https://www.timesunion.com/sports/article/Gray-s-gem-offers-hope-12929854.php
Gray's gem offers hope
Struggling righty, who brought 6.39 ERA into game, dominates Royals' weak lineup
Published 9:06 pm, Sunday, May 20, 2018
Kansas City, Mo.
The New York Yankees rightfully lamented a miserable week filled with rainouts, broken planes and a patchwork schedule that forced right-hander Sonny Gray to pitch on eight days' rest.
Well, that last bit turned out to be a good thing.
Gray discovered a couple of tweaks in his delivery during his extended time off, and he transferred it to the mound on Sunday, going eight innings and helping the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 10-1 to win an eighth consecutive series for the first time in 20 years.
"I'm pretty quick to the plate a lot of times. I just had to stay on top of the rubber and deliver a good pitch," said Gray, who also credited catcher Austin Romine for helping him stay in rhythm.
"It was pitch, mound, sign, go," Romine explained.
Sure sounds simple. It works pretty well, too, when you're getting big production from the Yankees' powerful lineup. Tyler Austin hit a pair of two-run homers, and Miguel Andujar and Romine went back-to-back in the ninth as New York won for the 14th time in 15 games against the AL Central.
Gray (3-3) was coming off a tough start against Oakland in which he allowed five runs and a season-high nine hits in five innings. But there was nothing tough about facing the Royals' popgun lineup, which didn't manage its first hit until there were two down in the fifth.
Gray, who had a 6.39 ERA coming in, allowed one run while striking out five and walking one.
Eric Skoglund (1-4) gave up six runs, eight hits and two walks in five innings in the latest lousy start by the Royals' rotation. Kansas City's 5.51 team ERA is by far the worst in the majors.
Skoglund walked Aaron Hicks to start the fourth. Austin turned on the first pitch he saw and sent it about 440 feet over the left-field wall.
New York tacked on two more runs, the first on Romine's single later in the inning and the other on Hicks' triple in the fifth, before Austin got into the act again.
This time, his two-run shot was a high fly ball that just cleared the center field wall.
It was the second two-homer game of the year for Austin, who also did it March 31 at Toronto. The four RBIs matched a career high, which he also accomplished April 23 against Minnesota.
That was plenty for Gray, who finally surrendered a run with two outs in the eighth. He retired his first 14 batters and only allowed two runners to reach second through the first seven innings.
"Success is a beautiful thing, especially when you've had some ups and downs," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "Adversity is not a bad thing, especially when you're Sonny Gray and you have the equipment to get out of it."
Fountain of youth
New York's starting lineup Saturday was its first with every player under 29 since Sept. 26, 1970, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. "It's been all year that we've gotten good production up and down the lineup," Boone said. "We've had some young players step up and kind of come to age."
Up and down
Clint Frazier's return to the majors was brief. He made his season debut Saturday, then was optioned to Triple-A on Sunday.
Trainer's room
Yankees: 1B Greg Bird (right ankle surgery) could be ready to rejoin the Yankees this week.
