After Judge denies Crochet's 1st shutout bid, ex-Yank walks it off for Sox

BOSTON – When Garrett Crochet came back out for the top of the ninth in pursuit of the first shutout of his career, and against the Yankees no less, you could feel the electricity at Fenway Park. Friday night’s house of 36,622 roared with anticipation.

Just a few minutes later, with Crochet two outs away from completing his mission, the electricity was short-circuited when Aaron Judge tattooed a 99.6 mph heater on the seventh pitch of the at-bat a Statcast-projected 443 feet over everything in left.

But the setback of that equalizing homer – devastating in the moment – was only temporary.

The Red Sox got a walk-off single off the Monster from former Yankee Carlos Narváez with two outs in the bottom of the 10th for a 2-1 victory.

“Huge. It was my first walk-off, and against my former team,” Narváez said. “Of course I feel emotional and proud of myself, and my family was here.

“After Marcelo [Mayer] struck out for the second out, I was like, ‘OK, it’s me’, and I just tried to put the ball to the middle of the field. And I’m super happy we won.”

Welcome to the latest electric chapter of Red Sox-Yankees.

For most of the night, a focal point of the plot was Crochet vs. Judge. By striking out Judge in their first three encounters of the game, Crochet had punched out New York’s fearsome slugger in six consecutive at-bats in the past week.

Crochet was one strike away from giving Judge his first golden sombrero of the season, but it was not to be. The pitch wasn’t elevated like Crochet had wanted. And Judge seemed to elevate the baseball to the moon.

“Just targeting my strengths,” said Crochet. “It’s tough when you’re looking at scouting reports [of Judge] and the whole thing is bright red. For me, I’m going to live and die with my best pitch. Whether it be pitch selection or execution, tough way to end it. But overall, I felt really good tonight.”

Though Crochet didn’t finish what he started, the 8 1/3 innings represented a career high. The lefty allowed four hits and one run, walking one, striking out seven and throwing 107 pitches (72 strikes).

Boston’s new ace has been as advertised in his first season with the Red Sox. He leads MLB with 96 1/3 innings and 117 strikeouts.

If the 35-36 Red Sox emerge from their underwhelming start and make the playoffs, Dec. 11, 2024, will go down as a key day – one in which Crochet was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the White Sox, and Narváez was snagged in a much lower-profile trade with the Yankees.

Without question, Narváez has turned into the biggest surprise for Boston so far this season. He started Spring Training just trying to win the backup catching job. When Connor Wong broke his left fifth finger on catcher's interference on April 7, Narváez pounced on the opportunity and turned into an everyday player after spending parts of nine seasons in the Yankees’ farm system.

When momentum had gone to the Yankees’ side after Judge’s missile in the ninth, Narváez brought it back on his team’s side when he made a strong throw to third to nab Anthony Volpe trying to steal for the first out of the 10th. Originally, Volpe was called safe. But Red Sox manager Alex Cora called for a challenge and got a key overturn.

Winning pitcher Garrett Whitlock made it through the inning scoreless.

“Narvy made a great throw,” said Cora. “He actually talked to [Whitlock] when he came in, kind of like, ‘Hey, you have to mix up your looks, and you’ve got to be quick to the plate.’ He asked [pitching coach Andrew Bailey], ‘Hey, can I go straight to him [and tell him]?’ Bails is like, ‘You do whatever you want to do. You’re in charge.’ And it was a great throw, great tag by Marcelo, and we got the call.”

While Narváez’s glove has always been his calling card, his offense has been a pleasant surprise. And when he connected, Fenway was perhaps the most joyous it has been all season.

“The last few years, these [rivalry] games [at Fenway], it feels like it's 50-50 as far as the fans and the reaction,” said Cora. “Not today. Today it felt good from the get-go. People showed up early. They were loud. It was a good Friday night game.”