BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK: The Orioles rallied from a 4-0 first-inning deficit to beat the White Sox, 8-4, in the rubber game of the three-game series on Sunday in Chicago…Cedric Mullins tied a career high with four RBI, finishing 3-for-5 with a triple, a walk, and a stolen base while Gunnar Henderson scored a career-high three runs after going 2-for-4 with a walk.
The Orioles drew seven free passes on Sunday and walked 26 times in the three-game series against the White Sox; the 26 walks tie the most in a three-game series in O’s history (since 1954) for the fourth time, last done from September 13-15, 1996 at Detroit; the Birds have drawn at least seven walks in three straight games for the fourth time since 1982.
AGAINST THE NATIONALS: The O’s and Nationals meet for the first time this season with two games tonight and tomorrow at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Baltimore and Washington will play four times in 2023 with the Orioles hosting the Nats from September 26-27…The Birds went 3-1 against the Nationals last season, including winning both games in D.C. from September 13-14…The teams split a two-game set at Oriole Park from June 21-22.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Orioles have a scheduled off day on Thursday before opening a six-game homestand with the Tigers from April 21-23 and Red Sox from April 24-26.
ON THE ATTACK: Baltimore is batting .260/.357/.450 (140-for-538) with 32 doubles, two triples, 22 home runs, 94 runs scored, 91 RBI, and 78 walks in 16 games to start the season…The O’s rank second in the AL and MLB in runs scored after finishing 10th in the AL and 20th in MLB with 674 runs scored in 2022…The team leads MLB in on-base percentage while ranking second in the AL and third in MLB in OPS (.807), second in the AL and fifth in MLB in slugging percentage, tied for second in the AL and tied for sixth in MLB in total bases (242), and leads the AL and is third in MLB in walks.
The Orioles lead the AL and rank second in MLB with 4.09 pitches-per-plate appearance this season, trailing only the Cincinnati Reds (4.10); the O’s have three players in the top 12 in the AL in pitches-per-plate appearance – Anthony Santander (10th, 4.34), Adley Rutschman (11th, 4.32), and Adam Frazier (12th, 4.30).
NEED FOR SPEED: The O’s 24 stolen bases are second-most in MLB behind the Guardians (25)…The 24 stolen bases through their first 16 games of the year are the most in O’s history (since 1954) to open a campaign…Baltimore and Cleveland are the first teams since 2000 with at least 24 steals through the first 16 games…The O’s have only been caught stealing twice for a 92.3 percent success rate…Jorge Mateo and Cedric Mullins are tied with each other for the AL lead while the pair are tied behind Chicago-NL’s Nico Hoerner (9) for the MLB lead…The duo’s 16 combined stolen bases are more than 22 MLB teams while nine teams have eight or fewer steals to start 2023.
BIG TIME RUTSCH: Adley Rutschman has set a career high by reaching base safely in 13 straight games since April 3 after reaching base three times on Sunday in Chicago…He’s reached at a .492 clip with 15 hits and 15 walks during that stretch… Rutschman’s career-high eight-game hitting streak was snapped on Saturday…He slashed .462/.611/.885 (12-for-26) with two doubles, three home runs, seven runs scored, eight RBI, and 10 walks during the streak.
Rutschman leads the AL in walks (16) and on-base percentage (.481) while ranking among league leaders in OPS (4th, 1.055), hits (T-5th, 21), batting average (6th, .433), and total bases (8th, 35).
His 37 times reaching base safely this season lead the AL and rank second in MLB behind Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr.; Rutschman did not reach safely 37 times last year until his 32nd game on June 29; he is the only MLB player this season to reach safely at least four times in four different games.
He has hit four home runs this season, tied with Los Angeles-AL’s Logan O’Hoppe for the most among primary catchers; last year, Rutschman didn’t hit his fourth homer until his 38th game on July 7.
HAYS OF OUR LIVES: Austin Hays is slashing .467/.500/.833 (14-for-30) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, 11 runs scored, three RBI, and two walks in seven games since April 10…He has scored runs than any other big leaguer over that stretch…Hays is the first Oriole with 11 runs in a six-game span since Jonathan Villar from July 25-30, 2019…Ranks among AL leaders in runs scored (T-2nd, 15), extra-base hits (T-4th, 10), batting average (5th, .350), slugging percentage (5th, .633), total bases (5th, 38), hits (T-5th, 21), OPS (6th, 1.024), doubles (T-6th, 6).
Hays’ double off Jimmy Lambert in the eighth inning Friday night was 110.5 mph, the hardest-hit ball of his career, per Statcast; six of his seven hardesthit balls and 10 of his hardest-hit 15 balls in 2023 have come since April 10.
