Garrett Crochet pitched an absolute masterclass during the Boston Red Sox’s 3-1 win over the New York Yankees in Game 1 of their Wild Card matchup, giving up just four hits and a run in 7.2 innings while striking out 11 batters.
The only damage came via an Anthony Volpe homer in the second inning. Beyond that, the Yankees were flummoxed.
“He’s the best pitcher in the game,” superstar Aaron Judge told reporters after the game. “He’s gonna work all his pitches, worked a little more off-speed in there early on. We got the Volpe homer but couldn’t really, when we got guys on, do much after that.”
While Tarik Skubal or Paul Skenes might like a word in the best pitcher conversation, there’s no doubt that Crochet offered up a Herculean effort. The 26-year-old threw 117 pitches on Tuesday, a number not often seen in the modern game.
And he didn’t lose any juice between his first pitch and the last:
The Yankees are probably pretty sick of seeing Crochet. The lefty was 3-0 against them in the regular season across four starts, posting a 3.29 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 27.1 innings. The Yankees batted just .200 in those contests.
Crochet was good against everyone, of course, posting an 18-5 record with a 2.59 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 255 strikeouts in 205.1 innings. But he seemed to take it to a new level on Tuesday.
“He’s just a guy that wants it bad, to be honest with you,” manager Alex Cora told reporters. “He was in a situation last year that he was learning how to become a starter. He got traded to become the ace, got paid like an ace, and since Day 1 he’s acted like that.”
The ace did his job and then some on Monday night. The Yankees can at least rest easy knowing they won’t have to face him again this season, though extending the campaign will mean back-to-back wins over their hated rivals.
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