BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
BURNING RUBBER: The Orioles fell to the Red Sox in yesterday’s rubber match, 9-5…The O’s went 11-11 in rubber games in 2022…Baltimore has dropped their last two opening series; their last opening series win came in 2021, when they swept Boston in three games at Fenway Park.
TAKING ON TEXAS: The Orioles went 6-0 against the Rangers last season, their first sweep of a season series against a single opponent since 2020 against the Phillies (3- 0) and their first season sweep of at least six games against a single opponent since 2010 against Los Angeles-AL (6-0)…Marked Baltimore’s first season sweep of any length against Texas, and the first time the Rangers had ever been swept in a season series by an American League opponent.
STARTING WITH A BANG: O’s batters have slugged seven home runs through the first three games of the season, tied for the most in team history (since 1954) with the 2006 club…The most home runs through Baltimore’s first four games of a season is nine by the 1966 squad and the 2000 team…The O’s have homered in each of the first three games of the season for the 10th time in club history and first since 2017 (also 3); the club record for the most consecutive games with a home run to start a season is seven by the 1966 team and the 1984 club.
RUNNIN’ WILD: The Orioles stole 10 bases through their first two games, the most by a team in its first two games of a season since at least 1901, surpassing the previous record of nine stolen bases held by the 1976 Cincinnati Reds and the 1983 Los Angeles Dodgers…The 10 stolen bases are also the most in any two-game span in team history, surpassing the nine stolen bases from August 28 (G2) to August 29 (G1), 1986…Jorge Mateo (4 SB), Cedric Mullins (3 SB), and Adam Frazier, Austin Hays, and Ryan McKenna (1 SB) make up the 10 steals for the O’s.
Mateo is the first player in O’s history (since 1954) and the eighth MLB player since at least 1901 with multiple stolen bases in each of a team’s first two games to begin a season (see chart at right).
ROSTER BREAKDOWN: The Orioles opened the 2023 season with 13 pitchers and 13 position players on the active roster…Six players made their first career Opening Day roster: Kyle Bradish, Logan Gillaspie, Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Kyle Stowers, and Terrin Vavra…Fifteen of the 26 players were on Baltimore’s Opening Day roster in 2022…James McCann begins the season on the 10-day Injured List, Mychal Givens and Dillon Tate begin the year on the 15-day Injured List, and John Means begins the year on the 60-day Injured List.
THE SKIPPER: Manager Brandon Hyde returns for his fifth season…In 2022, he led the O’s to an 83-79 record, his first winning season as manager and the club’s first winning campaign since 2016…He was named the Baseball America MLB Manager of the Year and was voted the Sporting News American League Manager of the Year by fellow AL managers…He finished second in voting for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) American League Manager of the Year award…Hyde was named the 20th manager in Orioles history on December 14, 2018.
STARTING PITCHER – #39 KYLE BRADISH RHP
QUICK HITS: Made 23 starts in his inaugural season with the Orioles in 2022…Went 4-7 with a 4.90 ERA (64 ER/117.2 IP) with 111 strikeouts to 46 walks…Made his MLB debut on April 29 vs. Boston; dealt the loss after surrendering three runs (2 ER) on five hits (1 HR) with one walk and two strikeouts in 6.0 innings…Was one of 13 players and one of seven O’s pitchers to make their debut in 2022…Threw to Adley Rutschman in Rutschman’s debut on May 21 vs. Tampa Bay…Tossed 16.0 consecutive scoreless innings across four starts from August 26 to September 6…
Acquired by the Orioles along with RHP Kyle Brnovich, RHP Zach Peek, and RHP Isaac Mattson from Los Angeles-AL in exchange for RHP Dylan Bundy on December 4, 2019…Originally drafted by the Angels in the fourth round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of New Mexico State.
CAREER AGAINST TEXAS: Making his second career start against Texas…Received a no decision in his only start vs. the Rangers on August 3 at Globe Life Field, allowing one run on three hits with three walks, one hit batter, and five strikeouts in 5.0 innings…Will also be his
second career appearance at Globe Life Field.
AGAINST THE AL WEST: Making his fifth career start against the AL West…Made four starts against the division as a rookie in 2022, pitching to a 1.03 ERA (3 ER/26.1.2 IP) and a 2-0 record…Earned his first career win at Oriole Park in his last start against the AL West on September 22 vs. Houston, allowing just two hits while striking out 10 in 8.2 scoreless innings.
SPRING TRAINING: Made five Spring Training starts with the O’s, going 1-1 with a 6.61 ERA (12 ER/16.1 IP) with 17 strikeouts to just four walks… Earned his lone Spring Training win in his last start on March 26 vs. Philadelphia, allowing one run on one hit with one walk, one hit batter, and three strikeouts in 5.0 innings…Attended his second Major League Spring Training.
