Rockies plan for P Sean Sullivan to start vs. Red Sox after brief illness, rough outing

Sean Sullivan's major league debut with the Colorado Rockies was cut short because of an illness, and his second game wasn't a cure for him.

Left-hander Sullivan (0-1, 10.29 ERA) undoubtedly hopes his home debut goes better when the Rockies face the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night in Denver.

Right-hander Sonny Gray (8-1, 3.12) wlll start for Boston in the second game of a three-game series.

Gray will follow a strong outing by Red Sox rookie Jake Bennett, who struck out nine in six innings, but Colorado rallied for three runs in the ninth to take a 3-2 win in the opener on Monday.

Sullivan lasted just three innings at the Athletics on June 12 because he was sick, but he pitched well before his exit. He was vomiting between innings yet still held the A's to no runs and two hits.

Sullivan was hit hard by the Chicago Cubs five days later, leaving after giving up eight runs on nine hits in four innings. His first time pitching in front of Colorado fans will come against his hometown team. Sullivan graduated from Tabor Academy in Marion, Mass., before pitching for Wake Forest.

But he likely won't be rattled by facing the Red Sox, according to Boston catcher Braxton Fulford, who caught Sullivan in the minors.

"Something that might be overlooked is he's level-headed -- not complacent with giving up runs," Fulford said. "If he gives up runs, he's not folding under the pressure. That's really going to help him at this level."

That bodes well for a bounce-back performance for the 23-year-old Sullivan, a second-round pick in 2023 during his only season pitching for the Demon Deacons.

Gray, a seasoned veteran, has 350 more games and 13 years on Sullivan. The 36-year-old has been one of the Red Sox's best pitchers, leading the team in wins and is third in the regular rotation in ERA. He is in his first season with the Red Sox -- his sixth team in 13 seasons.

Gray went on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain on April 21, and since returning on May 6, he is 6-0 with a 2.53 ERA in eight starts. He tossed a season-high seven innings in his last outing, his team's 4-3 loss to Toronto on Thursday, but he didn't factor into the decision.

Gray, in his first season with Boston, discussed the possibility of waiving his no-trade clause before the Aug. 3 deadline, so his time with his new team could be short.

"If someone came to me from the Red Sox and made a decision that that's the direction that this team was going to go, I would be open for a conversation," Gray told The Boston Globe. "Whatever happens from then, only time will tell. But I would be open for a conversation."

Gray will face the Rockies for the third time in his career. In his previous two outings, he is 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA. One of those starts came at Coors Field, on July 12, 2019, when he was pitching for the Cincinnati Reds. He allowed just one run over seven innings.

--Field Level Media