Aaron Judge Praises Garrett Crochet As 'Best Pitcher in Baseball' After Game 1 Gem

The Red Sox beat the Yankees 3–1 on Tuesday to take a 1–0 lead in their American League wild-card series.

Judge went 2-for-4 from the dish and struck out once on Tuesday. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Cy Young candidate Garrett Crochet pitched an absolute gem on Tuesday night, allowing one run on four hits while striking out 11 batters as the Red Sox took down the Yankees 3–1 in the Bronx. Boston now leads the American League wild-card playoff series 1–0.

Following the contest—which saw the Sox come back from down a run in the seventh—slugger Aaron Judge spoke about the challenges he and his New York teammates faced against the 25-year-old hurler, and made what was likely a painful admission:

"He's the best pitcher in the game," Judge explained. "He's gonna work all his pitches, worked a little more off-speed in there early on. We got the Volpe homer but couldn't really, when we got guys on, couldn't do much after that."

Aaron Judge on the challenges of facing Garrett Crochet tonight:

"He's the best pitcher in the game" pic.twitter.com/D0mYdmaAEQ

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 1, 2025

Game recognize game.

For what it's worth, Judge did find some relative success against Crochet, going 1-for-3 from the dish while striking out in the sixth.

The wild-card series between two of MLB's biggest rivals will continue on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, with Carlos Rodon set to to the rubber for New York while Brayan Bello goes for the Red Sox.

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