White Sox ruin Crochet’s no-hit bid, but can’t sweep Boston

Boston manager Alex Cora admitted to rooting against Garrett Crochet throwing a no-hitter against the White Sox on Sunday afternoon.

He got his wish when Chase Meidroth, one of the players acquired in the Crochet trade, bounced a single into left field with one out in the eighth inning. Crochet finished five outs short of history, but the Red Sox hung on to win 3-1 and avoid getting swept at Rate Field.

“Honestly, I've never been so happy for the opponent to get a hit,” Cora said after the game. “Chase got a hit, I'm like, 'OK, we can move on.'”

Cora was worried about the pitches piling up. Once Meidroth's hit reached the outfield, the Boston manager couldn't exit the dugout fast enough to make a change. Crochet got a nice ovation from South Side fans as he left the game

The last Red Sox no-hitter was thrown by former Cub Jon Lester vs. Kansas City on May 19, 2008.

Crochet's pitch count wasn't crazy or anything, he finished with 96. But Boston's new ace threw 107 and 102 pitches in his two previous outings, which created concern.

“Even the ninth was going to be like, 'Eh, we'll see what happens,'” Cora said. “You've got to make decisions. It's not easy, man. You've got a chance to do something special, but at the same time you have to balance our season. Without him, it's going to be hard. He threw 96, he got the W, so we're all happy now.”

Meidroth, after playing in his third big-league contest, flashed a little intensity in the clubhouse by refusing to find any irony in being the one to break up Crochet's no-hitter.

“Shorten up, put something in play, try to get something going,” Meidroth said. “He threw a good game today.”

Crochet, on the other hand, was always one of the White Sox' best quotes, so he had plenty to say about the trade coming full circle.

“I thought that was pretty funny, too,” the 6-foot-6 left-hander said. “I don’t really have anything to say about it. He put a good swing on the ball.

“That’s actually the spot I want to throw the cutter, so I’m OK with it. Looking back at the swing, I think I did fool him a little bit. He’s a good bat-to-ball guy. Doesn’t swing and miss a ton. I got him with a sweeper in the second at-bat so I didn’t really love the idea of going back to the sweeper.”

This was a baby steps kind of weekend for the White Sox. They won their first series of the season, didn't get no-hit and actually had a chance to take the lead in the eighth inning.

Trailing 2-0, Brooks Baldwin greeted reliever Garrett Whitlock with a single to center. Meidroth made an aggressive dash to third base and Baldwin took second on the throw.

“We're still fighting,” Baldwin said. “It doesn't matter how many hits we've got on the board, how many runs, we're still on the gas pedal from pitch one to the end.”

Matt Thaiss followed with a hard-hit single, which scored 1 run, then the White Sox had the go-ahead runs in scoring position with one out after pinch-runner Greg Jones stole second.

But they couldn't get that next RBI. Pinch hitter Josh Palacios just missed extra bases with a foul liner to right, then struck out. Miguel Vargas ended the inning with a shallow fly to left. In the top of the ninth, Trevor Story homered to stretch Boston's lead.

This was another nice start by Danvers, Mass. native Shane Smith. He threw 5 scoreless innings, then was touched in the sixth when Story hit a two-out, 2-run double to the right field corner. Baldwin just missed making a nice catch, but the ball also would have landed on the concourse without a strong wind blowing in.

Three starts into his big-league career, Smith has a 2.04 ERA, but no wins yet.

“I got a lot of early contact, which was good,” he said. “I don't think I was in the zone as much as I was in the previous two.”

A three-sport star through high school, Smith said he only went to a couple Red Sox games growing up, but did make it to a World Series parade.

“It was pretty cool,” he said of facing his hometown team. “I tried not to think about it today. The first two games of the series is cool to see the Red Sox. They have a tough lineup, it's cool to see the big names there, but I'm definitely not thinking about it today.”