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While a grind at times, Garrett Crochet’s start to his Boston Red Sox tenure has been relatively solid.

Meanwhile, budding Kansas City star Cole Ragans has been exceptional against the Red Sox during his career.

With Ragans on the mound, the Royals will aim for an eighth consecutive victory on Saturday night when they face the visiting Red Sox.

Kansas City’s Michael Lorenzen tossed seven scoreless innings in Friday’s series opener, while Boston rookie Hunter Dobbins did the same through six. Neither allowed a walk in a game in which the teams combined for just 14 hits, the first run wasn’t scored until the 11th and the Royals won 2-1 in 12 innings.

Runs could again be at a premium Saturday as Kansas City tries for its 17th win in 19 games.

Crochet (3-2, 2.02 ERA), who despite having allowed five walks, yielded just three runs off two homers over 12 innings of his last two starts. He surrendered only a solo homer during a gritty five-inning effort in Sunday’s 5-4 loss to Minnesota.

“I’m working on my mechanics, trying to just clean up command as a whole, velocity, as well,” Crochet said.

Crochet is 0-1 with a 1.86 ERA in seven appearances versus Kansas City.

Crochet, then with the Chicago White Sox, allowed a two-run homer to Hunter Renfroe, two other hits and struck out five without a walk over five innings in a 5-3 loss to the Royals on April 7, 2024.

Ragans (2-1, 3.79 ERA), meanwhile, was an AL Cy Young finalist last year, but has battled with inconsistency in 2025. However, the left-hander is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox – over the last two seasons, with both wins coming in 2024.

After giving up nine runs in seven innings from his previous two starts, then missing his next scheduled outing due to a groin issue, Ragans allowed three hits, two walks and struck out 11 over five innings of Monday’s 3-0 win over the White Sox.

“I feel like I’m in a good spot,” Ragans said. “Really close to where I want to be. Still some tweaks to be made, but overall, felt like I’m in a good spot.”

Boston star Rafael Devers is 2-for-8 with a double against Ragans. Devers, who singled and drove in the game’s first run with an RBI groundout Friday, is batting .365 with 12 RBIs in his last 13 games.

On Thursday, Devers said he would not oblige a club request to move from designated hitter to first base, in the wake of Triston Casas’ season-ending injury. Devers, who already switched to designated hitter from third base after Boston acquired Alex Bregman to begin the season, reportedly met with Red Sox owner John Henry, who flew to Kansas City on Friday.

“We felt it was important, based on the situation that unfolded (Thursday), to come out here and have an honest conversation about what we value as an organization and what we believe is important to the Boston Red Sox,” Red Sox CEO Craig Breslow said.

– Field Level Media