Crochet, Sox Blank Rays (7/12/25)

Before the game the Boston Red Sox made an unfortunate roster mover. The MRI showed Hunter Dobbins tore his ACL and would be out for the rest of the season. He was placed on the Injured List and "Big" Dick Fitts was called up to replace him. With Quinn Priester gone and Kutter Crawford already out for the season, pitching depth was becoming an issue. Now with Dobbins out, they either need to trade for another starter or ride with a 3-4-5 of Brayan Bello, Walker Buehler and Fitts. Sox GM Craig Breslow has 3 weeks to make a choice.

                                                                             OUT

                                                                        IN

As for the game, you can say the Red Sox got little for the Quinn Priester, Chris Sale and Rafael Devers trades but one that did work out was getting Garrett Crochet (10-4, 2.23 ERA). The ace of the Sox stepped up big to run their win streak to nine straight games when he shut down the Tampa Bay Rays. After having two weeks of non-stop offense, the Sox bats were held to just 5 hits and a run by Shane Baz and Edwin Uceta. A Carlos Narvaez rbi in the fourth would be Boston's only run of the game. Turns out that's all they needed as Crochet pitched a complete game, 3 hit shutout for the first time in his career.  Garrett didn't walk anyone and the defense made no errors so Tampa didn't have a chance at all the entire game. The Sox found a way to win a one run game, 3 in a row against Tampa and 9 straight overall as they blanked the Rays 1-0 at Fenway Park.

                                                          Krosis approves of the win

Crochet got the ball in the top of the first and Yandy Diaz took strike three to start. Ha-Seong Kim struck out swinging but Jake Mangum grounded out to third to end the inning. Baz got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Jarren Duran popped up to short to start. Ceddanne Rafaela singled to center then promptly stole second. Roman Anthony walked but Carlos Narvaez grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Junior Caminero struck out swinging to begin the top of the second but Christopher Morel flied out to right. Curtis Mead got a base hit to right and Danny Jansen flied out to left to end the inning. Masataka Yoshida grounded out to second to start the bottom of the second before Trevor Story flied out to right. Wilyer Abreu was frozen for strike three to end the inning.

Jose Caballero struck out swinging to start the top of the third and Taylor Walls lined out to center. Diaz grounded out to third to end the inning. Abraham "El" Toro grounded out to first to start the bottom of the third but Marcelo Mayer walked. Duran flied out to right and Mayer was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning.

Kim grounded out to second to start the top of the fourth and Mangum lined out to Rafaela. Caminero grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the fourth as Rafaela grounded back to the mound to start. Anthony doubled to right and Navarez hit a seeing eye single into left to score Roman. Yoshida hit a bullet right to Kim who doubled off Narvaez to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.

                                                             Narvaez drives in a run

Morel grounded out to short to start the top of the fifth and Mead did the same. Jansen struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the fifth as Story doubled to right to begin. Abreu struck out swinging, El Toro popped up to third and Mayer flied out to center to end the inning.

The Rays only threat came in the top of the sixth when Caballero popped up to short to start. Walls got a base hit to right and Diaz got a base hit to center to move Walls to third. Kim then tried a suicide squeeze bunt to first and El Toro came home instead of get the easy out......YERR OUTTA THERE! Rays manager challenged that Walls was safe but the call was upheld. Mangum grounded out to second to end the inning.

                                                                   OUT!

Duran doubled to left to start the bottom of the sixth but Rafaela popped up to first. Anthony grounded out to short and Caballero made a great catch to rob Narvaez of a hit to end the inning.

Caminero struck out swinging to start the top of the seventh and Story made a great diving stab on a Morel liner. Mead struck out swinging to end the inning. Yoshida was hit with a pitch to start the bottom of the seventh but Story struck out swinging to end Shane Baz' day. Edwin Uceta struck out Abreu swinging but Yoshida stole second. El Toro struck out swinging to end the inning.

Jansen struck out swinging to start the top of the eighth and Caballero was rung up for strike three. Walls grounded out to short to end the inning. The only question now was would Sox manager Alex Cora go with Crochet to finish it or go with Aroldis Chapman? Mayer struck out swinging to start the bottom of the eighth but Duran drew a walk. Rafaela struck out swinging but Duran swiped second base. Anthony grounded out to second to end the inning.

Crochet returned to complete the game in the top of the ninth and Diaz grounded back to him to start. Kim was retired on a squibber in front of the plate and Abreu snared a liner by Mangum to end the game. Crochet had gone the distance and the Sox held on to win 1-0.

                                                            Sox win

Hero of the Night is Garrett Crochet. He tossed a complete game, 3 hit shutout with no walks and striking out 9 batters.

                                                             Garrett Hero

The Good:

Jarren Duran was 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.

Roman Anthony was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.

Carlos Narvaez was 1 for 3 with an rbi.

Trevor Story was 1 for 3.

The Bad:

Wilyer Abreu was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.

Abraham Toro was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.

The Ugly:

Ceddanne Rafaela was just 1 for 4 with a walk but stole a base.

Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 2 but was hit with a pitch and stole a base.

Marcelo Mayer was 0 for 2 with a strikeout but walked.

Final Thoughts:

Things are firing on all cylinders right now and the Sox in this epic win streak have found ways to win that they weren't for much of April and May. Rallying to beat the Rays twice and then winning a one run game like this one weren't happening. The Sox still make errors but today was as flawless as it got. Story with the big stab, Toro coming home to preserve the shutout and some difficult catches were made. The Sox bats went silent for the first time in two weeks but still found a way to win. Crochet is definitely making a march on the AL Cy Young Award and more importantly, the Sox took another baby step toward October. Even though this is a July regular season game, The Sox will very likely match up against the other team's ace in Game 1 of the playoffs if they make it that far. Having Crochet pitch games like this gives them a chance to beat anyone whether its the AL leading Detroit Tigers or the Seattle Mariners who bumped Tampa out of the third slot. The Sox bats were due for a let down but Crochet picked them up big time. Better yet, the complete game saved the bullpen for tomorrow's finale so a four game sweep and 10 wins in a row is on the table. The Sox looked dead in the water and sellers at the trade deadline when they were 41-44 and coming off a 4-8 stretch after the Devers trade. Since then they've won 12 of their last 13 and today's win improved them to 52-45, 4 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. The Sox look to sweep the series and win 10 games in a row tomorrow afternoon when Brayan Bello (5-3, 3.27 ERA) takes on Ryan Pepiot of Tampa. The game begins at 1:35 PM at Fenway Park.