Latest news with #completegame
Washington Post
3 days 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.
Yahoo
4 days 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
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Worth the wait: Sonny Gray's 1-hitter is his first complete game in 8 years
St. Louis Cardinals' Sonny Gray pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) 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:
Associated Press
4 days 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
28-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Tarik Skubal wants to be an inning-eating workhorse, even if MLB has changed
Tarik Skubal enjoyed his first taste of throwing a complete game as a professional and the Detroit Tigers ace is hoping to be a rare starting pitcher who is regularly on the mound late in games. In this era, teams usually depend on relievers to pitch at least a few innings and the reigning AL Cy Young and league Triple Crown winner would love to buck the trend for manager A.J. Hinch and the AL-leading Tigers. "The game's changed a little bit because these guys that come in are the best they've ever been, but my goal is to make it as difficult as I can on A.J. to take me out of a game," Skubal said Wednesday before Detroit wrapped up a series at home against San Francisco. "I want him thinking a lot about it. I don't want it to be an easy decision. "That's kind of that's what starting pitching is — you take the ball and you eat innings. There's probably been a little bit of less value in that in today's game as it was five, 10 years ago." Justin Verlander laments that fact. "Most guys are getting pulled in the fifth or sixth inning," he said. Verlander, a three-time AL Cy Young Award in his first season with the Giants, understands clubs try to limit innings starters pitch in part to avoid injuries. The 42-year-old right-hander, though, is grateful Jim Leyland was his manager early in his career with the Tigers and allowed him to have 120-pitch outings and 200-inning seasons. "Even at that time, that was a little old school," Verlander said. "Had he not been my manager, I might not have had the opportunity to show what I can do. I think what separated me from a lot of guys was my ability to throw that many pitches and get stronger as game went on, and do it every five days." When Skubal makes his next start on Saturday at Kansas City, the hard-throwing lefty wants Hinch to see plenty of reasons to keep him in the game longer than usual. "I want to be out there for the sixth, seventh and eighth inning," he said. "There's going to be five-inning outings. Those are grinder games. I'm not too proud of those ones. I'm proud of ones I'm in the seventh, eighth and handing the ball off to the back end of our guys." [Related: Last Night in Baseball: Tarik Skubal goes Maddux, historically so] In Skubal's last start, he gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts in a 94-pitch performance that included just 22 balls and no walks. It was just the fifth individual shutout this season in the majors, and a complete-game shutout thrown in under 100 pitches is nicknamed a "Maddux," in honor of Greg Maddux, a leader in efficiency in an era of inflated pitch counts. That kind of efficiency is also what allowed Skubal to throw a record 102.6 mph, per Statcast's measurement, on his final pitch of the game. Which was also the fastest recorded velocity of any pitch 75+ pitches into a start. Skubal has yet to surpass 96 pitches in a start in 2025, and exceeded the 100-pitch mark just four times in 31 starts a year ago, while averaging over six innings per start – Skubal made it to the seventh inning throwing between 74 and 91 pitches on nine occasions in 2024. He's averaging nearly 6.1 innings per start in 2025, with the same level of pitch efficiency. If he or any other Detroit starter is as efficient as Skubal was on Sunday, then Hinch plans to keep them in for the final inning. "If guys want to enter the ninth inning with 85 pitches, I promise you I will leave guys in," Hinch said. Hinch said it's not an indictment on starters when they don't last deep in games, adding it's not a "healthy badge of honor," to just leave pitchers on the mound because they're having a good day. Simply put, he said the stuff a fresh reliever has to throw at teams is going to be better than one of the last pitches from any starter. "As starters fatigue, is their 120th pitch better than Will Vest's first pitch? Or, Tommy Kahnle's first pitch? Or, Brant Hurter's first pitch?" Hinch asked. "The answer is no." Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!
