Romine helps Gray regain confidence
Sonny Gray left Tuesday night’s ALCS Game 4 unceremoniously, in the midst of a 1-0 count to Jose Altuve after a four-pitch walk and a catcher’s interference put two runners on with no outs in the top of the sixth inning of a scoreless game.
One David Robertson walk later, Yuli Gurriel cleared the bases with a three-run double to put the Astros on top and blemish Gray’s otherwise solid start.
Still, his teammates had a message for him.
“Numerous guys came up to me and said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to get this game. We’re going to get these guys,’ ” Gray said. “They came back and did.”
Coming off an 11-day layoff since his f irst playoff start in Game 1 of the ALDS against the Indians — when he didn’t make it out of the fourth inning and allowed three runs — Gray partnered with catcher Austin Romine and showed big strides on Tuesday to help the Yankees stick around early for a comeback 6-4 win over the Astros at Yankee Stadium.
Gray only had one clean inning, but allowed just one hit and two walks as he worked his way through five scoreless innings before departing in the sixth. He was charged with two runs, only one of which was earned.
“I had some time off and I was just able to make my fast- ball move both ways,” Gray said. “When I am going well, that’s always been something that’s been good for me: not letting the hitters know which way the ball is going to go.”
Of the 15 outs Gray recorded, eight came on the ground. He recorded all four of his strikeouts the second time through the lineup, which he attributed to his improved fastball location.
“I think he trusted his movement,” said Romine, starting his f irst game since Oct 1. “This guy throws a lot of different pitches at a lot of differ- ent speeds and they’re moving all over the place. It can be tricky at times to catch. But he showed a lot more confidence this start out. You could see it on his face. You could see he was trusting his stuff.”
Joe Girardi chose to start Romine behind the plate for the f irst time this postseason and move Gary Sanchez to designated hitter. Gray had a 1.45 ERA in three starts pitching to Romine and a 4.63 ERA with Sanchez.
“The numbers bear out that [Gray] had better starts with Austin,’’ Girardi said. “I can’t explain why one catcher mixes with a pitcher a little bit better.’’
Gray and Romine had spent time together over the last couple of days to put together a plan. It came to fruition Tuesday night.
“We talked and got on the same page about what he liked to do and what makes him good,” Romine said. “I think we stuck to that for as long as we could tonight.”