Only a few hours have passed since the Red Sox were swept 2-0 by the Yankees in the Wild Card Series, and there are already conspiracy theories. There is a picture of Sonny Gray on the mound showing some discoloration on the skin of his neck. And Josh Hart wasted no time in jumping on Boston and calling them out.

“So let me get this straight…they were cheating just to be straight buns,” Hart wrote on X.

Sonny Gray’s strong night for Boston quickly became overshadowed by an alleged sticky-substance controversy. The Red Sox righty entered Game 2 with his club needing a win to survive. And Gray kept the Yankees quiet and gave Boston exactly what it needed. He allowed only 2 runs through 4 innings, striking out 5 and limiting hard contact.

He allowed 6 hits overall, but most of the damage stayed under control. His only home run came from Luis García Jr., who put New York ahead in the fourth.

Gray also had no walks, keeping pressure on the Yankees rather than giving extra chances, but then Yankees fans noticed something on the side of Gray’s neck during his outing.

The spot looked discolored, and Gray repeatedly appeared to touch it between pitches. Some fans alleged that he was using pine tar or another sticky substance to get better grip on the ball. Something similar to what Michael Pineda did back in 2014 during the Yankees-Red Sox game, and was ejected.

The accusation quickly spread online, turning his pitching performance into a completely different conversation.

That suspicion grew louder whenever Gray received a fresh baseball and touched his neck again. However, there has been no confirmed finding that Gray used an illegal substance during the game. With MLB checks in place, the allegation remains just that—an allegation.

While fans watched Gray’s neck, the Yankees slowly started pulling away from the Red Sox on the scoreboard. Gray left after 4.2 innings, and the Yankees then exploded for 6 runs in the sixth inning, turning a close game into something the Red Sox could not recover from.

Cody Bellinger’s 3-run homer delivered the biggest blow of that inning.

By the final out, the Yankees had beaten Boston 9-2 and completed their Wild Card sweep. New York had 14 hits, while the Red Sox managed only 4 hits across the entire game. So Gray’s alleged sticky-stuff controversy became the side story to another Yankees domination.

Sonny Gray was disappointed with the Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox were still within one run when Sonny Gray walked off the mound Wednesday night. Gray had thrown 70 pitches, with Boston trailing the Yankees just 1-0. He left after allowing a two-out single to Ben Rice in the fifth inning that put runners at the corners. But once Gray disappeared into the dugout, the game quickly started slipping away from Boston.

That early exit clearly stayed with Gray, who made his frustration known after the game.

“I think I’m the best pitcher in the American League going through the order a third time… that’s a fact,” Gray said. “I would have liked to live or die with me in that moment, but that’s the competitor I am. So I felt strong. I felt confident. I felt convicted.”

Those words carried more weight after the season Gray had put together for Boston. He finished 18-5 with a 2.72 ERA across 29 starts. He also had a 1.99 ERA the third time through the order, while opponents hit just .180 against him.

Now, after Boston’s postseason exit, Gray’s future with the Red Sox is also unclear.