Josiah Gray allowed three homers in five innings in his 2023 debut, but that’s a big concern for the 25-year-old starter, who a year ago had 38 homers, leading all major league starters. became (2.30 HR/9 in 28 starts and 148 2⁄3 IP in 2022).
However, in the 10 starts since his first pitching this season, he managed to hold down a home run and allowed only 3 in 56 at-bats. 2⁄3 IP (0.48HR/9).
Gray allowed two homers in two of three games he started in June, but totaled four in 17 games. 1⁄3 IP (2.08 HR/9), and he conceded two more, both in fifth against the team. St. Louis Cardinals 2.42 HR/9 in 4 starts and 21 appearances on Monday 1⁄3 IP of the month.
The second of two allowed in the fifth inning put the Cardinals in the lead, and after Brendan Donovan’s seventh two-run tie tied the game at five, Paul Goldschmidt’s 13th in 2023. It was 6 to 5. fifth inning after Gray’s teammates gave him a 5–0 lead in the first two innings.
Gray finished the day with 102 pitches in five innings, allowing nine hits, one walk and six earned runs, but the Nationals added just one run after two home halves. . Lost 8-6. The starting pitcher lamented to reporters after the game that he failed to hold on to an early lead.
“For me pitching, the offense was phenomenal,” Gray said in postgame comments. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN. “I can’t give them enough credit.
“We have to get better and not let our five-point lead go to waste.”
“He couldn’t finish a hitter today,” manager Davey Martinez said after the club’s fourth straight loss and eighth loss in their last 10 games. “[He] I left some balls in the zone. Donovan was behind 2-0, but he managed to get the ball into the zone. In a team like that, you have to do your own pitching. When the strike hits him two, you have to finish it off.
“He couldn’t do it today.”
And what about home runs?
“I think I probably pitched two poor pitches today,” Gray told reporters.
“When you’re behind and you have a good hitter who can hit the ball, you have to pitch your pitch,” Martinez added.
“You really have to pitch. And stay positive. And you have to keep the guys away. So we got him today, but you know, he’s been pitching good and it just didn’t work out for him today.”
The manager was asked if he saw any change in Gray when he took a massive lead early in the game.
“I know he was going forward and looking for quick outs, but they’re a tough team. Missed, missed some good pitches, then went back to counting, so like I said… today was the day he just couldn’t get a hitter off and he was devastated by it So he would be back in five days, and he was in good shape.”
The Nationals’ offense had an early five-run lead, but Cards starter Jack Flaherty calmly held down two hits from the third to sixth innings, staying on the mound a little longer than he expected from the starter, and he’s still on the pitch. left for the first time after stepping down. He walked and struck out the hitter with one out in the seventh inning.
“We thought we had really good at-bats all day, and it really did,” Martinez said of the offense’s struggles. “We hit some strong balls, really hit. I liked the fact that we stopped chasing.
“Early on we were chasing so we had to keep going without chasing, we had to get the ball in the zone and be ready and they did it earlier and Flaherty said It calmed down a bit, but we were still pushing him into the ropes, we hit a few hits.” The ball is hard. “