SAVING HIS BEST FOR THE BEST: Made 14 starts against teams that qualified for the 2022 playoffs in his debut season, going 4-4 with a 4.24
(36 ER/76.1 IP) ERA…The Orioles owned a 9-5 record in those games…He went 2-0 against Houston, tossing 8.0 scoreless innings on August 26 at Minute Maid Park and throwing another 8.2 shutout frames on September 22 at Oriole Park.
2022 HIGHLIGHTS: Started the season with Triple-A Norfolk, going 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA (2 ER/15.0 IP) in three starts with the team…Named the International League Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 11-17 after going 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA (1 ER/9.0 IP) in two starts…Recalled
from Norfolk on April 29 and made his MLB debut later that day against the Boston Red Sox…Earned his first career win on May 10 at St. Louis, allowing two runs on four hits with a season-best 11 strikeouts…Placed on the 15-day Injured List (right shoulder inflammation) on June 24… Went 3-3 with a 3.28 ERA (26 ER/71.1 IP) in his final 13 starts after being reinstated from the 15-day Injured List on July 29…Notched his first win at Oriole Park on September 22 vs. Houston after surrendering two hits and recording ten punchouts in 8.2 scoreless innings…Allowed three earned runs or fewer in 16 of his 23 starts.
TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
STILL UNBEATEN: Texas has opened a season 3-0 for the 9th time in club history and 1st time since 2011, when it won 6 straight to begin a pennant-winning campaign…the Rangers are one of 3 remaining undefeated teams in MLB this season, joining Minnesota (3-0) and Tampa Bay (3-0)…Texas is seeking to win the first 4 games of a season for just the 5th time in team history (see chart below).
• The Rangers sit 3 games above .500 for the 1st time since a 58-55 mark after losing 1st game of a doubleheader on 8/7/19 at CLE…club has not been 4-over .500 since an off day on 8/6/19 (58-54, .518).
LONGEST SEASON-OPENING WIN STREAKS,
TEXAS HISTORY
G Year G Year
7 1996 3 2023
6 2011 3 2009
6 1979 3 1993
4 1992 3 1983
4 1977
STANDINGS: The Rangers have been alone in 1st place in the A.L. West each of the last 3 days, entering today’s slate with a 1.0-game lead over 2nd-place Los Angeles-AL…prior to this season, Texas had not been alone atop the West since the final day of team’s division-winning season in 2016 (10/2/16), as club won the division by 9.0 games…from 2017-22, the Rangers had one day with even a share of 1st place in the West (1-0 on 7/24/20, tied for division lead).
PHILLY SWEEP-STEAK: The Rangers finished off a season-opening series sweep of the reigning N.L.-champion Philadelphia Phillies with a 2-1 win last night…it marked the 1st time for Texas to win the 1st series of a season since 2019 (won final 2 G of 3-G series 3/28-31 vs. CHC), and the 7th time in club history to open a campaign with a sweep in a series of 3+ games (see chart)…TEX had not swept a series against a defending A.L. or N.L. champion since 7/27-29/18 at HOU (3-0) over the 2017 World Series-winning Astros.
• The Rangers went undefeated in a series of 3+ games just one time in 2022: 5/16-18/22 vs. LAA (3-0)…Texas last swept back-to-back series of 3+ G on 5/12-14/17 vs. OAK (3-0) and 5/16-18/17 vs. PHI (3-0) as part of a 10-game winning streak.
RANGERS WINNING ALL GAMES OF FIRST SERIES OF A SEASON, 3 GAMES-OR-MORE
Year Detail
1977 3-game series at Baltimore
1983 3-game series vs. Chicago-AL
1992 4-game series at Seattle
1996 3-game series vs. Boston
2009 3-game series vs. Cleveland
2011 3-game series vs. Boston
2023 3-game series vs. Philadelphia
Note that this list does not include 1979, when TEX won its only game at DET and then went 3-0 vs. CLE in Arlington.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?: Texas outscored Philadelphia 29-11 (+18) over the 3-game series last weekend, entering today’s slate sporting the highest run differential in Major League Baseball (tied with TB)…it matches the Rangers’ highest run differential ever thru the first 3 G of a season, as the club also posted +18 margins in 1996 (25-7) and 1992 (29-11)…Texas achieved its highest margin of victory thru the first 4 G of a new campaign in 1992 (+26, 38-12).
