With his team's back against the wall in Game 2 of the Wild Card series against the New York Yankees, Sonny Gray brought his best stuff to the mound. The Boston Red Sox righty, who was sensational during the regular season, is dialed in early, striking out four while allowing just one run on a solo homer across his first four innings of work. And even that is selling him short: Gray hardly ever missed a spot with any of his wide variety of pitches, and all three of his other hits allowed were weak contact that just happened to be well-placed.
Make it back to back Ks for Sonny Gray in the second inning and give him three for the game pic.twitter.com/I62yYsvLaV
— Lucas Parmenter (@LucasSports19) October 1, 2026
But where some might see a crafty veteran — who was, again, one of the best pitchers in the AL this season — motivated to pitch a gem against his former team, Yankees fans saw a conspiracy. Some sleuths on the internet seemed to see a shiny spot on Gray's neck, one that he kept touching in between pitches. Fair or foul? You be the judge.
Is Sonny Gray using illegal substance in start vs. Yankees? The Bronx sure thinks so
Here's what Yankees fans consider to be the smoking gun. Gray clearly has some sort of discoloration on his neck, and he has gone to that spot (or near that spot) pretty regularly throughout this start.
Sonny gray is cheating point blank. Dude has pine tar or some substance on the side of his neck. Look at when he gets a new ball he goes right to the neck. @Jomboy_ @JoezMcfLy @TalkinJake expose this dummy!!!!! pic.twitter.com/QRRVV5ryDU
— Mike Coseo (@MikeCoseo2) October 1, 2026
And in baseball's fiercest rivalry, that's enough for accusations to start flying.
Every time Sonny Gray gets a new ball, he’s touching the back of his neck. I’m sure the Yankees would be all over that if it was something, but it looks odd.
— Darin Zoccali (@atTheTrack7) October 1, 2026
Sonny Gray is 100% using sticky stuff on his neck. This is egregious. @JomboyMedia @TalkinYanks
— Nick Ricciardi (@Nick_Ricciardi) October 1, 2026
Sonny Gray has sticky stuff on his neck?????
— Spreadsheet Enjoyer (@YankeesStats) October 1, 2026
So: fair or foul? You can understand how viewers watching at home with too much time to kill between innings might get the wrong idea here. Baseball's problem with sticky stuff at the start of the 2020s was well-documented, so much so that the league eventually felt compelled to crack down on pitchers who were getting right up to (or in some cases just plainly crossing) the line of what's acceptable. Gray spins the ball as well as anybody, and we know he used Spider Tack back when that was still allowed.
Still, I think we need to put the tin-foil caps away here. After all, MLB now mandates hand and glove checks at the end of each half-inning; if Gray were really touching up on sticky stuff while on the mound, wouldn't that show up as he was heading back to the dugout?
It seems more likely that this is just a feel thing, that Gray is touching the same spot in order to try and reestablish grip over the baseball in ways that are totally innocuous. In this day and age, with so many cameras and the league on high alert, it would be foolhardy in the extreme to risk an elimination game on whether or not you get caught in the act. Then again, it would hardly be the first time that subterfuge came into play in this rivalry.
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