Pitching coach Ethan Katz enjoyed reconnecting with former Chicago White Sox starter Garrett Crochet in the days leading up to Sunday’s showdown at Rate Field.
Katz wished the lefty well with the Boston Red Sox — to a point.
“I’m glad he’s doing really well,” Katz said before Sunday’s game. “He’s doing what he did last year. No surprises.
“Today, he doesn’t need to pitch like that.”
Crochet, indeed, wound up pitching like that.
Displaying all the traits that led to a spot on the American League All-Star roster with the White Sox in 2024, Crochet took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Chase Meidroth, one of the players acquired in the trade that sent Crochet from the White Sox to Boston, singled to left with one out in the inning to break up the no-hit bid.
“Just shortening up, put something in play,” Meidroth said of his approach. “Try to get something going. He threw a good game today.”
The White Sox staged a rally against Boston’s bullpen but couldn’t complete the comeback and lost 3-1 in front of 18,840.
“He attacked us and credit to him,” manager Will Venable said. “But for us to be no-hit into the eighth inning by Crochet and in that inning, be able to get the go-ahead run to second base with one out and then, again in the ninth inning, get the tying run to the plate, I thought it was a great day where you have to do a lot of things well in other parts of the game for that to happen.
“Credit to our guys for hanging in there.”
The White Sox had to settle for taking two of three in the series after falling in the battle against Crochet, who allowed one run on one hit with 11 strikeouts and one walk in 7 1/3 innings.
“I felt like, for the most part, my heater command was good, cutter still working on that, but changeup and sinker played a big part in the game today,” Crochet told reporters. “First time through, no baserunners, I was feeling pretty good. And sadly, I was very aware of the no-hitter since the first inning, since the first batter. That’s just kind of who I am, I suppose. Blessing and a curse.”
Crochet said he didn’t feel any added motivation facing the White Sox, where he played for the first four years of his career.
“Just trying to think about it as every other start,” Crochet said. “I feel like I got burned a couple times doing that last year, facing specific teams and maybe over-amping or trying to keep myself as neutral as possible and I feel like the best way to do it is just be even-keeled throughout the game.”
Shane Smith pitched well for the White Sox in the loss, allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
“I got a lot of early contact, which is good,” Smith said. “I don’t think I was in the zone as much as I was in the previous two (starts), but I think the biggest thing was just finishing the sixth feeling stronger.”
The two runs came with two outs in the sixth when right fielder Brooks Baldwin couldn’t track down Trevor Story’s high fly near the wall, which landed for a double.
“I was shaded in a little bit there, trying to cut off a run to the plate on a single,” Baldwin said. “And as well as that ball was hit, it should probably have gone out without the wind. I tried to find the wall and found it a little late and by the time I found the ball again, I was not in the right place.”
All the focus turned to Crochet. He retired the first 15 batters, with Lenyn Sosa’s line out to left field in the fourth inning serving as one of the few hard-hit balls.
Baldwin led off the sixth with a walk. Crochet struck out the final two batters of that inning and the first two batters in the seventh.
Michael A. Taylor began the eighth by popping out to first base. Meidroth fell behind in the count 1-2 before hitting a cutter that was just out of the reach of Story at shortstop.
“He was aggressive,” Venable said of Meidroth, who made his big-league debut on Friday. “He’s a competitor and that’s just the kind of at-bats we’ve seen every time he steps to the plate. Great to see.”
Crochet found the irony in Meidroth getting the first hit for the White Sox.
“He put a good swing on the ball,” Crochet said.
That was Crochet’s final batter. He received a nice ovation from the crowd as he made his way to the visiting team’s dugout.
“He’s a great pitcher, a great arm,” Baldwin said. “We put up some good at-bats against him. He just made some better pitches.”
Baldwin and Matt Thaiss greeted reliever Garrett Whitlock with singles. Meidroth scored on the Thaiss hit, bringing the White Sox within a run. Pinch runner Greg Jones stole second, giving the White Sox second and third with one out. But Whitlock struck out Joshua Palacios and got Miguel Vargas to pop out to left.
Story homered in the ninth, extending Boston’s lead. Andrew Vaughn singled with two outs in the ninth for the White Sox, but Aroldis Chapman struck out Taylor to ensure there wouldn’t be a repeat of Saturday’s late-game magic for the White Sox.
“We are still fighting,” Baldwin said. “It doesn’t matter how many hits we have on the board, how many runs. We are still on the gas pedal from pitch one to the end.”
