DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:
TIGERS LOSE MIDDLE GAME TO ORIOLES, 5-1: The Tigers dropped the middle game of their series against the Orioles, 5-1, last night. Zach McKinstry drove in Detroit’s only run of the game with a solo homer, his second in as many starts. Javier Báez also had a hit for the Tigers. On the mound, Joey Wentz started and took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Will Vest and Tyler Alexander each pitched 2.0 shutout frames in relief.
ZACH ATTACK: Zach McKinstry continued to show his power last night, hitting a solo homer in the seventh inning. McKinstry has now homered in two of his last three games and has recorded an extra-base hit in four of his last seven, over which he has gone 6×17 with two doubles, two
home runs and four RBI. STREAKING: Javier Báez went 1×4 in last night’s game to extend his hitting streak to eight games, the longest by a Tigers player this season. After starting the season 4×40 in his first 11 games of the season, Báez has gone 10×29 with three doubles and seven RBI during his current streak, which is tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the big leagues.
THE ‘PEN IS MIGHTIER: Will Vest and Tyler Alexander combined to throw 4.0 hitless innings of relief in last night’s game, continuing a streak of solid performances from Detroit’s bullpen. Over the last eight games, Tigers relievers have combined for a 1.39 ERA (32.1IP/5ER). During that span, which dates back to April 13, Detroit’s bullpen ERA ranks third in the American League and fourth in the Majors, while also ranking second in the big leagues with a 0.77 WHIP, trailing only Miami (0.66).
TIGERS AND ORIOLES: The Tigers and Orioles conclude their first series of the season today. The two teams will meet again next weekend in Detroit for a four-game series. The Tigers went 5-1 against Baltimore last season, including taking two-of-three games in Baltimore. Detroit has won the season series over the Orioles in each of the last five seasons the two teams have played.
ON THE ROAD: The Tigers are 0-2 on their current six-game road trip, which includes three games at Baltimore (0-2) and three games at Milwaukee (April 24-26). Detroit is 3-8 away from Comerica Park this season. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .185/.250/.295 on the road, while the pitching staff has a 5.32 ERA (94.2IP/56ER).
ON DECK: The Tigers continue their road trip tomorrow as they begin a three-game series against the Brewers. Detroit and Milwaukee last played in 2021, when the Tigers won three-of-four games, including splitting a two-game series in Milwaukee.
TIGERS ON THE IL:
• RHP Beau Brieske (right upper arm discomfort, 15-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)
• RHP Matt Manning (right foot fracture, 15-day IL on April 8, retroactive to April 7)
• OF Austin Meadows (anxiety, 10-day IL on April 12)
• RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
• RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
• LHP Tarik Skubal (left elbow strain, 60-day IL on March 14)
• RHP Trey Wingenter (right shoulder tendinitis, 15-day IL on April 22, retroactive to April 19)
TODAY’S TIGERS STARTING PITCHER – #57 Eduardo Rodriguez • 1-2, 3.00 ERA (24.0IP/8ER)
• Rodriguez will make his fifth start of the series today in the series finale at Baltimore.
• Earned his first win of the season in his last start on Tuesday in the second game of the doubleheader vs. Cleveland, throwing 8.0 shutout innings with four hits allowed, no walks and 10 strikeouts… became just the third Tigers pitcher in franchise history to throw at least 8.0 scoreless innings with no walks and 10-or-more strikeouts, joining Bill Donovan (June 27, 1908 vs. St. Louis) and Max Scherzer (June 17, 2012 vs. Colorado).
• Rodriguez has performed well in his career against the Orioles, posting a 13-5 record with a 2.94 ERA (125.1IP/41ER) and 129 strikeouts in 23 appearances, including 21 starts…his 13 victories against Baltimore leads all active pitchers, while his 2.94 ERA ranks seventh among actives (min. 50.0 IP).
• Since 2018, he has a .662 winning percentage, which ranks eighth among all active Major League pitchers over that span (min. 100 starts).
BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
WIN COLUMN: The O’s defeated the Tigers last night, 5-1, to secure their fifth series win of the season and fourth in a row…Have won five consecutive games, seven of their last eight, and nine of their last 11…Marks the team’s longest winning streak since August 1-6, 2022 (5 G)…Have won 13 of their first 20 games for just the third time in the 21st century (14-6 in 2017 & 13-7 in 2005)…Allowed two hits, the second-fewest this season (1 H, 4/3 at TEX)…At 2 hours, 15 minutes, marked the quickest game of the season for the O’s and the shortest nine-inning game at Oriole Park since September 22, 2019 vs. Seattle (2:11).
GIB ‘EM THE BUSINESS: Kyle Gibson earned the win last night after allowing one run on two hits (1 HR) with three walks and 11 strikeouts…The 11 strikeouts tied his career high for the third time (last: 8/16/22 at CIN w/PHI) and are the most by an O’s starter since Kyle Bradish also fanned 11 on May 10, 2022 at St. Louis…Became the fourth O’s pitcher (6th occurrence) since 2019 to record a double-digit strikeout game see chart at right)…Has started a season 4-0 for the second time in his career, joining a 6-0 start in 2021 with Texas…Is the fifth Orioles starting pitcher since 2004 to begin a year 4-0, joining John Means (4-0 in 2021), Bud Norris (4-0 in 2013), Wei-Yin Chen (4-0 in 2012), and Erik Bedard (4-0 in 2006)…Extended the scoreless innings streak by O’s starting pitchers to 29.2 before a one-out home run in the seventh inning; marks the longest such stretch by Orioles starters in a single season since a 42.0 straight scoreless stretch to end 1995 from September 26 to October 1, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
THE CANO SHOW: Yennier Cano has set down the first 17 hitters he has faced to begin the season, including five last night…He is the first O’s pitcher to do so since Fred Holdsworth set the team record (since 1954) by retiring the first 24 batters he faced in the 1976 campaign from July 17-24.
