TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
WINS AND LOSSES: Texas won its first A.L. West divisional game of the season yesterday by defeating the Astros, 6-2… club has won 4 of last 5 G and now has a 5-5 record since a 3-0 start…team has been .500-or-better following every game in 2023…the current 8-5 record is the Rangers’ best 13-G start since 2013 (8-5), and a 4-win improvement over last year’s 4-9 start.
• Team opened the 2023 campaign with a 3-0 record for just the 9th time in Rangers history, the longest season-opening win streak since 2011 (6-0).
STANDINGS: The Rangers retained 1st place in the A.L. West yesterday (6th day overall in ‘23) after having being tied for sole possession of 1st place for 2 straight days with the Angels…TEX has been alone or tied atop the division for 14 of the season’s first 15 days, including 9 straight to begin the year…marks latest point for the club to own even a share of 1st place in the West since the final day of team’s division-winning season in 2016 (10/2/16)…
• From 2017-22, the Rangers had one day in which it held, or was tied for, 1st place in the West (1-0 on 7/24/20, tied for division lead).
VS. HOUSTON: Last night, Texas defeated Houston in the 1st game of a series at Minute Maid Park for the 1st time since a 6-5 win on 9/1/20…TEX is meeting HOU for their 1st series this season in the quest for the 2023 Lone Star Series Silver Boot…will play HOU during 3 more series due to the new scheduling format introduced this year (4 G vs. HOU, 6/30-7/3; 3 G at HOU, 7/24-26; 3 G vs. HOU, 9/4-6)…club
went 5-14 against HOU in 2022…TEX has lost 3 of 5, 7 of 10 and 10 of 15 G against the Astros…club has lost season series last 2 years and owns a 1-5 season series record in last 6 years…TEX has gone 6-29 (.171) in last 35 G in Houston dating back to the beg. of 2019, the lowest win pct. by any team at any venue (min. 15 G) over that span, losing 10 consecutive series here since winning a 3-G sweep, 7/27-29/18… Rangers are just 36-70 (.340) vs. HOU since the start of 2017
SERIES STUFF: After winning last night’s game, TEX is looking for its first road series win of the year tonight after losing 2 of 3 G against the Cubs at Wrigley Field from 4/7-9…club now owns a 3-2 record in series openers on the young campaign.
• Rangers have not won a road series of at least 3 G since taking 3 of 4 G against the Twins from 8/19-22/22.
ROAD TRIPPING: The Rangers are 2-2 (.500) on the road this season following last night’s win and a series loss to the Cubs from 4/7-9 at Wrigley Field…Texas is scheduled to play 8 of next 11 G on the road…TEX’s 4 road games played are tied with TB for the least played by an A.L. team so far this season…club went 34-47 (.420) overall in away games last year, winning back-to-back road games just twice over the season’s final 3 months.
PUNCH OUT: After adding 8 SO last night, Texas pitchers now rank T-4th in the A.L. with 131 strikeouts (also HOU), easily a club record for most team strikeouts through the first 13 games of a new season (prev. 122 in 2022 and 2020)… TEX pitchers have struck out 8-or-more batters in 7-consecutive games and in 11 of 13 this season…TEX starters rank T-3rd in A.L. with 85 SO (also CWS).
HEAD START: With Martίn Pérez’ line of 5.0 IP and 2 ER last night, Texas starters have allowed 2-or-fewer ER in 7 of last 8 and 9 of 13 G during 2023…Rangers starting pitchers have 10 starts this season of 5.0+ IP with 3-or-fewer ER, T-2nd in the A.L. (also CWS and TB) and trailing only MIN (11).
• Pérez leads the team with 3 starts this season of the 5.0-ormore IP and 2 ER-or fewer-variety (4/2 vs. PHI and 4/8 at CHC, 4/14 at HOU)…also done twice by deGrom, Eovaldi and Gray.
LOWE AND BEHOLD: After going 2-for-4 last night, Nathaniel Lowe has now hit safely in each of his last 9 G at .297/.350/.595/.945 (11-37), the longest hit streak by a Ranger this season and 2nd-longest of Lowe’s career…his last longer hitting streak was a career-best 11-game run from
7/25-8/4/22.
SPACE JAM: After Adolis García went 1-for-4 yesterday with a HR, he now owns a .294 career BA (42-for-143) with 16 XBH and 27 RBI vs. HOU…his 10 HR and 27 RBI vs. Astros since the start of ‘21 are most by any player against HOU over that span.
FAMILIAR FOES: Texas manager Bruce Bochy and Houston manager Dusty Baker will face off for the 193rd time in their careers (regular season) during tonight’s game…Bochy’s 110 losses against Baker are his most against an opposing manager…should they both manage the two remaining games of this series, Baker will tie Clint Hurdle for second-most games managed against Bruce Bochy.
