BOSTON — In his Fenway Park debut, Garrett Crochet had a chilly reception — thanks to the weather.

In frigid, windy conditions, Crochet’s first pitch crossed the plate with a game-time temperature of 35 degrees and a 23-degree wind chill. By the time he exited the game in the sixth inning, he’d thrown a career-high 107 pitches, but the Toronto Blue Jays got the best of him, pulling ahead 4-0 en route to a 6-1 victory.

According to Baseball-Reference, at 35 degrees, it marked the third-coldest first-pitch temperature recorded for a game at Fenway Park. The coldest first pitch logged was 34 degrees on both April 15, 2018, and April 17, 2003.

All nine Red Sox fielders wore ski masks, with only their eyes visible, while keeping their throwing hands in their back pockets to stay warm between pitches.

Crochet battled through five innings, holding Toronto scoreless before George Springer crushed a solo homer to center with one out in the sixth. That’s when the game began to unravel with defensive miscues a key reason.

Crochet with the HEAT. pic.twitter.com/oK5eVSs1oV

— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 8, 2025

Crochet surpassed 90 pitches after Springer’s homer and got a flyout for a second out as Ceddanne Rafaela made a head-first sliding catch. But then Alex Bregman’s errant throw allowed one runner to reach, Crochet walked the next batter and Kristian Campbell threw away another ball, allowing a second run to score.

The cold weather clearly affected grip on the ball, but the Blue Jays didn’t seem to have the same problems as the Red Sox.

“It’s tough, but both teams are playing under the same conditions,” shortstop Trevor Story said. “It’s one of those games doesn’t matter how you get it done, it might be dirty, it might be nasty, but got to find a way to get it done and we just didn’t do that tonight.”

Manager Alex Cora didn’t have anyone warming until after Crochet had surpassed 100 pitches. By then, he’d walked his fourth batter to load the bases. Zack Kelly entered the game and promptly gave up a two-run single to Bo Bichette before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a flyout to end the inning.

Cora said he didn’t regret not warming anyone sooner given how taxed the bullpen was the last few days and since Crochet had an extra day of rest after being pushed back because of the doubleheader Sunday.

“That’s our No. 1 guy, and he had an extra day, so we felt that that was a part of the lineup that he could dominate. We just didn’t make two plays,” Cora said.

Crochet finished with 5 2/3 innings pitched, allowing four runs, just one earned, on five hits and four walks, striking out five. He threw 107 pitches, just 65 for strikes, and induced 11 swings-and-misses.

Crochet intentionally dialed back his velocity sitting in the mid-90s because his command was off. Despite having pitched eight scoreless innings in Baltimore last week, Crochet said he hasn’t felt right in any of his three starts this season.

“There really hasn’t been a start this year where I feel like I’ve had my best stuff,” Crochet said. “Hopefully that’s because I’m building and they’re all going to come later in the year. But just not getting to the glove side very well with the four-seam or the cutter, a lot of overcorrecting with the two and just yanking and not really driving it there.”

He had a little trouble gripping the ball in the cold but also wouldn’t use that as an excuse.

“There weren’t any pitches where I felt like I threw and they slipped out of my hand,” he said.

Crochet described his signature cutter as his biggest issue so far.

“The cutter, I’m just leaving it with a lot of plate right now,” he said. “The swing-and-miss cutter, the fine-line, shadow-zone, strike-to-ball, I just don’t have right now. It feels like it’s either I overcorrect and yank or it’s a little too much plate.”

The one positive, he noted, was his ability to make back-to-back starts of 100-plus pitches after being on a strict limit last year coming off Tommy John surgery.

“I am grateful that I was given the chance to get out of the trouble that I created,” he said. “Obviously it didn’t work out.”

The defense, however, did him few favors. The Red Sox have been much improved in the field compared to last season, but the last few games have been sloppy, and the two errors Tuesday were costly.

“A routine error for Alex, and then the kid (Campbell) trying to make too much of one play,” Cora said.

Before the game, the Red Sox placed catcher Connor Wong on the injury list with a fracture in his left hand after getting hit by a bat in Monday’s game. While the team called it a fractured left pinky finger, Cora clarified the fracture is in the area between the left pinky and wrist. Cora added that the team’s hand specialist called it a best-case scenario, in terms of recovery time.

“We’ll take a look on a weekly basis. It’s a very small (fracture),” Cora said. “So hopefully he’ll be back with us sooner rather than later.”

In the meantime, Cora said Carlos Narvaez will catch a majority of the games.

The Red Sox recalled catcher Blake Sabol and right-hander Josh Winckowski while designating pitcher Robert Stock for assignment. Sabol doesn’t grade well defensively, but offers more on offense.

(Photo: Brian Fluharty / Getty Images)

Jen McCaffrey is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox. Prior to joining The Athletic, the Syracuse graduate spent four years as a Red Sox reporter for MassLive.com and three years as a sports reporter for the Cape Cod Times. Follow Jen on Twitter @jcmccaffrey