Latest news with #StLouis
Washington Post
23 minutes ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Worth the wait: Sonny Gray's 1-hitter is his first complete game in 8 years
CLEVELAND — Sonny Gray didn't know if he would throw a complete game again. On Friday night, he did that and was one pitch away from a no-hitter. Gray allowed only one hit and struck out a season-high 11 in St. Louis' 5-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians . It is his seventh complete game, but first since 2017 with the Yankees. It was also the fifth shutout in Gray's 13-year big-league career, with the last coming when he was with the Athletics in 2015.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Blues draft winger Justin Carbonneau in first round while search for second-line center continues
ST. LOUIS — In a 24-hour span, Jordan Kyrou's name was in trade rumors, and the St. Louis Blues were in talks with the New York Islanders about defenseman Noah Dobson before he was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday. Following the first round of the NHL Draft on Friday night, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong, per usual, shed light on nothing. Advertisement 'Yeah, I'm not going to get into that,' Armstrong said. Armstrong didn't want to get into details, but on a night when the only Blues news was the player they drafted No. 19 — Blainville-Boisbriand Armada right winger Justin Carbonneau — Armstrong was very open about what he's trying to do in the coming week. 'We're one of 27 teams that would love to find a second-line center — that's just the reality of it,' Armstrong said. 'I don't know if we can. You've seen since we talked last: These guys are signing with their own teams. Everyone is finding a way (to re-sign them). You have to just be prepared to react to what's available on July 1. 'But it's easier to say than do when you look at the number of teams trying to accomplish that. You saw the number of teams trying to accomplish that last year, and those centers made a lot of money and you guys can judge how it worked out for everybody. There's a shortage of players. There's a shortage of players in certain areas. It's just reality.' Not that the Blues would've been in on the Florida Panthers' Sam Bennett or the Toronto Maple Leafs' John Tavares, but both centers re-upped with their respective clubs Friday. In addition, the Colorado Avalanche traded center Charlie Coyle to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The options are dwindling. The Vancouver Canucks' Pius Suter is still a pending unrestricted free agent, and the Minnesota Wild's Marco Rossi is a pending restricted free agent. There could be a few unknown trade candidates, but it still appears to be a limited list. Will the Blues overpay in free agency? If not, will they make a trade? Armstrong seemed to hint at the latter on Friday. 'We're very strong on the wing right now,' he said.'If we make a trade, it will be an apple for an apple. We're going to trade someone that we may have a surplus for someone in an area that we need in the same age group. I don't see us moving a younger player for an older player for a short-term fix. That isn't where we're at in our maturation.' Advertisement Those wingers include Pavel Buchnevich, Jake Neighbours, Dylan Holloway, Zack Bolduc, Jimmy Snuggerud and, of course, Kyrou. Kyrou's full no-trade clause kicks in on July 1, and his name has been in a lot of trade speculation, including with the Buffalo Sabres before they traded right winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth, and the Islanders before they dealt Dobson. Interestingly, neither one of those situations involved the Blues getting a center, but it could all be part of the puzzle. They could have upgraded their defense with Dobson and then taken another route to acquire a center. However, when Armstrong was asked Friday if the Blues had to find one from outside the organization this offseason, he wouldn't go that far. 'We had a great final push there with our center ice the way it was,' he said. 'That (Brayden) Schenn-Holloway-Kyrou line was very good. Schenner is not getting younger, but he could do the job. If we could support him, that would be great, but he can do the job.' And now, the Blues have added another strong wing to their pipeline in Carbonneau. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder was No. 16 on the NHL's Central Scouting's list of North American skaters. He led Armada 49 goals and 92 points in 67 games this season (regular season and playoffs). His 89 regular-season points were the second-most in the QMJHL, and he was named to the league's first All-Star team. 'I compare myself to (L.A.'s) Adrian Kempe and (Philadelphia's) Travis Konecny,' Carbonneau said. 'Kempe, his size, speed and shot. I bring that. Konecny, his mindset. I'm not scared of anyone. I score goals in the paint and dirty areas. 