Sonny Gray spins zeroes as Cardinals sprint away with sweep of Pirates

Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on May 7, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — Rather than turning to their No. 1 starter to halt or slow or — as the saying goes — stop a skid, the Cardinals turned the wheel over to Sonny Gray on Wednesday to drive forward their best stretch of baseball yet.

Gray’s seven shutout innings paired with Victor Scott II’s speed-demon baserunning to lift the Cardinals to a 5-0 victory Wednesday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gray’s gem completed a three-game sweep of the division rivals — the first against the Bucs at Busch Stadium since August 2019. The win also yanked the Cardinals (19-19) back to .500 for the first time this season since they were 9-9.

They leave St. Louis on a five-game winning streak.

Home sweep home, indeed.

Gray (4-1) buzzed through the Pirates’ pedestrian lineup. It took him 89 pitches to get 21 outs, and he limited the Pirates to one hit through the first five innings of the game. When a catcher’s interference error and a walk put two runners on base for the only time all game, Gray unleashed a 95 mph fastball — his swiftest of the game — to catch Ke’Bryan Hayes marveling at it for a called strike three. That was one of Gray’s eight strikeouts in the game. Two of them came in the fifth inning as he continued a stretch of retiring 11 of the final 12 batters he faced.

The bookends of the Cardinals lineup did most of the offensive work before a late add-in in the eighth. Leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar had three hits, and No. 9 hitter Victor Scott II scored twice on daring dashes from first base.

Great Scott!

Each of the Cardinals’ rallies while Gray was on the mound began when Scott took his lead from first base.

The Cardinals center fielder and speedster scored from first each of the first two times he was on base. He worked a walk in the third, and he was going to attempt to steal second base when leadoff hitter Nootbaar stung a single to right-center gap. Once the ball cleared the infield, Scott was off to the races.

He bolted around third and scored from first on the single for a 1-0 lead.

Scott led off the fifth inning with a single, and he was still at first when Masyn Winn dropped a double down the right field line. Scott read how the ball was going to fall in no man’s land for the Pirates defense and did not hesitate. Statcast data clocked his run from first to home at 10.23 seconds. His Superman-like slide across home late streaks in the dirt — like vapor trails — that were still there as hitters came up for the next inning.

Winn’s double-double

The double that brought Scott around for his second run was Winn’s second of the game. Back in the lineup Tuesday after ankle soreness, Winn was up toward the top of it Wednesday. Starting back in Cincinnati, the moved Winn up to No. 2 in the order to get him in a spot he enjoys and also change the look of their offense with more speed toward the top.

Winn hit two homers in his first game batting second, and in that spot Wednesday, he continued to double up on production.

After bouncing into a double play that slowed the first inning, Winn picked up the pace for the offense. His first RBI double of the game brought around Nootbaar in the third to increase the Cardinals’ rally and lead to 2-0. Winn added his 10th RBI of the season in the fifth to put the lead at 3-0 for Gray.

Arenado scratched from lineup

Third baseman Nolan Arenado was a sudden scratch from the lineup moments before first pitch due to back spasms, a team official said. Arenado had been at his usual spots — third in the field, fourth in the order — and his experience with back soreness prompted a rewrite.

Nolan Gorman replaced Arenado at third base and hit sixth in the reworked lineup.

Gorman reached base in his first two plate appearances. He drew a two-out walk in the second inning and in the fourth led off the inning with a single.

Walker gets respite from slump

The Cardinals needed insurance but not as much as Jordan Walker needed a hit.

The young Cardinals right fielder spent some time over the past week receiving “work days” — that is, days out of the lineup to spend the energy and focus in the batting cage making adjustments. He has been searching as his batting average has been sinking to sub-.200. Coming into Wednesday’s game, he was riding an 0 for 10 streak, and since his most recent multi-hit game, he was 7 for 57 (.123) with 20 strikeouts. He was hitless in his first three at-bats Wednesday with two strikeouts and dipped to 7 for 60 with 22 strikeouts.

The eighth inning found him with two teammates in scoring position and two outs in a three-run game.

Walker found a seam.

He skipped a hard grounder up the middle to bring home both runners and give the Cardinals a comfortable gap going into the ninth. That set the final score and ended Walker’s hitless streak at 13 at-bats — with more work to be done.

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