St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the second inning at Busch Stadium on June 6. Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Sonny Gray Etches Himself in Crazy Baseball History with Recent Gem on Mound

Originally posted on Fastball on SI | By Brady Farkas | Last updated Jun 29, 2025 8:42 AM ET

When Sonny Gray of the St. Louis Cardinals shut out the Cleveland Guardians with an 89-pitch complete game on Friday night, he made some unique baseball history.

However, he made even more history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Sonny Gray went 9 years & 334 days between shutouts, the 6th-longest span all-time, shorter than only:

Bill F. Bailey: 12y, 7d (8/30/1909-9/6/1921)
Socks Seibold: 11y, 296d (8/27/1917-6/19/1929)
Carmen Hill: 10y, 356d (9/17/1915-9/8/1926)
Alex Cobb: 10y, 244d (8/23/12-4/24/23)
Frank Foreman: 9y, 346d (9/4/1891-8/16/1901)

h/t @EliasSports

Sonny Gray went 9 years & 334 days between shutouts, the 6th-longest span all-time, shorter than only:

Bill F. Bailey: 12y, 7d (8/30/1909-9/6/1921)
Socks Seibold: 11y, 296d (8/27/1917-6/19/1929)
Carmen Hill: 10y, 356d (9/17/1915-9/8/1926)
Alex Cobb: 10y, 244d (8/23/12-4/24/23)…
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 28, 2025

Gray, who is a 13-year veteran of the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, and Cardinals, has been one of the better pitchers in baseball for more than a decade. Now 35 years old, he's 119-96 lifetime with a 3.50 ERA.

A three-time All-Star, he finished second in the American League Cy Young voting in 2023.

This season? He's been excellent for the Cardinals, going 8-2 with a 3.36 ERA. He's struck out 101 batters in 93.2 innings.

The Cardinals have been one of the more surprising teams in baseball this year, sitting at 46-38 entering play on Sunday. Thought to be rebuilding in the offseason, they held onto key trade assets like Ryan Helsley and Nolan Arenado, and it's proven to be beneficial for them.

They'll finish out their series with the Guardians on Sunday afternoon with first pitch coming at 12:05 p.m. ET.

Left-hander Matthew Liberatore will pitch for the Cardinals while Logan Allen goes for the Guardians.

Liberatore is 5-6 with a 3.96 ERA. Allen is 5-5 with a 4.25.

This article first appeared on Fastball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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