The Boston Red Sox season ended Wednesday night in the Bronx. A 9-2 loss to the New York Yankees completed a two-game sweep in the Wild Card Series. The Red Sox were outscored 18-2 across two games. The lineup managed seven hits in 18 innings.
The sharpest comments afterward were about a decision the Red Sox made in the fifth inning. Sonny Gray was pulled with two outs, 70 pitches thrown, and a 1-0 deficit.
He did not agree with the call.
Gray Says What He Thinks
Gray’s postgame comments left nothing to interpretation.
“I think I am the best pitcher in the American League going through the order the third time,” Gray said. “I think that’s a fact.”
He was not finished.
“I would have liked to live or die with me in that moment, but that’s the competitor I am,” Gray said. “And yeah, I think if you probably ask the guys, they felt the same way. I felt strong, I felt confident, I felt convicted.”
Then came the line that landed hardest.
“I would have liked to have been trusted in that moment,” Gray said.
What Happened After He Left
In both games, Tracy removed his starter in an identical situation: trailing by a run, two outs in the fifth, the pitcher still working efficiently. Payton Tolle got the hook at 83 pitches Tuesday. Gray got it at 70 on Wednesday. Both times, Tracy went to lefty Erik Miller.
Both times, it backfired immediately.
In Game 1, Ben Rice greeted Miller with a solo homer. In Game 2, Cody Bellinger lined an RBI single to right on Miller’s first batter, doubling the deficit to 2-0.
The game unraveled for the Red Sox from there. Garrett Crochet entered in the sixth and did not record an out. He was charged with four runs. Garrett Whitlock gave up a three-run homer to Bellinger. What had been a 1-0 game in the fifth became 9-1 by the seventh.
Tracy explained the logic the same way he had the night before.
“We’re trailing. We’re struggling to score runs,” Tracy said. “You feel like you’ve got to be aggressive and go.”
The Red Sox Locker Room Response
Gray’s frustration was not isolated. When Willson Contreras was asked whether he thought Gray should have stayed in the game, he did not answer with words. He mimed zipping his lip.
Contreras had already called the series performance unacceptable, saying the Red Sox did not pitch, did not hit, and did not execute. The zipped lip on the Gray question added a sharper edge.
Gray was effective. He was efficient. He believed he had more in him. And his teammates agreed.
Final Word for the Red Sox
In what may have been his final start in a Red Sox uniform, Gray was pulled at 70 pitches in a one-run game with two outs in the fifth inning. The bullpen gave the lead away. The season ended.
When asked afterward whether Boston was a destination he would want to return to, Gray’s answer was telling.
“I don’t know.”
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