Sonny Gray, pegged to be the ace of the St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff, left Monday’s game against the Washington Nationals in West Palm Beach, Fla., with what the team called right hamstring tightness.

Gray had gotten five outs — none of the balls hit left the infield — and was throwing to Washington’s Nick Senzel with a 1-1 count when catcher Willson Contreras summoned trainers from the dugout. The plan was for Gray to pitch three innings but he left the game with two outs in the second.

He declined a request for comment.

Gray allowed one hit and no runs and struck out one batter.

In his spring training debut on Feb. 27 against the Boston Red Sox, Gray threw two innings, giving up two hits and two walks and striking out two.

The Cardinals signed the 34-year-old right-hander to a three-year, $75 million deal in free agency, part of a remake of their pitching staff that included adding Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.

Last season with the Minnesota Twins, Gray finished second in Cy Young Award balloting with an 8-8 record and 2.79 ERA in 32 starts.

In his career with the Oakland Athletics (2013-17), New York Yankees (2017-18), Cincinnati Reds (2019-21) and Twins, Gray has a 98-85 record with a 3.47 ERA in 279 appearances (270 starts) in 1,571 innings.

–Field Level Media