Athletics' Sonny Gray: Disastrous start Tuesday

Gray surrendered seven earned runs on five hits, four walks and three wild pitches over two innings in Tuesday's 21-13 Cactus League victory over the Diamondbacks. He struck out three.

A few batters in, Gray may have well been wishing he was getting ready to pitch for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, as he'd originally been scheduled to before an insurance issue prevented from participating. He was touched up for five runs in the first inning, although his actual performance during the frame wasn't as poor as the numbers might indicate. Gray's trouble started after throwing a wild pitch on strike three to David Peralta, which allowed the outfielder to reach, and Gregor Blanco, who'd laced a game-opening triple, to score. First baseman Yonder Alonso then let a would-be double-play ball to skirt past him two batters later, which brought home another run, and then Ketel Marte took Gray deep for a three-run home run. Gray's poor command was responsible for an additional run in the second, as he uncorked another errant offering, allowing Chris Iannetta to score. Gray attributed his his attempts to throw his slider as the principal reason for his wildness, and neither he nor manager Bob Melvin were overly concerned with Tuesday's outcome. "The first inning wasn't as bad as the number looked," Melvin said. "It got a little out of hand, but his stuff was still good."