Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet dominated in Boston's playoff opener Tuesday, going 7 2/3 innings and giving up just one earned run while striking out 11 batters.
That allowed manager Alex Cora to go straight to closer Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning to eventually seal a 3-1 win, overcoming a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the ninth. Following the Game 1 victory against the Yankees, Cora disclosed that Crochet perfectly predicted his dominant start a day prior.
"It started yesterday," Cora said to reporters postgame via NESN. "We were joking around, for some reason our front office was in the bullpen checking out something over there and [Crochet] was in the dugout with me and I told him we should call the bullpen. And he's like, 'Tomorrow you're going to make one call to the bullpen.' I was like, 'Maybe two.' He's like, 'No, no, no, one. It's going to be straight to Chappy.' I was like, 'OK, I'll take that.' And that's how it worked out."
Crochet told Cora yesterday he was only going to make one call to the pen 🤯 ☎️
— NESN (@NESN) October 1, 2025
"He was in the dugout with me... he's like, 'No, ONE. It's gonna be straight to Chappy.'"
HIM. 🐷 pic.twitter.com/12xlHJSxzW
The lefty ace was spot on as he gave up just four hits and threw 117 pitches, allowing his team to go straight to their closer and keep the bullpen rested for the rest of the series. With Crochet's dominance, the Red Sox move one win away from the AL Division Series with an opportunity to close the door on the Yankees Wednesday as Brayan Bello toes the rubber.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alex Cora Says Garrett Crochet Perfectly Predicted Dominant Start for Red Sox vs. Yankees.
