Red Sox reactions: Sonny Gray helps Boston blank Tigers, finish off first sweep of 2026

· Yahoo Sports

DETROIT — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (16-21) blank the Tigers, 4-0, in Sonny Gray’s return to the mound and finish off a three-game sweep at Comerica Park:

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1) Credit goes to the Red Sox, who played their best series of the young season against a talented — albeit underperforming — Tigers club. For the first time in 2026, the Red Sox swept someone. It came over three days that included timely hitting, very strong pitching performances, sturdy defense... and the Tigers often serving as their own worst enemies.

The Red Sox head home for a key homestand at 16-21, back to five games under .500. Under Chad Tracy, they’re 6-4.

2)Gray returned from his 15-day injured list stint in a somewhat limited fashion, giving the Red Sox five shutout innings before leaving the game. With the bullpen rested after long outings from Payton Tolle and Brayan Bello at the start of the series, it’s clear Gray was on a pitch count and he left after 70 pitches.

Gray allowed four hits and walked two batters while striking out two. It was a tidy night of work for him in which he stranded five Tigers runners.

3) The Red Sox’ offense didn’t have as much going as it did in the first two games of the series but hitters put the ball in play, and that was enough to capitalize on some horrendous Tigers defense. It’s fair to say that Detroit was more responsible for Boston’s runs than the Red Sox were.

The poor play started in the third when Caleb Durbin (hitting with two men on) lifted a pop-up in foul territory near the first base dugout that Spencer Torkelson missed. As often happens, Durbin made the Tigers pay for that with an RBI double down the left-field line. Two batters later, Carlos Narváez raced home on an aggressive send by third base coach Chad Epperson to score on a Willson Contreras sacrifice fly.

An inning later, again with two men on, Narváez looked to have grounded out to end the inning but his ball completely ate up Colt Keith and trickled into left field. Two runs scored to make it 4-0.

The Red Sox had just four hits in the win, but walked seven times. Tigers starter Jack Flaherty struck out 10 in five innings and Boston struck out 15 times in total.

4) Gray benefited in a big way from a great, run-saving play in right field from Wilyer Abreu. Back-to-back two-out walks loaded the bases for Jace Jung, who laced a liner into shallow right. Abreu charged in and made an impressive sliding catch to preserve a scoreless tie and end the inning.

In center, Ceddanne Rafaela made an impressive diving catch of his own to end the bottom of the seventh.

5) Someone who has been quietly excellent for the Red Sox early? Lefty Tyler Samaniego, who threw two shutout innings immediately after Gray. Samaniego allowed one baserunner (on a walk) and struck out three.

In two big league stints, the rookie has now pitched 13 scoreless innings over 10 games while allowing eight hits and striking out 11. It’s the third-longest streak of scoreless appearances to begin a career in Red Sox history.

Zack Kelly and Greg Weissert preserved the shutout (the fifth of the year for Boston’s staff) with scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth.

6) The Sox continued a trend of being more aggressive on the bases in recent weeks. With three more steals Wednesday (Durbin, Jarren Duran and Rafaela), Boston finished the sweep with six in three games.

Boston now has 16 steals in its last 12 games after stealing just 13 bags in 25 games to start the year.

7) Contreras, who was 0-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and three strikeouts, had a lingering wrist injury flare up in the ninth inning but stayed in the game and is expected to be OK, according to Tracy.

7) The Red Sox will arrive in Boston well after midnight and then face a tough turnaround as they begin a seven-game, eight-day homestand. Starting Thursday, the Sox will welcome the division-leading Rays to Fenway for four games. Here’s the schedule:

Thursday, 7:10 p.m. ET — RHP Griffin Jax (1-2, 5.14 ERA) vs. LHP Jake Bennett (1-0, 1.80 ERA)

Friday, 7:10 p.m. ET — RHP Jesse Scholtens (3-1, 3.18 ERA) vs. LHP Connelly Early (2-2, 3.79 ERA)

Saturday, 4:10 p.m. ET — RHP Nick Martinez (3-1, 1.71 ERA) vs. TBD (possibly LHP Ranger Suarez)

Sunday, 1:35 p.m. ET — RHP Drew Rasmussen (2-1, 2.95 ERA) vs. TBD (possibly LHP Payton Tolle)

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