There’s a rivalry forming between two Cincinnati Reds starting pitchers, but it’s one that the team will probably be very happy with.
Reds pitcher Sonny Gray was excellent Friday night, striking out ten batters in 6.2 innings in an 8-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The ten strikeouts bring his season total to 45, which is the highest tally by any Reds starter through five starts in the modern era.
Teammate Trevor Bauer made it clear that he’s out to top that.
Hold my beer https://t.co/7Ib6Q7Fui7
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) August 15, 2020
Bauer is scheduled to start Saturday for Cincinnati. He enters that outing with 32 strikeouts in three starts so far, which means he certainly has a realistic chance of matching or besting Gray’s mark.
The 29-year-old right-hander seems to be in a pretty good place this year, and his 0.93 ERA would back that up. Pitchers are notoriously competitive and staffs feed off each other when one of them is pitching well, so don’t be surprised to see Bauer with some added motivation as long as Gray is doing the job he is.
