Garrett Crochet Is Pitching With a 7.58 ERA and the Red Sox Are Running Out of Time to Fix It

Garrett Crochet needs a reset. Bad. The Red Sox ace is coming off the worst outing of his career, and Sunday afternoon against Detroit is his chance to prove last Monday was just a brutal outlier, not the start of something worse.

Here's what happened: Crochet walked into Fenway on Monday to face the Twins and imploded spectacularly. He gave up 11 runs, 10 earned, on nine hits in just 1 2/3 innings. He didn't strike out a single batter. His ERA went from a healthy 3.12 straight up to 7.58. For context, this is the guy who led the entire majors with 255 strikeouts last season across 205 1/3 innings. The 2025 strikeout king had nothing.

The stat that stings most: he allowed more than five runs and pitched fewer than five innings only once all of last season. Now it's happened twice in two weeks. Before Monday's disaster, Crochet had given up just 13 runs over eight prior outings, including a postseason appearance. He'd worked at least six innings in two of his first three starts this year. That stability is gone.

Boston's Bats Are Equally Broken

Crochet isn't carrying the weight alone. The Red Sox got torched 4-1 on Saturday by the Tigers' Tarik Skubal, a two-time defending Cy Young winner. Boston struck out 10 times and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position across six innings. That's pathetic. Back-to-back games now where they've scored one or fewer runs on five or fewer hits.

Manager Alex Cora knows the formula: "You have to chip away with aces. You have to make sure when you have your chances to cash in, get it close enough." First baseman Willson Contreras added the hard truth after Saturday's loss: "A 4-0 game in the big leagues, we can turn it around anytime. We couldn't find the way."

The Tigers Are Ready

Detroit won seven of its last eight games and snapped a nine-game road losing streak with Saturday's win. They're not worried about their 3-9 road record yet. Tarik Skubal made the point clear: it's a small sample size. The Tigers will counter Crochet on Sunday with their own southpaw, Framber Valdez (1-1, 3.75 ERA), who just threw seven innings against Kansas City on Tuesday and allowed just one run on four hits in a 2-1 win. Against Boston specifically, Valdez is 3-2 with a 3.10 ERA in six games.

The series is tied 1-1. Sunday's first pitch kicks off at 4:35 p.m., delayed three hours due to rain in Boston. Crochet said it best about bouncing back: "Trying to look at it like I would any start. It's tough to say following the last one, but that's the only way to separate." Now he's got to prove it.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.