Gray gets best of 'good old-time pitchers’ duel'

ARLINGTON -- It was an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel at Globe Life Field on Friday night, as Texas’ Jon Gray and Seattle’s Luis Castillo went toe-to-toe to open the three-game set between American League West rivals.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy knew it would be a tight game with those two on the mound, and what played out on the field delivered. Both starters went deep into the game, but Gray continued his recent hot streak by tossing seven scoreless innings and carrying Texas to a 2-0 win.

“It's a lot of fun, like it's more intense,” Gray said of being part of a pitchers’ duel. “[I felt it] a little bit tonight. Just knowing there’s nothing to give, and you can’t give them anything at any point in the game, it's a lot of fun. I really liked that energy.”

Gray has now won his last five starts, becoming the first Texas pitcher to do so since Lance Lynn in 2019. During that stretch, he’s posted a 0.79 ERA in 34 innings of work, lowering his ERA from 4.40 to a season-low 2.51.

“I feel like it's just been at a higher level of confidence with everything,” Gray said of his recent success, which includes 10 straight starts without a loss. “I’m not worrying so much if you know if something bad happens or whatever.

“I feel like we're just staying on the attack. We're not walking guys, not letting big innings happen. I think that's what's keeping us rolling.”

In a game where the Rangers’ offense had to scratch and claw for each hit and run against Castillo -- who took a no-hitter into the fifth inning -- Gray kept the Mariners’ hitters in check, striking out five and facing the minimum over the first three frames.

Nathaniel Lowe broke the stalemate with a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, and an RBI double from Corey Seager in the eighth added insurance, as Gray, Grant Anderson and Will Smith combined for the club’s sixth shutout of the season.

“I saw a guy that was on top of his game again, really good stuff,” Bochy said of Gray. “Good fastball tonight, good slider and he had the chance to go along with that. He stayed in control, he threw strikes and he attacked the hitters like you want the guys to do.

“So a really really nice job when we needed it, because their guy was really good, too. Castillo is one of the best in the league. We thought this would be a low-scoring game, a game you have to scratch and claw for runs and that was the case, so it was a good ballgame. Good old-time pitchers’ duel, and a fun game to watch.”

While Gray typically mixes his pitches well, the slider has definitely emerged as a go-to offering this season. Of his 82 pitches, 37 were sliders (46%). Of his 12 swings and misses against the Mariners, seven came against the pitch, while the rest came on his four-seamer.

Friday was just the second time this season that he’s thrown more sliders than four-seamers in an outing, and the only other occasion was also against Seattle on May 8. It’s also only the third time he’s thrown more than 35 sliders in a single outing, all three of which have come during this recent hot stretch.

Gray said part of that has just been the game plan against the Mariners, who entered Friday hitting .200 (25th in MLB) with a combined -12.8 run value (also 25th) against the pitch.

“I think sliders work well with this lineup, but they're also a good mistake hitting team,” Gray explained. “You’ve got to be executing your pitches. It doesn't matter if it's a fastball or whatever, I mean, they hit mistakes and that's what they live off of.

“And they get a bunch of power hitters, so just staying away from that, keeping the ball down on the perimeter was key.”

Backup catcher Sandy Leon, who has been behind the plate for the last five of Gray’s starts, said it’s fun to catch a guy like Gray, especially when he’s on a heater like this executing any pitch he calls.

“He throws strikes and he mixes the pitches really well -- slider, fastball, changeup,” Leon said. “The fastballs up-and-in and the sliders down and away, he gets ahead in the count. And when he’s behind, he uses the slider to get back in it. He’s been really fun to catch.”