Red Sox beat the Rockies 5-2 behind Sonny Gray's 11 strikeouts
Boston Red Sox's Wilyer Abreu follows the flight of his RBI triple off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Sean Sullivan in the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Denver. Credit: AP/David Zalubowski
DENVER — Wilyer Abreu and Nate Eaton drove in two runs each to back an 11-strikeout performance from Sonny Gray and the Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Gray (9-1) allowed a run on six hits with three walks in seven innings. The right-hander's 11 strikeouts were a season high and he matched his season high with 93 pitches — 65 for strikes.
Justin Slaten pitched a scoreless eighth, and Garrett Whitlock gave up Ezequiel Tovar's solo homer in the ninth to close it out.
Eaton, who went 3 for 4, walked to lead off the game against rookie left-hander Sean Sullivan (0-2) making his third start. Eaton stole second base and scored on Abreu's triple.
Eaton had a two-out RBI single for a 2-0 lead in the second inning, and Abreu homered for the 10th time to make it 3-1 in the fifth.
Eaton had an RBI double off Zach Agnos before scoring on Ceddanne Rafaela's single for a 5-1 advantage in the sixth.
Willi Castro hit his sixth home run — a one-out 435-foot shot to the upper deck in right field in the second — for Colorado’s first run.
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Sonny Gray works against the Colorado Rockies in the second inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Denver. Credit: AP/David Zalubowski
Sullivan allowed three runs on five hits and five walks in five innings. Agnos gave up two runs on five hits in three innings.
Boston improved to 20-20 on the road one day after blowing a lead in the ninth for the first time this season on Jake McCarthy's bases-loaded triple in a 3-2 loss.
Up next
Red Sox LHP Ranger Suarez (3-3, 2.93 ERA) starts Wednesday's rubber game opposite Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-7, 7.36).
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