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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Sonny Gray is a veteran of 14 major league seasons. He’s pitched for good teams and bad, and every kind of team in-between.
He knows that, regardless of the math, teams aren’t out of contention on the Fourth of July. So when he took the mound Saturday night against the Los Angeles Angels, he was focused on helping the Red Sox continue a good start to their long road trip.
But Gray also acknowledged that he carried with him some extra motivation. The All-Star Game rosters had been announced only hours earlier before first pitch, and shockingly, Gray’s name was not part of the American League team. This, despite the fourth-lowest ERA of any AL starter and a 9-1 mark.
“I mean, sure, I was disappointed for sure,” he said after pitching the Red Sox to a convincing 8-1 win. “Just being honest. Y’all know me well enough by now; I’m just me. I was disappointed for sure. Happy for Ranger (Suarez and Aroldis Chapman, two teammates who were chosen). Very well deserving for both of those guys.
“But a little selfishly, I was disappointed.”
Asked if he used the snub for fuel on the mound, he smiled and responded: “I used a lot of stuff for fuel tonight. Maybe that was a little part of something. But I was a little bummed for sure.”
Whatever his motivation, Gray was both effective and efficient. He briefly labored in the second when Josh Lowe took him deep for a solo homer and then a walk and single followed.
But Gray quickly righted himself by fanning the next two hitters to escape further damage. After the second inning, he allowed just two more hits and a total of three baserunners. Over six innings, he yielded just one run on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
After Gray had been pushed to a season-high 97 pitched last Sunday when he took a no-hitter into the eighth, the Red Sox had planned to dial him back this time around. When they led handily after six innings and with a fully-rested bullpen, it was an easy call to make an early hook at 70 pitches.
Despite a strong line, Gray, ever the perfectionist, insisted he was less than satisfied with his outing.
“I definitely was not at my best,” said Gray. “It took me a little to recover physically and mentally. I was able to settle down after the second, and for us to open up the game (with a four-run fifth) was nice. But that was a fight. It was one where you grind through and you try to figure out a way to get better as the game goes on. It wasn’t easy, but I’m happy with the win.”
Gray was more critical of his outing that he should have been. His manager, Chad Tracy, viewed the start differently.
“He was great,” said Tracy. “He had to labor through that one inning a little bit, but once he got past that inning, he settled in and was very, very effective.”
As he’s been almost every start this year. As, you might say, an All-Star would be.
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