Kutter

Crawford

Crawford gave up five hits, walked four and struck out six. He allowed a two-run home run to Junior Caminero in the third inning and four runs on singles in the fifth inning before he was removed. Crawford finishes the year 9-16 with a 4.36 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 175 strikeouts in 183 2/3 innings. The strikeout total is nice, but his 4.35 xFIP suggests he wasn’t unlucky to have that ERA. If anything, his .247 BABIP suggests he was fortunate to have a 1.12 WHIP given his career BABIP is .271.

Crawford struck out seven and walked none in shedding his six-start losing streak. The Red Sox are just 10-22 with him on the mound this season, even though he’s been an above average starter for a pretty average team. He’ll pitch against the Rays in his final start.

It’ll be a split doubleheader, with the first game starting at 12:35 p.m. EDT and the second starting at 5:35 p.m. EDT. The Red Sox will have Nick Pivetta go in Game 1, followed by Saturday’s scheduled starter Kutter Crawford. The Twins will stay in order with Pablo López in Game 1 and Zebby Matthews in Game 2.

Most of the damage came in the third, when Juan Soto singled in between homers from Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge. The Soto hit and both pitches in the Judge at-bat couldn’t have been more middle-middle, and Crawford definitely got what he deserved. This makes six straight losses fur Crawford, though this is the first time in the sequence that he’s allowed more than three runs. He’s now 8-15 with a 4.19 ERA on the season. He’s the first Red Sox pitcher to lose 15 games since Rick Porcello lost 17 in 2017 and the second since Porcello lost 15 in 2015. The only other Red Sox pitcher to lose 15 games this millennium was Frank Castillo in 2002. Crawford is due to face the Twins next weekend.

It’s a fifth straight loss for Crawford. The last three have been quality starts, and none have been bad; he’s given up a total of 12 runs over 29 1/3 innings during the stretch. Alas, the offense has completely abandoned him. It hardly seems fair that Crawford is 8-14 with a 4.08 ERA and Tanner Houck is 8-10 with a 3.24 ERA while Brayan Bello is 13-7 with a 4.70 ERA for the same Red Sox team. If only the other two could follow Bello’s lead and learn how to win. Crawford will likely make his next start Sunday in the Bronx against the Yankees.

As has been the case all season, the big hit against Crawford was a home run. This time it was a two-run shot by Franciso Lindor in the third inning. It was the only hit Crawford would allow while striking out eight, walking two, and posting a 34 percent whiff rate and 30 percent CSW. There’s not much to fault in his effort by Crawford, who will now take a 4.08 ERA into a tough two-start week against the Orioles and Yankees next week. In shallower leagues, we could see benching him for both.

Crawford gave up six hits, walked two and struck out three. It wasn’t a big strikeout game for Crawford, but he certainly pitched well enough to keep his team in the game and the Red Sox simply didn’t score any runs for him. Crawford had an 8.13 ERA in his last seven starts before Thursday’s start so it was a welcome sight to see him have a decent outing. He’s 8-12 with a 4.12 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 141 strikeouts in 155 innings on the year. The 28-year-old right-hander is set to face the Mets on the road next week.

Crawford wasn’t horrible or even bad, he just wasn’t nearly as effective as Zac Gallen, so he picks up the loss. It’s also fair to say he was far from dominant with just three strikeouts in his five frames, and he also issued a pair of walks Crawford still hasn’t gone six innings since July 13, and he’ll take a 4.22 ERA into a scheduled start against the Blue Jays on Thursday.

Crawford looked great his first time through Baltimore’s lineup, but wasn’t commanding his fastball particularly well. It was still generating plenty of swings-and-misses above the strike zone and it seemed like he was back on track after trending down for the past month or so. Then, he walked nine-hitter Ramón Urías to start the sixth inning and hit Colton Cowser with a pitch before Ceddanne Rafaela air-mailed a throw to first on what would’ve been a double play. Crawford was pulled and reliever Bailey Horn promptly allowed a two-run homer to Gunnar Henderson. Crawford hasn’t completed six innings since July 13th and hasn’t struck out more than five batters since July 2nd. He has a tough matchup with the Diamondbacks at home next time out.

Crawford threw a perfect game through five innings, but he started to fade in the sixth, getting a groundout to start the inning before allowing three straight hits and a walk. However, he left the game with only one run in before reliever Cam Booser allowed a single and two walks to bring in three more runs that were charged to Crawford. Still, it was a solid effort for the 28-year-old, who posted a 28 percent whiff rate and 27 percent CSW. He may be wearing down a bit under the innings workload and will now take a 4.21 ERA into a tough start against the Orioles this weekend.