The St. Louis Cardinals have played Central division opponents in every series since June 12 and that stretch continued with Friday’s series opener against the Cleveland Guardians. After getting shut out in the past two games against the rival Chicago Cubs, Cardinals ace Sonny Gray returned the favor against the Guardians with a shutout of his own.

Gray has had an up-and-down month of June but Friday’s game was one of the most impressive performances the Cardinals have seen from a starting pitcher since 2021. The right-hander finished the 11-strikeout, one-hit shutout on just 89 pitches with 11 strikeouts as he carved his way through a Cleveland lineup that was missing perennial MVP candidate Jose Ramirez. Gray was locked in from the first inning when he shut the hosts down on just eight pitches. The only hit the righty allowed was back in the fifth inning when Nolan Jones knocked a clean single to left.

Pedro Pages gave the Cardinals the lead with a solo homer in the third inning and Alec Burleson added another two-run homer a few batters later. For the month of June, Burleson is hitting .330 with five home runs and 17 RBIs. Pages roundtripper was all the offense the Cardinals needed but Nolan Arenado added two RBIs of his own to support Gray’s stellar outing.

Gray cruised the entire game and notched his season-high-tying 11th strikeout in the eighth inning, which he completed in just 78 pitches. The veteran sealed the complete game shutout with a 1-2-3 ninth inning that ended with a flyout to left field. Gray’s 89-pitch complete game notched the Cardinals’ first “Maddux” (complete game shutout in less than 100 pitches) since Adam Wainwright completed the feat in 2021. The Cardinals 5-0 win keeps the team in striking distance of a playoff spot in both the division and NL Wild Card race.

The Cardinals continue their series against the Guardians tomorrow at 3:10pm. St. Louis will send veteran Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.31 ERA) to the mound and he will oppose 26-year-old Slade Cecconi (3-3, 3.38 ERA) who has put together a nice season since coming over from the Arizona Diamondbacks.