AL WILD CARD SERIES: RED SOX VS YANKEES

September 29, 2026

Sonny Gray

Yankee Stadium

Boston Red Sox

Pregame Press Conference

Q. How are you feeling about getting the start tomorrow, and what you expect from the atmosphere and from yourself?

SONNY GRAY: I feel good. I think the atmosphere will be a high-level, high-energy, intense playoff atmosphere, which, as a player that's played for a while, who's been around, that's what you want, right? That's kind of like, for me, that's what keeps you wanting to continue to come back and play.

So I'm excited. Not trying to look too far ahead. I mean, I'll be ready tomorrow when tomorrow comes.

Q. Obviously it was your option whether to come to Boston or not. When you were evaluating that situation, what was it you liked about this team and the potential to get back here and be in the playoffs again?

SONNY GRAY: That was -- getting to the playoffs, being on a winning team -- things that I was looking for when I did decide to wave my no-trade from St. Louis. I had seen what Boston had done the previous year. I had seen the young talent and the direction and just the organization as a whole is just a winning organization, a winning place, winning culture.

And it took us a little bit this year to get back to that but then we got back to that and here we are.

I mean, I want to win. I like to win. You've heard me say this over and over and over this whole year is just win, win everything you do. Pitch to win the game.

I've really enjoyed my time in Boston. I really have. My family's enjoyed it. It's been a great place for us.

Q. Are you hoping to come back next year?

SONNY GRAY: I'm going to take today for today, take tomorrow for tomorrow and then go from there.

Q. Obviously these are two very good pitching staffs, the top two pitching staffs in the American League. What have you seen from the Red Sox pitching staff as a whole that's allowed you guys to compete at this level, both in terms of talent and in terms of -- whether it's game planning, adjustments that you've seen? How would you describe the Red Sox pitching staff?

SONNY GRAY: I mean, we've been through a lot as a staff, a lot as a team.

I think that we compete at a very, very, very high level. Our bullpen has been rock solid for us all year. Our defense has been incredible. I mean, I don't think we would be here and I don't think our staff would be where we are, for sure, our team wouldn't be where we are without our defense. Our defense has been incredible.

I think we've been consistent. I think we've been prepared. I think we've been confident, all things that add up to success as a unit and as a staff.

We've taken on different roles. We've passed it along to the next guy. We've had guys step up. It's been a fun group to be a part of.

Q. When you came to the Red Sox, you did some reflecting on your time with the Yankees. You've pitched here since leaving the Yankees, of course. What do you think the reception from the fans will be like tomorrow?

SONNY GRAY: I think it will be a playoff energy on the road, playoff atmosphere on the road. As far as reception, this or that, it will be what it will be. I'm not going to sit here and try to control something that I can't control because I ultimately have no control over that.

It will be what it will be, and I'll just do my part to be ready to go out there and compete and to pitch and to go win a game.

Q. You said it's very easy to hate the Yankees. I realize it was a long time ago, but just why do you think it didn't work out for you here? Why was it so rough for you?

SONNY GRAY: That's a good question and it's a fair question. I came from Oakland, and Oakland to here. I think that maybe during my time there was a lot of outside this, outside that, unfamiliarity with me and my situation and my family.

It's kind of like one of those things that you have a snowball or whatever, right? And there's a snowball that kind of starts rolling down a hill. If you don't ever stop it, then the snowball just gets bigger and bigger and bigger, and it picks up traction and it just gets more snow. And it just continues to go down this thing. And the then the bigger the snowball gets, the harder it is to stop it or take a step back.

And for me, it just took me to get away and get myself into a different environment and then reflect on those things, right, like reflect on what was good, what was bad, what didn't work. And that took some time.

But I do know that playing here made me a stronger person, made me a better man, a better husband. Ultimately, it made me a better pitcher, a better baseball player. And that's kind of what I take from my time here.

I think there's a lot of people and a lot of players that can have one bump in the road and not get back on the tracks. And for me, there's been bumps along the way and that may have been a little bit of a bigger bump than others. But then to be able to recenter, to refocus, to continue to have confidence in yourself and not get off the wagon, get back on the wagon and continue to move forward in your career and in your life as well.

I learned a lot. I learned what to do, what not to do. I mean, it was a bump in the road for me, but ultimately it made me a better person.

Q. You obviously haven't shied away from the rivalry stuff since you came over. Is there more motivation to beat this team in this ballpark than there would be another club?

SONNY GRAY: You know, honestly, I look at it as -- if you're truly going to -- for me, the ultimate goal is to win a World Series this year with the Boston Red Sox.

So if you're going to look at it like that, which is truly my perspective on this thing right now, I just look at it as a series that we go out there and win, and we go out there and play Boston Red Sox baseball, and we go out there and just do our thing. I mean, that's all we can do is go be ourselves and play the cards that are in front of us and take it one pitch, one at-bat, one inning, one day at a time and ultimately, stay invested in -- stay committed and just trust what you're doing as a team and everything.

That's kind of how I look at it. I don't look at it as any other thing than that.