Sonny Gray’s Wednesday night at Fenway Park was as clean and controlled as the Red Sox could have asked for. The veteran right-hander worked six scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox, gave up just three hits and struck out eight, and by the time he walked off the mound, he stood alone atop the American League in wins.
Gray’s 14th victory of the season made him the first AL pitcher to reach that mark in 2026. Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez was the only other MLB pitcher to get there first, but Gray claimed the league lead for himself with another polished outing.
The numbers tell the story of how little Chicago managed against him. Gray threw 53 of his 83 pitches for strikes, produced 17 swinging strikes and limited the White Sox to one extra-base hit. He issued two walks, hit one batter and still kept the game scoreless while Chicago put five runners on base.
Boston’s defense helped him escape one of the few real threats. In the third inning, Connor Wong cut down Sam Antonacci at the plate after Miguel Vargas singled, and Gray followed by retiring Colson Montgomery to close the door on the inning.
That was about as dangerous as the White Sox ever looked against him. Gray finished six innings for the fifth straight start and collected his 14th quality start of the year. It also served as a sharp response to his previous outing, when he gave up four earned runs over seven innings against the Athletics.
He did not need much help, but the Red Sox gave him enough. Willson Contreras got Boston on the board in the first inning with an RBI single that brought in Wilyer Abreu.
Then Abreu delivered the kind of swing that has been showing up all week, launching a 390-foot solo homer into the right-center-field seats in the third to push the lead to 2-0. Boston went on to win 4-0.
The home run was Abreu’s fifth in six games and his 20th of the season. It also gave Gray the cushion he needed on a night when runs were at a premium. Once Gray exited, the bullpen protected the lead and kept his bid for American League history intact.
Gray is now 14-2 through 21 starts, and his .875 winning percentage is as eye-catching as the raw win total. Boston has not always poured on the offense behind him, but the results have kept piling up anyway.
The performance came during a strong stretch for the Red Sox. They entered Wednesday on a six-game winning streak and had won 15 of their first 18 games after the All-Star break, a run that pushed them deeper into the playoff conversation and kept pressure on the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees in the AL East.
Gray has been at the center of it all. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 16 of his 21 starts, and even after missing time earlier in the season with a hamstring injury, he has become Boston’s steadiest starter. The Red Sox brought him in to upgrade the rotation, and four months into the season, he has done that and then some.
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