GrayG gets overdue support
Ever since Sonny Gray arrived from the Athletics in a deadline deal, he has been doing his job. The Yankees finally did theirs behind him Saturday.
Gray smothered the Mariners over seven strong innings to pitch the Yankees to a 6-3 win before 39,810 at the Stadium. He allowed just three hits and one run, walked two and struck out nine in what has become a typical bulldog performance. The only difference is the Yankees actually gave him some support.
After watching the Yankees score one run or fewer in three of his first four starts, Saturday must have felt like a dam breaking for Gray (8-8).
“He’s pitched pretty well,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We haven’t scored runs, is the bottom line. We haven’t scored runs for him.
“He came here and people had a lot of high expectations on him and he makes two or three starts where we don’t score any runs. He handled that extremely well. He just continues to go out and do what he’s supposed to do. When we score runs, he wins.”
Pitching with an extra day’s rest, Gray’s nasty breaking ball helped carry him early until he got his fastball back. After that, he smothered the Mariners.
“I just got my breaking ball, curveball and slider going early,” Gray said. “My fastball was kind of erratic early, but [catcher Austin Romine], we were really on the same page and he got me back in it with my fastball.
“[Romine] just helped me stay in it, stay with my fastball. A lot of times when you’re off just a tick on a certain pitch, you have to continue to throw it in order to hopefully get it back. And we were able to throw some more strikes on my fastball later in the game.”
Other than a Carlos Ruiz solo shot — only the second homer Gray has allowed in eight starts — the right-hander didn’t make many mistakes.
Since June 25, Gray has pitched to an AL-best 1.95 ERA and gone 11 straight starts allowing two or fewer runs, the longest streak in the majors this year. It’s tied for the best in baseball since the Cubs’ Jon Lester (July 29-Sept. 25, 2016) and is the longest in the AL since the Rays’ Alex Cobb three years ago.