NEW YORK — Interim manager Chad Tracy said the battered Boston Red Sox will report to Citi Field a little later than usual for Saturday afternoon’s game against the New York Mets — this time without a series of flight delays.
Sonny Gray and the Red Sox shook off the travel issues that led to their late arrival in New York on Friday, defeating the Mets 6-2 for their seventh straight victory.
“We’ll probably have a little later show,” Tracy said, using the baseball slang of the day to announce Saturday’s 4:10 p.m. “Just out of necessity to give people a break, we will do it.”
The Red Sox were grounded for nearly 24 hours due to a pair of mechanical problems on their team plane and did not arrive at Citi Field until 5:05 p.m. Friday. The start of the game has been postponed 36 minutes, to 19:51.
“I don’t think anyone has probably experienced this before,” Gray said after six solid innings. “It was wild, for sure.”
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The Red Sox are expected to leave Chicago on Thursday night, hours after they beat the White Sox 2-1. But pitcher Peyton Tolle said the “tug” that tows the planes down the runway was faulty.
The Red Sox stayed on the tarmac until midnight before heading to a couple of hotels in Chicago. The team returned to the plane Friday morning, but Tracy delayed her again, describing problems with “switches or lights in the cabin.”
Center fielder Seddann Rafaela, whose addition to the AL All-Star team was announced by Tracy over the plane’s loudspeaker before the second delay, said the players were listening to music and playing cards.
“I think it’s important to have a consistent routine that prepares you, your body and everything else,” Gray said. “But at the same time, I think you have to be able to adapt and adapt when necessary. And I think that’s what we did today.”
Tolle said he ate about five donuts Friday, although most of his teammates ate burritos.
“We tried to ignore the situation, tried to have fun,” Tolle said. “But, of course, there was some disappointment.
“At one point we just looked at each other and laughed because it was just funny.”
The Red Sox finally took off just before 3:00 pm ET and landed at LaGuardia Airport around 4:30 pm. Team officials said the roughly 2-mile drive to Citi Field was relatively easy during rush hour.
“Go back to the travel days,” pitcher Garrett Whitlock said. “Show me and go. Go out there, play, have fun.”
Masataka Yoshida’s two-run double in the first gave Gray the lead before he took the mound. Gray allowed one run on five hits and struck out three while throwing 91 pitches.
“We’ve been in this together since the game ended (Thursday) in Chicago,” Gray said.
The delay was the second in two weeks for the Red Sox. Their flight from Denver to Boston on June 24 was interrupted after half an hour due to mechanical failure.
The Red Sox did not return home until dawn on June 25, but beat the New York Yankees 6–3 hours later to start a 12–2 run.
“I think it’s a nuisance for us,” Rafaela said before the game. “I sent a message to the guys that we have great momentum right now. That should be our focus.”