After a surprisingly hot start to their third series against their division rival, when the Boston Red Sox were up three games to none in a best of four at Fenway Park, they looked to Sonny Gray to finish the job against his former team. He did that and more.
Gray on June 28 posted possibly his best outing of the season. He no-hit the New York Yankees into the eighth inning and finished his night with one hit and one walk on his line. He fanned nine Yankees to help the Red Sox on the way to a much-needed sweep at Fenway, where they had just 12 wins before the series.
Boston's sweep over New York could be the final test of its ability to take momentum and use it to its advantage. The Red Sox haven't been able to string multiple series wins together with any degree of consistency, but beating the Yankees in four games is a different beast.
If the Sox can't take their sweep and run with it, at least Gray has raised his trade value over the last few weeks. The veteran is an obvious top trade deadline candidate in a tight American League, and if the Red Sox don't improve quickly, they would be wise to commit to selling in this market.
Red Sox's Sonny Gray boosts trade value ahead of deadline after stunning outing against Yankees
Starting pitching is always in high demand and Gray would be a gift to any team in the playoff race. He's posted a 2.69 ERA, a 1.11 WHIP, 75 strikeouts and 21 walks over 83.2 innings of work. Gray has only looked better in recent weeks, showing no signs of fatigue, with a 2.14 ERA, 34 strikeouts and seven walks over his last five starts, each of which was six innings or more.
Gray has already been listed by multiple insiders as a potential trade deadline target for many potential playoff teams, including the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox and others. Even if the Red Sox can maintain their momentum after their home sweep, they should still trade Gray — maybe they could get some big league help for their own playoff chase in exchange for a soon-to-be free agent.
Craig Breslow has taken plenty of heat from Red Sox fans about some of the uglier trades he's made since he took over as chief baseball officer. But his eye for piching talent has never been in doubt (okay, maybe it was after the Dustin May debacle), and Gray has been another excellent rotation addition. It'll be even more excellent if the Sox can make a solid trade to move him to a contending team before August 3.
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