06/29/26 12:45:00
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06/29 00:44 CDT Sonny Gray loses no-hit bid against Yankees in 8th but Red Sox
rally in 10th to finish 4-game sweep
Sonny Gray loses no-hit bid against Yankees in 8th but Red Sox rally in 10th to
finish 4-game sweep
By DOUG ALDEN
Associated Press
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 fell 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 conclusion nearly overshadowed what Gray had done earlier, 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 with the Athletics in
2017, but the following season ended up losing his spot in the rotation and
being left off the postseason roster. His time in New York ended with an
offseason trade to Cincinnati.
Stops in Minnesota and St. Louis followed before the three-time All-Star
arrived in Boston this season, and he said he never really wanted to play for
the Yankees in the first place.
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
night. The veteran right-hander 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
two-time 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 Rodn allowed only one hit in five innings, Caleb
Durbin's two-run single with one out in the fourth.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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