BRUCE BOCHY’S MOST COMMON
MANAGERIAL OPPONENTS (REG. SEASON)
Games Opp. Manager Record
210 Bud Black 104-106
194 Clint Hurdle 87-107
192 Dusty Baker 82-110
173 Jim Tracy 96-77
138 Felipe Alou 67-71
WHEN 9TH MEETS 11TH: Bruce Bochy’s passed Hall of Famer Leo Durocher (2,008) for sole possession of 11th all-time on MLB’s all-time managerial wins list after Texas’ win on Tues. vs. KC…tonight’s game will again pit the 9th and 11th winningest managers of all time, with Dusty Baker set to become the 9th manager in Major League history to achieve at least 2,100 career wins if the Astros secure a win.
MANAGERIAL WINS ALL-TIME RANKS
Rank Manager Wins
8 Joe McCarthy 2,125
9 Dusty Baker 2,099
10 Walter Alston 2,040
11 Bruce Bochy 2,011
12 Leo Durocher 2,008
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #42 Jon Gray, RHP (1-1, 3.00)
TONIGHT: The 31-year-old right-hander is set to make his 3rd appearance/start of the season tonight in game 2 of 3 against the Astros in Houston…enters tonight’s outing with 994 career strikeouts, and is seeking to become the 40th active MLB pitcher with 1,000+ career strikeouts…has pitched to a 1-1 record and 3.00 ERA (4 ER/12.0 IP) in his first 2 starts despite permitting the most walks (5) and home runs (3) among Texas starters in ‘23…all 4 runs allowed this season have come via HR (one 2-R HR, 2 solo HR)…will work on extended 5 days’ rest after earning his 1st win of the season on Sun. at CHC (W, 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R-ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 100 pitches/64 strikes) as part of an 8-2 Rangers’ victory…owns a lifetime 1-2 record and 3.00 ERA (8 ER/24.0 IP) in 4 G/GS vs. HOU…this is Gray’s 2nd season with Texas after signing a 4-year free agent contract with the club on 12/1/21…was hindered by several injuries last season, 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…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…Texas is 1-1 in his 2 starts this season. 1,000 K’S: Gray enters tonight’s scheduled start with 994 career strikeouts, just 6 away from becoming the 40th active Major League pitcher with 1,000 career strikeouts…he would join teammates Ian Kennedy (1,759), Jacob deGrom (1,634), Jake Odorizzi (1,172), and Nathan Eovaldi (1,079) as the 5th pitcher on the Rangers’ 40-man roster with 1,000+ career strikeouts…no other team in baseball currently has more than 3 pitchers with 1,000-or-more career strikeouts on its 40-man roster: 5-TEX, 3-BOS/KC/NYM/PHI/SD.
• Danny Duffy, who is on Triple-A Round Rock’s Injured List while rehabbing from a left elbow injury, ranks 35th among active ML hurlers with 1,048 career SO’s.
LAST START: Earned his 1st win of 2023 in Texas’ 8-2 victory on Sun. at CHC (W, 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R-ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 100 pitches/64 strikes)…was staked to an early 4-0 lead after Rangers plated 4 runs on 4 hits in the 2nd inning…surrendered a 2-R HR to Edwin Ríos in the bottom half of the frame, but held Cubs scoreless after that point…exited in the 6th inn. with 2 outs and the bases loaded, but remained unscathed after Will Smith fanned Patrick Wisdom to end the threat.
VS. HOUSTON: Gray has gone 1-2 with a 3.00 ERA (8 ER/24.0 IP) in 4 career games/starts against the Astros, incl. 0-2, 5.23 (6 ER/10.1 IP) in 2 starts here at Minute Maid Park…faced the ‘Stros just once last season, taking a tough-luck loss in a 2-1 Texas defeat on 5/21/22 at HOU (L, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R-ER, 2 BB, 4 SO)…was bested in a pitcher’s duel with Justin Verlander (W, 6.0 SHO IP, 8 SO), as the Rangers managed to score just one run on 10 hits in support of Gray.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Tonight’s start at Minute Maid Park will be Gray’s 2nd straight on the road (also 5.2 IP, 2 R-ER on Sun. at CHC), as 2 of his first 3 outings have come away from Arlington…has made nearly twice as many away starts (17) as home starts (9) in 2 seasons with Texas (2022-23), T9th-most road starts in A.L. over that span…has gone 4-6, 4.20 ERA (42 ER/90.0 IP) in his road outings for TEX compared to 4-2, 3.28 ERA (18 ER/49.1 IP) at Globe Life Field, but is 4-3, 3.38 ERA (19 ER/50.2 IP) in his last 9 away starts dating to 6/17/22.
