Garrett Crochet didn’t sugarcoat it.
After the Boston Red Sox dropped their fifth straight game — a 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros on Wednesday night at Daikin Park — the ace looked straight into the cameras and delivered a brutally honest assessment.
“It’s embarrassing…”
Crochet allowed five runs over five innings, including a back-breaking three-run homer by Carlos Correa in the fifth that put the game out of reach. The Red Sox are now 1-5 on the season, their worst start since 2019, and have been thoroughly dominated on this opening road trip.
The Astros swept the series, outscoring Boston 23-7 across three games. The Red Sox led for a combined total of just half an inning the entire series.
After the game, Crochet refused to make excuses.
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“It’s embarrassing… And typically in the past, I’ve played that stopper role. And today I just let the guys down … it’s not acceptable,” he said.
The left-hander was especially hard on himself for the first inning. Willson Contreras gave Boston a quick 1-0 lead with an RBI single, but Crochet immediately surrendered the lead in the bottom half. He called that sequence completely unacceptable.
Crochet had settled down somewhat, striking out the side in the fourth, but the fifth inning unraveled everything. After Yordan Alvarez was hit by a pitch, Correa crushed a hanging sweeper for a three-run homer that made it 5-2. Crochet knew the mistake the second it left his hand.
A Rough Road Trip Comes to an End
Boston’s offense showed some late life, with Wilyer Abreu launching his third homer of the season in the eighth and Roman Anthony hitting a pinch-hit homer in the ninth. But it wasn’t nearly enough.
The numbers from the six-game road trip are ugly: just 17 runs scored, while the pitching staff has surrendered 11 home runs. Trevor Story went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and an error on Wednesday and called the team’s performance “unacceptable.” Rookie Caleb Durbin remained hitless, now 0-for-18 in his Red Sox career.
The team now returns home for a much-needed day off on Thursday before hosting the San Diego Padres in Friday’s home opener at Fenway Park.
Crochet acknowledged the frustration but said he expects a strong response once the Red Sox get back to Boston.
Right now, though, there’s no hiding from the truth. As their own ace put it best: it’s embarrassing.
The Red Sox have been put on notice. Friday at Fenway can’t come soon enough.