BOSTON \u2014 The Red Sox weren\u2019t in a great place as a pitching staff Wednesday. <\/p>\n
The bullpen tossed 11 scoreless innings over the previous two games, particularly with 6 1\/3 innings after the premature ejection of starter Walker Buehler<\/a> in Tuesday\u2019s win. <\/p>\n That marked a great day for Garrett Crochet to get the ball in the finale against the New York Mets. Or so it seemed. <\/p>\n Crochet leads the league in innings pitched in just his second season as a full-time starter. He tossed 146 innings a year ago with the Chicago White Sox. While the Red Sox have let him eat in early outings, manager Alex Cora is adamant about protecting his ace.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to be careful, too,\u201d Cora said pregame. \u201cHe\u2019s very important in what we\u2019re trying to accomplish. It\u2019s a dangerous game. The conditions aren\u2019t great. Where we\u2019re at bullpen-wise is where we\u2019re at. We won the series yesterday. We want more, of course, but at the same time knowing it\u2019s 162. To do cool things in August, September and hopefully October, we\u2019ve got to be very careful.\u201d <\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n Indeed, they were careful. Crochet allowed just one earned run in 5 1\/3 innings. He struck out Juan Soto on his 85th pitch for the first out of the sixth inning. Following through on a decision made last week in preparations for the start, the Red Sox manager came to the mound to get his starter.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe did a good job,\u201d Cora said postgame. \u201cToday was one of those days we circled that we were going to be short.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t made aware of it before the game, thankfully,\u201d Crochet said. \u201cThat\u2019s the last thing on my mind when I\u2019m going out there to lay it all on the line. I have a lot of love, respect and trust in the front office and coaching staff here. If that\u2019s their call, I\u2019m gonna respect that.\u201d <\/p>\n The Red Sox dropped the game 5-1<\/a> to the Mets. Crochet certainly didn\u2019t hold back frustrations on the mound when Cora came to take the ball, but the ace reluctantly understands the vision of the coaching staff. <\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI was frustrated,\u201d Crochet said with a laugh. \u201cI just wanted the chance to pick up my teammates, the bullpen. They\u2019ve obviously worked really hard this series. I wanted to try and keep them out of it as much as possible. \u2026 I apologized for yelling a curse word when he came out there. I wasn\u2019t trying to show him up. I was just really in the moment. I knew where my pitch count was and how my body was feeling. I was really excited to attack the next hitter. It was in no way my intention to show him up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s tough,\u201d Crochet continued. \u201cLooking my teammates in the eye after a game, I\u2019d like to be able to do that after laying it all on the line. It is what it is. Not my call. I throw until the ball is taken out of my hand. I respect their decision. That\u2019s really all there is to it.\u201d <\/p>\n Despite a dire situation for the bullpen, Cora would not break on his commitment to ensuring that Crochet is fresh and ready to rock when games really matter in a postseason push, which only happens if the team breaks .500 tendencies, for the Red Sox later this season. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not tough, it\u2019s for the benefit of the player,\u201d Cora said. \u201cTo make his starts and for us to go to where we feel we can go, we need him. \u2026 We\u2019re going to find some days where we\u2019re going to take advantage of them, regardless of the situation. You\u2019ve got to put the player first. He was very upset in the beginning, then he was OK with it. Obviously, we were short (in the bullpen), but that doesn\u2019t dictate what we\u2019re going to do with our ace.\u201d <\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n Here are more notes from Wednesday\u2019s Mets-Red Sox game: <\/p>\n \u2014 Mets starter Tylor Megill tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts against Boston in just 4 2\/3 innings. <\/p>\n \u2014 Crochet struck out Soto three times on a total of 10 pitches. Soto did not take the bat off his shoulder for the first seven pitches<\/a> against the Red Sox starter. <\/p>\n \u2014 The Red Sox lineup struck out a season-high 16 times in the loss. Alex Bregman went 0-for-4 and struck out four times in a game for the first time in his career. <\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n \u2014 Boston dropped the finale for a third consecutive series. <\/p>\n \u2014 The Red Sox continue the homestand Thursday night as they welcome the Baltimore Orioles to Fenway for a four-game series. First pitch (weather permitting) is set for 6:45 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOSTON \u2014 The Red Sox weren\u2019t in a great place as a pitching staff Wednesday. 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