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BOSTON A standout Red Sox rotation has had its fair share of flirtations with history in recent days.
First, it was Ranger Suarez taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning last Friday in Seattle.
Then, over the weekend, rookies Payton Tolle (5 13 perfect innings) and Jake Bennett (4 23 no-hit frames) each looked like they had a chance.
Sonny Grays effort Sunday, though, was different.
The veteran righty looked unhittable from the very start against a scuffling Yankees lineup and came closer than ever to his first career no-hitter.
Until Amed Rosario shot a single up the middle with one out in the seventh, there was real belief among the 34,573 at Fenway that Gray would finish the job.
That belief reached the home dugout during an outing interim manager Chad Tracy described as brilliant.
God, it was really good, Tracy said.
It really was.
I legitimately thought he was gonna do it.
Gray, who struck out 11 Rockies in his last outing Tuesday in Denver, retired the first 14 batters he faced, striking out a batter an inning, before issuing a two-out walk to Rosario in the fifth.
He then returned to dominance by setting down the next eight Yankees, including Spencer Jones on his 2,000th career strikeout to lead off the eighth.
As the bid went deeper, the fans started to sense Bostons first no-no since 2008 was within reach.
Even an ultra-focused Gray felt that way.
I knew after like four innings, Oh, I havent given up a hit, and then five (innings).
But I never thought about it, thought about it, Gray said.
I solely was just so focused on executing every pitch that I threw.
I know it sounds super cliche and whatever but I was solely just: Execute this pitch, now execute this pitch, now execute this pitch throughout the whole time, honestly." Gray kept his pitch count low enough for the task to remain in play, as he needed just 74 pitches through six innings before laboring a bit in a 17-pitch, 1-2-3 eighth.
With setup man Garrett Whitlock unavailable because of recent usage, Tracy had righty Tyron Guerrero up and ready in case Gray gave up a hit.
The plan, Tracy said, was to let Gray finish what he started if the no-hitter remained in play.
It wasnt crazy unreasonable, Tracy said of the pitch count.
When youre doing that, youre gonna let him go.
We just wanted to make sure, once it got to the eighth and ninth, we were just gonna have a backup.
Got to have somebody ready, just in case, so you dont stretch them too far.
Rosarios knock on an 0-1 cutter over the middle of the plate ended Grays night on his 97th pitch.
The effort was the deepest no-hit bid of Grays 14-year MLB career and the longest by a Red Sox pitcher since Garrett Crochet went the same distance without allowing a hit last April in Chicago.
It was cool..., said Gray.
But I was just trying to win the game.
We won the first three.
We were winning 2-0 for the majority of it and I was trying to do my part to win the game.
I just felt very focused.
I wanted to come out and win the game.
We did that.
As soon as Rosarios single got through the infield, Tracy began his walk to the mound.
Bostons infield descended on Gray and the end-of-outing meeting on the mound lasted a little longer than usual.
As Gray began walking back to the dugout, the fans at Fenway gave him a loud, rousing standing ovation.
He tipped his cap twice as Carlos Narvaez and a series of teammates came out of the dugout to hug him.
In the sixth inning or something, they started really getting into it, Gray said.
That was cool.
I appreciated that.
I didnt know.
I did give up a hit and I didnt know if I was gonna keep going.
I saw Trace coming out and thought, I guess this is the end of the road for me.
But I appreciate them.
It seemed like they appreciated the outing tonight.
Grays performance was the 11th straight quality start by a Red Sox pitcher, a streak that started with the righty on June 18 when he faced the Blue Jays.
It continued a stellar stretch for the 36-year-old, who has exceeded expectations in his first year with the Red Sox and will likely receive All-Star consideration.
In his last 10 starts, Gray is 7-0 with a 2.08 ERA.
For the year, hes 9-1 with a 2.69 ERA in 83 23 innings.
I keep talking about the rotation and he has been the leader of it, Tracy said.
You cant say enough about what theyve done.
Grays stellar effort very nearly went to waste when the Yankees scored four unanswered runs against Aroldis Chapman (in the ninth) and Justin Slaten (in the 10th) to turn a two-run deficit into a two-run lead but the Red Sox rallied for three quick runs in the bottom of the 10th and won, 5-4, on a Jarren Duran walk-off single.
The win secured the first four-game sweep over the Yankees for Boston since August 2018 and the clubs first four-game winning streak of 2026.
Gray, who after an unsatisfactory tenure with the Yankees in 2017 and 2018 endeared himself to Red Sox fans by saying he was looking forward to pitching in a place where it was easy to hate the Yankees after being acquired last fall, helped Boston beat his former team for the second time in a month.
Theyre at the top of our division right now, Gray said.
They are where we hope to be.
It was a good series and it was a pretty sick finish to this series for us.
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