Royals praise Sonny Gray after debut on NESN. Click here to add NESN as your preferred source.
Sonny Gray got off to the best start of his Boston Red Sox tenure in the Red Sox’s 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday.
advertise
Gray was dominant over six-plus innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out nine. It was a stellar performance from the right-hander, and Royals slugger Vinnie Pasquantino was impressed with the veteran right-hander’s pitching in the series opener.
“He’s spinning the ball around so much, he’s been trying to break the ball all night long, run underneath the zone, and we’re biting into it,” Pasquantino said after Monday’s game. “He was able to throw the cutter to lefties. He backed up the sinker with two strikes. He did a good job. We didn’t do enough.”
Pasquantino finished the game 0-for-4 while striking out two but only one to Gray. The slugger felt Gray did a good job with the way he sequenced and the spin on the ball was excellent.
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy was also impressed with Gray’s performance in leading Boston to a series-opening win on Monday.
advertise
“Same as what we’ve seen the past two outings,” Tracy said. “Total control, in and out, up and down, change of pace. Had a nice front-door sinker, running back left-handed, catching the inside corner. He was awesome.”
Since returning from injury, Gray has gone 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA in three starts.
More MLB: Red Sox trade targets too early
