Red Sox 4, Pirates 2: Triston Casas Injured in Pyrrhic Victory
Pretty cool thing alert! As of this moment in time, April 20, 2024, Kutter Crawford is the best pitcher in baseball. I’m not making any Cy Young predictions here. Nor am I saying I’m picking him first of the other 389 pitchers on active MLB rosters in a sandlot game. I am simply pointing out that, right now, he is:
That pretty much makes him the best!
Crawford made it through six innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, striking out six and surrendering only one run. It was actually one of his worst starts of the year. There was traffic on the bases all night, as he gave up more hits than he has in any other start, including his first double of the season, and walked three. But hey, not even the best can be at their best all the time.
Masataka Yoshida did most of the damage for Crawford on the other side, homering, doubling, scoring a run, and knocking in two. And, while Joley Rodriguez Joleyed things up, Kenley Jansen had his best outing of the year, locking down the ninth, striking out the side.
Sox win, happy Saturday.
Three Duds
The Frailty of Man: So this sucks. Triston Casas left the game with “left rib discomfort.” The word discomfort would seem to indicate that it’s nothing major, but Alex Cora didn’t sound too sanguine about things post-game, saying that Casas would be undergoing testing and that he was definitely “concerned” about the injury. While the Red Sox pitching has been outstanding, the lineup has lagged far behind. Suffice it to say, the Red Sox really, really cannot afford to lose Casas.
Bobby Dalbec: 0-4, 2 K, 1 RBI
Yup, gonna see a lot more of Bobby Bombs for a bit. . .
Joely Rodriguez: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 HR, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Not sure what else Alex Cora needs to see. Joely cannot be counted on to protect a lead right now.
Play of the Game
As I said, Kutter allowed traffic on the base paths all night. In the fifth, with the Sox clinging to a one-run lead, the Pirates loaded them up on two singles and a walk (and things could’ve been worse had Wilyer Abreu not made a diving catch in the outfield). But Kutter escaped with back-to-back Ks of Jack Suwinski and Joey Bart.
