Cardinals' Sonny Gray: Quality start in loss

Gray (9-6) took the loss Friday against the Cubs, allowing three runs on nine hits and no walks over seven innings. He struck out six.

Despite collecting his eighth quality start of the season, Gray yielded a season-high nine hits -- eight singles and one double. He hasn't been at his best of late, allowing seven or more hits in three straight outings and pitching to a 6.06 ERA in 16.1 innings over that span. The 34-year-old veteran wraps up the first half with a 3.34 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 121:24 K:BB across 99.2 innings.