He scored a career-high four runs on April 11 vs. Oakland.
April 11 vs. Oakland marked his second game this year with four hits, joining a five-hit effort on April 1 at Boston; Hays and Adley Rutschman are two of the four MLB players with two games of at least four hits this season; since the start of 2022, Hays and Los Angeles-NL’s Freddie Freeman both have six games with 4+ hits, most in the majors.
HIP, HIP JORGE: Jorge Mateo is batting .500/.522/.833 (9-for-18) with three doubles, one homer, six runs scored, seven RBI, two walks, one hit-by-pitch, and three stolen bases in six games (5 GS) since April 11…Ranks among AL leaders in OPS (2nd, 1.082), batting average (3rd, .372), and slugging percentage (4th, .651) this season.
He’s driven in a run a career-high five straight games since April 12 (7 RBI).
Mateo’s single off Keynan Middleton on April 15 at Chicago-AL had an exit velocity of a career-high 112.4 mph, the hardest-hit ball by the O’s this year, per Statcast; four of the hardest-hit balls in his career have come since April 12.
MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle finished 1-for-17 in the White Sox series despite hitting eight balls with an exit velocity of 100.4+ mph…His 29 batted balls at 95 mph+ are tied for sixth-most in MLB, while his 12 barrels are tied for second-most in MLB… Mountcastle is tied for the MLB lead with 20 RBI with Houston’s Yordan Alvarez and he’s fifth in MLB with six home runs.
On Tuesday vs. Oakland, he became the third player in Orioles history with nine RBI in a game, tying Jim Gentile (5/9/61 at MIN) and Eddie Murray (8/26/85 at CAL) for the team record; his 12 RBI in the Oakland series were the most in one series by an Oriole since Rafael Palmerio from August 15-18, 1996 at Oakland (5G) and the most in a four-game series since Dan Graham had 13 RBI from July 21-23, 1980 at Minnesota.
STARTING PITCHER – #64 DEAN KREMER RHP
QUICK HITS: Slated to make his fourth start of the 2023 season against the Nationals tonight…Made a career-high 22 appearances (21 GS) in 2022, 11 appearances at home (10 GS), and 11 on the road…Owned an 8-7 record with a 3.23 ERA (45 ER/125.1 IP) and 87 strikeouts…Made six starts of 5.0-or-more scoreless innings, tied for seventh-most in the AL…Acquired by the Orioles along with 2B Breyvic Valera, RF Yusniel Díaz, RHP Zach Pop and 3B Rylan Bannon in exchange for SS Manny Machado on July 18, 2018…Originally selected by the Dodgers in the 14th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of UNLV.
LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor into the decision on April 12 vs. Oakland, allowing four runs on five hits (2 HR) with two walks, one punchout in 4.1 innings of work, and left with two runners on that were stranded…Threw 90 pitches, 52 strikes.
AGAINST WASHINGTON: Making his second career start against the Nationals… Earned the win in his only start against Washington on September 13, 2022, allowing three runs on eight hits with one walk and one strikeout in 5.0+ innings at Nationals Park…Threw 82 pitches, 57 strikes.
AGAINST THE NL EAST: Making his second career start against the NL East… Earned the win in his only career start against the division at Washington on September 13, 2022.
ROAD WARRIOR: Went 5-3 with a 3.63 ERA (25 ER/62.0 IP) and 37 strikeouts in 11 road starts in 2022…The Orioles owned a 7-4 record in those games…Allowed three earned runs-or-fewer in nine of his 11 starts away from home…Opposing batters slashed .285/.341/.460 (68-for-239) with seven home runs against Kremer on the road in 2022…Won three straight road starts from August 16 to September 13, 2022…Logged three of his eight quality starts away from Oriole Park…Went 0-4 with a 7.33 ERA (19 ER/23.1 IP) in six road starts in 2021.
‘KREM’ OF THE CROP: Had his career-high scoreless streak snapped at 22.2 innings on July 4 vs. Texas; according to Elias Sports Bureau and STATS, he does not get credit for the two outs he recorded in the fifth inning…Marks the longest scoreless streak by an Orioles starter since Mike Mussina pitched 27.0 scoreless innings from September 21, 1995 to April 2, 1996…The last Orioles pitcher with a scoreless streak of at least 22.2 innings was Steve Johnson, who tossed 25.1 scoreless frames across eight games (three starts) from August 25 to September 29, 2012.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:
BATTLE OF THE BELTWAYS
Following another off day on Monday, the Washington Nationals welcome the Baltimore Orioles to D.C. for a two-game series starting on Tuesday night.
