CINCINNATI – When the Reds put Garrett Crochet in his first truly sticky situation of Opening Day on Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park, the ace lefty essentially sneered and did what the Red Sox pay him handsomely to do.
With the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning of a scoreless game, Crochet punched out slugger Eugenio Suárez on a 1-2 cutter in the dirt.
Then it was on to Spencer Steer, and the man everyone in the Boston clubhouse calls “Beast” showed why, punctuating his day with a 90-mph cutter up in the zone that the right-handed hitter swung right through.
It was the defining moment of a 3-0 win by the Red Sox in Game No. 1 of 162.
“He’s the ace,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He did an amazing job using all his pitches. That last inning started with a walk, and then he just found it back and finished strong and gave us a chance for the offense to cash in.”
And cash in they did, after being stifled through six innings by Reds lefty Andrew Abbott.
Inspired by Crochet’s escape, Marcelo Mayer stepped off the bench and delivered a pinch-hit double off the wall in center. Carlos Narváez understood the situation and bunted his teammate to third.
And in a situation that called for contact, which Ceddanne Rafaela has often struggled to make in his young career, the center fielder ripped an RBI single to center for the first run of the season for Boston.
Crochet, who takes pride in being a tone-setter, enjoyed his part in swinging the momentum to his dugout.
“Very uplifting,” Crochet said. “That does wonders just for momentum for our team, from an offensive standpoint, even for guys in the bullpen coming in. Moments like that only happen either once a game, if even, maybe a couple times a week. So it's nice to have that one go our way.”
For a Red Sox team that thinks it will pitch better, show improved defense and do a better job putting the ball in play than last year, this was a satisfying first step.
“All around, I think everybody did a good job. The pinch-hit there by Marcelo, it was huge,” Cora said. “Narvy with the bunt. Ceddanne put the ball in play with two strikes. And that's who we are. That's what we're trying to do.”
Another thing the Red Sox plan on doing for a second straight season is riding their ace into the playoffs.
Over six sparkling innings, Crochet allowed three hits and two walks while striking out eight and throwing 80 pitches.
In his second season with the Red Sox, his teammates and the fan base expect dominance whenever he takes the mound.
As always, the Opening Day atmosphere was festive for the tradition-laden Reds, who held a downtown parade hours before the first pitch and much more pomp and circumstance once things moved into a venue that was packed with 43,893 fans.
“A little bit of an environment and just having some stake on the line [helped],” Crochet said. “As far as Opening Days go, this has been the coolest one I've been a part of. You could tell baseball means a lot to this town. There was some trash talk in the bullpen, but it was just the energy all game. The fans were very into it.”
Crochet quieted the noise, and handed off to his bullpen, which finished the job.
“I’ve got a lot of self-belief,” Crochet said. “But in the moment, in Spring Training, I definitely thought I sucked. But I knew that wasn't who I was. You’ve got to be able to turn the page.”
The power lefty turned that proverbial page with emphasis on Thursday.