• Despite calling hitter-friendly Coors Field home for the first 7 seasons (2015-21) of his 9-year career, Gray has seen significantly better lifetime results in 84 G/83 GS at home (35-20, 4.40 ERA) than in 94 G/GS on the road (26-37, 4.57 ERA).
SLIDE STEP: According to Baseball Savant, Gray has generated 562 swingsand-misses via his slider since the start of 2019, the 6th-most whiffs on sliders by any MLB pitcher over that span: Patrick Corbin (804), Robbie Ray (754), Clayton Kershaw (737), Dylan Cease (617), Jacob deGrom (596), and Gray (562).
SPRING TRAINING: 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…was scratched from scheduled start on 3/3 vs. SF (back stiffness), but made all other starts with no issues…last outing of the spring slate came in exhibition on 3/28 vs. KC at Globe Life Field (W, 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R-ER, 1 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR), when he pitched in relief behind Martín Pérez…also threw to additional Rangers hitters on the field after that game ended to build up pitch count.
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).
HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros, the reigning World Series champs, are looking to even their three-game series against the Rangers tonight behind rookie RHP Hunter Brown… Brown will be opposed by the veteran RHP Jon Gray, who’s pitched well in his career against the Astros, including one start last season, which came on May 21 in Houston (2ER/6IP).
ABOUT BROWN: Rookie RHP Hunter Brown is making his fifth career start and is coming off the best outing of his young career, in which he tossed 7.0 innings, while allowing just two hits with seven strikeouts last Sunday at MIN…Brown, the club’s consensus top prospect, had a strong 2022 season at Triple A (9-4, 2.55 ERA in 23g) before debuting with the Astros in September…upon debuting, he went 2-0 with an 0.89 ERA in seven games (two starts) and also pitched three times in the postseason, tossing 3.2 scoreless innings.
PROSPECT PRIMER: The Astros are rostering their top two prospects in RHP Hunter Brown and C Yainer Diaz, who both made their MLB debuts as September call-ups in 2022… according to MLB.com, Brown entered the season as the Astros top prospect and the 40th prospect in all of baseball, while Diaz currently ranks as the 96th player on that 100-player list.
AT THE HELM: Astros skipper Dusty Baker is in his 26th season as a manager and his fourth at the helm in Houston…Baker, who ranks ninth all-time in managerial wins with 2,099 wins, has an outside shot of moving up to sixth all time by seasons end…en route, he’d have to surpass Joe McCarthy (8th, 2,125), Bucky Harris (7th, 2,158) and Sparky Anderson (6th 2,194).
BATTLE FOR THE BOOT: The Astros and Rangers are renewing their rivalry this weekend in what is their first series of the 2023 season…the Astros went 14-5 vs. the Rangers in 2022, which secured them their sixth consecutive season series victory over Texas…the Astros have earned the Silver Boot trophy in each of the past six years (2017-22), five via season series victories and one via run differential (2020)…many of
those season series wins can be attributed to the Astros home dominance in the series, as Houston has gone 29-6 in 35 home games against the Rangers since the start of the 2019 season.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Astros dropped the series opener against the Rangers last night by a score of 6-2…the Astros scored their two runs on a pair of solo homers, one each by LF Yordan Alvarez and C Martín Maldonado…on the mound, RHP Luis Garcia (5ER/5IP) started for Houston and struck out a season-high seven hitters in his 5.0 innings of work.
TODAY’S PREGAME MEET & GREET: On Jackie Robinson Day today, the Astros are collaborating with The Players Alliance and the Rangers, to host 75 high school aged baseball and softball players from the Astros Youth Academy and local high schools for a pregame meet and greet…the group will assemble in the press conference room, with the Rangers portion beginning at 3:15 p.m. and the Astros at 4:15 p.m…Astros General Manager Dana Brown, Astros manager Dusty Baker, 3B Alex Bregman and OF Corey Julks will address the group…the event is open to the media.
CONGRATS CHEO!: The Astros would like to congratulate OF Jose “Cheo” Cruz on his election into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame…Cruz and seven others, including football stars Priest Holmes, Adrian Peterson and Michael Strahan, will be formally inducted at a ceremony tonight in Waco, TX…Cruz played parts of 13 seasons in Houston, coached for another 13 years and now serves as a Community Outreach Executive for the Astros,
in what is his 40th season with the organization.
FRAMBER’S WEEKEND: The Astros are celebrating All-Star LHP Framber Valdez this weekend with a pair of giveaways prior to his start on Sunday Night Baseball…last night, the Astros gave away a Framber Valdez Consecutive Start Bobblehead, presented by Goya, which went to 10,000 fans in attendance… tonight, 10,000 fans in attendance will receive a Framber Valdez Sunday Replica Jersey, presented by Ricos.
