BOSTON (AP) — Sonny Gray was almost overloaded with reasons to celebrate.
As if taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning and reaching 2,000 career strikeouts weren't enough, his brilliant outing Sunday night for Boston came against the rival New York Yankees — a team Gray once pitched for and hasn't been shy about disliking.
So after winning in a wild ending, Gray and the Red Sox were reveling in a four-game sweep at Fenway Park that marked their longest
winning streak this season.
“They’re at the top of our division right now. They are where we hope to be. So yeah, it was a good series and it was a pretty sick finish to the series for us,” Gray said after the Red Sox rallied for a 5-4 victory in 10 innings.
Actually, the Yankees are now a game behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East, thanks in large part to Boston's first four-game sweep in the rivalry since 2018.
Finishing it off proved difficult when New York scored two runs in the ninth to tie it and then two more in the 10th to take a 4-2 lead. But the Red Sox responded with three in the bottom half and walked off with a rousing win on Jarren Duran's game-ending single.
The chaotic ending nearly overshadowed what Gray had done hours before, striking out nine and shutting down the Yankees emphatically for 7 1/3 innings as Boston clung to a 2-0 advantage.
“I was just trying to do my part to win the game. That’s all I was thinking about other than executing a pitch," Gray said. “I just felt very focused. I wanted to come out and win the game and we did that.”
Gray didn't dwell much on the opponent despite his history with New York.
He pitched for the Yankees after a trade-deadline deal in 2017, but the following season ended up losing his spot in the rotation and was ultimately left off the Yankees' postseason roster. His time with New York ended with an offseason trade to Cincinnati. Stops in Minnesota and St. Louis followed before the veteran right-hander arrived in Boston this season, and he said he never really wanted to play for the Yankees.
While the last-place Red Sox (36-46) are still 10 games below .500, Gray said it felt pretty special getting to that point after what it took to win Sunday. He tipped his cap to Boston fans as he left to a standing ovation in the eighth after Amed Rosario ended the no-hit bid with a one-out single up the middle on Gray’s 97th pitch.
“I think in the sixth inning or something they started really like getting into it and it was cool. I appreciated that,” Gray said. “I appreciate them and it seemed like they appreciated the outing tonight. We need them. If we’re going to get back into this thing, we need them. And they were here for us this weekend, so I appreciated that.”
It was the first time since 1963 the Yankees were held hitless through the first four innings of three straight games.
Gray got some defensive help in the third when Wilyer Abreu robbed Austin Wells of a hit with a sliding grab in shallow right field after a full sprint to reach the sinking ball in time. Abreu also committed a pair of costly throwing errors late that helped the Yankees tie it and later take the lead.
Interim manager Chad Tracy said he still has plenty of confidence in his Gold Glove outfielder, as did his teammates.
“We’ve had a good weekend. Even though we gave up a couple of runs, the energy in the dugout coming in was like, let’s go win the game,” Tracy said. “There’s been times here in the past couple of months where that would have kind of crushed us, but that was not the case. They were fired up to try and get that done.”
Yankees starter Carlos Rodón had a one-hitter going after holding Boston without a hit through the first three innings. Caleb Durbin broke it up with a two-run single with one out in the fourth.
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