By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Former Ocean Springs standout pitcher Garrett Crochet just compiled by far his best season in Major League baseball.
However, the biggest start of his career to date is set for Tuesday.
Crochet, the southpaw ace of the Boston Red Sox pitching staff, is set to face the New York Yankees in game one of the American League Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium at 5 p.m., CST
Boston finished in third place in the American League East, while both Toronto and New York both finished with a 96-68 record atop the division. The Blue Jays are the No. 1 overall seed in the American League, while the Yankees are No. 4 and the Red Sox No. 5 so the Red Sox will play the Yankees in a best-of-three affair with a trip to the American League Division Series on the line.

Crochet was dominant in his first season in Boston, compiling an 18-5 record, 2.59 ERA, 1.028 WHIP and an MLB-leading 255 strikeouts. He is considered one of the favorites to win the AL Cy Young Award this season. But Crochet wasn’t thinking about his regular season succees after picking up a win over Toronto late last week.
“The next one, man. That’s what I’m looking forward to right now,” He told reporters after that win. “There will be time to be happy about this when the off-season hits, but we intend on that being a month away.”
Crochet was traded from the Chicago White Sox to Boston ahead of the 2025 season. He played for Chicago from 2020-24.
He faced the Yankees four times this year, and went 3-0 with a 3.29 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 27 ¹/₃ innings. The only game in which he did not record a win against the Yankees this season was in June, when Aaron Judge broke up his shutout with a game-tying home run in the ninth inning, only for the Red Sox to win it in 10 innings. 

The Red Sox won the season series 9-4, which included winning eight straight games before the Yankees took two of three at Fenway Park earlier this month. 
“One of the game’s best, obviously,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Monday. “He’s had success against us.”
Crochet wrapped up his first regular season with the Boston Red Sox with another gem on the mound. He shut the Blue Jays down for eight innings in Toronto on Wednesday night, leading Boston to a 7-1 win.
“Every five days, it feels like it’s win day,” Red Sox manger Alex Cora. “That’s the reason he’s here. We needed an ace. We got an ace.”