Garrett Crochet filthy in complete-game shutout as the Red Sox win nine straight games

Garrett Crochet made his final start before the All-Star break, and Alex Cora said there would be no limits for his ace on the mound Saturday afternoon.

The left-hander was dominant, throwing his first complete-game shutout of his career, leading the Red Sox to a 1-0 win over the Rays for their ninth straight victory and series win over the Rays.

Crochet needed very little run support en route to his 10th win of the season. Carlos Narváez’s fourth-inning RBI single, which brought Roman Anthony in to score, was the only run the Red Sox needed.

In his 1-0 shutout win, he allowed just three hits, all singles, and struck out nine while not allowing a walk. He threw exactly 100 pitches in the victory. 

Crochet opened the game with a 1-2-3 inning that also included back-to-back strikeouts. Crochet's only issue was in the sixth inning, when the Rays tried to bunt with runners on the corners and one out. First baseman Abraham Toro barehanded a bunt by Ha-Seong Kim, and Narváez made the tag at the plate to prevent the tying run from scoring. After a review, the play was upheld. The hard-throwing lefty escaped the inning without allowing any damage after forcing Jake Magnum to ground out.

"When they decided to challenge it, Carlos (Narváez) was coming out to the mound, and he was pretty confident," Crochet said of Toro's throw to the plate. "I saw the video, and I wasn’t super confident until they showed the next angle. But that was a very awkward, uncomfortable throw—and he put it right on the money. So it was huge."

Crochet will head into the All-Star break with a 2.23 ERA, looking like the ace the Red Sox envisioned they were acquiring back in December from the White Sox. He leads the majors in innings (128⅓) and strikeouts (160).

Cora told reporters before the game that Crochet was “the leader” of his pitching staff. He didn’t disappoint, putting his team on his back.

“The leader, to be honest with you,” said Cora. "Every five days, we know he’s going to be on the mound. But what he’s doing in the clubhouses, you see him in the dugout, he’s always into games, talking to pitchers. Yesterday [Greg] Weissert came out; he didn’t like the slider, and they were talking about grips and all that.

“He’s very similar to Alex [Bregman] in that sense. Him and Walk[er Buehler], well Walk has more experience obviously, but he is very smart. With (the) contract, stuff comes with the territory. You have to be that guy. We haven’t had a guy like that in a while. We’ve had good ones throughout the years. Now that he is here, he is on the Red Sox, he’s doing an amazing job.”

Rays starter Shane Baz was strong, keeping the red-hot Sox’ offense to just one run on the scoreboard. He allowed the one run in 6 1/3 innings and held Boston 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Trevor Story collected his 1,000th career hit in the victory, and Jarren Duran had a double (25) in the sixth inning. Anthony went 1-for-3 with a double that helped set up Narváez’s RBI single. He has extended his hitting streak to eight games. At 21 years and 60 days old, Anthony joins Rafael Devers as the youngest Sox’ player to record a hitting streak of at least eight games since Tony Conigliaro in 1964-65, the team announced. 

Crochet will take the next week off and rest from his heavy first-half workload. The southpaw will fly to Atlanta for the All-Star Game but will not pitch in the Midsummer Classic.

“For me, it’s just looking at my past four years,” Crochet said this week after it was announced he would not pitch in the All-Star Game. “In 2022, I threw zero innings. In ‘23, I threw 13. Last year, I threw 146, and this year I’m on pace for 200. From my standpoint, it makes no sense to make that 201 to throw in a game that doesn’t determine my team’s fate throughout the season."

Last year with the White Sox, he tossed 146 innings; he will blow past that by August and is on pace to throw over 200 innings for the year. The Red Sox and their ace lefty are fine with his current workload and his innings jump from last season.

“I think that there’s no ceiling on myself this year. I haven’t heard anything different from that,” Crochet said.

Crochet is the first Red Sox to record a shutout and the first to do so with three or fewer hits allowed and at least nine strikeouts since Tanner Houck’s Maddux thrown last April against the Guardians. He was also the first Red Sox starter to throw a shutout since Michael Wacha did in June 2022 against the Angels. It was also a 1-0 final.

Crochet’s next start is going to come next Sunday in the series finale on the road against the Cubs.

The Red Sox will host the Rays for the final game before the All-Star break on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. Boston will send right-hander Brayan Bello (5-3, 3.27 ERA) to the mound, looking to secure a four-game sweep. The Rays will start righty Ryan Pepiot (6-6, 3.32 ERA).