The Boston Red Sox kicked off their American League Wild Card series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday. Red Sox manager Alex Cora sent his ace, Garrett Crochet, out to face Max Fried in Game 1. The result was a dominant Boston postseason debut for Crochet, who cruised through 7.2 innings. The one run scored on him was by Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe.
Crochet has been an AL Cy Young candidate all season long. However, he ramped his pitching up to another level in the playoffs. After struggling to handle the Yankees offense early in the game, the veteran settled in quickly. He finished with 11 strikeouts while giving up just one hit. He left the game without a lead, but Masataka Yoshida gave the Red Sox a 2-1 advantage.
Crochet's 11 strikeouts put him in elite company with Boston legends, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs. His performance stands alongside two Red Sox stars, both of whom played more than a century ago.
“Garrett Crochet had 11 strikeouts, tied for the most in a pitcher’s Red Sox postseason debut, with: 1912 WS G1 Smoky Joe Wood 1903 WS G2 Bill Dinneen,” Langs said.
Crochet and the Red Sox snuck into the playoffs in the final days of the regular season. However, Boston is in and is a dark horse team in the AL playoff picture. Despite dealing with an injury to Roman Anthony and inconsistency down the stretch, Cora has led his team to a red-hot finish.
Cora called out the Red Sox's haters and doubters who thought the team did not have a chance. After a dominant showing from Crochet, Boston has a chance to go up 1-0 in the series and come within one win from advancing. Yoshida's RBI single may have given the Red Sox all they needed to win Game 1. However, Crochet's pitching is the main takeaway from the series opener.
