Red Sox’s All-Star Pitcher Continues Putting Team In Position To Win originally appeared on NESN.
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The Boston Red Sox have now won four of their last six games after a 5-3 victory over the rival New York Yankees on Friday.
Despite not putting on his best performance and allowing three runs to the Yankees in 6 1/3 innings pitched, Red Sox star hurler Sonny Gray came away with a win to extend his record to 7-1.
“Not even close,” Gray said on Friday, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “I definitely wasn’t able to execute my strikeout stuff. I felt like my spin was at the bottom of the zone or, like, one ball under. I wasn’t able to put it in the sweet spot. They swung early. They swung often. And that’s a trend that teams are doing against me. So we’ll sit down and try to come up with a game plan moving forward.”
Though Friday’s outing against the Yankees was not one of Gray’s best starts this season, the three-time All-Star has consistently put the Red Sox in a position to win in nearly every one of his outings.
“You know the old saying about a veteran, savvy pitcher being able to keep his team in (most) every game? That’s Sonny Gray,” MassLive’s Sean McAdam wrote on Friday. “Coming into Friday night, Gray had made 10 starts and had allowed more three ones just once; in fact, he’s yielded more than two runs just three times in his 10 previous outings.
“Even for a team that has struggled offensively as the Sox have, Gray is giving them that proverbial chance. He was touched for three runs including two homers, but both home runs came with nobody on. He often measures his effectiveness by strikeouts and Friday night, it took him until the sixth to record his first.”
Gray has been an impressive addition for Boston this season, posting a 3.20 ERA with 44 strikeouts across 11 starts. Though he’s allowed one or more runs in all but two of his starts, he’s only allowed more than three earned runs in one outing, keeping the Red Sox in striking distance in nearly every game he’s appeared in.
Boston will need Gray to continue pitching well down the stretch if the team wants to return to the playoffs this season.
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