KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Instant reactions as Garrett Crochet beats Royals lefty Cole Ragans and Rafael Devers has four hits as the Red Sox (21-20) beat Kansas City, 10-1, in an all-around well-played game for Boston:
1) The reports of Crochet’s fastball being dead turned out to be premature. After averaging just 94 mph with his four-seam fastball and ranging from 93-95.7 mph with the offering in a strange start Sunday against Texas, he was throwing heat again Saturday. The lefty maxed out at 98.5 mph (in the seventh) and averaged 96.7 mph — up a tick from his season average.
Crochet gave up three hard-hit balls in the first inning but needed just six pitches to shut down the Royals’ threat and end the inning with back-to-back strikeouts. From there, it was a rather easy outing until the seventh, when the Royals loaded the bases before Crochet punctuated his outing with a 97.8 mph fastball to strike out Bobby Witt Jr.
Boston’s ace improved to 4-2 and he has a 1.93 ERA through nine starts. On Saturday, he struck out nine batters while allowing seven runs and issuing a single walk in seven innings. He threw 106 pitches, his third most in 2025.
2) Devers sure isn’t letting all the drama about his positional future impact him at the plate. The designated hitter (for now) had four hits, reached base five times and drove in three runs. His day consisted of a single (first), RBI double (third), RBI single (fifth), walk (seventh) and RBI single (eighth).
It was the 15th four-hit game of Devers’ career and the second of his season. It was even more impressive with three hits coming against Ragans, a tough lefty.
3) This felt like a sneaky big win for the Red Sox, and not just because the headlines have been dominated by off-field developments for 48 hours. It was a well-played win against the hottest team in baseball — Kansas City had won seven in a row and 16 of 18 — and a day when Boston’s stars (Crochet and Devers, mainly) were as advertised. That Crochet out-dueled Ragans, a fellow 2024 All-Star and one of the best young pitchers in baseball, was a win as well.
4) Trevor Story turned around a horrible day with one big swing in the seventh. To start the game, he struck out three times in a row — and was 7-for-65 (.108) with 25 strikeouts in a recent slump. To make matters worse, he booted an easy grounder in the sixth for a fielding error. Then, with two men in scoring position, he got a breaking ball from Angel Zerpa and didn’t miss it, clearing the left-field wall for a three-run homer.
It was his Story’s first homer since April 18… and believe it or not, his first extra-base hit since that big swing in Chicago against the White Sox. The blast snapped a 79-plate appearance streak without an extra-base hit.
5) Old friend Hunter Renfroe, who entered the day just 12-for-80 (.150) on the season, had two hits against Crochet. The slugger spent the last six years with seven different teams but is now back in Kansas City for the second straight season. It’s his longest stint with the same club since the four years to start his career with San Diego (2016-2019)
6) Boston’s bullpen needed a long outing from Crochet after seven relievers pitched Friday. The one who didn’t, Liam Hendriks, was tasked with the eighth, then Brennan Bernardino, who threw just eight pitches Friday, cleaned up the ninth. The relief group should be in good shape for Sunday’s rubber game.
Crochet’s outing was his fourth of 7+ innings this season. That’s tied for the major league lead with New York’s Max Fried and San Francisco’s Logan Webb.
7) Carlos Narváez doesn’t get all that many hits but he provides some pop from the catcher’s spot. His fourth homer of the year made it 9-1 in the eighth and was his second of a career-high three hits.
The ex-Yankee has just 23 hits all season (he’s hitting .245) but nine of them are of the extra-base variety.
8) The Red Sox will need a big rebound start from Lucas Giolito (0-1, 8.38 ERA) in Sunday’s series finale after he had a blow-up outing last time out. The Royals will send reigning All-Star Seth Lugo (3-3, 2.84 ERA) to the hill. First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. ET.
The Sox will then fly to Detroit for three straight night games against the Tigers, who has of Saturday night, have the best record in the American League at 26-13.
