FORT MYERS, Fla. - A stellar performance by Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet backed by a solid offense, helped drive Boston (6-4) to a 4-2 victory over Tampa Bay (4-6). Crochet was lights out in his third spring training outing, while the Boston bats put on a show with 10 hits to round out the day.
Crochet wasted no time establishing his dominance on the mound and was electric through his three-inning, forty four pitch outing.
The lefty flame thrower struck out three and only allowed one hit in the top of the first. He tacked on one more strikeout in the second, before the Red Sox bats came alive. In the bottom of the inning, Trayce Thompson smacked the ball to center field for a double to send Connor Wong home, and give Boston a quick 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third, Crochet punched three more tickets to bring his total to seven on the day and kept the Rays offense quiet. He walked back to the dugout with a roaring applause of admiration from the home crowd.
Aroldis Chapman took over on the mound to start the fourth inning.
Tampa Bay made a little noise in the top of the fifth after Eloy Jiménez singled on a line drive to third to score Bob Seymour, and tie the game, 1-1. However, Boston rallied in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-1 lead that started with an Alex Breggman triple. Andy Lugo entered as a pinch runner for Bregman, and scored on a fly ball by Masataka Yoshida. Yoshida also touched home plate after David Hamilton ripped an RBI single to conclude the inning.
Growing more confident, the Rays cut Boston’s lead as Seymour grounded out to score Jonathan Aranda to make the score 3-2 after the top of the sixth. However, the Red Sox continued to show up on offense as an RBI double by Lugo drove in another run to make it 4-2 to wrap up the inning.
Both teams were silent at the plate during the seventh and eighth innings. Right-hander Wyatt Mills came out of the bullpen for Boston, and shut down the game with one strikeout to make 4-2 the final score.
Tomorrow, the Red Sox travel to Dunedin, Florida, for a contest against the Toronto Blue Jays. First pitch is slated for 1:07 p.m. ET.
*recap written for the 5/5 game at jetBlue Park.
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