Crawford's 6 1/3 scoreless IP sparkles in murky finale

BOSTON -- Initially, Kutter Crawford was disappointed. After opening the season in the starting rotation, he was optioned to Triple-A Worcester last week when Garrett Whitlock was activated to join the rotation.

By the next day, Crawford’s mood had improved. Roughly 24 hours after he flew from St. Petersburg, Fla., to Boston, the righty learned that he would need to complete the unlikely round-trip for the finale of the four-game series against the Rays because reliever Zack Kelly sustained an elbow injury. In fact, he pitched three innings on that whirlwind day, which started with a 5 a.m. ET Uber to Boston’s Logan Airport.

During Monday’s annual Patriots’ Day game against the Angels, Crawford was heavily in the mix for the Red Sox, giving them 6 1/3 innings of brilliant relief (1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB 5 K’s) in his team’s eventual 5-4 loss to the Angels.

How rare is a relief outing like that?

The last Red Sox reliever to throw six-plus innings while allowing zero runs was Tim Wakefield on Sept. 2, 2002.

The last Boston reliever to throw six-plus innings while allowing zero runs and one hit or fewer was Scott Taylor on Oct. 3, 1992.

“Huge,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Stuff was great, command was great and he was efficient. I think it was 75 percent strikes, and quality strikes. The four-seamer was playing.”

When Crawfored entered the festivities after a rain delay of nearly 90 minutes, the Angels had two on and two outs in the third, already ahead, 5-1.

“Obviously the first pitch, when he goes there, that’s kind of like the game. If they score, it gets out of hand,” Cora said. “But he throws the cutter, gets a pop up to right, and then after that he was in control. He was really good today.”

Crawford figures to become a key part of the bullpen equation for Cora at a time the starting rotation has been consistently unable to pitch deep into games.

The 19 outs recorded by Crawford in relief represented a longer performance than all but one Boston start this season -- the seven sparkling innings from Whitlock on Sunday. With Crawford’s effort coming just one day after Whitlock’s gem, Cora was able to reset his bullpen heading into the upcoming three-game series against the Twins.

On a day Brayan Bello was hit hard in his season debut (2 2/3 innings, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K’s), Crawford gave his offense a chance to win the game. In the bottom of the ninth, the Sox had two on with just one out, down by a run.

Crawford didn’t just come out of the bullpen for the Red Sox on this day. He was their bullpen.

“After the [rain delay], I kind of just treated it like a start,” he said. “I had most of my pitches working in the zone. I was able to land my breaking balls for a strike early, and I think that set up the fastball later in the count.”

What happened to Bello?
Heading into Monday’s contest, the Sox were excited about the return of the 23-year-old Bello. The righty had tightness in his right forearm the first week of Spring Training, so Boston took every precaution to make sure he was 100 percent when he came back.

His day became a dud early. Fenway masher Hunter Renfroe took him deep in the first for a three-run homer. The Angels scored four times in the opening frame and once more in the second, and had Bello in more trouble in the third before rain ended his day.

“In the first inning, I had a little bit of trouble commanding my sinker,” Bello said. “When the pitch was in the zone, they made contact. I need to adapt. If I come into the game with a plan and it doesn't work, we need to change it. I wasn't able to do it today, but in the future, if the initial plan doesn’t work, we just need to adjust.”

It was a tough way for Bello to start his season, given how excited he was to get back. Next up will be a start in Milwaukee on Sunday.

“I just feel a little bit frustrated with myself,” he said. “I'll be able to deliver and be able to perform as I know I can out there. I just need to keep working and be better for the next outing.”