crochet on four days’ rest on Thursday, 9/25, at Toronto, instead of vs. Detroit.
At the plate on Monday night, the Red Sox banged out 12 hits, with five players tallying two hits. Trevor Story started things off with a home run, cleaning out a ball on the inner-half to set the tone for the evening in the first.
In the top of the second, Masataka Yoshida singled, Ceddanne Rafaela drew his first walk in 65 plate appearances (per Lou Merloni), and Nick Sogard smacked an RBI single to center field to make the score 2-0. Jarren Duran followed that up by lacing a single into left field, with Sogard being tagged out at third, after Rafaela scored. 3-0 after two.
In the fifth, Carlos Narvaez crushed a home run to center, 422 feet, on a high slider. Duran doubled to left-center field, stole third, and then Bregman singled through a drawn-in infield, knocking starter Luis Morales out of the game with two outs in the fifth inning and the score 5-0.
A Romy Gonzalez chopper over another drawn-in infield did the same, plating the sixth run in the eighth inning, and extending Romy’s hit streak to 11. With the infield now back, Masataka Yoshida ripped a line drive single into center, and it was seven-nothing.
With Crochet done after 101 pitches, Zack Kelly and Chris Murphy each retired all three batters they faced, ending the game in a tidy 2 hours and 19 minutes.
Box Score
Three Studs
Garrett Crochet – A shutdown outing, quieting the critics. A 10-K outing. And, most importantly, a seven-inning outing that saved the Red Sox from needing to use their “A” bullpen on Monday night, after they threw high-stress innings on Sunday.
Trevor Story – His home run in the first inning put the team ahead immediately and set the tone for the night. 24 home runs, 90 RBI, the team leader in steals at 27-for-27. As important as anybody in the lineup, at this point.
Jarren Duran – Pick your multi-hit player (there were five of them) and you could make a case, but what Duran did as the table setter in the leadoff spot today will be essential if this offense is going to find a way to get going without Roman Anthony. When Duran is going right, he’s hitting the ball with authority the other way, and he did so tonight with a single and a double to left-center field. The hits had exit velocities of 107.7 and 105.0 mph, two of the five hardest hit balls in the game. Duran also stole third base, which drew the infield in and led to a run moments later.
Three Duds
“The Athletics” – What a lame team name. I’m convinced that the only reason this franchise doesn’t go by the Sacramento A’s is because of what the Scorebug would say when the Baltimore Orioles came to town.
Dave O’Brien – For referring to Eck’s hair as “salad,” rather than “moss.” The two of them worked together for seven seasons. You don’t have your Eck-Speak down by now, Dave? Salad, of course, is a pitcher with a subpar fastball.
Nathaniel Lowe – The only member of the starting nine to not get on base. The pickings were slim in this section tonight.
Play of the Game
Trevor Story’s 404-foot home run in the Top of the 1st Inning, putting the Sox ahead for good.
