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The Red Sox’ Season Ended in Humiliating Fashion. Then It Got Even More Bleak in the Clubhouse.

Andy Nesbitt|
Sony Gray was pulled from Game 2 in the fifth inning after throwing just 70 pitches
Sony Gray was pulled from Game 2 in the fifth inning after throwing just 70 pitches | Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images

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Boston Red SoxNew York Yankees

The Red Sox’ up-and-down season ended in ugly fashion Wednesday night in the Bronx as they got blown out by the Yankees again, losing Game 2, 9-2. New York now moves on to face Tampa Bay in the ALDS while Boston heads home for the winter with the bitter taste of having its year come to an end at the hands of its arch rival for a second consecutive season.

The Red Sox, who used a 15-game winning streak in July to turn things around after all looked lost, limped down the stretch of the regular season, scoring a league-low 71 runs in the month of September. Their offense then stayed as cold as a mid-February evening against the Yankees, as they were shut out in Game 1 and only mustered two runs in Game 2.

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Following their season-ending loss, players in the the locker room were rightfully frustrated and they voiced their concerns with the media.

Sonny Gray was not thrilled about being pulled from the game so early

First, let’s look at Sonny Gray’s telling comments. The 36-year-old right-hander went 18–5 this season with a 2.72 ERA. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball, and the Red Sox hoped he could help them extend their season with a big performance in Game 2. But his night was cut short when manager Chad Tracy pulled him from a 1–0 game with two outs in the fifth inning after he had thrown just 70 pitches. That’s a decision that will be yelled about on Boston sports talk radio for weeks, and it was one that seemed to frustrate Gray.

“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order the third time,” Gray said. “I think that’s a fact. I would have liked to have lived or die with me in that moment but that’s the competitor I am. I think you you can probably ask the guys and they’d think the same way. I felt strong, I felt confident, I felt convicted. But what can you do?”

Gray then added: “I would have liked have been trusted in that moment.”

Gray had a one-word answer when asked if he had talked to Tracy about his decision to pull him so early in the game.

“No,” he said.

Gray is set to become a free agent this winter after spending just one season with the Red Sox. When asked if the success he had this season in Boston would make him want to return to the team in 2027, he said, “I don’t know.”

Willson Contreras also had a lot to say after the loss

Wilson Contreras was the leader of this Red Sox team all year long. His words carry a lot of weight in the clubhouse, and he had a lot to say after the season-ending loss.

He seemed to take a shot at analytics that were used by the team, saying:

"It's not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or you have computers telling you what to do, because this is baseball. The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day, you need experience and veteran guys to win games. There's a lot of stuff I would like to say, but I'll state it like that."

When asked about why the team struggled so much down the stretch after having a hot summer, he declined to say what he really felt, which actually said a lot.

“That’s a good question,” Contreras said. “I’m not going to answer it because I don’t want to give my honest answer. But we got eliminated. That’s the bottom line. We didn’t produce. We didn’t execute any part of the game, and that’s why we [lost].

“I know that we had a really good stretch. I’m really proud of what we did in the past, like I said. We were able to turn the season around, for sure, 100%. But that’s not enough. It’s not enough. And at the end of the day, you win games in the regular season to clinch the playoff, but then falling short in the playoffs, it’s tough.”

When asked what he thought of Gray being pulled so early in the game, Contreras didn’t say a word. Instead, he twice made the motion of sealing his lips while raising his eyebrows.

What Chad Tracy said about his decision to pull Sony Gray

Tracy, who took over as the Red Sox manager in late April after Alex Cora was fired, spoke after the loss about his decision to pull Gray in the fifth inning of a 1-0 game.

"We’re trailing, we’re struggling to score runs, and when you get in spots where you’re struggling to score runs and you’re already trailing you feel like you gotta be aggressive. Getting back to that top part of the lineup they got a couple hits against him. See if you can put it out, and if you can put it out you’re kind of lined up where we wanted to go. And it just didn’t work."

Tracy also pulled Payton Tolle in the fifth inning of Game 1 after the the left-hander had given up just one run on 83 pitches.

A reporter asked Tracy the following question about those two moves: “Tolle was so great during the year and Sony was so great during the year. Did you think about extending them a little more trying to capitalize on two pretty good pitchers?”

To which Tracy said: “No, they’re good. Our bullpen has been great all year, too.”

Tracy won over Red Sox fans by being the guy in charge during what was an incredible turnaround for the team over the summer. But the last six weeks of the season were pretty bleak and then the two playoff games were an embarrassment.

It will be interesting to see what this team looks like next season and what Tracy will do to put his very questionable postseason decisions behind him.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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