The Boston Red Sox have received sterling starting pitching to win the first three contests of their four-game series against the visiting New York Yankees.
Right-hander Sonny Gray (9-1, 2.95 ERA) will look to continue that trend as the Red Sox vie for a sweep of their age-old rivals on Sunday night.
Boston’s left-handed trio of Connelly Early, Payton Tolle and rookie Jake Bennett combined to allow just three runs while striking out 19 batters over 19 1/3 innings in this series. Bennett allowed just one run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings on Saturday afternoon as the Red Sox recorded a 4-1 victory.
The quality start was the 10th in a row for Boston, its longest such streak since it reeled off 14 in a row in 1988.
“When you think about that, how difficult that it is to do,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “To get 10 straight guys go out there and throw six or more (innings) and three or less runs, it’s pretty impressive. They’ve done an amazing job.”
While Boston has won three in a row for the fourth time this season, New York has lost six of its last eight games. To boot, the Yankees have mustered one run on three hits in each of the last two games.
With Tampa Bay defeating Arizona, New York fell out of first place (by percentage points) for the first time since June 6.
“We gotta find a way right now.” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s obviously been a tough weekend for us, but a chance to win one (on Sunday).”
Cody Bellinger had one of his team’s three hits on Saturday.
“Hitting is contagious,” Bellinger said. “It’s sometimes tough to get some rallies going. (We’ve) hit some balls hard right at people. Ultimately, they have been shutting us down. Come in (Sunday), prepare, and execute our plan a little better.”
That plan will need to be good against Gray, who enters Sunday night’s contest on a roll.
Gray improved to 7-0 in nine starts since returning from the injured list on May 6 — and he did so in dazzling fashion. He allowed one run and struck out a season-high 11 batters over seven innings in a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
Gray, 36, also picked up the win in his last encounter versus the Yankees, permitting three runs in 6 1/3 innings in a 5-3 victory on June 5. He is 3-3 with a 4.17 ERA in nine career appearances (all starts) against New York.
Ben Rice, who belted a homer off Gray on June 5, went 0-for-4 with a strikeout on Saturday. He is mired in a 2-for-23 rut over his last six games overall.
New York left-hander Carlos Rodon (4-2, 3.70) will take the mound on Sunday night.
Rodon, 33, improved to 4-0 in his last five starts after yielding three runs in 5 1/3 innings of a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.
He is 5-6 with a 4.28 ERA in 12 career appearances (all starts) versus Boston.
–Field Level Media
