04/15/24 11:10:00
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04/15 23:08 CDT Sonny Gray pitches Cardinals past his former A's as St. Louis
wins 3-1
Sonny Gray pitches Cardinals past his former A's as St. Louis wins 3-1
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Baseball Writer
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) --- Sonny Gray struck out six and didn't walk a batter
over six scoreless innings to beat his former club, and Willson Contreras
doubled twice and drove in a run for the St. Louis Cardinals in their 3-1 win
against the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.
Nolan Arenado hit an RBI single in the first to stake Gray (2-0) to an early
lead against an Oakland team that had won three of four and drew a crowd of
5,508.
Esteury Ruiz was called up by Oakland shortly before first pitch from Triple-A
Las Vegas and hit a pinch homer in the eighth.
Gray --- who had been set to be the Cardinals' opening day starter before
straining his right hamstring in his second spring outing --- surrendered four
hits in his impressive first road start of 2024 with his new club.
Closer Ryan Helsley struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save.
A's starter Ross Stripling (0-4) left in the sixth and gave way to Michael
Kelly, who immediately gave up an RBI single to Jordan Walker. Stripling has
allowed 32 hits over his initial four starts since the A's acquired the
right-hander in a trade from the Giants.
Zack Gelof had a pair of hits for the A's, who took two of three from the
Nationals at home over the weekend and have won three straight series for the
first time since May 31-June 16, 2021, when they had five victorious sets in a
row.
These clubs hadn't played in Oakland since 2019 and the A's had won the
previous three at home in the interleague matchup.
Longtime San Francisco Giants shortstop and fan favorite Brandon Crawford was
back in his native Bay Area in his first season as a backup for the Cardinals.
"I don't know if it's a change of scenery that's what I needed or wanted or
anything like that necessarily," he said in the dugout before the game. "I'm
happy ... the role that I'm in here is tough, it's definitely a new challenge,
trying to stay ready to face major league pitching, play good defense at
shortstop while only playing every four to seven days. It's definitely hard."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: OF Tommy Edman (sprained right wrist) started to take dry swings and
was set to hit off a tee Tuesday. ... RHP Kenyan Middleton has started playing
catch in his recovery from a flexor strain in his pitching arm.
Athletics: 3B J.D. Davis had an MRI exam for his strained groin that came back
showing no structural damage, but he went on the 10-day injured list. Ruiz was
in the Oakland clubhouse, took batting practice and was called back up to fill
the roster spot shortly before first pitch.
UP NEXT
RHP Lance Lynn (0-0, 2.63 ERA) pitches the middle game of the series for St.
Louis opposite LHP JP Sears (1-1, 5.17).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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