The first major league win for Boston Red Sox rookie pitcher Cutter Crawford was the team's first win of the season.
In a 4-3 win over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Sunday night at the Red Sox, the team relied on Tanner Hawke to help the team avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of their American League East rivals, but instead relied on the 26- Years old rookie Crawford to become the savior.
After using the bullpen in the first two games, Red Sox manager Alex Cora desperately needed the Hawks to produce some innings. Unfortunately, he lasted just 3 1/3 innings and the team had to turn to Crawford to spin a few innings and he certainly did.
Boston Red Sox turn to Kutter Crawford to score some innings
Coming into a 3-3 game in the bottom of the fifth, Crawford not only jammed out of that inning, but ironically dismissed both Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Judge in the sixth inning, you guessed it... Cutter.
The Boston Red Sox was able to lead the offense team to set up a memorable first victory for the organization's No. 25 ranked prospect. Shining in a moment on a grand stage like Yankee Stadium was special for Crawford and came at the right time for the club.
"It was an awesome moment," Crawford said after the game via MLB.com. "You know, doing it at Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry and Sunday Night Baseball is really special."
While Crawford's debut on Opening Day was something they forgot, they found some redemption in the weekend series and may have earned themselves more confidence from Cora looking for weapons other than Garrett Whitlock. That he can count on those middle innings.
"Cutter, we like him," said Cora. "He has good stuff. He commands the strike zone, he's really good at it, and he did an amazing job for us tonight."
With the Red Sox's bats calm to begin the season, the Red Sox need moments like these from a pitcher like Crawford. This not only elevates the team, but also instills more experience and confidence in that bullpen, a bullpen that holds it together in the final game of the series to record 17 outs.
While Crawford took the win, Jake Dieckman worked his way up the mound to earn a save by defeating the judges, Giancarlo Stanton and Joey Gallo. While the Red Sox don't have a set close, Diekman made his case by knocking them down in the ninth.
Then, when Cora's club desperately needed it, he told the players to step up.
"He was the closest today," Cora said of Diekman. "He's done it before. I remember in 2019 he pitched against us at home and JD [Martinez], it was July or around that time, and he was like, 'We need to get this guy .' The angle [is tough] on fastballs and sliders."
Well, thanks to Martinez for the referral. As far as the rest of the season goes, if the Boston Red Sox can get more of those relief performances from Crawford and Diekman, the team will be in prime position, especially as the offense heats up as we know it. that they will.