'I play with a lot of fire. I'm not really scared of anyone. I know that the 6-8 guys are stronger probably than me and bigger, but I'm going to still try. Goals are scored in those areas. You have to find ways to get there, and I use my body and my speed to get there. It's important if you want to score goals like a goal-scorer like me.' Advertisement That's the scouting report the Blues had on Carbonneau. 'He's a goal scorer,' Armstrong said. 'He's someone that enjoys the fruits of his labors of scoring goals — someone who adds another element to the guys we have right now.' The Blues had Carbonneau in a grouping of players they thought might be available at No. 19. 'The mock drafts had him somewhere (Nos.) 14-18, so we thought that he would be a little bit of a stretch, but he might get to us,' Armstrong said. They took him despite Kitchener Rangers defensemen Cameron Reid and University of Wisconsin defenseman Logan Hensler still being on the board. 'We took three D last year,' Armstrong said. 'We'd like to smooth out our depth chart.' There was not much opportunity for the Blues to move up in the first round, and though they only have three picks in this draft, they decided against dropping back and acquiring an extra pick. 'It was a difficult year to move up because we didn't have a second, third or fourth,' Armstrong said. 'We did talk to a couple of teams (about trading down). We might've been able to go to 22 or 23 and acquire a late second or third. But you're crossing your fingers that you don't lose three guys. We didn't have to do that because at 19, there was a player that we were excited about in our block.' Carbonneau will either play NCAA hockey next season at Boston College or return to junior. 'That's one of the topics to talk with the Blues,' he said. 'Boston College is a great option for me to develop with older guys, or in Blainville. Two good options, but some talks that I'm going to do with St. Louis and decide in the next few days.' On Friday, Carbonneau was wearing an NHL jersey for the first time, becoming the first Blue to be officially presented with the new rebranded uniform. 'I always play for the logo on the front,' he said. 'To see this beautiful logo that changed a few days ago, it's a great logo. To wear it one day, it's going to be my next goal.'
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Worth the wait: Sonny Gray's 1-hitter is his first complete game in 8 years
CLEVELAND (AP) — Sonny Gray didn't know if he would throw a complete game again. On Friday night, he did that and was one pitch away from a no-hitter. Gray allowed only one hit and struck out a season-high 11 in St. Louis' 5-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians. Advertisement It is his seventh complete game, but first since 2017 with the Yankees. It was also the fifth shutout in Gray's 13-year big-league career, with the last coming when he was with the Athletics in 2015. 'I did it a lot earlier in my career and it's been a while,' Gray said. 'You don't know if you would be able to do it, especially the way the games kind of went, and especially with me like I don't throw over 100 pitches very often.' The right-hander, who improved to 8-2 on the season, needed only 89 pitches against the Guardians. It is the first time since 2021 (Atlanta's Max Fried vs. Baltimore) that a pitcher has had a complete-game shutout and thrown less than 90 pitches. Gray's most taxing inning was the third, when he had 12 pitches. He had two innings where he threw eight or fewer pitches. Advertisement Gray's only bad pitch came with two outs in the fifth inning, when Nolan Jones had a base hit to right field on a sweeper. 'I knew the innings were kind of moving right along. I did know that I was perfect through that long. I made a good pitch there when the guy got the hit, so I was fine with that," Gray said. 'When I was going out for the ninth it felt like just another inning, which was nice.' Gray had 19 first-pitch strikes to the 28 batters he faced and of his 66 strikes, 16 were swings and misses. He retired 15 of Cleveland's hitters on three pitches or fewer, including six on the first pitch. 'When you keep getting 0-1, the other team feels pressure of that. I think that helped in our benefit of just being able to attack these guys and get the quick outs,' said catcher Pedro Pagés, who got the Cardinals on the board with a home run to lead off the third inning. Advertisement Gray also stymied Cleveland with a familiar face in the Guardians' dugout. Manager Stephen Vogt caught Gray for 45 games, more than any other catcher in Gray's career. 'Whatever he wanted, he had everything working," Vogt said. "The only pitch he left in the strike zone was when Nolan got the base hit. That was an unbelievable performance by Sonny.' Gray and Vogt were roommates in the minors in the Athletics' system, and still share a close bond and mutual respect. 'Through my warmup pitches before the first inning, I had some time and kind of looked up. I know where Vogty stands, and he was kind of looking at me. So I was kind of looking at him and we kind of stared at each other for a second, and I gave him a little head nod," Gray said. "We have so many memories together. It's just kind of crazy how this game does that sometimes.' __ AP MLB: Joe Reedy, The Associated Press