VS. BALTIMORE: The Rangers and Orioles are scheduled to meet 6 times in the 2023 regular season: tonight-Wed. in Arlington (3 G) and 5/26-28 in Baltimore (3 G)…Texas went 0-6 vs. the O’s in 2022, the first winless season against an A.L. opponent in Washington/Texas franchise history…the Rangers are 3-10 since the start of 2021, but have still gone 12-12 in last 24 G (beg. 8/2/18)…TEX has a 14-10 edge in Arlington beg. 6/5/14…BAL leads all-time series (271-218-1).
THE BOCHY BUNCH: The Rangers have won each of the first 3 G of Bruce Bochy’s managerial tenure…it marks the 1st time the club has opened a season 3-0 under a new skipper since 1993, when it won its first 3 G with Kevin Kennedy at the helm…the club record for most consecutive wins under a newly-appointed manager is 7 with Pat Corrales, who was hired to replace Billy Hunter on the final day of the 1978 season on 10/1/78…he guided the Rangers to a 9-4 win at Seattle that day, and remained the club’s manager into the 1979 season, a campaign that began with a 6-game win streak.
• Bochy enters tonight’s game with a lifetime managerial record of 2,006-2,029 (.497) over 4,035 games with San Diego (951-975, .494), San Francisco (1,052-1,054, .4995), and Texas (3-0, 1.000)…he currently ranks 12th on MLB’s all-time managerial wins list, needing just 3 more victories to move into 11th place over Hall of Famer Leo Durocher (2,008 wins).
ON THE OFFENSIVE: The Rangers have scored 29 runs through 3 G, the highest total in MLB entering today’s slate (BOS was next w/ 27 R thru 3 G)…marks the T2nd-most runs Texas has ever scored over the first 3 G of a new season (30- 2000, 29-2023/2009/1992) and the most by any team over a single-season 3-game span at Globe Life Field (incl. 2020 postseason)…Texas also ranks among the 30 MLB clubs this year in BA (2nd, .343), OPS (3rd, .966), OBP (3rd, .407), SLG (4th, .559), HR (T4th, 6), and H (6th, 35).
ALL IN THE RISP: The Rangers went 13-for-27 (.481) with runners in scoring position (RISP) over last weekend’s 3-G set vs. PHI…it was the club’s highest ever batting average with RISP in a season-opening series (min. 25 AB w/ RISP), and its highest over any single series with at least 25 AB w/ RISP since a .548 (17-31) mark from 7/25-28/19 at OAK.
GIMMIE FIVE: Last night’s starter Martín Pérez earned the win in his 2023 debut, holding the reigning N.L. champions to one run (earned) over 5.2 innings…he has logged at least 5.0 IP in each of his last 31 starts dating back to 4/23/22, the longest such streak ever by a Texas left-hander and the 6th-longest in club history overall (see chart)…it is the 2nd-longest active streak of its kind in MLB to only a run of 33 straight starts with 5.0+ IP by Max Scherzer (beg. 8/15/21).
MOST CONSECUTIVE OUTINGS WITH 5.0+ INNINGS PITCHED, RANGERS HISTORY
Since 1972
No. Name Dates
56 RHP Yu Darvish 5/27/12-4/21/14
41 RHP Lance Lynn 4/28/19-9/24/20
37 RHP Nolan Ryan 4/6/89-5/1/90
32 RHP Colby Lewis 9/15/03-8/29/10*
32 RHP Kevin Brown 10/4/91-9/13/92
31 LHP Martín Pérez 4/23/22-current
*Lewis’ streak spanned a pair of stints with Texas (2002-04 and 2010-16).
VELOCITY WITH VORACITY: Corey Seager registered a Texas season-high 112.3 mph exit velocity on his 1st-inning single last night…it was the 5th-hardest hit batted ball of his career and his hardest since joining the Rangers in 2022 (credit ESPN’s Sarah Langs)…per Statcast, Seager has recorded each of Texas’ 3 highest exit velocity outputs in 2023, all of which have resulted in singles: 112.3, 110.0, 109.1.
SHORTS: Texas relievers entered today with a 1.42 ERA (2 ER/12.2 IP), lowest in A.L. and 2nd-lowest in MLB (0.66- NYM)…Adolis García’s 21 defensive runs saved over the last 3 seasons (2021-23) rank T3rd among qualified MLB outfielders in that span, trailing only Michael A. Taylor (39) and Kyle Tucker (24).
