BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:
STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox are 8-4 in their last 12 games, after beginning the season 5-8. The Sox rank T-12th in MLB in run differential (+12). The Sox have played more games than any other AL team (25). Today concludes a stretch of 19 days without an off day from 4/8-26 (10-8 so far), their longest stretch of the season…They will not play on more than 10 consecutive days again until 8/15-30 (16 G).
RED SOX THROUGH 25 GAMES
Stat 2022 2023
W-L 10-15 13-12
Runs scored 90 144
Home runs 16 33
AVG .231 .253
OPS .634 .763
Walks 57 90
SERIES BUSINESS: With a win today, the Red Sox would improve to 6-2-0 in series play…Last season, they went 1-6-1 in their first 8 series and did not earn their 6th series win until 6/5 (began 5-8-3). The Sox have won each of their last 3 series, each against a team that entered Game 1 with at least a share of 1st place (3-1 vs. LAA, 2-1 vs. MIN, 2-1 at MIL). The Sox have won 3 consecutive series for the 1st time since winning 7 straight from 6/3-26/22.
EARLY BIRDS: The Red Sox are 9-4 (.692) in day games, the 4th-best daytime record in MLB behind TB (11-1), NYY (9-3), and TEX (6-2). The Sox have scored 7.15 runs/game with a .282 AVG, .364 OBP, .and .498 SLG in day games, compared to .222/.295/.362 with 4.3 runs/game at night.
COMEBACK KIDS: The Red Sox have come from behind in 9 of their 13 wins…They trailed by multiple runs in 5 of those 9 wins, including by 4 runs on 4/15 vs. LAA and by 6 runs on 4/1 vs. BAL. The Sox have won 4 games in which they trailed after 7 innings, already matching their 2023 total (4-64).
SLUGGING SOX: The Red Sox rank 3rd in MLB in runs scored (144)…In their last 12 games (beginning 4/14), they have averaged 6.1 runs per game with a .799 OPS. This is only the 9th time the Sox have hit at least 33 HR in their first 25 games (1st time since 2010). The Sox have homered in each of their last 7 games (12 HR total), their longest streak since July 2022 (7 straight from 7/14-24).
RED SOX OFFENSIVE RANKINGS
Stat AL Rank
144 R 3rd
33 HR 2nd
84 XBH 2nd
20.5 SO% 2nd
Stat AL Rank
.253 AVG 5th
.331 OBP 5th
.432 SLG 3rd
.763 OPS 3rd
TEAM EFFORT: Four different players have recorded a go-ahead RBI in the 8th inning or later for the Red Sox: Adam Duvall (4/1 vs. BAL), Yu Chang (4/15 vs. LAA), Alex Verdugo (4/18 vs. MIN), and Masataka Yoshida (4/23 at MIL).
RED SOX INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES OF LATE
Player Span (Start Date) Stats
Justin Turner Last 15 G (4/11) .327 AVG, .922 OPS
Kiké Hernández Last 14 G (4/12) .309 AVG, 6 2B, 13 R
Jarren Duran Last 9 G (4/17) .387 AVG, 1.062 OPS, 10 RBI
Triston Casas Last 8 G (4/17) .412 OBP, 10 BB, 9 R
Masataka Yoshida Last 6 G (4/20) .500 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI
PINCH ME: The Red Sox have had 28 pinch-hit plate appearances, most in MLB (9-for-25, 1 BB, 2 CI)…They lead the majors in pinch hits (9) and rank 2nd in AVG (.360).
A GRAND OL’ TIME: Jarren Duran hit a grand slam in the 3rd inning last night to extend the Sox’ lead to 7-0. The Red Sox have hit a grand slam in 2 of their last 3 games (also Masataka Yoshida on Sunday at MIL). The Sox lead the AL and are tied with the Dodgers for the MLB lead with 3 grand slams this season.
KENLEY CAN: Kenley Jansen earned his 397th career save last night, breaking a tie with Craig Kimbrel for most among active pitchers and 7th most all-time (see below). Jansen has not allowed a run in his first 8 appearances with the Red Sox, going 6-for-6 in save opportunities (7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 11 SO). He ranks T-4th in the AL and 6th in the MLB in saves (6).
MOST SAVES IN MLB HISTORY
Rk. Pitcher SV
- Mariano Rivera …..652
- Trevor Hoffman …..601
- Lee Smith …………..478
- Francisco Rodriguez..437
Rk. Pitcher SV - John Franco………..424
- Billy Wagner……….422
- Kenley Jansen .. 397
- Craig Kimbrel ……..396
WHAT A RELIEF: The Red Sox rank 14th in MLB with a 3.51 bullpen ERA, after ranking 26th in 2022 (4.59). In their last 12 games, Sox relievers have posted a 2.93 ERA (15 ER/46.0 IP) with 42 SO and 12 BB.
