MINNEAPOLIS -- Wait, what?
Garrett Crochet's dramatic stumble in Monday night’s eventual 13-6 loss to the Twins at Target Field was shocking to everyone who witnessed it.
Boston’s ace lefty labored through the first inning, throwing 31 pitches and giving up four runs.
Anyone can have a bad inning.
What was more surprising is that the second inning was much worse for Crochet, as the Twins seized on his lack of command. The first six Twins hitters reached in the second, with Victor Caratini’s three-run homer serving as the big blow. Crochet briefly settled to get the next two batters, only to give up a parting solo shot to Ryan Kreidler.
By the time manager Alex Cora came to get the two-time All-Star, the Red Sox were down 11-0 with two outs in the second inning. Crochet left having thrown 55 pitches, and just 30 of them for strikes.
The overall line (1 2/3 innings, nine hits, 11 runs, 10 earned runs, three walks, no strikeouts) painted a grim picture of the worst of Crochet’s 68 career starts. In Crochet's first 35 starts for Boston going into tonight, he was 20-6 with a 2.63 ERA.
This was the first time he gave up more than seven earned runs. The nine hits allowed equaled a career high. His only shorter start was due to a rain-suspended game when he threw only four pitches. That was also the only previous time Crochet didn’t have a strikeout in a start.
Entering this three-game series in Minneapolis, the Sox were starting to feel good about their starting rotation again as the five-man unit notched a 1.52 ERA in the last trip through.
But that momentum ended abruptly on Monday night.