Cubs broadcasters Sonny Gray jinx could not have worked out any better

St. Louis Cardinals ace Sonny Gray pitched well in his outing against the Chicago Cubs. Don't let my headline suggest anything but that. Gray gave up just two runs in seven innings pitched, striking out nine Cubs hitters in the process. In the modern game, that is better than a quality start. Seven innings of work might make Garrett Crochet ineligible for the postseason.

Still, Gray had a few blemishes on his resume. The most pressing was a home run by Seiya Suzuki, which briefly gave the Chicago Cubs the lead.

The Cubs broadcasting team did their best (or worst) to praise Gray prior to the at-bat. Suzuki responded, as if he had an earpiece in, by taking the Cardinals high-priced free agent addition deep.

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Cardinals ace Sonny Gray bounces back

As great as Gray was on Thursday night, it hasn't been that way of late. Gray's ERA ballooned from 2.81 to 3.72 in just five starts. He had been pitching quite badly, but that's no longer the case. When St. Louis and Oli Marmol needed him the most, Gray answered the bell, which is exactly why he is their ace and (hopefully) leading this rotation into the postseason.

Gray has been around long enough to fix his mistakes. Ups and downs are natural during a 162-game season, but Gray had given up 18 runs in his previous four starts, which was concerning to say the least. St. Louis president of baseball operations John Mozeliak had been praised for his offseason rotation additions, as well as his trade deadline moves. Nonetheless, if Gray doesn't work out come playoff time, the Cardinals are screwed.

After his most recent poor start, Gray spoke with the media and dropped some surprisingly-cryptic quotes that caught a rabid fanbase off-guard.

"Physically, I feel good. I'm just not putting up zeroes right now. I know what I need to do. I just have to do it. I just have to commit to doing it, and I will," Gray said.

I guess we should've believed him. Despite the announcer jinx, Gray did just fine. The Cardinals would eventually lose in painful fashion, unfortunately for Gray's teammates.