WASHINGTON, D.C. – This was the Sonny Gray that opposing hitters fear. The version that’s been selected to two All-Star Games and earned the reputation as one of the nastier pitchers in the league.
Gray permitted only three baserunners in six shutout innings to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 win over the Washington Nationals in their seven-inning game as a part of a split doubleheader, but those numbers don't even do his performance justice.
This was domination.
"He’s the definition of an ace," Jesse Winker said. "Every fifth day he takes the ball and every time he walks out there, I feel like we're going to win."
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There were moments where Gray looked like he was throwing a Wiffle ball. He struck out Yan Gomes in the fifth inning on a curveball that bounced in front of the plate. Starlin Castro argued with the home-plate umpire after Gray painted the corner with a fastball for a called strike three.
Not even a three-ball, no-strike count to Kyle Schwarber could faze him.
Schwarber probably guessed that a fastball was coming, and Gray still pumped one past him. The next pitch was a 90-mph changeup that moved more like a frisbee as it neared the plate for a called strike.
Gray induced a groundout back to the mound to end the at-bat. Then he struck out the next batter to end the inning.
"I was just trying to challenge early, challenge often and once I got to two strikes, still continue to try to challenge," Gray said. "That was it."
After a one-out single by Juan Soto in the first inning, Gray retired 16 of his next 17 batters. The lone exception was an infield single by the speedy Trea Turner. During that stretch, the Nationals hit only two balls out of the infield.
Gray fielded five come-backers to the mound, including a line drive that left Josh Bell's bat at 116 mph in the sixth inning. His left hand went numb for a few moments, which led to Lucas Sims pitching the seventh inning for the save.
"It's the best my slider's been all year," Gray said. "I wasn't just throwing that spinny, crappy pitch that's a ball in the left-handed batter's box the whole time. I was just trusting it in the zone."
The Reds hadn't won a series in D.C. since 2015 – and they had to beat Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer to do it.
Playing in a fast-paced seven-inning game, which lasted 2 hours, 7 minutes, it helped that Eugenio Suárez handed Gray a lead before even took the mound. Suárez homered on Strasburg’s fifth pitch of the evening, belting an elevated 92-mph fastball to the second row of seats in right-center.
The Reds lead the Majors with six leadoff homers this season (three from Jesse Winker, two from Tyler Naquin and one from Suárez).
"I was walking up to the plate right after that and I was pumped up," Winker said.
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Manager David Bell made the bold decision to use Suárez in the leadoff spot to try to help him break out of his slump. Suárez reached base five times in 13 plate appearances and he hit homers against Strasburg and Scherzer.
"If anything, it just kind of shifted his mindset a little bit," Bell said. "Those are leading to the base hits, line drive hits, a couple of opposite-field home runs. That’s really the key for him."
That was all the help Gray needed, but he contributed to his own cause in the fifth inning. Gray hit a ground ball that deflected off Strasburg’s foot for an infield single.
Gray credited his uncle, Ralph, for his first hit of the season.
"He texted me two games ago," Gray said. "I hit like a ground ball to second and I was just kind of jogging down to first. He texted me after the game, I'd pitched after the game, he basically said, 'run your (butt) down to first base. That's what got you there. You hit the ball, you run.' I just responded, 'Yes, sir. OK. I will.'"
Things snowballed a bit for Strasburg after Gray's hit. Suárez drew a two-out walk. Winker followed with an RBI single that deflected off the second-base bag and bounced over Turner at shortstop.
After Winker’s fortunate bounce, Tyler Naquin dropped an RBI double down the left-field line that landed about a foot into fair territory.
A three-run lead for Gray? There was no chance he was giving that up. Not with the way he was pitching Thursday.
"A lot of good things happened this series to be able to win two out of three against this team," Bell said.
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