Plenty of Bright Spots for Sonny Gray in Loss to Indians

The Yankees got their first look at newly acquired starting pitcher Sonny Gray Thursday in Cleveland. Despite losing the game 5-1, the former Oakland Athletic had plenty of bright spots on what was a dark, overcast night at Progressive Field.

Sonny Gray, who came into the game with a 5-1 record in his last six outings, received no help from his defense in the first inning, despite having all of his pitches working early.

The Yankees made three errors in one inning for the first time since 2010, two on ground balls to Chase Headley and Tyler Wade, and one on an errant throw from Clint Frazier.

Wade’s error allowed Cleveland center fielder Bradley Zimmer to reach third base, while Frazier’s wild throw over the head of Ronald Torreyes allowed Michael Brantley, who had reached first base on Wade’s previous error, to score.

CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 03: Sonny Gray (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /

Aside from the two unearned runs, Gray gave up just one hit and struck out Indians DH Edwin Encarnacion on a slider outside of the strike zone. He finished the inning with over 20 pitches but was able to settle down after that.

In the second inning, the 27-year-old starter threw just 11 pitches in a one-two-three inning. He struck out Indians C Yan Gomes on a high 94 mph fastball, his go-to pitch in the inning, as well as 2B Erik Gonzalez on a sweeping curveball after getting ahead in the count with two fastballs.

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The trend of no-hit innings continued into the third, as Gray struck out Zimmer on another devastating curveball for the first out. He then got his third ground ball out of the game from Ramirez to end the inning.

In the fourth inning, Gray worked multiple full counts, leading to a 26-pitch inning that left him with 78 total for the game. He had less control of his slider and curveball and walked his second batter of the game.

Gray had another one-two-three inning in the fifth on just eight pitches and was cruising in the sixth inning before giving up a two-run double to Gomes. Gray got Gonzalez out on a ground ball for the final out of the inning, finishing his Yankee debut with 98 pitches and two earned runs on four hits with six strikeouts.

All in all, it was a fairly good first start in pinstripes for Sonny Gray. The right-hander did a good job of keeping his pitches low in the zone while mixing up locations and pitch types often.

He was put in an early hole thanks to poor defense, and it’s likely that his outing would have turned out even better with a quick and easy first inning. It doesn’t help that he had zero run support thanks to a dominant complete game performance from Corey Kluber, either.

Next: Ronald Torreyes Vital to the Yankees’ Success this Season

This wasn’t the outcome that Yankees fans wanted with the pitcher who is expected to deliver them a divisional title on the mound, but the positives from Gray’s start should outshine the negatives. There are plenty of “Sonny” days to come in New York.

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