The starting pitching matchup of Garrett Crochet and Chris Sale is one that baseball fans eagerly anticipated, especially on a Friday night at Fenway Park. Sale, the former Boston ace and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, faced off against Crochet, who is emerging as Boston’s new ace.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora highlighted the similarities between the two dominant left-handed pitchers, noting their shared desire to win. “There’s a lot of things that they have in common. The most important one is when they go out there they want to win, they want to win bad,” Cora said before the game.
In a gripping pitcher’s duel, Sale and the Atlanta Braves narrowly triumphed over Crochet and the Red Sox, taking the game 4-2. While each pitcher delivered a strong performance—both going seven innings—Sale’s experience ultimately guided his team to victory.
“Obviously he’s one of the best pitchers in the game,” said Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman, praising Sale. “Overall we didn’t do enough offensively today and you have to tip your hat to him.” Sale allowed just one run on five hits and struck out eight, while Crochet struck out eight batters, leading the major leagues in innings pitched and American League in strikeouts.
Despite a solid outing, Crochet struggled with back-to-back solo home runs, allowing the Braves to establish an early lead. “I executed both pitches exactly how I wanted to,” he reflected, acknowledging the batters’ skills rather than focusing solely on his errors.
Offensively, the Red Sox struggled, failing to capitalize on critical opportunities and making costly mistakes on the base paths. Cora expressed his frustration after the game, stating, “It’s frustrating… you have to slow it down as a team and I don’t think we did that today.”
The Red Sox now find themselves on a disappointing streak, having lost four consecutive games and 10 of their last 15. However, there’s a sense of camaraderie within the team as they recognize the need for improvement while supporting each other through tough matches.
Bregman offered words of encouragement for Crochet, emphasizing the need for the team to rally around their standout pitcher. “He was really good,” Bregman said. “We’ve got to do a better job getting him a win when he throws the ball that well.”
The resilience of the Red Sox is evident as they aim to learn from their setbacks and come back stronger in their upcoming games. With talent like Crochet on the mound, there is hope that the team can turn their fortunes around in the near future.