Strong Kutter Crawford Starts Not Leading To Red Sox Wins

Kutter Crawford struggled out of the All-Star break and has an issue with pitches leaving the ballpark at a league-leading rate. Nonetheless, the young starter is in an improved stretch for the Boston Red Sox.

Crawford allowed three earned runs. all driven in by a pair of homers from Cedric Mullins, across 6 1/3 innings on 89 pitches. Unfortunately for the right-hander, that wasn’t enough to boost the Red Sox to victory in a 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Crawford has allowed three earned runs or less with at least five innings of work over his last five starts. The Red Sox have lost all five of those games and fell to 9-21 when Crawford takes the mound in 2024.

That’s a frustrating stretch for Crawford, though he knows he’s finding a rhythm and giving the Red Sox the starts they need to freshen the rotation.

“First full year starting, my goal is to try to stay healthy,” Crawford told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “Try to make 30 starts and throw at least 170-180 innings. It’s a good feeling, but we still got a few more. Two, three weeks left in the season. Still gotta keep going.”

The Red Sox still have a chance to take the series from the Orioles on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.