The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A sorry shade of Gray
Pitcher booed off mound for lackluster Yankees
NEW YORK — Booed as he walked off the Yankee Stadium mound in the third inning, Sonny Gray smiled.
A few moments later, third base coach Phil Nevin screamed at players in the New York dugout.
The Yankees headed to their four-game series at Fenway Park after perhaps their worst performance this season, a 7-5 defeat Wednesday to the Baltimore Orioles, who have the worst record in the major leagues. And to Alex Cobb, who leads the big leagues in losses.
“We’re a lot better than what we did today,” Nevin said. “People have different ways of firing guys up. I think that was my first one this year, I guess.”
Gleyber Torres raised his homer total to 17 with a solo shot in the second and a three-run drive in the ninth, but the rookie second baseman also failed to cover first base on Caleb Joseph’s second-inning bunt and second on Renato Nunez’s third-inning grounder to shortstop, leading to hits both times.
Gray (8-8) may have lost his rotation spot after putting New
York in a 7-1 deficit. Lance Lynn followed with 41⁄3 scoreless innings in his Yankees debut and first relief appearance since 2012, and manager Aaron Boone wouldn’t commit to staying with Gray.
“That’s something that we’ll talk about now in the hours ahead, days ahead about what our plans will be going forward,” Boone said.
On an afternoon that began with a partly sunny sky, Gray left under dark clouds just before a 39minute rain delay.
He tied his career high by
allowing seven runs, giving up eight hits and two walks in 22⁄3 innings as his ERA rose to 5.56. Gray wiped his faced as he left the mound, adjusted his cap and then smirked when fans jeered.
“I’ve never been a guy to come off the field and throw a glove or throw a hat or punch something or do anything,” Gray said. “I’ve always been a mellow guy that tries to think things through and get over it.”
Gray said fans shouldn’t question his desire because of his demeanor.
“You can go around and ask the 24 other guys in this clubhouse who I am, what kind of person I am, what I’m about, and they’ll tell you,” he said. “You’ve seen me do that before.”
He is 12-15 with a 4.85 ERA since he was acquired from Oakland at last year’s trade deadline. His ERA this year is 7.71 at Yankee Stadium and 3.62 on the road.
“I’ve struggled. I don’t know if it has anything to do with New York, or it’s just strictly on the field,” he said.
Then a 19-year-old at Vanderbilt, Gray tweeted on Oct. 29, 2009, that “You have to be really good to get all of Yankee stadium to boo you as you’re walking off the mound…and a hall of famer to smile about it.” That was when Pedro Martinez lost World Series Game 2 to New York.