Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet shutout spoiled by Aaron Judge homer in ninth, but Carlos Narváez delivers walk-off hit in 10th for win

A sellout crowd at Fenway Park watched as Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet carved up the Yankees lineup on Friday night.

The southpaw was brilliant, overpowering New York’s lineup over eight frames. A thrilling battle unfolded in the ninth inning. The game pitted Boston's ace, Crochet, against New York's All-Star slugger, Aaron Judge.

Crochet jogged out of the dugout to try and earn his first career complete game shutout against Boston’s most hated rivals but would have to handle Judge, who was going to take his fourth at-bat of the game.

With the crowd on their feet, ready to watch Crochet do battle with Judge, it turns out the left-hander's quest for the shutout was not meant to be.

The left-hander had struck out Judge in his first three at-bats, in the first, third, and sixth innings.

“It’s not even up for debate that’s the best hitter in the league right now, and it’s going to take a little bit extra to get him, especially the fourth time in one game,” said Crochet. “When you’re at this level, facing a guy like that makes you feel like you’re at one level higher. It was really special.”

All three of the strikeouts came on a four-seam fastball to retire the Yankees slugger. The Sox’ hurler’s velocity jumped as the night went on, touching 100 mph in the outing. When Crochet struck out Judge in the sixth inning, his final two pitches of the at-bat were clocked in at 98.8 and 99 mph. They were the two hardest pitches he had thrown all season.

“It was a special feeling, just jogging back out there and having a standing O,” Crochet said. “I could tell the fans wanted me out there. I already wanted to be out there pretty bad, but it made it a little bit more special. I was able to grab a little bit of extra stuff in that inning.”

Judge dug into the batter's box, 0-for-6 with six strikeouts in his career against Crochet. He finally made the Sox ace pay, crushing a 99.6 mph four-seam fastball, down and in, 443 feet over the Green Monster to quickly tie the game 1-1.

“Probably going to lose sleep over that [Judge at-bat], as silly as it sounds after what I would call a good outing,” said Crochet. “But if I gave up a home run on a cutter, if I gave it up on the sweeper, I would have hated myself a little bit more. If my night had to end there on a home run, I’m glad it was at least on a fastball.”

The powerful Judge would stare into the Red Sox dugout as he jogged down to first base.

“He’s an incredible pitcher,” said Judge after the game. “That’s why Boston went out and got him and made the trade they did.”

During a season seemingly full of disappointments, the Fenway Faithful crowd was left stunned. That feeling would only last for about 45 minutes, as rookie catcher and former Yankee Carlos Narváez topped a single off the wall to lift the Red Sox, 2-1, sealing their third straight win. The Red Sox achieved their first walk-off victory over the Yankees since Aug. 12, 2022.

The Red Sox have seven walk-off wins this season, which leads the American League and ranks second in the majors to the Giants, who have eight. Boston improved to 13-11 versus AL East teams this season and are 3-1 against New York.

Crochet finished the night allowing one run on four hits with a walk while striking out seven batters over a career-high 8 1/3 innings. He also became just the fourth Red Sox pitcher to reach 115 or more strikeouts in their first 15 starts in a season, joining Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, and Chris Sale, the team announced.

“I wish I could have finished it out,” Crochet said, acknowledging he was fired up for the opportunity to finish off the Yankees at home. “I’m probably going to lose sleep over that as silly as it sounds, after what I would call a good outing.”

After the game, Alex Cora expressed to reporters that he had no remorse for letting Crochet pitch the ninth in an effort to secure the complete game shutout. Crochet had been throwing so well all night; the skipper felt it was best to let him finish the job.

“I think everyone would be like ‘go ahead and see what happens,'” Cora said. “That guy was really good on the mound, and the guy at the plate, he’s really good.”

As Crochet was dealing on the mound, the Red Sox offense was quiet for the majority of the night. Trevor Story led off the second inning with a single and stole second base, setting up Ceddanne Rafaela’s go-ahead RBI base hit off Yankees left-hander Ryan Yarbrough.

The Yankees' southpaw went 4 2/3 innings before he was removed from the game to avoid facing the Sox’ right-handed hitters for the third time in his outing. The Red Sox bats remained silent, stranding runners at first and second in the fifth and leaving the bases loaded in the eighth.

As the Red Sox rolled into extra innings, what was about to happen could be the catalyst for the club to finally have a rally point and build much-needed momentum in the standings.

Narváez was at the epicenter of one of the best pitching performances of the season, and with one swing off his bat, he gave the Sox their biggest and most defining win of the season.

“He’s been a revelation,” Crochet said of Narvaez. “You talk to him, and you forget that he’s still classified as a rookie. It’s really special; he really calls games like he’s been doing it for 10 years in the show, and his at-bats at the plate late in crunch time—he just never gives in.”

Narváez shined in extras before his heroic game-winning hit, throwing out Anthony Volpe, who was trying to steal third base. The Yankees' shortstop was initially ruled safe but was later called out on a replay, erasing the ghost runner for New York. A second replay in the inning went against the Yankees again after DJ LeMahieu’s foul ball call was upheld, prompting Aaron Boone to voice his displeasure, and he was ejected from the game.

Over the first two months of the season, Crochet has performed as expected, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow may have made the best offseason move with Narváez.

In 32 games since the start of May, Narváez is slashing .327/.421/.510/.931 with 13 extra-base hits and has driven in 15 RBI. 

Boston (35-36) has a chance to get back to .500 and win their third straight series and second in a week against the Yankees. Hunter Dobbins (3-1, 4.20 ERA) will start for Boston opposite lefty Carlos Rodón (8-4, 2.87 ERA). The first pitch will be at 7:15 p.m. and can be seen on FOX.