If you thought any of the past five years was The Year of the Pitcher, 2015 may take that to another level.
The story of this season's Opening Day was pitching, pitching and more pitching. It came in the form of shutouts, no-hit bids and double-digit strikeout efforts.
Including the St. Louis Cardinals' win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, there were six Opening Day shutouts to kick off the 2015 campaign. The Elias Sports Bureau notes it's the first time there have been that many shutouts by teams in their first game of the season in major league history
Three starting pitchers took no-hit bids through five innings on Monday -- Sonny Gray, Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber -- though Gray was the only one of those to win.
Elias notes it's the first time three pitchers took Opening Day no-hit bids that deep since Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan and Bruce Hurst in 1990.
Felix Hernandez and Johnny Cueto each struck out 10. Hernandez allowed two hits and one run in seven innings and became the fourth pitcher in modern major league history to record at least three Opening Day starts with 10 or more strikeouts. The others are Randy Johnson (4), Pedro Martinez (3) and Bob Gibson (3).
Cueto struck out 10 in seven scoreless innings in the Cincinnati Reds win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. He's the first Reds pitcher with a double-digit strikeout game on Opening Day since Mario Soto in 1982.
Star of the night: Sonny Gray
Gray's seven-inning no-hit bid was the longest of his career and helped the Oakland Athletics snap their 10-game Opening Day losing streak.
He is the first pitcher to throw at least eight innings and allow one hit or fewer in a season opener in 62 years. The last was Hall of Famer Bob Lemon for the Cleveland Indians against the Chicago White Sox in 1953.
Gray improved to 5-2 with a 1.74 ERA in seven career starts against the Texas Rangers, with a streak of 18 consecutive scoreless innings against them. He pitched a shutout against Texas in the final game of the 2014 regular season, clinching a playoff spot for the Athletics.
Gray was very efficient on Monday, throwing 66 of 98 pitches for strikes, including 15 of 18 curveballs (83 percent). He threw curveballs for strikes that often only twice in 2014.
