BOSTON -- With a crucial stretch run upcoming, the Red Sox decided to put ace Garrett Crochet on ice for nine days.
The lefty re-emerged on Tuesday night in front of the latest packed house (37,013) at Fenway Park and ice swiftly turned into smoke.
Crochet’s 105th and final pitch was his most important as he blew a 96.7 mph fastball by Luke Maile to strand the tying run on second base.
The red-hot Red Sox rolled to their seventh straight win and ninth in their last 10, riding seven strong innings from Crochet and a batch of timely hits to a 6-2 victory.
“The past [nine] days, I've been pretty hungry for this next one,” Crochet said. “And hopefully that's the last time that we feel as though I need a breather and that come October, I'm still feeling good and going full bore.”
As Crochet walked off the mound to thunderous applause, he shouted and pounded his fist into his glove.
“I think the fans understood where we were, right? And they stood up and did the two-strike clap and it got very loud,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “And, I mean, shoot, think about his season last year, as a team [with the White Sox] and for him, right? He was kind of like, up and down, with the innings limit and all that stuff. And now, this is what he wanted to do, just pitch. And we’re gonna let him do that.”
While the Red Sox will continue to use team off-days when possible to give Crochet an extra day between starts, there will be no more extended respites.
“I think this is the last time we're going to skip a start from now on, obviously if he stays healthy,” said Cora as he knocked on the wooden table he was sitting at. “We'll use the off-days to our advantage. But I don't think we have to [be cautious anymore]. This is something we talked about before the All-Star Game, and I think overall, we stayed very disciplined, including himself, because it’s hard. He wants to pitch, he wants to contribute.”
With everything from the lower box seats to the grandstands to the back row of the bleachers to most of the standing room areas occupied, Cora’s team improved to 16-2 at home since June 30, and 23-5 since June 4.
The tone was set by the refreshed Crochet, who went seven innings and allowed four hits and two runs, walking one and striking out eight. The American League Cy Young Award candidate leads the Majors in wins (13), innings (148 1/3) and strikeouts (183) while ranking third in ERA (2.24).
“It's a fun atmosphere right now,” said Crochet. “I can only imagine what it's going to be in a couple months, but that's why we’ve got to keep working. We’ve still got [47] games left. But, yeah, it feels really good playing here in Boston.”
Crochet got support from Trevor Story (two hits and three RBIs) and Wilyer Abreu (two hits, two RBIs, sensational catch in the right-field corner).
Story’s brutal May is now a distant memory. In his last seven games, he’s hitting .480 with a 1.552 OPS, collecting four doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs. This is the Story the Red Sox thought they were signing in 2022.
“It definitely means a lot, hitting in the middle of the order, that's kind of your job,” said Story. “You’ve got to drive those guys in. They get on base for you and it's our turn to cash those guys in. I think this year, just less is more in so many ways. Sometimes just take the homer out of it and just use a different club and just find a way to get it done.”
As for Abreu, he again made a tough catch look easy when he roared into the corner, threw his glove up at the last minute and snared Nick Loftin’s drive before crashing into the short wall.
“Very tough play,” said Abreu. “It’s wide dimensions here in this ballpark, so it’s very important to keep your focus when you’re out there and trying to make plays like that.”
On this night, nobody was more focused than Crochet, who is the front-line starter any legitimate contender needs.
“Aces, man,” said Cora. “Aces stop the losing streaks and they keep the winning streak going, and that's what he's doing right now.”