Kutter Crawford gave the Red Sox the quality start they needed to complete a sweep of the Tigers.
Making his second start of the season on Sunday in Detroit, the 27-year-old righty pitched five innings of one-run ball. He allowed five hits, struck out six, and didn’t issue a single walk.
After facing six batters in a 22-pitch first inning prolonged by some shaky defense, Crawford settled in. He didn’t face more than four batters in any other frame, and sat them down 1-2-3 in both the second and fourth.
The Florida native kept the Tigers on their toes with five types of pitches. He primarily relied on his cutter and four-seam fastball, but also mixed in the curveball, changeup, and slider, with velocity ranging from 77.4-95.2 mph.
Even though he only needed 65 pitches (44 for strikes) to get through his outing, Crawford’s location was spotty. He threw more pitches out of the strike zone than in (36-29), and only got seven called strikes. Batters made contact 28 times, and he was fortunate that only five resulted in base hits.
Still, he successfully flummoxed the Tigers, getting them to swing at 36 of his pitches, with little to show for their efforts, and was rewarded with his first win of the season.
It just won’t feel like a victory for very long if they lose Adam Duvall for any significant amount of time.
The Red Sox were unable to complete the sweep unscathed. Attempting to make a rolling catch for the first out of the ninth, the tip of Duvall’s glove caught on the grass, pulling his left wrist in an awkward direction. He was visibly grimacing as he walked off the field with his manager and a trainer, but was able to wiggle his fingers as he went into the dugout and down the tunnel to the clubhouse.
The 34-year-old outfielder got off to a scorching start to the season. Entering Sunday’s game, he led MLB in runs, RBI, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, and total bases.
There’s an elevated level of concern given that a torn tendon sheath in the same wrist ended Duvall’s 2022 campaign after 86 games. According to Julian McWilliams and Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox moved quickly to get x-rays done.
A source told the Herald that Bobby Dalbec is flying to Florida to meet the team. He’d replace Duvall if an injured list stint is necessary, but no official roster moves will be made until Monday.
Quick hits
Triston Casas continues to prove that he can make quick adjustments. Facing a lefty-heavy pitching crew on Sunday, the rookie first baseman went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run scored. Leading off the ninth, he turned Chasen Shreve’s 90.8 mph four-seamer into a 401-foot, 107.4 mph home run. This improvement couldn’t come at a more opportune time; the Red Sox will face a very lefty-heavy pitching staff in their second and final leg of the road trip, a four-game set against the undefeated Tampa Bay Rays.
Kenley Jansen worked his way into and out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam on Sunday afternoon, pitching a scoreless ninth to cement the sweep. He earned his second save of the year, which puts him just one away from tying Craig Kimbrel for seventh-most in MLB history.
Alex Cora says he hasn’t spoken to Kiké Hernández about his struggles at shortstop, but called the super-utilityman’s play “robotic” twice ahead of Sunday’s game.
“It’s moving fast on him right now,” the manager told reporters. “I do believe that he’s forgetting that he’s probably one of the best athletes on the field and he’s becoming very robotic out there.”
When the Red Sox extended Hernández for another year last fall, the plan was to have him primarily in centerfield, but they had to make some rearrangements when they lost Xander Bogaerts in free agency and Trevor Story to UCL surgery. Hernández was their best internal option for shortstop, with 618 career innings at the position. but taking over the position in an everyday capacity has been a struggle thus far.
However, there was also praise within Cora’s critique.
“The same way you play second or the same way you play center: attack the ball, get rid of it. One of his pluses is this and the accuracy of his arm, so just go out there and be an athlete. I think he’s been too cautious, too perfect from my eyes,” Cora said.
Speaking of Bogaerts, the newest member of the San Diego Padres is still keeping up with his old club. He recent made an appearance on MassLive’s “Fenway Rundown” podcast and told Chris Cotillo that he remains in constant contact with Rafael Devers and has even been watching Red Sox games.
Next up
The Red Sox head south for a four-game set at Tropicana Field. They’ll have to contend with the undefeated Tampa Bay Rays, who stand 9-0 atop the American League East. No other MLB team has more than six wins.
According to ESPN, the Rays are the first team since 1884 with a run differential over 50 through their first nine games of the season.
The presumed pitching matchups for the series are RHP Nick Pivetta/LHP Josh Fleming, RHP Garrett Whitlock/LHP Shane McClanahan, LHP Chris Sale/RHP Zach Eflin, and RHP Corey Kluber/LHP Jeffrey Springs.
Whitlock is set to make his season debut on Tuesday. After season-ending hip surgery last September, the Red Sox handled him with care this spring. He began the year with a pair of minor league starts, opening Triple-A Worcester and Double-A Portland’s seasons.
Putting on the headset in the dugout during Sunday’s game, Pivetta told the broadcast booth what his biggest focus is this season.
“Limiting walks… putting batters away early, as fast as I can, so I can go deep into games,” the righty said. “It’s what starters are meant to do.”
Expect to see a lot of Rob Refsnyder in this series. He demolished lefties last year, hitting .359 with a 1.005 OPS in 38 games.
