AL DIVISION SERIES: TWINS VS ASTROS

October 10, 2023

Sonny Gray

Target Field

Minnesota Twins

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Astros - 9, Twins - 1

Q. Sonny, right from the start, what was that first inning like for you?

SONNY GRAY: I thought I made some -- in all honesty, with the exception of hanging -- spinning that one breaking ball for the homer to Abreu, other than that, over the course of the first inning, I thought I made quality pitches. I think I missed -- in all honesty, I thought that, after looking back and even in the moment and evaluating before going out for the second, I thought I made quality pitch after quality pitch.

It just so happened with first and second and one out, something that I have been able to limit for pretty much the whole year, ended up just biting me there in the first. I got to a 2-1 count, and I hung a breaking ball and just stayed in the middle and hit a three-run homer. That was kind of it for that inning.

I thought Altuve, I thought he put a good swing on a pitch that was an executed pitch off the plate, got a single. Get the next guy. Now you're sitting at second and third with one out with the infield in.

The pitch that I made to Tucker was probably the most executed change-up that I have thrown in a very long time. He hits it hard, hits a ground ball the other way, and then the next batter is the one who really cashed it in for us. I think it was a 2-1 count, threw him three fastballs. Wanted to get a slider down and away, and it kind of spun in the middle, and he hit a homer.

Before you know, it was 4-0, and that was a big -- that was a big part of the game. They came out hot, and they came out with a big hit in the first, and it really kind of like -- the crowd did what they could. They did a great job of trying to get us back in it, but they came out and just kind of shut it down for us pretty early. Then we were fighting an uphill battle from there.

Q. You mentioned spinning the -- it was a sweeper, I think. But did you feel like it was lack of execution on that pitch or just in general that pitch throughout?

SONNY GRAY: It wasn't great today. It was just kind of slower. All in all, though, in all honesty, in that first inning in a 2-1 count, I was trying to execute a strike breaking ball. Three fastballs, got to a 2-1 count. I just was a strike breaking ball. I just was looking to throw a strike breaking ball, and I threw it, and it just kind of spun there, and he homered it.

I don't think I was great with two strikes. I think at times I was. I think -- actually, I know, not retiring the lead-off hitter for the entire time I was out there is something that we were fighting an uphill battle as a team. I was fighting an uphill battle every inning.

And a lot of the times it was you'd get to two strikes with the lead-off hitter or whatnot, and then you'd spin something or throw a -- whatever happened, and they'd end up hitting a single or getting on base and whatnot. Then I'm fighting an uphill battle from inning to inning.

It just kind of started in the first, the big swing they had early. We had some chances there to get back in it. Their guy did what I didn't do. He executed pitches in spots with runners on, and I was able to do it after the first, but I just didn't do it in the first. That was pretty much the difference in the game. He executed when we had runners on, runners in scoring position, less than two outs, and I didn't.

Q. Sonny, they showed you on the bench a few times kind of staring straight ahead. The way you pitched last week, the way you've pitched for a month and a half now, were you shocked by what happened this afternoon?

SONNY GRAY: I felt really good going into it. I felt calm, collected, confident. Even after the first, I was trying to do the best that I could to move on from it, just move on from it, move on from it, continue to just make the same pitches and execute the same pitches that I felt like I was early.

But, yeah, I knew giving up a 4 spot in the first is not great. It's not something that you're looking to do. But I felt like after that I was able to, for the most part, move on from it. Then I was just -- after that, it was like put up a 0, put up a 0, put up a 0, put up a 0.

I think for three innings I did, and then Bregman hits pretty much the same pitch that Abreu hit in the first. He hits a very, very similar pitch for a homer.

Yordan came up after that, and I got him to an 0-2 count, wanted to bounce a breaking ball, and that one I was a little like tip your cap to him on that one.

Then you walk Tucker, and then you're out, Emilio comes in and really gives us a chance to stay in the game right there by retiring the next three. They added on there at the end, and we didn't.