The Boston Red Sox‘s 2026 campaign officially came to a close on Wednesday night, as they suffered a 9-2 loss at the hands of the New York Yankees in Game 2 of their wild-card series. Once again, the Sox got virtually no production on offense, while their bullpen fell apart down the stretch thanks to a bevy of head-scratching moves from manager Chad Tracy.
The most consequential decision from Tracy was his controversial decision to remove Sonny Gray from the game after 4.2 innings of work in favor of Erik Miller, who had just given up a crucial home run in Game 1 of this series the day before. Gray made it very clear after the game that he was not a fan of Tracy’s decision to pull him, and it seems like All-Star first baseman Willson Contreras agrees with his teammate.
Willson Contreras Makes Thoughts Clear on Chad Tracy’s Sonny Gray Move
In Game 1 against the Yankees, Tracy removed Payton Tolle after 4.2 innings of work and turned to Miller to face Ben Rice. Tolle was at 83 pitches on the night, but he had generally pitched well. The move immediately backfired, as Miller gave up a solo home run to Rice that woke up the rest of New York’s lineup.
Tracy’s decision to remove Gray in Game 2 was even more jarring, though. While a pair of runners were on first and second base, Gray had largely cruised through his outing, and this time, he was only at 70 pitches on the night. Tracy once again went to Miller out of the bullpen, and he quickly got burned again, with Miller giving up an RBI single to Cody Bellinger.
Gray did not hold back after the game when discussing Tracy’s decision to pull him, saying he would have liked to be trusted in that situation after putting together such a successful season with the team. When asked about Tracy pulling Gray out of the game prematurely, Contreras didn’t say anything, and instead pantomimed himself zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key.
Red Sox Finish 2026 Campaign With Dispiriting Series vs. Yankees
So much went right for the Red Sox in their mid-summer turnaround that resulted in them finding their way to the postseason. At the end of the day, though, this team’s weaknesses were too much to overcome. The lineup, which has been a weakness all year, did nothing aside from a pair of solo home runs from Contreras and Nick Sogard in Game 2, the bullpen faltered, and the lights were clearly too bright for Tracy, as every single move he made proved to be the wrong one.
Boston finds itself in the same exact spot it was in last offseason, as it clearly needs to make sweeping upgrades to its lineup in order to take the step forward it appears capable of taking. You’d think the front office would have figured this out after being subjected to the same fate in last year’s playoffs, but if it puts together another weak offseason of work, the Red Sox could quickly find themselves stuck in the purgatory of being a consistently mediocre team.
Red Sox’s Willson Contreras Takes Shot at Chad Tracy for Controversial Sonny Gray Move