BOSTON — The only way to pull out of an awful season-opening stretch is one at-bat, one pitch, one win at a time.
Manager Alex Cora has preached slowing things down, and Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox finally did as ace Garrett Crochet outlasted the Milwaukee Brewers’ equally stealthy starter Jacob Misiorowski.
Crochet kept the Brewers off the board through six innings as the Red Sox offense battled Misiorowski, striking out 10 times, but eventually wearing him down in the sixth with Trevor Story’s two-run double, propelling the Red Sox to a much-needed 3-2 victory.
“I definitely felt like I needed to stop the bleeding,” said Crochet, who allowed two runs on five hits over 6 1/3 innings. “A night like tonight, you know who’s on the other side, you know you’ve got to be on your A game.”
Garrett Crochet’s stabilizing presence gave the offense time to wear down Jacob Misiorowski. (Paul Rutherford / Getty Images)
Misiorowski made it a miserable time for Red Sox hitters through the early innings in frigid conditions, striking out five of the first six batters, pumping 100 mph four-seamers by them. But the Red Sox stayed patient and extended at-bats as Crochet did his job keeping the Brewers off the board for the first six innings.
The Red Sox’s chances against Misiorowski were few and far between in the early innings as Willson Contreras recorded the team’s first hit in the fourth, but by the sixth as Misiorowski opened the frame with his 84th pitch, he began to lose control.
Unlike their first few games, the Red Sox quelled their chase rates late in the game and made the 24-year-old work as he loaded the bases on walks to Jarren Duran, Contreras and Wilyer Abreu before the Brewers turned to lefty DL Hall to face Story.
Story had been 0-for-10 on the season against lefties and battling through a rough start to the year, hitting just .130.
But there were signs the last couple of games he was starting to break out. Monday, Cora moved Story from the No. 2 to the No. 5 spot in the order. He slashed an RBI single in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third. But when he heard after the game that Isiah Kiner-Falefa was starting Tuesday, he thought Cora might be giving him an off day.
Cora was in his office when Story entered for a visit. He wanted to make sure he was playing. Cora assured Story that Kiner-Falefa was playing third.
“I love playing, and I think the way to get out of (a slump) is through playing,” Story said after the win. “Sometimes there’s time for a day off, but I felt like Monday was a big step in the right direction with my at-bats and hitting the ball hard and executing my plan better. So to me, creating more momentum and staying in there, no matter who’s pitching.”
Cora appreciated the shortstop’s desire to play through it.
“That tells me a lot, where he’s at,” Cora said.
With the bases loaded in the sixth Tuesday, Story proved Cora right. He fell behind 0-2 but then slammed a changeup to left field, driving in two runs to break open the scoreless game. Pinch hitter Caleb Durbin hit a soft grounder to second, scoring another run, giving the Red Sox some breathing room.
“Games like that with aces with elite stuff, when the window opens, you have to take advantage,” Cora said.
Far too often this season, the Red Sox haven’t taken advantage. And even when they have, they’ve coughed up the lead right away. That nearly happened again.
But Crochet buckled down before Zack Kelly escaped further damage. Crochet opened the seventh at 89 pitches and allowed two singles and a walk, loading the bases with one out. At 106 pitches, pitching coach Andrew Bailey visited Crochet on the mound, but the next pitch he threw hit speedy No. 9 hitter David Hamilton, forcing in a run.
“For me, going into today, (I was focused on) shut-down innings,” Crochet said. “I still failed at that today, but Kelly did a hell of a job just maintaining the lead.”
Cora turned to Kelly, revealing after the game Justin Slaten is dealing with soreness on his right side and will be reevaluated Wednesday. Kelly induced a hard grounder, knocked down by Durbin at third for an out, but another run scored, pulling Milwaukee within 3-2. A hard groundout to Story at short ended the inning.
Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman closed it out for a win the Red Sox desperately needed.
Crochet may have been miffed at allowing the game to get as close as it did, but his stabilizing presence gave the offense time to wear down Misiorowski.
“That’s why we call him ‘Beast.’ He’s our ace,” Story said. “He went out there and did what he always does and set the tone from pitch one, attacking, and he stopped it right where we needed to stop it. We needed this win tonight, and we got it thanks to Beast.”