Crawford, Arroyo carry Sox to 6th straight win

MINNEAPOLIS -- Fair or not, Kutter Crawford was beginning to get a reputation as someone who could be a difference-maker as a long reliever but not as a starter.

His goal of changing that narrative started in earnest on Tuesday night at Target Field. The 27-year-old righty fired five scoreless innings, scattering six hits while walking none and striking out five. This, on a night the Red Sox extended their winning streak to six with a 10-4 victory over the Twins.

Heading into this start, Crawford had the following splits this season: a 7.11 ERA in five starts, covering 19 innings, and a 1.66 ERA in eight relief appearances over 21 2/3 innings.

“I'm confident in my ability [to start],” said Crawford. “I’ve just got to get back in the groove of things. I did it for a good stretch last year and that helps build the confidence, so it's just getting back to that, and getting back to using my mix like I should as a starter and just attacking the zone. But yeah, I'm confident in my ability to be a starter and pitch every five days.”

Whichever role Crawford might be best suited for down the line, here is the fact of the matter: The Sox need him in the rotation right now.

Chris Sale (stress reaction in his left shoulder) is out until at least August. Tanner Houck is having surgery for a facial fracture next week and figures to be out for at least several weeks.

This was Crawford’s fourth start since replacing Sale, and the Red Sox have stretched him back out on the fly. They still need to find another pitcher to fill in for Houck, starting with Thursday’s finale of this four-game set against the Twins.

The importance of Crawford becoming dependable in a rotation that also includes James Paxton, Garrett Whitlock and Brayan Bello is high.

“I want to be there badly [for the team] and I'm sure everybody else in the rotation and on the pitching staff wants to as well,” said Crawford. “You know, we're down a couple of guys, so some guys need to step up, and I'm sure there's a number of guys on this pitching staff that will.”

As a team, the Red Sox seem to be developing a next-man-up mentality. When Pablo Reyes was scratched shortly before Tuesday’s game with right abdominal soreness, manager Alex Cora inserted Christian Arroyo into the lineup at second base.

All Arroyo did was go 5-for-5 with a homer, a double and four RBIs. It was a career night for Arroyo, whose previous career high for hits in a game was three.

“I’m kind of speechless,” said Arroyo, who finished a triple shy of the cycle. “I’ve never done that before. I think I had one [five-hit game] in the Minor Leagues, but never obviously done it in the big leagues. This is the biggest stage, right? Every hitter dreams of that. It was awesome. It was great.”

It was only a week ago that it seemed like the Red Sox couldn’t buy a run. Suddenly, they are firing on all cylinders again as an offense, with Cora pushing all the right buttons.

Jarren Duran went 3-for-3 with three doubles in Monday’s game and there were some eyebrows raised when he wasn’t in Tuesday’s lineup. But Cora is committed to Adam Duvall getting regular time in the lineup, and the veteran center fielder rewarded that decision with a rocket homer to center to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Cora has been pleased with the functionality of his position-player roster during the current winning streak, but the starting pitching will determine if the Red Sox can be a legitimate contender for a postseason spot.

With his deep arsenal of pitches, Crawford thinks he can be an important piece. In Tuesday’s performance, Crawford led with his four-seamer, throwing 28 of them to go with 21 cutters, 11 knuckle curves, nine sweepers and eight splitters.

“It’s good he can do that,” said Cora. “But he can get in trouble trying to be too cute. I think the stuff plays, and the first four pitches of the game were four-seamer, cutter, curveball and split. It's kind of like going to the buffet and you’ve got all this stuff. Don’t get too greedy because you’ve got all the tools. His four-seamer is a good one. So now it's just a matter of how to use it, what you’ve got that day and go from there.”