Red Sox defeat the Rays 1-0 at Fenway on 7/12: Notes on the best ballgame so far this year

Sunday 7/13/25

The best baseball game I've seen thus far this season was played yesterday at Fenway Park between the Red Sox and the Rays, with the Red Sox taking it--in a tidy two hours and eight minutes--by a score of 1-0. I'm not busting out the superlative because my team won, but rather on account that this was efficient, clean, crisp, error-free, exciting baseball. It's what you want from a game on a Saturday afternoon.

Garrett Crochet threw the first complete game--and shutout, obviously--of his MLB career. He was awesome. You're not going to see a big league pitcher perform much better than Crochet did yesterday. He struck out nine, and usually when you strike out nine, you're gone after seven innings because of your pitch count, but Crochet finished the day at an even 100 pitches thrown, with 72 strikes. When he missed the zone, he missed with purpose.

He now leads the league in innings pitched, which is another Crochet thing I didn't see coming when the Sox acquired him this past off season. How good has his first half been? Who are the "must watch" starting pitchers the Red Sox have had since the 1970s? Let's say Curt Schilling in 2004. Pedro Martinez from 1998-2002. Before that, you got Roger Clemens. Before that, Luis Tiant. Other contenders: 2007 Josh Beckett and 2013 playoffs Jon Lester. They didn't charge you up quite the same electrifying way, though. And spare me Chris Sale; guy was more likely to cough and be out for two years and then tell you how tough he was than he was to be worth watching.)

To this list I would add first half of 2025 Garrett Crochet. Will the workload catch up with him? It's not like he's on pace for 325 innings pitched, but guys do seem to blow out their arms so easily now. 200 innings pitched can be the death of you--for a while--in modern baseball, based on how these pitchers are developed, their training and throwing programs, and how much they strain and over-strain for velocity. Could Crochet be a horse instead? I hope so. What I know is that yesterday he was outstanding.

Aroldis Chapman was loosening up in the top of the eighth inning, but you sensed Crochet was coming back out for the ninth. I give manager Alex Cora credit here. A similar situation occurred against the Yankees about a month ago. Crochet returned for the ninth, and Aaron Judge tied the game with one swing. I still thought that was the right move. This is your best pitcher. The guy. Let him be the guy. Ride the horse!

Chapman was sitting down when the top of the ninth began yesterday, which I loved. This was Cora saying, "It's your game," to his pitcher. The Red Sox exhausted their bullpen in winning the day before after their starter, Hunter Dobbins, went down with what I thought may have been an ankle injury in the second inning, but it turns out he tore his ACL. What is it with all of the ACL injuries and athletes these days? Is it really that easy to tear one? I guess it is. Dobbins had just come back from the IL and was having a nice rookie year, so this is a legitimate loss for the Sox. He showed moxie.

What you had yesterday, though, was that Homeric quest that I've talked about with a starting pitcher. The starting pitcher embarks on a journey. It has stops--the various innings--and events, trials, reoccurring antagonists, and there is nothing better in sports. There's nothing better to watch. Nothing resonates the same way, or is so relatable. How is the starter doing? Will he get through this inning? What adjustments will he make? How will he handle this batter this time? What will he turn to in this key situation? Where will he find the strength? Does he have another couple miles per hour he can add to that fastball when he absolutely needs it? Can he outfox this batter on his third time up?

We mostly don't have that anymore. It doesn't exist when guys go five. We had it yesterday, and I loved it.

The Sox had 5 hits, the Rays had 3, because Tampa's starter, Shane Baz, was dealing as well. The Sox scratched across their run in the fourth, and it wasn't easy making it hold up. One of the things that made this game so awesome was that a good play would be bested by a great play. Like with the best defensive play of the season so far from Boston. The Rays attempted a safety squeeze with a man on third. The bunt was well-executed towards first. It was almost indefensible. Tie ballgame, right?

Not so fast!

Red Sox first baseman Abraham Toro, with no hesitation whatsoever, charged the ball and in a single, fluid motion, fielded it barehanded and side-armed it to Sox catcher Carlos Narvaez. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. If Toro had thrown the ball anywhere save where he did--which was basically where Narvaez had to tag the runner, without hardly moving his glove after catching the ball--then there's no way the run wouldn't have scored.

The runner was called out, and the Rays reviewed the call, which stood, as I knew it would, because even if the runner beat the tag, there wasn't enough there to overturn. The runner had hesitated a tiny bit when the ball hit the bat, but then again, that's how it goes with a safety squeeze. The Rays made a fine play, and the Red Sox made a better one.

Now that's the kind of baseball I'm talking about! That's winning baseball. Awesome stuff.

The Sox also got an excellent grab in the field from Trevor Story at shortstop. Story is a flawed player. He shouldn't be hard to pitch to. But, he'll make the pitcher pay when they throw him a mistake, and that's kind of how he lives now, offensively speaking. He's accountable. A character guy. I very much questioned whether he had the arm strength to play short when the Sox got him, but that arm strength has been getting better. He made a jump throw the other day that he wouldn't have been able to in years past with Boston. He can be a grit guy for you.

Another standout play and example of both teams doing something good: Jarren Duran came up late in the game and carved a ball--a tailing liner--to left. The Rays outfielder played this perfectly. Took the right route to the ball, fielded it cleanly, and came up throwing and fired a strike to second base.

When Duran hit the ball, I knew he'd be going for the double. Right out of the box. I also didn't think he'd make it without a bobble or an off-line throw.

Kids who play baseball should watch how Duran runs the bases. First of all, he was flying. This is Jarren Duran doing what he does best. How a guy this big, this jacked, runs like he does, I'm not sure. You see it sometimes with football players, but less so with baseball players.

But it's not just that--it's the route that Durran takes with his turns. He cut that corner at first base in such a way that he seemed to shorten the distance between first and second. He leans so far into his turns, but he also makes like he's cut out the turn, such that he's on a straight-line trajectory. And sure enough, he got in just before the tag.

Ceddanne Rafaela played second for the first time this year, and I don't think that's a bad idea, allowing he gives you at least average level defense there. You can do more of that. The Red Sox don't need to trade any of their outfielders. Not everyone has to play every day. And you have flexibility with Rafaela being able to play the infield. Unless you can get a legit starter, I think you keep Duran. He's not having the year he had last year, but there's still time, he's a playmaker, a catalyst, and though the rate stats aren't great, he's piling up hits, triples, and doubles. Warm months, winning ball, enthusiasm, a happy feeling going to the park...that kind of stuff can spark such a player. The overabundance of outfielders could be an asset for the Sox, rather than some problem in need of solving.

That's nine wins in a row for Boston, their best streak since 2021. I know there are some bad teams in there--the Rockies are one of the dozen worst teams in baseball history--which is what stops me from saying the Sox are playing their best ball since 2018, but they may be. They've won this series from the Rays and go for the sweep today. It'd be super to get that sweep and go into the break on a ten-game winning streak, but either way, this stretch may have saved the Sox' season.

Remember when they went a game above .500 and I said you were going to know what this team was now based on whether they built off of that or not? This is a start. And yesterday was just a terrific ballgame to watch.