Sonny Gray will return to the ballpark he called home for the past two seasons when the St. Louis Cardinals play the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Gray, who signed a three-year, $75 million contract with the Cardinals as a free agent during the offseason, said he is looking forward to pitching against his former team. Neither he nor the Twins’ fan base seem to hold any hard feelings over his departure from Minnesota, which was fueled by finances.
“I knew pretty early on throughout the free agency process that this wasn’t going to be a place that I was going to come back to,” said Gray, a right-hander. “As much as I did enjoy it here, as much as I liked it here, as much success as we were starting to have and camaraderie as a team, as soon as the qualifying offer was made, I knew.
“They were very transparent from the get-go, saying, ‘Listen, we do not have the resources to give you a contract, as much as we would like to.’ So I kind of knew that.”
Gray (11-8, 3.91 ERA) has found success as the ace of the staff in St. Louis. He has 168 strikeouts in 135 2/3 innings this season, and his rate of 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings marks the second-best average of his 12-year career.
The 34-year-old is looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses against the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers in his past two outings. This will be his ninth career start against the Twins, and he is 2-4 with a 5.05 ERA in the first eight games against them.
Gray will face an old pal in Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez (11-8, 4.47 ERA), who is set to make his 26th start of the season. Lopez, 28, has two quality starts in a row, including in his most recent outing in which he pitched six scoreless innings against the Texas Rangers but received a no-decision in a 6-5, extra-inning loss on Sunday.
In five career starts against St. Louis, Lopez is 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA.
Gray said he enjoyed his time with Lopez in the Twins’ rotation.
“We both brought so much out of each other, I would say,” Gray said. “Having another guy like him on the staff that was as dominant, it made me better.”
Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn will look to stay hot at the plate after going 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs in Friday’s 6-1 win over the Twins. Lars Nootbaar finished 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
The Twins hope to even the series and force a rubber match in Sunday’s series finale. Minnesota has been without key contributors Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton, and that figures to remain true for the rest of the weekend.
Buxton is eligible to return from the injured list but said he still feels some pain when he runs. He is sidelined by inflammation in his right hip.
“They reiterate that (message) to me, one of those things, âDon’t try to do anything crazy,'” Buxton said. “We are where we are in the season, and there is no place I’d rather be than to be playing. But it’s also that point in not trying to go out there too quick and have another (setback).”
