Yankees' Gray to experience rivalry with Red Sox (Aug 20, 2017)
BOSTON -- Sonny Gray gets officially introduced to the intensity of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry when he faces Boston in the finale of a three-game series at Fenway Park Sunday.
And he has a chance to give his new team a huge series win and move the Yankees back to within three games of Boston atop the American League East.
Gray, acquired from the Oakland A's July 31, received zero run support in his first two starts, both losses, got some backing in his first home start and defeated the New York Mets (and Jacob deGrom) last Tuesday.
"It was nice. The crowd was great," Gray said. "I was just trying to go out there and pitch my game, and not let anything from the outside affect my mindset and what I really wanted to do out there. It was a fun game overall. Any time you come away with the win, it makes it that much better."
He comes into this game 7-7 on the season but 5-4 with a 1.88 ERA over his last nine starts -- the major league's second-lowest ERA since June 25.
He faces reigning Cy Young winner Rick Porcello, who, riding his first real offensive support of the season, has turned 4-14 into 7-14 with three straight wins. After scoring 10 runs for him in his previous six starts, four in the last four, he has been backed by 27 runs his last three times out, winning each start.
He has lost three times in three starts to the Yankees this season and is 7-8 with a 3.38 ERA lifetime against New York.
Porcello induced two double plays and a triple play in the first five innings of his seven-inning outing in a 10-4 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals last Tuesday.
"He wasn't making a lot of mistakes in the middle of the plate, and he was controlling the count with everything," said Cardinals manager. "If he was missing, it was off the plate. He just had one of those days where everything was working.
Gray defeated the Red Sox May 18 in Oakland, going six innings and yielding three runs. He is just 1-2 with a 5.16 ERA in four career starts against Boston, 0-1 with an 8.38 in two Fenway Park appearances.
The Yankees rebounded from two crushing losses to their rivals in a span of six days by riding CC Sabathia (10-5, 3-0 against Boston) to a 4-3 win over Chris Sale (14-5) Saturday night.
"This team really fights," said manager Joe Girardi, who took the struggling Aroldis Chapman out of the closer role and got a save from Dellin Betances Saturday. "They do a really good job of turning the page."
Chase Headley leads the Yankee hitters against Porcello, coming in 12-for-28 (.429) with a homer whole Jacoby Ellsbury is 12-for-34 (.353) with four solo homers. On the flipside, Aaron Judge is 1-for-7 (.143) and Aaron Hicks 4-for-21 (.190) but with two home runs.
Mitch Moreland is 6-for-20 (.300) with four homers against Gray, while Hanley Ramirez is 3-for-8 (.375). On the negative side, Chris Young is 2-for-9 (.222) and Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. both 1-for-7 (.143).
