Another unsuccessful Red Sox season ends with early exit, leaves players venting about Sonny Gray's early hook

Boston was eliminated by the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs again, and Gray was lifted after just 70 pitches on Wednesday

Oct 1, 2026 at 8:45 am ET • 5 min read

NEW YORK — For the second year in a row, the Red Sox season ended where it began: at Yankee Stadium.

On Wednesday night, before September officially turned to October, marking the true beginning of the postseason, the Red Sox were sent packing, again, by the Yankees. Unlike last year in this round, there was no need for a third game. No need for Aaron Judge. No need for Giancarlo Stanton. The Red Sox lost 9-2 on Wednesday night, a day after getting blown out 9-0 in the opener.

Instead, only embarrassment lived. Only quietness existed inside a clubhouse that will have to chew on two humiliating losses in the American League Wild Card Series.

There will be plenty from this season worth pointing to.

The Red Sox were once 14 games under .500. Then came the midsummer streak when they rattled off 15 straight wins and went 27-3 from the start of July through the beginning of August. Willson Contreras's season was vital to this club's success. Caleb Durbin's toughness and grit helped set the tone. The offense showed some malleability, deviating from its pull-side approach and becoming less one-dimensional.

All of that happened. All of it mattered.

But don't let any of it obscure the reality. Don't let the front office twist this. Don't let it off the hook too easily. The front office pivoted to Durbin only once it missed out on Alex Bregman.

And when October arrived -- pardon, the end of September -- the Red Sox finished their season with one fewer postseason win than they had a year ago.

It has now been five years since postseason baseball was last played at Fenway Park, the longest October drought for the ballpark since 1976-85.

Don't be fooled by the summer surge. Don't be fooled by the progress.

This season wasn't a success.

"Uncompetitive." Isaiah Kiner-Falefa said afterward. "We got boat-raced. To lose in the Wild Card is unacceptable."

"I mean, right now it's, regardless of all the special things that happened this summer, and there were quite a few, the goal is to win the World Series," manager Chad Tracy said. "And that ended for us tonight."

'I would have liked to have been trusted'

Frustration mounted in the clubhouse afterward, too. For a second straight night, Tracy pulled his starter early for Erik Miller, and it immediately backfired.

This time, it was Sonny Gray, who had allowed just one run, a solo homer to Luis García Jr. in the top of the fourth. In the fifth, Gray worked around a Trent Grisham leadoff single, recording two outs on a force out and a groundout. Yet, after a Ben Rice single put runners at first and third, Tracy inexplicably ended Gray's evening at just 70 pitches with Cody Bellinger looming.

Instantly, much like Tuesday night, the Yankees capitalized. Bellinger laced a single to right, extending the lead to 2-0.

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Forced to piece together the rest of the game with a bullpen that included appearances from Garrett Crochet and Garrett Whitlock, the Red Sox watched the Yankees pour on eight runs against their relievers.

A disgruntled Gray didn't hold back his sentiments following the outing.

"I think I'm the best pitcher in the American League the third time through the order," Gray said. He then paused for a moment. "I think that's a fact. I would have liked to have been trusted in that moment."

Gray was spot-on. He, indeed, was the best starter in the American League the third time through the order, carrying a 1.99 ERA in 45 ⅓ innings pitched, a large enough sample size.

"It's not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or you have computers that are telling you what to do, because this is baseball and the data is here to help us," Contreras said. "But at the end of the day, we're going to need experienced and veteran guys to win games."

That points to a larger issue that has followed lead executive Craig Breslow.

The April firing of manager Alex Cora and his staff might have been the right decision. Tracy (who was named the full-time skipper last week), ideally, is the manager that Breslow envisioned at the helm. But don't let their torrid summer misconstrue the split in the clubhouse. Some players remain convinced the new coaching staff had little to do with their success.

That might have been Gray's last time in a Red Sox uniform -- or in any uniform, as the 36-year-old has contemplated retirement. Asked if he would want to return next season to the Red Sox if he decided to play:

"I don't know," Gray responded.

Roster questions looming

Roman Anthony needs to prove he can stay healthy. He was pulled from Game 1 after re-aggravating the same right hand that kept him out for 101 games. Anthony went for an MRI in Boston early Wednesday morning before returning that afternoon. It's still unclear if he needs surgery.

"After I came back, the hand was never really fully 100%, kind of as you would expect," he said. "But I think for me, it was to a point where it was tolerable, and I was taking certain swings that were sketchy but was still able to come back and recover enough to just be in there every single day. But ultimately, I just took a few swings here recently where that wasn't the case."

Remember the Big Three? Anthony, Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer were supposed to represent the next wave of the Red Sox.

What do the Red Sox do with Campbell, who was stuck in Triple-A all season and put up subpar numbers? Mayer was supposed to be the heir apparent to Trevor Story. He was traded to San Francisco.

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Surely, Story has aged out of being an everyday shortstop.

Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela and right fielder Wilyer Abreu are proven everyday players. But if Anthony isn't healthy, the Red Sox will need to patch up left field. Jarren Duran might have played his last season in a Red Sox uniform, with many suspecting he will be traded in the offseason.

And, despite the offense coming alive this summer, that could be viewed as fool's gold. During their 37-game surge, the Sox hit .258 with a .445 slugging percentage and their run creation was 15% better than league average. Over their final 47 games, those numbers fell to a .236 average, .382 slugging percentage and they created runs 6% below the league-average mark.

Their late-season woes looked much more like the offense from the first 78 games, when the club hit .244 with a .385 slugging percentage, than the one that transformed its season.

"Obviously disappointed," Story said on getting bounced from the postseason. "A lot of thoughts, but proud of this group, proud of this team. With all the hate and everything going around, the way this team came together, we really turned the season around to get back into this position. It was something that was special."