Red Sox

Red Sox’ Kutter Crawford shuts out Royals, dazzles for third consecutive start

Crawford tossed his eighth straight start of at least 6.0 innings pitched Saturday.

By Kaley Brown

July 14, 2024

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After a shaky couple of months following his historic month of April, Kutter Crawford is back to his dominant self on the mound.

The Red Sox starting pitcher shut out the Kansas City Royals 5-0 at Fenway Park Saturday evening, marking his second straight blanking in as many outings. Crawford tossed seven innings of two-hit ball and exited the game in the eighth inning. He allowed one walk and hit one batter alongside four strikeouts on the day.

The right-hander received a standing ovation from Boston fans on his way back to the dugout in the eighth. Crawford talked about what that meant to him after the game.

“It was awesome,” he said of the gesture. “Any time you can have a performance like that in front of the Red Sox faithful here on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, it’s a great feeling. It almost feels like you’re on cloud nine and you just try to soak it all in.”

The right-hander’s latest commanding outing continues his scorching-hot stretch in July. Crawford has allowed zero runs in his last 15.0 innings pitched, has thrown six consecutive quality starts, and has notched at least six full innings in each of his last eight appearances.

The 28-year-old owns a 0.45 ERA and a 0.50 WHIP through three starts this month. Batters are hitting a measly .132 against Crawford and have hit just one home run off him in that span. In contrast, Crawford allowed eight home runs through four starts in June.

He has notched 15 strikeouts and allowed one walk in July, an impressive ratio that symbolizes the emphasis he’s placed on hammering the strike zone as of late. Furthermore, Crawford has thrown pitches for strikes more than 79 percent of the time in each of his starts this month (79.17 percent vs. Miami Marlins, 79.41 percent vs. New York Yankees, 79.17 percent vs. Royals).

Manager Alex Cora praised Crawford and talked about the pitcher’s recent success using all of the pitches in his arsenal postgame.

“He’s throwing strikes, man. … Pounding the strike zone with all his pitches,” he told reporters. “Efficient. A good one. He did an outstanding job. I look at the numbers — you know I don’t get caught up in stats and all that — but we look at our numbers and I know he’s been solid in every aspect. Throwing strikes, the stuff and all, but I look up and the ERA is down and the WHIP is down.

“For everything we’ve been talking about Tanner [Houck], Kutter has been there, too. Just posting every five days and giving us a chance to win.”