Gray draws plenty of looks with MLB season first  

MINNEAPOLIS -- Sonny Gray watched fellow Twins right-hander Joe Ryan no-hit the Royals through seven innings on Tuesday and Gray knew he had to follow up with another strong outing on Wednesday night.

The internal competition between the rotation mates meant having to try to top Ryan’s effort in the series opener at Target Field. Gray allowed a hit to Kansas City’s MJ Melendez with two outs in the third inning, ending his no-hit bid.

The competition wasn’t over.

“I gave up a hit, I don’t know what inning it was,” Gray said, joking. “I was like, ‘Dang.’ I was still messing with [Ryan] in there. I was trying to one-up him by telling him he walked too many people. He walked two and I walked one. I had one less punchout and three hits to his zero. I told him I’m more efficient than he is and he walks too many guys.”

Gray (8-4) allowed just three hits in seven scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory over the Royals. He walked one and struck out eight batters, including an MLB season-best seven on called third strikes, while throwing 91 pitches.

Ryan had to leave his no-hit bid the previous game after 106 pitches. Reliever Jovani Moran carried the no-no bid into the ninth before he yielded a one-out double to Bobby Witt Jr.

“So yeah, I definitely wanted to do my part there, because I don’t think I could have sat and listened to him,” Gray joked. “No, but that was an impressive game last night. We just want to keep this thing rolling.”

Minnesota won for the second straight game to keep pace in the American League Central race as first-place Cleveland also won, maintaining its five-game lead over the Twins, who are one game back of the White Sox.

While he allowed a hit earlier than Ryan, Gray was nearly as dominant. He equaled his season high with seven innings and now has a 2.91 ERA this season. It’s the fourth-lowest ERA by a Twins starter since 1990. Former AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana is the only starter with a lower ERA in that time frame.

“Our guys had a lot of confidence in the game, and in Sonny, and the way he was throwing the ball today,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s also good, like you say, in the starting pitcher realm for everyone to see those guys throw the ball like that. I’m sure every guy following is going to want to do just what these two guys did the last couple of days.”

Among Gray’s 91 pitches, 24 were called strikes.

“He can back door you with that big breaking ball, and a lot of time, late in the count to lefties especially, he’ll throw that two-seamer right at your hip and have it come back to the inside corner,” Royals second baseman Michael Massey said. “So you really got to cover all 17 inches of the plate, which is tough when he’s got the stuff that he does.”

In all, 57 of Gray’s 116 strikeouts this season (49.1%) have caught batters looking.

“When you have a guy who has a really good breaking ball, as a hitter with two strikes, you have that in mind, like he might spin that breaking ball,” Twins catcher Sandy León said. “Then he throws that back-door two-seam to righties and from those lefties, and he can throw it really well. So, that’s why he has a lot of strikeouts looking because he executes that pitch. It’s not easy to execute it, but he does it.”

Gray, particularly, has frustrated Kansas City.

He’s won seven straight starts against the Royals dating to April 16, 2016. This season, he’s 3-0 with one run allowed in 19 innings over three starts against Kansas City, punching out 22 batters in the process.

“A lot of it’s the movement,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “We’ve seen it on our side. I compare it to Brady [Singer], with that much movement. When you’re able to start it off the plate and run it from ball to strike, it’s a tough pitch to commit to. … He kept it mixed up enough that he wasn’t allowing us to get much going as far as momentum.”

Gray yielded 14 runs in 13 1/3 innings over his three starts before the All-Star break. Since then, he’s allowed 12 earned runs in 54 2/3 innings over 10 starts for a 1.98 ERA.

Gray has tried to take something from all of his teammates, even rookie Louie Varland, who made his first career start on Sept. 7. Varland notably pitched with a quick tempo after spending all season in the Minor Leagues with the pitch clock.

“I just try to take a little bit from everyone that’s here,” Gray said. “Watching, trying to get better. I watched Louie Varland pitch in New York and I watched his pace, and I was thinking about picking up the pace. I watch all the guys we have and I just always try to get a little bit better.”