Sonny Gray makes final All-Star pitch as Red Sox keep rolling

Sonny Gray has done everything he can to earn a fourth career All-Star nod. Whether he gets it is now a matter of whether the American League will need any more pitching replacements.

While teammate Ceddanne Rafaela was named an All-Star for the first time earlier Friday as an injury replacement for Aaron Judge, Gray did not get tabbed to replace fellow Red Sox starter Ranger Suarez. That honor went to Tampa Bay's Nick Martinez instead.

Gray could have been disappointed. He could have been thrown off by Boston's chaotic travel day, which saw them not arrive in New York until 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon after multiple plane issues getting out of Chicago – issues that ultimately resulted in Friday's series-opener against the Mets starting 35 minutes later than scheduled.

He wasn't, though. Instead, Gray was the same ace he's been all season. The 36-year-old went six innings allowing five hits, one run and one walk while striking out three to lead the Red Sox to their seventh straight win, a 6-2 triumph at Citi Field in Queens.

Gray is now 11-1 on the season, tops in the AL in both wins and winning percentage. His ERA is down to 2.54, second-best in the AL. He enters next week's All-Star break riding a streak of eight straight quality starts (at least six innings pitched with three or fewer runs allowed).

And somehow, it still hasn't been enough to land him on the All-Star team. Martinez has had a very good season as well, no doubt. He also pitched Friday night, improving to 8-2 with a win over Seattle and lowering his ERA to 2.65 with 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball.

But this isn't really just about Martinez. There are eight starting pitchers on the AL All-Star team, and there's just no reasonable argument that there are eight pitchers better than Gray in the AL this season. Former Red Sox Michael Wacha, in particular, sticks out like a sore thumb. While the Royals righty does lead the league in innings, he's 5-7 with 3.77 ERA.

Obviously, it's still possible that one of those pitchers backs out between now and the end of the weekend, opening the door for Gray to be a last-minute add. The schedule does break right for him to be able to give the AL an inning Tuesday night.

Regardless, Gray and the Red Sox will be perfectly happy to just keep winning games. Gray has been doing that all season, and the rest of the team is now catching up. Boston is now just 1.5 games out of a playoff spot as of the end of Friday's victory, their 12th in the last 14 games.

Masataka Yoshida got the offense started with a two-run double in the first. Anthony Seigler provided some breathing room with a two-run homer down the left-field line in the seventh. And Wilyer Abreu blew the game open with a two-run homer of his own in the ninth.

The bullpen did its job again, with Tyron Guerrero and Garrett Whitlock delivering scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth while the game was still close. Greg Weissert gave up a solo home run in the ninth after the game was already out of reach.

At this point, not even a full day's worth of flight delays can slow down the Red Sox.