PHOENIX — The bruising contact Cardinals starter Sonny Gray allowed to Diamondbacks hitters Saturday at Chase Field left him with more than his rockiest outing of this season.

The veteran starter surrendered a career-high nine runs and matched a career high in earned runs allowed with eight across 3 1/3 innings in a 10-1 loss against Arizona. Gray allowed 11 hits, marking a season high and tying a career high, as Diamondbacks hitters often swung early in counts and, similarly, often produced hard contact against the righty.

Of the 15 balls put in play against Gray, 11 had exit velocities above 95 mph. Ten reached 100 mph or higher in an outing that began to slip away before Gray could get through the first inning.

Gray surrendered three runs in the first inning, two of which came on a homer from Eugenio Suarez, two in the second inning, one in the third, and was left with another three-run inning in a fourth frame that reliever Gordon Graceffo finished.

Graceffo completed 3 2/3 scoreless innings and kept Arizona to one hit and one walk. He completed his outing on 34 pitches. Lefty John King allowed one run in the eighth inning.

Before Saturday’s start, Gray’s previous career highs in runs and earned runs allowed were eight. That came in a start on July 25, 2021, when he was a member of the Cincinnati Reds pitching against the Cardinals. Gray also lasted 3 1/3 innings in that start. The 11 hits allowed Saturday were the most Gray has given up in a start since April 17, 2015, during his time with the Oakland Athletics.

Quieted against starter Brandon Pfaadt during Friday’s loss, the Cardinals (51-48) were held to one run, four hits and a walk over six innings against starter Ryne Nelson. Nelson’s fastball-heavy approach, complemented by a slider and cutter, kept the Cardinals to three hits through 5 1/3 innings before Alec Burleson swung the Cardinals into the runs column with a 443-foot solo homer to right field in the sixth inning.

Burleson’s homer was his 12th of the season, tying him with Willson Contreras and Lars Nootbaar for the team lead.

Interference call costs Cards

When Gray was one strike away from escaping the first inning with one run allowed, the righty’s 0-2 offering to Josh Naylor and Naylor’s late swing appeared like it was going to get him through the frame without any further damage. That was until catcher Pedro Pages was called for a catcher’s interference that allowed Naylor to reach base and brought up Suarez.

Naylor got a late swing off on Gray’s 0-2 offering that would have ended the first inning with a strikeout, the Cardinals down 1-0 and Gray at 14 pitches. But, as shown on a replay of the sequence, Naylor’s bat hit Pages’ glove as Pages received Gray’s pitch.

Two pitches later, Suarez drove in two runs by lifting a 1-0 sinker to left field for the first of two homers he hit.

Hard contact hurts Gray

Through the first two innings of his outing, Gray saw the Diamondbacks produce hard contact on eight of the first nine balls they put in play against him. Their ability to square up Gray included seven balls in play with exit velocities at or above 100 mph, per Statcast.

The string of hard contact began with a line drive from Corbin Carroll that jumped off the speedster’s bat at 109.8 mph for a leadoff triple. Geraldo Perdomo produced the game’s first run with a 103.3-mph single that scored Carroll with no outs. After a double play on a ground ball from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. secured two outs and Naylor extended the inning by reaching on a catcher’s interference, Suarez's homer to left field came off his bat with a 104-mph exit velocity.

Hits in the second inning, including Alek Thomas’s 108.5-mph double, Blaze Alexander’s 102.2-mph single, and a single from Perdomo that registered a 95.6-mph exit velocity, helped add two more runs to Gray's pitching line.

Arizona’s ability to square up Gray continued through the final 1 2/3 innings Gray logged.

Their hard-hitting success flowed into the third inning on Suarez’s second homer, which was hit to left field with a 102.3-mph exit velocity. In the fourth inning, Alexander singled on a ball that left his bat at 108.2 mph, and Carroll hit a second triple, this time with a 109.3-mph exit velocity, to add three more runs to Gray's ERA, which jumped to 4.04 following the start.

Cards contact leads to outs

Although the Cardinals were able to produce hard contact against Nelson and his mid-90s-mph fastball, much of that contact was at defenders.

The Cardinals’ hardest-hit ball of the afternoon, a ground ball from Masyn Winn that came off his bat at 107.9 mph, resulted in an inning-ending groundout that left Nolan Arenado stranded at second base following his two-out double.

Line drives from Ivan Herrera and Pages had exit velocities above 104 mph, but were hauled in for outs in the sixth and third innings, respectively.

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