RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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BOSTON — Fourteen times this season, Sonny Gray has allowed either one or no runs in his start, tying for fourth in that category in Major League Baseball.
Friday was not one of those nights, however.
Gray was nicked for a solo run in the third and then was tagged for three more in the fourth.
But that was the extent of the damage done against him. After the San Francisco Giants scored four runs in four innings against him, Gray dug in and gave the Red Sox two more perfect innings, getting through six in what resulted in a 6-4 Red Sox victory.
“He had to grind, and we needed him to — it was a short bullpen,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “Obviously there were able to score some runs, they put some good at-bats on him. He had some deep counts, there were some foul balls, there some close pitches that were just off (the plate). So the (pitch) count starts stacking up. But those last two innings were huge.
“The count was in an area where (we wondered), ‘Are we going to be able to get him through five?’ We were able to get him through six with two zeroes to finish it and put us in a better spot with the bullpen. Not all of them are going to be lights out every time. We needed him to grind today and he did that.”
This was not one of Gray’s better efforts. Just six days after he blanked the Pirates over six innings, Gray had to grind.
“I would say I was happy and proud to get through six,” said Gray, who improved to 16-3. “Putting up a zero in the fifth, putting up a zero in the sixth...I just felt a little off. But that’s OK, because the boys picked me up big-time.”
After yielding a two-out, two-run shot to Drew Gilbert and a solo shot to Rafael Devers in Devers’ return to Fenway , Gray returned to the dugout after the fourth angry with himself. But pitching coach Andrew Bailey reminded Gray that the Sox were still ahead, and that helped him to re-focus.
“They don’t all look pretty,” said Gray, “but I’ll take a win anyway I can get one. I pride myself in giving your team a chance to win even when you don’t have the best stuff. I wasn’t great. I won’t say I was. But like I said, I’ll take a win any way you can get one.”
In fact, Gray has been racking them up like never before. His win last Saturday in Pittsburgh was his 15th, setting a career high. Friday night set the record anew, and now, with six or seven starts remaining in the regular season, Gray has at least a shot at winning 20 games this season.
“I think at this point, if you just want to be black-and-white with it, yeah, I think getting to 20 wins is doable,” said Gray. “I think if you set short-term goals and long-term goals, if you set your mind to that, I think that would be an accomplishment. So yeah, 20 wins is doable, but I know it doesn’t come without committing and focusing on a daily basis. It’s not going to be given to you.
“So if you just want to call a spade a spade, then yeah, I think 20 wins is a great short-term goal for me to have throughout the end of August and into September. There are also longer-term goals that are obviously more important. But I think that would be something that would be nice to chase.”
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