Fans replaced their baseball caps with tin hats during Wednesday’s game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y.
Sonny Gray started for the Red Sox in Game 2 of this American League Wild Card Series, against his former team, and during his outing, fans online accused him of cheating after noticing the 36-year-old right-handed pitcher repeatedly touching his neck between pitches.
Here is a video of one such occasion that got people buzzing online.
Sonny Gray asks for a new ball and then immediately touches his neck. He was doing this all game 🕵️♀️ pic.twitter.com/1ryNUFnaeT
— Lauren🏒 (@Ms_NYRangers) October 1, 2026
Umpires always inspect pitchers, especially starters, during games for illegal foreign substances, which makes it unlikely that Gray brought something banned in the majors to the mound with him. Still, that didn’t stop fans from believing what they wanted to believe.
He was cheating all game long
— Rob Féliz (@Robfeliz) October 1, 2026
Cheating
— Anno Domini (@NobAnnOda) October 1, 2026
You can see it when he smears it zoomed in slow motion pic.twitter.com/dhfFoBTaGv
— blue star 812 (@bluestar812) October 1, 2026
Red Sox always find a way to cheat! Where are the umpires with the after innings pitcher substance review?😎🤡⚾️
— Jay Occulto (@JOcculto) October 1, 2026
@MLB how is this allowed??? pic.twitter.com/GBazShX3oT
— Dj Proper (@DJ_PROPER) October 1, 2026
But perhaps the bigger and saner controversy was Gray getting pulled in the fifth inning after throwing just 70 pitches.
With two on and two outs in the frame, and with the Yankees ahead, 1-0, Boston manager Chad Tracy decided to lift Gray from the mound and replace him with Erik Miller. The Yankees immediately pounced on that move with a Cody Bellinger RBI single to stretch their lead to 2-0.
New York went on to win the game — and the series — by taking Game 2, 9-2.
