Boston Red Sox Ace Garrett Crochet Continues to Etch Name in MLB History Books

The Boston Red Sox were already the hottest team in baseball entering the weekend, but having Garrett Crochet take the bump took them to new heights.

Crochet got the start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, trying to keep his team's eight-game winning streak alive. The Red Sox lineup didn't help much in that regard, scoring just one run in the contest.

As it turned out, though, that's all Boston would need to win its ninth consecutive game.

Crochet notched the first complete game shutout of his career, racking up nine strikeouts across 9.0 scoreless frames while allowing three hits and zero walks. The 26-year-old left-hander improved to 10-4 in the process, carrying a 2.23 ERA, 1.036 WHIP, 160 strikeouts and a 4.1 WAR into the All-Star break.

As noted by ESPN's Paul Hembekides, Crochet's 160 strikeouts are good for the second-most by a pitcher through their first 20 games with the Red Sox. Chris Sale racked up 200 to open his time in Boston in 2017, while Pedro Martinez had 156.

The club's former director of media relations, J.P. Long, added that Crochet is one of five players in MLB history who has recorded 160-plus strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA or lower in their first 20 appearances with a new team. He joins Hideo Nomo, Roger Clemens, Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole as the pitchers who have achieved the feat.