Success starting to come around for Gray after slow start.
The Rangers’ big, hard-throwing right-hander didn’t figure in the decision of Tuesday afternoon’s 4-2 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park, however, he struck out seven while allowing one earned run over six innings to continue his strong pitching run of late.
“He threw a really nice game, six solid innings,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “He had a good slider going with a good fastball, good location, and he used his changeup very well today. It’s good to see him throw like that. It looks like he’s getting on track, which is a great sign.”
Gray has struck out 19 in 14 2/3 innings over his last three starts and has allowed only two earned runs in that span, however, he’s also walked seven over that stretch, including three against Detroit.
“I think the stuff is finally there,” Gray said. “The stuff is really good. I’m just really frustrated with the walks. [If] we don’t walk anyone, we attack everyone, I feel like we win today. But I’m happy with the way the pitches looked, the action, the curveball’s coming around. It’s doing great.
“I could’ve been better with the fastball today, and I could’ve been a lot more in the zone. I just don’t like the walks.”
Gray is tied for ninth among active pitchers with 1,000-plus career innings with a 63.9 percent first-pitch strike percentage entering the game, and posted those against 66.7 percent (16-of-24) of the Tigers he faced.
“It’s one of those things I say in my head all the time, ‘Get ahead. Stay ahead. Put ‘em away,’” Gray said. “It’s rule No. 1 for me, and I can do better. But it’s very important to get strike one and get ahead.”
That statistic doesn’t usually lead to walks, but his 4.9 walks per nine innings this season does exceed his 3.0 career average.
Both Detroit runs he allowed were scored by batters he walked, but an error by Evan Carter made one of those runs unearned.
Gray struck out the side in the first inning before fanning another pair after Kerry Carpenter’s leadoff triple in the second.
“I felt like everything was really snappy early on,” Gray said. “I thought we pitched well the whole game, but early on it was just really sharp. When a guy hits a leadoff triple, it becomes fun because you can play a game with yourself: ‘This is an opportunity. What if I get out of this? How cool would that be?’”
