Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras didn’t hide what they thought about Boston’s decision-making after Game 2.
Gray, who was dominant and confident through 70 pitches, made it clear he wanted the ball longer. He did not finish five innings, but he looked as if he might be able to push through the seventh before manager Chad Tracy went to banged-up deadline lefty Erik Miller. Gray was then pulled from a do-or-die playoff game at the ballpark he despises most.
After the game, Gray was direct about the move.
"I'm the best pitcher in the American League going through the order for a third time. I think that's a fact.
I would've liked to live or die with me in that moment...ask the guys in here if they felt the same way. I felt strong, confident."
When asked whether Boston would be a place he’d consider returning to as a free agent, Gray answered, "I don't know." The moment carried extra weight given that he has hinted at retirement before, and after watching Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer get storybook sendoffs, he instead got lifted at 70 pitches in the postseason.
Contreras was just as blunt, and his frustration was easy to read even before he started talking. He made a zipping-the-lips gesture when asked about the hook, then launched into a broader critique of how the team leans on information.
"It's not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or computers that are telling you what to do. This is baseball. The data is here to help us...but you need experience and to bet on the guys to win games."
The sequence that followed Gray’s exit only made the decision look worse for Boston. Erik Miller allowed the second Yankees run of the game for the second straight day.
Contreras had homered in the sixth to cut the deficit in half, but he then ended up on the wrong side of first base when Adley Rutschman threw over, and a swinging Spencer Jones strikeout opened the floodgates. From there, the Yankees offense buried the Red Sox.
Boston had committed to both Tracy and Craig Breslow this season, and that faith was built around a 32-5 run that covered up plenty of internal tension and philosophical disagreement. Gray may have been part of what they lost along the way. In the end, though, the bigger issue was the same one that haunted them all week: the Red Sox got two runs in 18 innings, and no amount of data can explain that away.
In Other News...
Yankees Capitalized On A Red Sox Decision Fans Will Debate
Bostons early hook in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series ended up being one of the nights defining decisions, and it came at a point when the margin for error was already thin. Payton Tolle had mostly held the line, allowing five hits and one earned run over 4.2 innings, but Red Sox manager Chad Tracy went to the bullpen in the fifth with his club still down a run and handed the ball to lefty Erik Miller.
From the Yankees side, the move opened the door for Ben Rice, who made the change look costly by lifting a solo home run shortly after Miller entered. In a postseason game where every out and every matchup can tilt the outcome, the question lingers around whether Tracy acted a little too fast on Tolle or simply chose the bullpen path most managers would trust in that spot. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox May Have Created A Huge Roman Anthony Problem For The Bronx
Roman Anthonys return for Bostons final regular-season game was supposed to be a sign that the Red Sox were at least getting one key piece back in working order after a long stretch lost to a right hand injury. Instead, the night ended with another reminder that his availability is still very much an issue, and one the Yankees have reason to watch closely if these clubs cross paths again in October.
Anthony felt discomfort in the same hand during the game and left early, a development that only deepens the uncertainty around how much he can give Boston in the postseason. Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said the hand was uncomfortable and flared on a check swing, which leaves the Red Sox with a far less stable lineup than they would like at the exact moment the games are getting biggest. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Judge Just Became A New Yankees Optics Problem
Aaron Judges postseason absence has already been a major blow for the Yankees, but the optics around it have added another layer to the story. Left off the 26-man Wild Card Series roster because of the right calf injury that kept him from being ready for playoff action, Judge was still around the team as it prepared for October, with Aaron Boone saying he had made progress even if he was not yet ready for the full demands of a postseason game.
What stood out, though, was that Judge was also left out of the pregame introductions, a choice the Yankees did not publicly explain. Boone has stressed that Judge remains engaged with the group off the field, but for a player who is the face of the franchise, the decision only sharpened the attention on how the Yankees were handling his status and how visible they wanted him to be while he waits on the sidelines. [Read more 🡒]