Garrett Crochet put rocky first inning behind him to deliver another dominant start for the Red Sox

Garrett Crochet delivered once again as the Red Sox’ ace pitcher on Saturday, even after facing some adversity early on against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While many of the teams that faced Crochet in 2025 struggled to generate scoring early in his starts, the Dodgers got out in front of him from the onset. Both Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez homered off Crochet in the first inning, setting the tone for a rough night at Fenway Park.

But Crochet settled into the game in the second and third innings, and became a major reason the Red Sox were able to mount a comeback and beat the Dodgers 4-2. Crochet pitched six full innings and struck out 10 batters. He got hit a little more than usual — eight times — but kept the Dodgers off the scoreboard after his rocky first inning.

Alex Cora credited the lefty’s adaptability after the win.

“He did an amazing job. He’s versatile enough that he can change his gameplan throughout the evening,” Cora told reporters. “Seems like they were on the fastball early on, there were some loud outs even in the second inning. But then he settled down, gave us what we needed.”

Despite that comment from his manager, Crochet told reporters he didn’t change too much of his approach — at least not after the first inning alone. His reasoning was simple, and a small glimpse into the mindset that likely helped him wipe away the early misfires.

“I made two bad pitches,” Crochet said, half-jokingly, adding that he had to see those pitches multiple times throughout the night courtesy of the FOX broadcast.

The Dodgers were opportunistic to make him pay for those pitches, but they weren’t able to cash in on any others throughout the night.

Through 22 outings, Crochet has thrown 175 strikeouts and commands a 2.23 ERA. His race for the American League Cy Young with Tarik Skubal remains tightly contested, but if Crochet edges out the Detroit Tigers ace, he’ll be the first Red Sox pitcher to win the award since Rick Porcello in 2016.

Crochet has been everything the Red Sox could have hoped for when they traded for the 26-year-old in the offseason. And he helped Boston score a much-needed win against the reigning World Series champions on Saturday.