About Last Night: A Gray and not so Sonny performance

Thanks to the Yankees’ testy victory on Wednesday in Fenway Park, Thursday’s contest became the rubber game. They could have salvaged the series with a win after being humiliated on Tuesday night but Thursday night’s starter Sonny Gray made sure that wouldn’t happen. Gray just didn’t have it and the Yankees found themselves behind 6-0 after only three innings. The game could have turned into another thrashing at the hands of the Sox but the bullpen didn’t allow a run for the remaining five innings.  

Gray didn’t last past those three innings. He surrendered six runs on seven hits while walking two batters and striking out three. He also threw three wild pitches. Gray worked slowly, he nibbled and he couldn’t finish off batters. It was as if we were watching Phil Hughes all over again. There’s nothing more frustrating than seeing a pitcher get two strikes on a batter and losing them either to a hit or a walk. He had two strikes on eight batters and five of them reached base. He also wasn’t helped by his defense which has been sloppy of late.

The second inning was Gray’s undoing. The first six of seven batters reached base and the Red Sox took a 4-0 lead. He threw two of his three wild pitches and surrendered his two walks in the bottom of the second. A Tyler Wade error and a Giancarlo Stanton misplay in left hurt but Gray was his own worst enemy on Thursday night.

When the Yankees acquired Gray, they expected him to be in the top end of their rotation with Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka but he’s pitching more like a number five starter. With a 6.92 ERA, he’s pitching like someone who should be skipped in the rotation.

The Yankees just don’t look great right now and they’re performing poorly in practically every facet of the game.