CHICAGO -- Did Garrett Crochet know something everyone else didn¡¯t when he met with the media in Chicago on Friday?
¡°I'm chasing greatness every time I touch the mound,¡± the Red Sox left-hander said from the visitors¡¯ dugout at Rate Field. ¡°Everybody is. I want to throw a complete-game no-hitter. And then, as soon as the first hit's given up, I'm like, ¡®[Darn], all right. Let's move on.' But it's just seeing how many zeros I can put up every time I go out there.¡±
Just the mention of a no-hitter, combined with his first start back at Rate Field to face his former team, was enough to get folks excited for Sunday afternoon -- and Crochet more than delivered. Against the White Sox, Crochet took a perfect game into the sixth inning and a no-hitter into the eighth, striking out 11 Chicago batters and allowing just one run in 7 1/3 frames as Boston avoided a sweep in the 3-1 win.
Right fielder Brooks Baldwin was the first White Sox hitter to reach base, drawing a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Then, with five outs to go, Crochet gave up his first hit to Chicago second baseman Chase Meidroth on his 96th pitch of the afternoon.
That brought manager Alex Cora out of the dugout, and he took the ball from the 25-year-old southpaw, who walked off the field to a standing ovation.
¡°I felt like I kept a lot in reserve,¡± Crochet said. ¡°I didn't really start ramping it up there in velo until later in the game. I feel like I could've thrown five more innings. I was feeling really good.¡±
Normally, when the opposing team gets a hit, managers don¡¯t feel a small sense of relief. But that was sort of the case for Cora when Meidroth singled.
For most, that brought a sense of disappointment. Obviously, that ended the no-hit bid. That it was Meidroth -- part of the return in the trade that brought Crochet to Boston -- who broke it up may have added to it. But ¡°disappointed¡± isn¡¯t all Cora was feeling.
¡°Honestly, I've never been so happy for the opponent to get a hit,¡± Cora said, eliciting some laughs from the media. ¡°Chase got a hit. I'm like, 'OK, now we can move on.¡¯¡±
Cora certainly wanted to see Crochet finish the no-hitter, which would¡¯ve been the first for the franchise in nearly 17 years. But Crochet¡¯s pitch count was also nearing triple digits. Coming off back-to-back 100-plus-pitch starts, and coming off his first season as a starter in 2024, letting Crochet continue to pitch made Cora just a little bit nervous.
Of course, the decision was ultimately made for him.
¡°Oh, there was a lot of debate,¡± Cora said. ¡°You got to make decisions. It's not easy, man. You're in that dugout and you get a chance to do something special, but at the same time, you have to put in the balance of our season. Without him, it's going to be hard, right? He threw 96 [pitches] and he got the ¡®W,¡¯ so we're all happy now.¡±
A two-run double from Trevor Story had given the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the sixth (he added a solo home run in the ninth), and relievers Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman managed to close things out. So going to the bullpen didn¡¯t cost Boston.
That meant, in the end, Sunday was all about a stellar outing from Crochet.
The 11 strikeouts were his most in a game since June 30, 2024. Baldwin and Meidroth were the only two White Sox to reach base while he was on the mound. It was the kind of dominant start that reminded everyone why the Red Sox gave him a six-year, $170 million extension.
Crochet didn¡¯t want to make too much out of pitching at his former home ballpark for the first time since the December trade. He tried to think about it as if it were any other start. Cora said he was calm the whole weekend. Story said he's ¡°always revving on 100, so I didn't really see a difference.¡±
Even still, upon his return, Crochet came close to history. In the same ballpark White Sox fans watched him dominate so many hitters in his first year as a starter, they got to see him do it one more time against their squad.
And for his new squad, which had lost five of its last six, Crochet was able to get things back on track.
¡°We needed it, in the worst way,¡± Story said. ¡°He stepped up and delivered for us. We needed a stopper, and that's what he is.¡±