NEW YORK -- Interim manager Chad Tracy said the bedraggled Boston Red Sox will report to Citi Field a little later than normal before Saturday afternoon's game against the New York Mets -- this time, without a series of flight delays.
Sonny Gray and the Red Sox shook off the travel woes that led to their late arrival to New York on Friday, beating the Mets 6-2 for their seventh straight win.
"We'll definitely probably have a little bit of a later show," Tracy said, using baseball slang for the time to report ahead of Saturday's 4:10 p.m. ET start. "Just out of necessity to let people rest, we'll do it."
The Red Sox were grounded for nearly 24 hours due to a pair of mechanical issues on their team plane and didn't arrive at Citi Field until 5:05 p.m. Friday. The start of the game was pushed back by 36 minutes to 7:51 p.m.
"I don't think anyone's probably experienced that before," Gray said after tossing six solid innings. "It was wild, for sure."
The Red Sox expected to depart from Chicago on Thursday night, a few hours after they beat the White Sox 2-1. But pitcher Peyton Tolle said the "tug" -- which tows the planes around the runway -- was malfunctioning.
The Red Sox remained on the tarmac until after midnight, at which point they went to a pair of hotels in Chicago. The team returned to the aircraft Friday morning but was delayed again by Tracy described as issues with "switches or light bulbs in the cockpit."
Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, whose addition to the AL All-Star team was announced over the plane loudspeaker by Tracy before the second delay, said players listened to music and played cards.
"I think it's important to have a consistent routine that gets you and your body and everything prepared and ready," Gray said. "But at the same time, I think you have to be able to adjust and adapt when needed. And I think that's just what we did today."
Tolle said he ate about five doughnuts Friday, though most of his teammates had burritos.
"We tried to make light of the situation, we tried to have fun with it," Tolle said. "But there was some frustration building, for sure.
"At one point, we kind of just looked at each other laughing because it was just ridiculous."
The Red Sox finally took off a little before 3 p.m. ET and landed at LaGuardia Airport around 4:30 p.m. Team employees said the roughly 2-mile drive to Citi Field was relatively easy during rush hour.
"Throw it back to travel ball days," reliever Garrett Whitlock said. "Show and go. Go out there and play, have fun."
Masataka Yoshida's two-run double in the first gave Gray a lead before he took the mound. Gray allowed one run on five hits and struck out three while throwing 91 pitches.
"We were in that thing together from the time the game was over [Thursday] in Chicago," Gray said.
The delay was the second in two weeks for the Red Sox. Their flight from Denver to Boston turned around after half an hour on June 24 due to a mechanical issue.
The Red Sox didn't get home until around dawn on June 25 but beat the New York Yankees 6-3 hours later to start a 12-2 surge.
"I think it's some adversity for us," Rafaela said before the game. "The message I sent to the guys was we have great momentum right now. That has to be our focus."