EARLY LEAGUE LEADERS: LF Yordan Alvarez ranks second in the Majors in RBI (17), trailing only Ryan Mountcastle (19)… Alvarez and RF Kyle Tucker rank tied for sixth in the AL in homers (4), while Tucker and 3B Alex Bregman rank tied for sixth in the AL in walks (10).
THE 300: LF Yordan Alvarez recorded his 300th career RBI last night, becoming the 36th player in club history to reach the 300-RBI plateau…among players that began their careers with the Houston franchise, Alvarez is now the fastest to reach 300 RBI, in terms of games played (380 career games), besting 1B Lance Berkman (417g)…if you account all players in franchise history, OF Moises Alou owns the all-time record, reaching 300 RBI in his 352nd career game as an Astro after joining the club via trade.
FILLING IN NICELY: 2B Mauricio Dubón is off to a strong start to the season, as he’s hitting .350 (14×40) in 10 games, which includes an active nine-game hitting streak, which is a career-long…Dubón, who started most of his games at shortstop and center field in 2022, has made all 10 of his starts at second base this season while filling in for the injured 2B Jose Altuve.
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP HUNTER BROWN
LAST START – 4/9 AT MIN: delivered one of the finest starts of his young career, allowing 1 unearned and 2 hits while striking out 7 batters through 7.0 IP at Minnesota… it was the longest start of his career and also set his career-high for strikeouts…it matched the longest start from an Astros pitcher this season, with LHP Framber Valdez notching the 2 other 7.0-IP starts from the staff.
VS. THE RANGERS: made his MLB debut with a start vs. the Rangers on 9/5/22… …pitched 6 scoreless innings and struck out 5 batters while allowing 3 hits in his MLB debut…became the 3rd starter in Astros history to toss 6.0 scoreless innings in their debut and was the first since RHP Jared Cosart threw 8.0 scoreless IP in his debut on 7/12/13 at TB…struck out Texas infielders Marcus Semien and Corey Seager to begin his MLB career.
ABOUT BROWN: rookie right-hander enters the season as the top prospect in the Astros system and one of the top pitching prospects in baseball…was ranked as the No. 28 prospect in baseball in Baseball America’s preseason top 100 rankings…rated as the No. 8 RHP prospect in MLB Pipeline’s preseason positional prospect rankings. • selected by the Astros in the 4th round of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft from Wayne State University.
• was a fast-riser through Astros minor league system, reaching Triple A in his first full minor league season following the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season…owns a career 3.40 ERA (87ER/230.0IP) through 59 career minor league appearances (39 starts)…averaged 11.7 strikeouts-per-nine-innings throughout his minor league career…ranked 9th of all minor league pitchers between the ‘21-22 seasons with 11.56 strikeouts-per-nine-innings
BROWN IN 2022: had one of the best seasons from a Pacific Coast League pitcher in recent years while with Triple A Sugar Land, resulting in a September callup and placement on all three Astros postseason rosters on their run to the World Series.
• Went 9-4 with a 2.55 ERA (30 ER/106.0IP) in 23 games (14 starts) with Triple A Sugar Land…was named the Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year and Baseball America’s Triple A Pitcher of the Year…led Pacific Coast League pitchers (min. 100 IP) in ERA and strikeouts-per-nine innings (11.4).
• was selected – alongside teammate Yainer Diaz – to play in the 2022 MLB Futures Game at Dodger Stadium…was the 2nd pitcher to enter the game for the AL team… tossed 0.2 IP and struck out 1 batter.
• had his contract selected by the Astros on 9/1/22 and made his MLB debut on 9/5/22 with a start vs. Texas.
• finished the year in the Astros bullpen after back-to-back starts and did not allow a run through his 5 relief appearances (8.1 IP)…was terrific at Minute Maid Park, not allowing a run and striking out 12 batters through his 10.1 innings there…held opponents to a .143 batting average at Minute Maid Park.
2022 POSTSEASON: appeared on all 3 Astros postseason rosters, making 3 scoreless relief appearances (3.2 IP).
• pitched in Games 1 and 3 of the ALDS vs. Seattle and Game 3 of the ALCS vs. the Yankees…became the 27th rookie in Astros history to appear in a postseason game.
SLIDE PIECE: in 2022, he averaged 93.2 mph on his slider, which was the fastest of any pitcher in MLB (min. 250 pitches), directly ahead of RHP Jacob deGrom (92.6 mph)…has averaged 91.6 mph with his slider to begin ‘23, which ranks T-2nd amongst MLB starters behind deGrom (91.9 mph).
