It was a homecoming of sorts for Boston Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford on Thursday night.
Crawford, a native of Okeechobee, Fla., had several members of his family along with friends make the two-hour plus drive west to Tropicana Field to watch the right-hander take on the Tampa Bay Rays.
The show of support meant a lot to the 26-year-old Crawford as he made his sixth career start in the major leagues.
“It’s awesome,” Crawford said, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “They’re the main reason why I do what I do. They’re the motivation. For them to come and get to see me pitch on a big-league field it was worth it.”
Crawford put together a terrific performance through six innings, and although that’s the deepest he had gone into a game in his short Major League Baseball career, Red Sox manager Alex Cora decided to send him back out for the seventh. That’s where things began to unravel with the Rays tagging Crawford and reliever John Schreiber, who dodged an injury scare, for five runs in the stanza to rally from a 3-0 deficit and ultimately take a 5-4 victory.
Despite the seventh-inning blemish, Crawford still did more than enough for the Red Sox to win. He fired six-plus innings, allowing three earned runs and six hits while walking none and striking out six.
It was the third straight strong start for Crawford, who has stepped up with Boston’s starting pitching staff ravaged by injury. He kept the Rays off-balanced and after tossing six scoreless frames to begin Tuesday night’s game, Crawford had gone 16 1/3 innings straight allowing just a single run and compiling 20 strikeouts compared to three walks.
The emergence of Crawford, who spent part of this season with Triple-A Worcester, has provided the Red Sox with a reliable arm they can count on, and even though he’s on a roll, his focus is not on his individual success.
“I’m just trying to get the ball to third strikes and help this team win in any way I can,” Crawford said.
