Crochet thought it was ‘funny’ his no-hitter bid ended for this reason

Red Sox

“He’s a good bat-to-ball guy. Doesn’t swing and miss a ton.”

Garrett Crochet struck out 11 batters over 7.1 innings of work on Sunday. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet came just five outs away from pitching a no-hitter on Sunday afternoon against the Chicago White Sox.

But in an ironic twist, it was one of the prospects that was dealt to Chicago in order to bring Crochet to Boston that spoiled his no-no.

Chase Meidroth — who made his MLB debut against the team that drafted him in 2022 — broke up Crochet’s no-hitter with a one-out single in the eighth inning at Rate Field.

Given the links between Meidroth and Crochet, the Red Sox southpaw could only tip his cap to the the White Sox infielder after Boston’s eventual 3-1 win.

“I thought that was pretty funny, too,” Crochet said postgame, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “I don’t really have anything to say about it. He put a good swing on the ball.”

Meidroth’s single knocked Crochet out of the game, with Alex Cora immediately exiting Boston’s dugout after Meidroth reached first. The 25-year-old starter finished the game with 7.1 innings pitched, one hit, one run, one walk, and 11 strikeouts.

“I kept looking at the scoreboard like, ‘Oh, shoot. It’s gonna be tough,’” Cora told reporters, per NESN’s Gio Rivera, of Crochet’s pitch count. “Honestly, I’ve never been so happy for the opponent to get a hit. Chase got a hit and I was like, ‘OK, we can move on.’”

“That’s what he’s here for, right?” Cora added of Crochet. “It happened early in the season along the losing streak, and he pitched a great game, and we played better after that. Today was a big day for us as to get a (win) and move on. He was really good — really good. The stuff, halfway through the game, kind of took off and that’s what we expected.”

Crochet has been one of the few steadying presences on a Red Sox roster that has struggled to find traction so far this season. Over four starts this season, Crochet has recorded a 1.38 ERA with 28 strikeouts over 26 innings of work.

Meidroth was one of the four players the Red Sox dealt to Chicago in December in order to reel in Crochet, joining a haul of prospects that included Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, and Wikelman Gonzalez.

While Teel (MLB.com’s No. 29 prospect) and Montgomery (No. 51) were the two headliners in the deal, it was Meidroth that was the first Sox prospect to debut with his new team.

“That’s actually the spot I want to throw the cutter so I’m OK with it,” Crochet said of Meidroth. “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. Just playing the sinker game all day with him, I thought the cutter was the pitch to go to. He put a good swing on it, though.”