The Red Sox’s offseason decisions came full circle right in front of their eyes on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and company were faced with some options. And among them was ponying up the cash for free agent Max Fried. Instead, the Sox kept their wallets closed as they watched Fried walk to their rival Yankees on an eight-year, $218 million deal. Breslow opted to go into his deep chamber of prospects and execute a trade with the White Sox for his horse in Garrett Crochet.
The two faced off in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card series on Tuesday night, and there are surely no complaints about Boston’s decision in their 3-1 win over the Yankees.
While Fried shut the Sox down for 6.1 innings, Crochet was every bit as dominant as his regular-season self in his postseason debut, delivering his team their first postseason win since 2021. The southpaw turned in an incredible performance, tossing 7.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out 11. Red Sox managerAlex Cora trusted his ace to get crucial outs in the eighth inning, and he was removed after his 117th pitch that struck out Austin Wells looking on a 100.2 mph fastball
The 26-year-old made one mistake, serving up a solo homer to Anthony Volpe in the bottom of the second inning. However, he retired the next 17 batters in a row — before Volpe got him again on a base hit up the middle.
Boston inked Crochet to a six-year, $170 million extension in April and they were rewarded with a Cy Young caliber season. The hard-throwing lefty pitched to a 2.59 ERA in 32 starts while leading baseball in innings pitched (205.1) and strikeouts (255).
Crochet’s performance was reminiscent of Chris Sale, another former Boston lefty who used to give the Yankees fits — who, fittingly, they also acquired from the White Sox.
Now, Cora will turn to Brayan Bello on Wednesday night as they look to send the Yankees home packing. Bello had his way with the Bombers this season as he pitched to a 1.89 ERA in three starts against them this season.
