The Boston Red Sox's season is over, and it ended with the New York Yankees outscoring them 18-2 in two games in the American League Wild Card Series.
The Yankees dominated the Yankees. Cam Schlittler and Max Fried were fantastic, and the Red Sox's bullpen imploded in the biggest games of the year. On Wednesday night, Sonny Gray was pulled at 70 pitches in the fifth inning after giving up a single to Trent Grisham, recording two outs and giving up a single to Ben Rice.
The score was 1-0 when Gray left, but Erik Miller came in and immediately gave up an RBI single to Cody Bellinger. Tracy did not let Gray get through the order a third time despite his pitch count being in good shape.
"I'm the best pitcher in the American League going through the order for a third time," Gray said after the game. "I would've liked to live or die with me in that moment, but that's the competitor I am. You can probably ask the guys in here if they felt the same way. I felt strong. I felt confident. I felt convicted."
This season, hitters are slashing .180/.235/.280 against Gray in their third plate appearance against him in a game. He's actually better the third time through than the second time through, so he has a case to be left in the game with Bellinger coming up.
The decision to pull Gray came on the night after Payton Tolle was pulled at 83 pitches. Regardless, both games were in a managable position until Tracy went to the bullpen.