Sonny Gray Tosses 89-Pitch Masterpiece, Joins Maddux Club in Dominant Shutout
Sonny Gray didn’t just pitch well Friday night. He turned in one of the most dominant performances of the MLB season. And he did it with ruthless efficiency to join the ‘Maddux Club.’
On the road in Cleveland, the Cardinals’ ace went the distance, throwing a complete-game shutout — but that’s not even the wild part. Gray struck out 11 batters, allowed just one hit, walked nobody, and needed only 89 pitches to do it.
Yep — that’s a Maddux, folks.
For those keeping score at home, a “Maddux” is a complete-game shutout thrown in fewer than 100 pitches — a rarity in today’s era of pitch counts and early bullpen calls. Gray becomes the first Cardinal to do it since Adam Wainwright in 2021, who, fun fact, pulled it off in 88 pitches — one fewer than Gray.
Before Waino, it was Chris Carpenter in 2011, keeping the Cardinals lineage of old-school bulldog performances alive.
And Gray? Well, he took it all in stride. When asked postgame if he ever thought about throwing a Maddux, he delivered the most Sonny Gray response possible:
“I never even thought about it. I do like him, so that’s pretty cool.”
Cool indeed.
This was Gray’s fifth career complete-game shutout, and his first since 2015 — making this one arguably the best start of his career. His only blemish came in the fifth inning: a two-out single to Guardians outfielder Nolan Jones. That was it. One hit. Eleven punchouts. Zero free passes.
Gray now sits at 8-2 on the year with a 3.36 ERA, and looks every bit the ace the Cardinals were hoping for when they brought him in to lead the staff. He’s scheduled to start next on Wednesday against the Pirates — and if you’re Pittsburgh, good luck following that act.
Oh, and while Erick Fedde also threw a complete-game shutout earlier this month (June 9 vs. the Nationals), it’s safe to say this one hits different. The pace. The command. The absolute surgical precision.
In a league obsessed with velocity and spin rate, Sonny Gray just reminded everyone that pitch economy and pure execution still matter.
The Maddux lives on — and now it’s got a new name beside it.