ALL IT TAKES IS ONE
The Nationals topped the Cleveland Guardians, 7-6, on Sunday afternoon to avoid the three-game sweep… Trailing 6-3 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Nationals plated two runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to take the 7-6 lead…It was Washington’s largest come-from-behind win of the season and second comeback win overall.
• Joey Meneses’ RBI-single in the eighth proved to be the game winner…Jeimer Candelario recorded a season-high four hits, including his third home run of the season.
ETCHED IN STONE
Outfielder Stone Garrett is 9-for-16 (.563) with three doubles, one homer, five RBI, two walks and six runs scored in four games played this season…He’s produced multi-hit efforts in three straight games and in three of the four overall.
PLAYIN’ THE HITS
Washington ranks sixth in the National League with a .259 batting average and seventh hits (141)…The Nationals have recorded double-digit hits in five of their last nine games.
• Lane Thomas leads the club with 20 hits.
• Nationals hitters have struck out just 103 times, the fewest in Major League Baseball.
SPEAKING OF HITS…
These two players have collected a bunch of them the last few games:
• Luis García is 9-for-25 (.360) with a double, two homers, five RBI, two walks and five runs scored in his last seven games…He’s struck out just one time in 27 plate appearances over this span.
• Jeimer Candelario has posted multi-hit efforts in three of his last four games, going 9-for-17 (.529) with two doubles, one homer, three RBI, one hit by pitch and four runs scored.
5.0 ALIVE
Jim Hickey’s starters are tied for fourth in the National League lead in starts of at least 5.0 innings this season with 13…The rotation ranks tied for seventh in Major League Baseball behind the Minnesota Twins (15) and Kansas City Royals (15)…In 2022, the Nationals ranked 28th in Major League Baseball with 94 starts of at least 5.0 innings.
DEFENSE NOT RESTING
Thanks to strong infield defense so far this season, Nationals opponents have a .221 batting average on ground balls, fifth-best in the National League (MLB avg: .243)…In 2022, the Nationals had the third-highest opponents’ batting average on ground balls in Major League Baseball (.260).
• Washington has turned 18 double plays this season, tied for third in Major League Baseball.
• Third baseman Jeimer Candelario is tied for the National League lead in defensive runs saved (3) among third baseman, according to FanGraphs.com.
• Slick-fielding first baseman Dominic Smith is one of three National League first baseman to accumulate at least one defensive run saved along with Arizona’s Christian Walker and New York’s (NL) Pete Alonso, per FanGraphs.com.
OPPONENT
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
The Nationals and Orioles will meet four times in 2022 (2 in D.C., 2 in BAL)…Nationals manager Dave Martinez and Orioles manager Brandon Hyde were members of the same coaching staff in Chicago (NL) for three seasons (2015-17)…Hunter Harvey was drafted by the Orioles in the first round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft…Orioles reliever Austin Voth spent five seasons (2018-22) in D.C. before joining Baltimore in 2022.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – #40 JOSIAH GRAY
Right-hander was acquired by the Nationals from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2021 Trade Deadline…Was Los Angeles’ No. 2 prospect entering 2021 and its Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2019…Was originally selected by Cincinnati in the second round (No. 72 overall) of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York…Was acquired by the Dodgers on his 21st birthday, Dec. 21, 2018…Is the Player Ambassador to the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.
LAST START
Allowed two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in 5.2 innings of work on April 11 at Los Angeles (AL)…Despite his strong start, Washington was shutout, 2-0 and Gray suffered his third consecutive loss.
• After allowing five runs in 5.0 innings in his season debut, Gray has bounced back with two consecutive strong starts…He’s allowed three runs on 12 hits in 11.2 innings (2.31 ERA) and struck out nine over his last two starts, both coming on the road.
vs. BALTIMORE
Faces the Orioles for the first time in his career today…Of the players on the Orioles roster, Gray has only seen Adam Frasier…Gray faced Frasier last season while Frasier was a member of the Mariners.
THE STORY OF HIS CUTTER
As told to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post in a recent story: “At the start of spring training, Gray debuted a cutter he learned from Erasmo Ramírez, who drew his grip on a baseball Gray practiced with until he lost it at the gym during the offseason. Gray joked that some Florida teenager could be throwing Ramírez’s cutter in high school games. Yet by the time he misplaced the ball, Gray knew where to put his fingers. The pitch felt like a natural complement to his slider, moving more side-to-side while his gyroscopic slider drops almost straight down.”
