Garrett Crochet failed to record an out and was charged with four runs in relief during Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Yankees on Wednesday.
Crochet took the mound in the seventh inning for his first game action since April 25, with the Red Sox facing elimination and trailing by a single run at the time. It didn’t go well. Simply put, he looked like a pitcher who hadn’t faced hitters in five months, as all four batters he faced reached base safely and eventually came around to score. Spencer Jones reached on a wild pitch and wound up on third base after a throwing error before George Lombard Jr. brought him home with an RBI single. Crochet was lifted after allowing back-to-back hits to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham. It’s difficult to put the blame entirely on him, and he deserves plenty of credit for persevering through his rehabilitation to even have a chance to pitch in this spot, but Crochet simply wasn’t sharp enough in a moment when Boston needed him to keep its playoff hopes alive.