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #22 Jon Gray, RHP
TONIGHT: The 31-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his season debut in the series opener against the O’s…will slot 4th in the Rangers rotation to open 2023 after serving as club’s Opening Day starter in 2022…finished 3-1 with a 1.02 ERA (5 R-2 ER/17.2 IP) over 5 G/4 GS this spring, posting 4 BB/14 SO with a 0.85 WHIP and .177 opponent batting average…last pitched in relief of Martín Pérez in exhibition on Tues. vs. KC…is entering his 2nd season with the Rangers after signing a 4-year free agent contract with the club on 12/1/21…was hindered by several injuries last season, his 1st with Texas, but still managed to post a 7-7 record, 3.96 ERA (56 ER/127.1 IP), and 134 strikeouts over 24 starts…prior to joining the Rangers, the right-hander had spent his entire pro career with Colorado, ranking 2nd in Rockies history with 849 strikeouts while also placing among the all-time team leaders with 151 starts, 829.1 innings, and 53 wins from 2015-21… he posted 4 consecutive seasons of 10+ wins from 2016-19…had career best 12 victories, 31 starts, and 172.1 innings in 2018…fanned lifetime-high 185 batters, 9th-most in N.L. in his 1st full MLB season in 2016…was the 3rd overall selection by Colorado in the 2013 MLB Draft after pitching 2 seasons at the U. of Oklahoma…is a native of the Oklahoma City area, growing up in nearby Chandler.
SEASON DEBUT: Gray has made starts as part of a season-opening rotation in each of the last 6 seasons, going a combined 0-2 with a 5.08 ERA (16 ER/28.1 IP), 12 BB/35 SO and just one HR allowed from 2017-22…his teams are 2-4 in those contests, including a 10-8 Texas loss on Opening Day, 4/8/22 at TOR in Gray’s Rangers debut (ND, 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R-ER, 2 BB, 4 SO)…Gray would go on the IL the next day w/ right middle finger blister…this will be the 2nd time in the last 4 years for Gray to make his season debut at Globe Life Field, as he pitched in 2nd game of the 2020 campaign for Colorado on 7/25/20 at TEX (ND, 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR)…that was the 2nd contest in GLF facility history.
VS. BALTIMORE: Has 2 career starts vs. Orioles: 1-1, 4.32 (4 ER/8.1 IP)…only start vs. O’s with TEX last year came on 8/1/22 vs. BAL (L, 1.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R-3 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 48 pitches) in Rangers’ 7-2 defeat…exited that start and was on 15-day IL from 8/2-9/11 with left oblique strain…only other career outing against Orioles was 7/27/16 at BAL (W, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R-ER) while with the Rockies…his lone run allowed in that start was a solo HR to Manny Machado in the 6th inning, as Rox would go on to win 3-1.
AT HOME / IN GLOBE LIFE FIELD: Made twice as many starts on the road (16) than at Globe Life Field (8) in 2022, pitching at home just 3 times after the end of July…T8th-most road starts in A.L., most by a Ranger since Lance Lynn and Mike Minor in 2019 (17)…saw better results in Arlington (4-1, 3.35 ERA) than on road (3-6, 4.27)…10.26 strikeouts per 9 innings figure (49 SO/43.0 IP) at GLF was substantially higher than away mark (9.07)…opponents hit .206/.247/.376/.623 at home versus .231/.308/.375/.683 on road.
INJURIES IN 2022: Gray was limited to just 24 starts in his 1st season with the Rangers, as he endured 3 separate stints on the Injured List…was on the 10- day IL from 4/9-18 (right middle finger blister) and 4/22-5/2 (low-grade left knee sprain), and the 15-day IL from 8/2-9/11 (left oblique strain).
2022: Posted a 7-7 record, 3.96 ERA (56 ER/127.1 IP), and 134 strikeouts in his 1st season with Texas…despite seeing limited action, still finished 3rd among Rangers pitchers in strikeouts (169-Pérez, 137-Dunning, 134-Gray)…9.47 strikeouts per 9.0 innings figure ranked 13th in A.L. (min. 100.0 IP) and was the highest by a Texas pitcher since Lance Lynn in 2019 (10.63)…season-high 12 strikeouts on 6/1 vs. TB were most by a Ranger since Lynn on 9/22/19 at OAK (also 12)…3.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio was the 3rd-best mark of his career and highest since 2018 with Colorado (3.52)…career-best 67.3% first-pitch strike pct. would have ranked 4th in MLB if he qualified (69.8-PHI’s Aaron Nola, 68.3-TB’s Corey Kluber, 67.9-TOR’s Kevin Gausman)…recorded pair of 14.0-inning scoreless streaks (4/29-6/5; 7/13-27), both the longest by a Rangers starter in 2022…made 3rd career Opening Day start on 4/8 at TOR (4.0 IP, 3 R-ER).
