After 6 scoreless innings, Boston's ace raises the bar for himself

BOSTON -- Teams bring in aces like Garrett Crochet to anchor the rotation and bring fans to the ballpark.

The first 80-degree day of the year in Boston certainly boosted a sold-out attendance, but the focus for the Fenway crowd came on the mound with the Red Sox ace on the hill. Crochet faced his former team in the White Sox for the second consecutive start and did not disappoint. Crochet tossed six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in a 4-3 win for Boston on Saturday.

“Having the guy pitching today really helps,” manager Alex Cora said earlier Saturday afternoon. “There’s no guarantee that he’ll go seven every night, but he can go six. If the rotation starts taking care of their innings, everybody benefits.”

For a starter who posted a 1.13 ERA through five starts, it’s hard to imagine a significantly higher level on the mound. Crochet knows that there’s better stuff in the tank, and his manager will see it too.

“It’s trending, for sure,” Crochet said. “That’s an easy thing to fall back on, it’s April 19. Just being a gamer, this is not the standard I hold myself to. I expect to have my best stuff every time out. Obviously, that’s not the case. You can dream and work towards perfection even if you’ll never reach it. That’s just kind of what we do as pitchers and as baseball players in general.”

“Stuff was good, erratic,” Cora noted after the win. “Some deep counts, some two-strike hits. On a night where he was OK, that’s what we get. He gave us a chance to win the game.”

Crochet struck out 18 hitters in 13 1/3 innings against the White Sox over his last two starts. What he still needed Saturday was run support. Rafael Devers answered the call with a three-run home run over the Green Monster in the fifth inning. That support didn’t last long as two frames later, the White Sox struck back with three runs in the seventh inning against Greg Weissert that took away Crochet’s bid for a win. While the starter did not earn a decision, Boston still had to take advantage of dominance from the ace.

“It’s always important,” Cora added. “When you have guys like that, I’ve been saying all along, they stop losing streaks and they continue the winning streaks. That’s what he did today.”

Red Sox fans got treated to their first warm afternoon of the season and a walk-off victory (the club’s third of the season) when Triston Casas drove in Alex Bregman on a bases-loaded single in the 10th. That all came after another encouraging outing from the leader of Boston’s rotation. Cora hopes that’s a regular occurrence all season long at Fenway Park.

“It’s about these people here,” Cora noted. “He’s going to show up every five days. We expect the fans to show up every five days.”

“It was pretty sick,” Crochet added. “I look forward to throwing a bunch more starts here. It was really special.”

Can Casas turn corner?

The Red Sox's first baseman delivered the first walk-off of his career and marked a significant moment of the season for his time at the plate.

Casas’ struggles are well-documented this season. He entered play Saturday hitting just .172 with a .508 OPS. There’s plenty of instances where one swing can spark a turnaround for a hitter, and the Red Sox need that sooner rather than later from their first baseman.

“Every hit counts,” Casas said. “I’m grateful for every single one. Hopefully, they come in bunches, but in timely spots is the most important thing. Hopefully, they come with runners in scoring position on base. Getting rallies started with nobody on is huge too. Just finding ways to pass the baton, have a good at-bat and make the at-bat for the next guy behind you easier.”

“He’s been swinging the bat well,” Cora said. “More aggressive with more conviction. He took a walk today. That’s important. In that situation, just put the ball in play.”