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.
One of the best pitching performances you'll ever see!
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) June 28, 2025
Sonny Gray was DEALING tonight in Cleveland! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/foVz2WxybU
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.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sonny Gray Makes Impressive History In Shutout Start vs. Guardians.