GOING STREAKING: Orioles pitchers did not allow a run in 34 consecutive innings from the second inning on Sunday, April 16, at Chicago-AL through the eighth inning on Friday; according to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the sixth-longest streak in club history (since 1954) and the longest since the O’s tossed 45 straight scoreless frames to end the 1995 campaign…According to STATS, it was the longest streak by an AL team in a single season since Baltimore’s 45-inning streak in 1995.
HOME SWEET HOME: The O’s continue their six-game homestand today with the finale of the three-game set against the Tigers…The Orioles will then host the Red Sox for three games from April 24-26…The O’s have gone 6-3 so far at home and their .667 home winning percentage ranks tied for second in the AL (see chart at right) and tied for third in MLB…Baltimore went 4-3 (.571) in their season-opening homestand against the Yankees (1-2) and Athletics (3-1) from April 7-13.
AGAINST THE TIGERS: Baltimore and Detroit will play seven times in 2023 with the Orioles traveling to Comerica Park for four games from April 27-30…The Birds went 1-5 against the Tigers last season, including being swept in three games in Detroit from May 13-15 and going 1-2 in Baltimore from September 19-21.
LOOKING AHEAD: Following the current homestand, the Birds embark on the longest road trip of the season with four games at Detroit from April 27-30, an off day on May 1, three games at Kansas City from May 2-4, and three games at Atlanta from May 5-7.
ON THE ATTACK: Baltimore is batting .246/.340/.422 (162-for-659) with 37 doubles, two triples, 25 home runs, 106 runs scored, 103 RBI, and 91 walks to start the season… The O’s rank fifth in the AL and ninth in MLB in runs scored after finishing 10th in the AL and 20th in MLB with 674 runs scored in 2022…The Birds are fifth in MLB in on-base percentage while ranking among AL teams in walks (1st), slugging percentage (3rd), and OPS (3rd, .762).
The Orioles lead MLB with 4.11 pitches per plate appearance this season; the O’s have three players in the top seven in the AL in pitches per plate appearance: Adley Rutschman (4th, 4.38), Adam Frazier (6th, 4.35), and Anthony Santander (7th, 4.34); Gunnar Henderson (13th, 4.23) and Cedric Mullins (23rd, 4.10) also rank in the top 25 in the AL.
NEED FOR SPEED: The O’s have 25 stolen bases, trailing only the Guardians (26 SB) for the most in MLB this season…The 25 steals through the first 20 games of the year are the most in O’s history (since 1954) to open a campaign…The O’s have only been caught stealing three times for an 89.3 percent success rate…Cedric Mullins is tied with Chicago-NL’s Nico Hoerner for second in MLB with nine stolen bases, behind only Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. with 11, while Jorge Mateo is tied for second in the AL and fourth in MLB with eight steals…The duo’s 17 combined stolen bases are more than 20 MLB teams while six teams have eight-or-fewer steals to start 2023.
Mullins’ nine successful stolen bases are the most to begin a season by an Oriole since Adam Jones also swiped his first nine attempts in 2013; the last Orioles to steal 10-or-more bases successfully without being caught to begin a season are Brian Roberts and Corey Patterson, who each swiped their first 13 attempts, an O’s record, to begin 2006.
STARTING PITCHER – #30 GRASON RODIRGUEZ
Made his MLB debut on April 5 at Texas, becoming the first Oriole to make his debut this season…Thirteen players (7 pitchers) made their debut for the O’s in 2022… Also became the first O’s pitcher to start his Major League debut since DL Hall on August 13, 2022, and the youngest O’s pitcher (23-140) to start his debut since Kevin Gausman (22-137) on May 23, 2013 at Toronto…Had his contract selected to the 40-man roster on November 15, 2022…Originally selected by the Orioles in the first round (No. 11 overall) of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft.
LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor in the decision on April 16 at Chicago-AL, allowing four runs on six hits (2 HR) with two walks and a career-high eight punchouts in 5.0 innings of work…Allowed all four runs in the first inning before shutting out the White Sox across his final 4.0 frames…Retired 13 of the final 17 batters he faced after allowing a one-out home run to Jake Burger in the first inning… Threw 93 pitches, 63 strikes.
WELCOME TO THE CHARM CITY: Made his Oriole Park debut on April 11 vs. Oakland…Did not factor into the decision after allowing five runs on six hits with four walks and a then-career-high six strikeouts in 4.1 innings…Departed with one out and the bases loaded after walking three batters in the fifth inning…All three runners scored…Struck out Jesús Aguilar on a foul tip in the first inning on a 98.6 mph fastball for his first strikeout at Oriole Park…Threw 99 pitches, 65 strikes.
