The St. Louis Cardinals know that if there was ever a time for them to make a run in the NL Wild Card standings, it's now. However, the Cardinals hit a snag in their wild card push on Thursday night, as they suffered a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to division rival Chicago Cubs despite having ace Sonny Gray on the mound.
Gray did his part to put the Cardinals in a position to win. Locked in as he usually has been throughout 2024, Gray pitched seven quality innings, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out nine Cubs batters. However, the Cardinals ended up blowing the game after Ryan Helsley, usually a dependable late-game arm, allowed three two-strike extra-base RBI hits to allow a Cubs comeback from 5-2 down in the bottom of the ninth inning.
For Sonny Gray, his excellent performance vindicates his trust in the work he puts in on a daily basis after the horrid performance he put up in his prior start.
“It's just about getting my mind back to being who I am when I'm at my best,” Gray told reporters, via Bally Sports Midwest. “Being committed to the process everyday, being committed to the work not only on the day that you're pitching, but throughout the week, making sure you're taking care of yourself and making sure that you're getting stuff done … with a purpose.”
The hope, of course, is that when Sonny Gray pitches this well, the Cardinals bullpen can shut down the door to avoid more of these painful defeats.
Sonny Gray's bounce-back performance ends in heartbreaking Cardinals loss
Sonny Gray has struggled over his last five starts prior to his gem against the Cubs. Gray's stuff has been more than okay during that span, striking out 35 in 28.1 innings, but he has been rocked to the tune of a 6.67 ERA during those games, allowing five runs in three of those starts.
The last thing the Cardinals needed in their wild card push was a slump from their ace, but the signs were there that Gray was bound to have a bounce-back game. First of all, his batting average allowed on balls in play points to his misfortune during his struggles, and on Thursday, the baseball gods were finally on his side.
On the year, Gray is now pitching to the tune of a 3.72 ERA in 118.2 innings of work (20 starts). He has an incredible strikeout rate of 11.15 batters per nine innings, a figure that should have him pitching much better in no time as long as he continues to stick to the process that has been working for him.
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