This ending didn't sit well with a couple of key Red Sox

NEW YORK - It wasn't just what was being said; it was who was saying it.

The voices and messages of Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras had been celebrated when the two veterans stood before the Red Sox to put the accomplishment of winning 15 consecutive games in perspective. As all who were affiliated with the Red Sox pointed out on July 22, these two were the team's established leaders, and their clubhouse speeches only solidified that.

So, when Gray and Contreras spoke their minds in the Yankee Stadium visitors' clubhouse after their team's disastrous, season-ending Game 2 loss to the Yankees, it would behoove those in attendance to pay heed.

These two weren't happy, and for good reason. Sure, it stung that the Red Sox came away from their two games in the Bronx being outscored 18-2. But it was how it happened that didn't sit well with the two veterans - and most likely more than a few other Red Sox. Even with all the injuries and month-long offensive inadequacies, this team still could stand on one strength - starting pitching.

Yet, in both of these games against the Yankees, the Red Sox decision-makers overthought, overanalyzed, and overmanaged at the worst possible time. And it wasn't lost on Gray and Contreras.

Tuesday night, it was starter Payton Tolle who was taken out after throwing just 82 pitches, with the Red Sox clinging to a one-run lead, to defer to reliever Erik Miller. That immediately led to a Ben Rice home run, opening the door to a 9-0 Game 1 win. This time, it was Gray who was prematurely pulled, giving way to Miller after 70 pitches, with the Sox trailing by one run with two outs and two on. Same result, with Cody Bellinger doing the honors this time via an RBI single against Miller.

As much as the Tolle decision raised eyebrows Tuesday, taking out Gray - who led all American League starters with a .180 batting average against the third time through the batting order - truly seemed to be turning their back on what had led the Red Sox to this point: the reliance on starting pitching.

"I think I'm the best pitcher in the American League going through the order the third time. I think that's a fact," said Gray. "I would have liked to live or die with me in that moment, but that's the competitor I am, and yeah, I think you can probably ask the guys, and they felt the same way. So I felt strong, I felt confident, I felt convicted."

A lot had gone wrong for the Red Sox, but Tolle and Gray weren't part of the turn for the worse. The decision to eliminate them from the equation when it counted the most? That was undeniably a pivot in the wrong direction.

"I'm frustrated for sure. Not ready for it to end," Gray said. “A lot of emotions, yeah, but frustration is definitely one.”

It was a scenario and decision that seemingly even painted how the free-agent-to-be viewed a possible return to the place he had arguably the best season of his career.

"I don't know," he responded when asked if a return to Boston would be in the mix.

Gray added, "I don't know what the future holds for me. I do know that I walked off of that mound with my chest back and my chin up, and I can definitely be proud that I left it all out there until the ball was taken out of my hand."

After Gray spoke, it was Contreras' turn.

It was one thing for the emotions of one of the pitchers who was pulled to be put on display. It was something else when a position player shared the same frustrations and proceeded to verbalize them as part of the punctuation to the club's season. But that's exactly what the first baseman did.

There was the perception that the decisions to take out Tolle and Gray were constructed well before the moments were presented to manager Chad Tracy, a notion that surfaced after the season-ending loss.

"It’s not enough when you have talent or you have data or you have computers that’s telling you what to do, because this is baseball," Contreras said. "The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day you are going to have to need experience and veteran guys to win games.”

It was also the words that never came out of Contreras' mouth that might have resonated the most, with the veteran simulating locking his lips when asked what he thought of the decision to remove Gray.

And, for Contreras, the frustration regarding the approach and philosophy wasn't just limited to the pitching decisions. It was clear this was a narrative that stretched to multiple parts of the Red Sox's equation, including an offense that became the worst in the majors over the last month of the season.

"It's not enough when you have talent or you have data or you have computers telling you what to do because this is baseball," he said. "And the data seemed to help us, but at the end of the day you're going to need experience and veteran guys to win games ... There is a lot of stuff I would like to say but I will stay like that."

Is there too much of a reliance on data, in Contreras' opinion? "If you watch the game," he said.

That was the problem. Anyone who did watch these games could see even with the injuries and issues, the team's data-driven philosophy took them down the wrong path. And, as it turned out, that road was a dead end.