Red Sox Garrett Crochet Urges Craig Breslow To Buy At Deadline

The Boston Red Sox completed a sweep of the Washington Nationals on Sunday. It was the team’s first sweep since taking three games from the New York Yankees in June, and their third of the season.

The Red Sox took an early lead against Nationals starter Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who was making his major league debut. With Garrett Crochet on the mound for the Red Sox, four runs should have been plenty.

Crochet didn’t dominate as he usually does, though. He didn’t record a single 1-2-3 inning, and battled through traffic regularly. His final line reads five innings, nine hits, two runs, seven strikeouts, and two walks. The lefty threw 98 pitches.

Just one of the nine hits Crochet allowed went for extra bases, and many of the hits were ground balls that made it through the infield. Still, the All-Star looked slightly off on Sunday. He missed with his fastball high and to the arm-side frequently and didn’t execute with two strikes as well as he usually does, but ultimately fought through five innings.

The Red Sox are just two games back in the American League Wild Card chase. Crochet was asked about how these games influence the team’s direction, and expressed his views on where they stand ahead of the trade deadline.

“You want to do as good of a job as you can as a clubhouse and as a unit to make sure ownership knows there’s a reason to buy in,” Crochet said, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “I think that right now we’re giving them plenty of reasons.”

Crochet was named an All-Star after the game. He’s slated to start one more time before the break, likely against the Tampa Bay Rays.