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Worth the wait: Sonny Gray's 1-hitter is his first complete game in 8 years
CLEVELAND (AP) — Sonny Gray didn't know if he would throw a complete game again. On Friday night, he did that and was one pitch away from a no-hitter. Gray allowed only one hit and struck out a season-high 11 in St. Louis' 5-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians. It is his seventh complete game, but first since 2017 with the Yankees. It was also the fifth shutout in Gray's 13-year big-league career, with the last coming when he was with the Athletics in 2015. 'I did it a lot earlier in my career and it's been a while,' Gray said. 'You don't know if you would be able to do it, especially the way the games kind of went, and especially with me like I don't throw over 100 pitches very often.' The right-hander, who improved to 8-2 on the season, needed only 89 pitches against the Guardians. It is the first time since 2021 (Atlanta's Max Fried vs. Baltimore) that a pitcher has had a complete-game shutout and thrown less than 90 pitches. Gray's most taxing inning was the third, when he had 12 pitches. He had two innings where he threw eight or fewer pitches. Gray's only bad pitch came with two outs in the fifth inning, when Nolan Jones had a base hit to right field on a sweeper. 'I knew the innings were kind of moving right along. I did know that I was perfect through that long. I made a good pitch there when the guy got the hit, so I was fine with that,' Gray said. 'When I was going out for the ninth it felt like just another inning, which was nice.' Gray had 19 first-pitch strikes to the 28 batters he faced and of his 66 strikes, 16 were swings and misses. He retired 15 of Cleveland's hitters on three pitches or fewer, including six on the first pitch. 'When you keep getting 0-1, the other team feels pressure of that. I think that helped in our benefit of just being able to attack these guys and get the quick outs,' said catcher Pedro Pagés, who got the Cardinals on the board with a home run to lead off the third inning. Gray also stymied Cleveland with a familiar face in the Guardians' dugout. Manager Stephen Vogt caught Gray for 45 games, more than any other catcher in Gray's career. 'Whatever he wanted, he had everything working,' Vogt said. 'The only pitch he left in the strike zone was when Nolan got the base hit. That was an unbelievable performance by Sonny.' Gray and Vogt were roommates in the minors in the Athletics' system, and still share a close bond and mutual respect. 'Through my warmup pitches before the first inning, I had some time and kind of looked up. I know where Vogty stands, and he was kind of looking at me. So I was kind of looking at him and we kind of stared at each other for a second, and I gave him a little head nod,' Gray said. 'We have so many memories together. It's just kind of crazy how this game does that sometimes.' __ AP MLB:
Fox News
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Cardinals complete double play after Cubs star Ian Happ commits baserunning blunder
Ian Happ had a forgettable moment Thursday. The MLB outfielder made a glaring mistake in the first inning of a Cubs-Cardinals game in St. Louis. The Cubs celebrated a 3-0 victory over their NL Central division rivals. Happ stepped into the batter's box to lead off the game and proceeded to hit a single to left field. A couple of batters later, Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki hit a fly ball to right field. Happ appeared to sprint from first base almost immediately after Suzuki's bat made contact with the ball. But Cardinals outfielder Alec Burleson made the catch, forcing Happ to run back to first base. But Happ skipped a crucial step during his retreat to first base. He made it all the way to second base when the ball was hit to right field, meaning he needed to retouch the bag on his way back to first. Happ had touched second base, which meant he had to retouch it on his way back to first. He failed to do so. While the three-time Gold Glove winner did make it back to first base before the ball made it into the Cardinals first baseman's glove, he was ultimately ruled out. The double play ended the inning. Happ is in his ninth big league season, all with the Cubs. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
