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Sonny Gray Makes Impressive History In Shutout Start vs. Guardians

Gray was locked in en route to the shockingly efficient complete game shutout.

Tim Capurso

Gray was in the zone on Friday night.
Gray was in the zone on Friday night. / David Richard-Imagn Images
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St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray was masterful in his club's 5-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night.

Gray pitched a Maddux, or a complete game shutout while expending fewer than 100 pitches, as he tossed a one-hitter over nine scoreless innings, striking out 11 batters while throwing an astonishing 89 pitches.

It was the fewest number of pitches in a Maddux since 2021 and the highest number of strikeouts accompanying such a game since 1988, or as early as pitch count data is available, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

Gray set the tone with an eight-pitch first inning, then proceeded to throw 10 or fewer pitches in all but two of the remaining frames.

Additionally, Gray became just the second pitcher to pitch a shutout on fewer than 90 pitches with 10-plus strikeouts since 1988, joining David Cone. Cone's outing was a perfect game.

Pretty, pretty good.

Gray, 35, improved to 8-2 with a 3.36 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 93 2/3 innings pitched in 2025.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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