Top 5 Red Sox Playoff Performances vs. Yankees: Garrett Crochet’s Brilliant 2025 Start originally appeared on NESN.
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The Red Sox acquired Garrett Crochet ahead of the 2025 season to be an ace, but not everyone immediately bought in.
An injury history and limited sample size with the White Sox raised questions about whether Crochet could live up to lofty expectations in Boston, particularly as he went from a team that posted the worst record in MLB history to one with postseason expectations.
When the postseason rolled around in 2025, Crochet delivered for the Red Sox.
Here’s a look back at Crochet’s Game 1 start against the Yankees and why it ranks No. 5 on the all-time list of best Red Sox playoff performances against their AL East rival.
PREVIEW:Red Sox vs. Yankees Schedule, Prediction for 2026 Series
Garrett Crochet Performance vs. Yankees
In a tough environment with an energized Yankee Stadium crowd looking to get inside his head, Crochet pitched like an ace in Game 1 of the wild-card series against the Yankees in 2025.
After giving up an early solo home run to Anthony Volpe, Crochet gave the Red Sox all but four of the outs they needed, blanking the Yankees the rest of the way until he was pulled with a whopping 117 pitches.
When the Red Sox took a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning, Crochet quickly squashed any chance of a quick New York response with a 1-2-3 frame. In the eighth, Crochet struck out two of the three batters he faced before being replaced by Aroldis Chapman. At one point, he retired 17 consecutive batters.
Paint 🎨
Garrett Crochet ends his night with strikeout No. 11! #Postseasonpic.twitter.com/p0wtM1bq8a
— MLB (@MLB) October 1, 2025
Here’s Crochet’s final line:
- 7.2 IP
- 4 H
- 1 ER
- 0 BB
- 11 K
- 117 pitches
Despite a bases-loaded, no-out scare in the bottom of the ninth, Chapman closed out the Yankees in Game 1 for a 2-1 road win.
Why it Mattered
The Red Sox didn’t win the series, dropping the next two games at Yankee Stadium, but that was out of Crochet’s control at that point.
Brought in to be an ace for a Red Sox team that badly needed one, Crochet delivered on that promise in Game 1, setting the tone in a difficult environment with the season effectively on the line.
Beyond the dominance of 11 strikeouts and no walks, Crochet’s pitch count is what might have earned him legendary status for at least one night. 117 pitches in modern baseball, whether in the regular season or postseason, is a rare feat. Not only did Crochet give the Red Sox 117 pitches, but he looked just as dominant at the end as he did at the beginning, getting his last two outs via the strikeout.
The Red Sox would have been much happier had they won one of the next two games, but Crochet’s ability to set the tone on the road in that series elevated him from a talented arm into a legitimate ace.
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