Red Sox Notes: Kutter Crawford Haunted By ‘Cardinal Sin’ Vs. Royals

Boston Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford took the mound in Wednesday night’s series finale against the Kansas City Royals with a chance to lead the team to its first sweep since the MLB All-Star break.

However, after allowing two runs through the first three innings of action at Kauffman Stadium, Crawford’s outing took a disastrous turn in the fourth inning. The Royals rallied to plate home five runs in the frame as Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino led the charge for Kansas City, ending Crawford’s night after 3 2/3 innings. The 28-year-old acknowledged that while the Royals were dominant at the plate, key mistakes, too, didn’t do Crawford any favors in putting away hitters.

“Lead-off walks are a cardinal sin in this game,” Crawford told reporters after Boston’s 8-4 loss, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I tip my cap to (Witt). He put together a really good at-bat. I thought I made some pitches and he fouled them off and I just couldn’t make that putaway pitch. … I didn’t get ahead, I didn’t throw enough strikes so you can point your finger at that in this outing — not throwing enough strikes. It’s just a really rough stretch I’m going through right now, probably the worst I’ve ever had in my career. But at the end of the day, we gotta wake up tomorrow, we gotta show up and keep working.”

Crawford walked four Royals batters, which was the most he’s allowed in a start since April 10 against the Baltimore Orioles. It was uncharacteristic but does extend an ongoing struggling stretch for Crawford. He’s allowed five or more runs through his last four consecutive starts, resulting in three Boston losses and 26 hits from opposing offenses in Crawford’s last 18 2/3 innings logged.

“Four walks, something he doesn’t do,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “And then the last two hitters he had in 0-2, right. He had Whit 0-2, hits a double down the line. He had the (Michael Massey) 0-2, he wasn’t able to put him away. Great at-bat by (MJ) Melendez to start off the (fourth) inning — 50/50 pitch right there, it was called a ball and we weren’t able to stop it.”

It wasn’t the strongest note to end the road trip, but enough to give the Red Sox a 4-2 record before returning home to Fenway Park.

Here are more notes from Wednesday night’s Red Sox-Royals series finale:

— Crawford has allowed 18 home runs through 45 innings pitched in the second half of the season, increasing the right-hander’s ERA from 3.81 to 4.11 after Wednesday night.

“I think as a staff right now, obviously we’ve been struggling a little bit,” Crawford said, per NESN. “Can’t say enough good things about our offense. Our offense has been carrying us since the All-Star break and they’ve been swinging the (expletive) out of the ball. As a staff, we just gotta get back to the drawing board and just keep grinding.”

— The Red Sox didn’t gain any ground on the Royals, who still sit ahead of Boston (by 1 1/2 games) in the American League wild card standings for the third and final playoff spot. Boston also trails the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles, both by six games, in the division standings.

“We’re in a good place,” Cora explained, per NESN. “We’re winning games and the bullpen’s good. Just execute pitches and keep going.”

— The Red Sox took the regular season series over the Royals, 4-2, as the offense batted .295 against Kansas City while starters recorded a 5.08 ERA.

— Boston is now 8-10 since the MLB All-Star break, still yet to record a series sweep throughout the second half of 2024.

— The Red Sox will next head back to Boston and get set to host the Houston Astros for a three-game series starting Friday night. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus 90 minutes of pregame coverage, live on NESN.