BOSTON (AP) — Sonny Gray and the surging Boston Red Sox are on quite a roll together.
Gray pitched three-hit ball and struck out eight over six innings for his American League-leading 14th victory, with the crafty 36-year-old right-hander also matching his career high, as Boston beat the Chicago White Sox 4-0 on Wednesday night. The Red Sox have won seven in a row and 30 of 35.
“He was awesome, very locked in. ... Executed his pitches, had his spin. Pretty much had spin whenever he wanted to,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “Looked like vintage Sonny. He was really good.”
The Red Sox acquired Gray (14-2) from St. Louis in a trade early last offseason. The three-time All-Star, who was left off this year's AL squad, is providing the veteran presence Boston was hoping for.
After allowing nine runs over his previous two starts, Gray got 17 swing-and-misses from the White Sox, including the third strike on each of his strikeouts. He needed only seven pitches in a 1-2-3 second inning, then struck out the side in the fourth.
“I just felt like I was, you know, a little closer to just being myself, and that’s a good feeling,” said Gray, who has a 2.78 ERA in 21 starts.
He matched Philadelphia left-hander Cristopher Sánchez (14-4) for the major league lead in wins. Gray also had 14-win seasons for Oakland in 2014 and 2016, and was 14-8 in 32 starts for the Cardinals last season.
Gray gave up four runs over seven innings in a win over the Athletics his previous start last Thursday. The came five days after allowing 10 hits and five runs — both season highs — against Toronto in his only loss in 16 starts since early May after coming back from being on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain.
Asked what he had focused on between starts, Gray said it was attention to detail and creating an edge.
“Finding an edge, spinning the ball, that's who I am,” he said. “There’s a lot of little things that add up, I don’t think it’s one thing.”
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Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Rory McIlroy started the strongest of the Race to Dubai title contenders at the season-ending World Tour Championship on Thursday, shooting 3-under 69 to lie in third place and two strokes off first-round leader Joost Luiten.
McIlroy is seeking to claim the year-long award — crowning the best No. 1 player on the European tour that season — for a record-tying eighth time, and for the fifth straight year. He is guaranteed to do so with a victory at Jumeirah Golf Estates this week.
The world No. 2 is second in the Race to Dubai standings behind Eugenio Chacarra, who shot 72 and was already three strokes behind McIlroy.
They were in the final pairing on Thursday and McIlroy underlined his first-round superiority on the par-5 No. 18 with a 254-yard approach to 13 feet that set up a tap-in birdie, while Chacarra laid up from the rough and had to settle for par.
Patrick Reed, third in the standings and the other realistic title contender, failed to turn around his recent slump in form and shot 75. After dropping a shot at No. 14 for his fourth bogey of the day, the American appeared to toss his putter toward his bag in frustration as he headed to the next tee.
Jon Rahm, the champion in Abu Dhabi last week who needs to win again and hope for Chacarra and McIlroy to finish way down the leaderboard, opened with 71.
Luiten handled the Earth course best on a day when the wind picked up and thick rough lining the fairways and around the greens proved to be punitive.
The Dutch player went out in 31 after five birdies in his front nine and was even par coming home, with a 6-foot birdie putt at the par-5 18th wrapping up a round of 67.
With so many points on offer this week, a win would come with a huge reward for any outsider like Luiten. That’s because also up for grabs this week are 10 places on next season’s PGA Tour available to European tour members who are not otherwise exempt.
Luiten isn’t currently one of those 10. He was a stroke clear of Jakob Skov Olesen, who is among those in line for a PGA Tour card.
Victor Perez, Gregorio De Leo, Freddy Schott and Francesco Laporta were alongside McIlroy a further shot back after their 69s.
Kota Kaneko has become the second Japanese player to win the rookie of the year award on the European tour, at the end of a season when he won the Austrian Alpine Open and finished runner-up at the Soudal Open in a two-week stretch in May.
“The first person was Ryo Hisatsune, (who) is a good friend of mine, same age, and I know him really well,” the 24-year-old Kaneko said. “So I’m really happy to be in the same category with him.”
Kaneko also had four other top-20 finishes to qualify as one of the leading 50 available players for the World Tour Championship, where he shot 74 in the first round.
See AP’s full golf coverage here
Patrick Reed of the United States tees off on the second hole during the first round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Eugenio Chacarra of Spain tees off on the second hole during the first round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland gestures after his shot on the third hole during the first round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays a shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the World Tour Golf Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
