Red Sox
“Big boy throwing really good stuff up there.”
It doesn’t take much to draw parallels between Chris Sale and Garrett Crochet.
Both are left-handed starters who rose through the ranks of the White Sox organization. Both were eventually traded to the Red Sox in blockbuster deals in hopes of asserting themselves as aces in Boston.
And on Friday, both southpaws found themselves on a collision course at Fenway Park.
“Should be fun tonight,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said pregame. “Obviously with everything that is going on, City Connect [uniforms], hopefully it’s a fun night here. Those two guys, obviously they’re not facing each other, but there’s a lot of things there that they have in common.
“The most important one is when they go out there, they want to win bad. There’s going to be a lot of ‘M-F’ fastball today.”
Sale and Crochet lived up to the billing in one of the more anticipated pitcher’s duels this season — with both lefties going seven innings in what was an eventual 4-2 Red Sox loss.
Sale dominated against his former team in his first start at Fenway since September 2023 — allowing just one earned run and five hits over his seven innings of work while striking out eight.
But Crochet was also up to the task against the Braves in a game with little margin for error — allowing two earned runs over his seven innings to go along with seven hits, zero walks, and eight strikeouts.
Crochet’s lone blemish came in the second inning. After striking out the side in the first off of just 11 pitches (five swings and misses), Crochet surrendered back-to-back solo shots to Matt Olson and Sean Murphy in the next frame — giving Atlanta a two-run cushion that would remain in place by the time Crochet exited the game.
Despite those solo homers from Olson and Murphy, Crochet said postgame that he was happy with his pitch selection and velocity.
“From my side I know I’ve got to have my best stuff that day and if I don’t I’ve got to make something work,” Crochet said postgame, per Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald. “Luckily besides the two homers I felt like I had my best stuff and was executing all night long.”
In his first matchup against Crochet at Fenway, Sale commended Boston’s new ace for his play on the mound.
“No matter who I’m facing, what ballpark you’re in, who you’re pitching against, the lineup — you just got to go out there and compete,” Sale said postgame of matching up against Crochet. “Obviously, I mean, he’s one of the best pitchers on the planet right now, and I think he was as advertised tonight. So we just found a way to grind it out.”
While Boston’s struggles at the plate against Sale and several costly baserunning blunders squandered an opportunity to give Crochet some run support, the 25-year-old lefty has continued to assert himself as a No. 1 starter in his first year with Boston.
For all of the concerns about Crochet’s limited workload as a starter prior to his time with the Red Sox, Crochet left Friday’s game leading the majors in innings pitched (63.0), while also pacing the American League in strikeouts with 73.
Crochet is just the fourth pitcher ever to post 70 or more strikeouts in his first 10 starts with the Red Sox — joining Sale (101), Pedro Martinez (88), and David Price (76). Both he and Martinez are the only new Red Sox pitchers to accomplish that feat while also sporting an ERA at 2.00 or below (Martinez at 1.74, Crochet at 2.00).
Despite dropping to 0-3 in five starts at Fenway Park, Crochet has a fan in a former Red Sox ace in Sale.
“Big boy throwing really good stuff up there,” Sale said of Crochet. “Again, like I said, he’s as advertised, got unbelievable stuff. Heard nothing but great things about his makeup and his character. So they’re lucky to have that guy.”
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