BOSTON – Sonny Gray’s magical season tapered off just a bit the previous two times he took the mound, as his streak of nine consecutive quality starts came to an end.
But if you thought the 36-year-old righty was in the process of wearing down, Gray proved otherwise in convincing fashion on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
Gray started what he hopes will be a new string of quality starts with six innings of scoreless mastery against the White Sox while leading the scorching-hot Red Sox to a 4-0 victory.
Not only did interim manager Chad Tracy’s squad win their seventh game in a row, but they clinched their ninth consecutive series victory in the process. Boston (62-51) will go for the sweep of the White Sox in Thursday night’s finale of this three-game set.
While giving up three hits and two walks while striking out eight, Gray improved to 14-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.78.
Gray’s six-pitch arsenal was crisp across the board, as he generated 17 whiffs out of the 41 swings the White Sox took against him.
The Sox had been ripping the ball offensively in recent games, but this was a quieter performance – still more than enough for Gray and the bullpen.
Willson Contreras staked his team to a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the first. Wilyer Abreu mauled his fourth homer in a span of 10 at-bats, a solo shot to right in the third.
Jarren Duran helped generate an insurance run with his speed in the seventh. After a single to left, Duran stole second, which forced a throwing error by White Sox catcher Drew Romo.
Andruw Monasterio hit a 253-foot flyball to left that wouldn’t have been deep to score many runners in MLB. But the speedy Duran tagged and scored safely, drawing roars from the latest packed house (37,517) at Fenway Park.