BOSTON – It was supposed to be “get right” day for Garrett Crochet on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, and for four innings it looked like it would be just that.
The ace looked like he'd suitably bounced back from the worst start of his career six days ago and had two outs and nobody on in the top of the fifth inning with the Red Sox and Tigers locked in a 1-1 tie.
And after that? Everything went wrong for Crochet, and the slumping Red Sox (8-13) suffered a 6-2 loss against the Tigers and lefty Framber Valdez.
Boston will be back at it bright and early on Patriots’ Day Monday (11:10 a.m. ET) in search of a win that would salvage a split of this four-game series and create some momentum before the Yankees visit for a three-game series starting on Tuesday.
A Jahmai Jones solo homer with two outs opened the floodgates against Crochet and the Sox in a four-run fifth. Three batters later, silence came over a soggy, cold crowd when Dillon Dingler mashed a three-run homer on a 3-1 fastball that caught too much plate.
After Crochet lasted just 1 2/3 innings against the Twins while getting pounded for nine hits and 11 runs (10 earned) and no strikeouts, all eyes were on how he would recover.
When Crochet notched two straight punchouts to open the fifth, he had one walk and eight strikeouts and looked as in control as he was for so many of his starts last year.
And then, everything changed for the lefty who has a 7.88 ERA in his first five starts after finishing second in the American League’s Cy Young Award race last season.