Sonny Gray makes history with milestone strikeout

Boston Red Sox right-hander Sonny Gray was on his game Sunday, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning until Amed Rosario singled to center field to break things up.

According to the three-time All-Star, he knew that he had his good stuff when he realized in the fourth inning that he hadn't allowed a hit. 

“I knew after like four innings,” said Gray to Ian Browne of MLB.com. “I was like, ‘Oh, I haven’t given up a hit.’ And then after five. But I never [got preoccupied] by it. I solely was just so focused on executing every pitch that I threw. I know it sounds super cliché and whatever, but I was solely just like, ‘Execute this pitch, now execute this pitch, now execute this pitch’ throughout the whole time.”

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy was complimentary of his right-hander after the four-game sweep of the New York Yankees:

“He was brilliant,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said to Browne. “He had command, was throwing strikes, was head in the count, sweepers, breaking balls– they all looked good. The guy was really good, he really was. So I legitimately thought he was going to do it.”

Gray's line also saw him strike out nine, walk one and throw strikes (64 out of 97 pitches were thrown for strikes). Even more impressive, the 36-year-old became the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) to reach 2000 career strikeouts and 2000.0 innings pitched in the same game.