RED SOX PITCHERS WITH A RELIEF ERA OF 2.50 OR LOWER
Pitcher Relief ERA IP ER
Kenley Jansen 0.00 7.2 0
Brennan Bernardino 0.00 2.0 0
Kutter Crawford 0.79 11.1 1
Josh Winckowski 1.47 18.1 3
John Schreiber 2.45 11.0 3
CLOSING TIME: The Red Sox have a 2.25 ERA in the 8th and 9th innings (11 ER/44.0 IP)…The Sox have out-scored opponents in those innings, 32-13. The Sox are 9-0 when leading after 6 innings. The Red Sox are 1 of 2 teams in MLB without a blown save this season (7-for-7; also MIA-5-for-5).
LEADING OFF: Alex Verdugo ranks in the AL’s top 10 in AVG (10th, .313), hits (T-2nd, 31), and runs (T-3rd, 19)…He leads qualified AL right fielders in outs above average (2). Verdugo ranks in MLB’s 90th percentile or better in expected AVG (96th), strikeout % (90th), whiff percentage (97th), outs above average (92nd), and arm strength (97th).
FOREVER AND DEVERS: Rafael Devers leads the majors in total bases (58) and is tied for the lead in XBH (16)… He also leads the AL in HR (9) and ranks T-3rd in RBI (24).
DEVERS’ AMERICAN LEAGUE RANKINGS
Stat AL
9 HR ………………………..1st
24 RBI…………………… T-3rd
18 R……………………… T-5th
Stat AL
16 XBH………… T-1st in MLB
58 total bases …. 1st in MLB
.598 SLG …………………….. 4th
CLOSE SHAVES: 18 of the Sox’ 25 games have been decided by 3 runs or fewer (9-9)…The only team with more such games is CLE (19). The Sox have played 9 games decided by 1 run this season (3-6), tied with the Orioles and Tigers for 4th most in the majors (CLE-13, CIN-10, LAA-10).
The only other teams with as many as 6 losses by 1 run are CLE (7), CIN (7), and LAA (6).
SOX & O’S: The Red Sox are 8-3 in their last 11 games against the Orioles, having won each of the last 3 series. Following this series, the Sox and Orioles will not face each other again until September…7 of the Sox’ final 22 games are scheduled to be against the O’s: 3 at Fenway Park (9/8-10) and 4 at Camden Yards (9/28-10/1).
TODAY’S STARTER: 89 TANNER HOUCK – RHP
The Red Sox are 4-0 in his starts this season (16-8 in his career). In his last start (4/20 vs. MIN), recorded career highs in innings (7.0) and pitches (96). In 24 career starts, is 7-6 with a 3.26 ERA (113.1 IP, 41 ER, 90 H, 129 SO, 39 BB)…Has allowed 3 ER or fewer in each of his 24 starts, throwing 5.0+ innings in 13 of those. Is making his 1st career start at Camden Yards (2 relief appearances: 5.0 IP, 1 R)…In 6 career games vs. BAL (2 starts), is 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA (6 ER/19.2 IP). Has allowed 0 HR to his last 220 right-handed hitters faced (last HR: José Abreu, 9/10/21 at CWS)…Since the start of 2022, has held righties to a .496 OPS. Opponents are batting .207 (6-for-29, 9 SO, 2 HR) in at-bats ending with his slider.
BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Orioles fell to the Red Sox last night, 8-6, in the second game of the three-game set…Had their seven-game winning streak snapped; marked the club’s longest since a 10-gamer from July 3-13, 2022…Also had their five-game home winning streak ended, their longest since winning eight in a row from June 22-July 10, 2022.
The O’s rallied for five runs in the ninth, tying a season high with five runs in an inning for the third time, joining the seventh inning on April 11 vs. Oakland and the second frame on April 4 at Texas.
Cedric Mullins hit his first grand slam of the season and third homer of the year on a 1-2 pitch in the ninth; marked his second career grand slam (also 4/12/22 vs. MIL) and the second slam by an O’s batter this season (Mountcastle, 4/11 vs. OAK)…Both of Mullins’ grand slams have come when batting in the leadoff spot and playing center field; his two career grand slams are tied for the secondmost by a leadoff batter in O’s history (since 1954) and rank fifth by a center fielder (see box at right).
BURNING RUBBER: The O’s and Sox square off in a rubber game in today’s series finale…The Birds have gone 1-2 in rubber matches this season after going 11-11 in such games in 2022…The Orioles are looking for their first series win over the Red Sox since August 19-21, 2022, having dropped the last three series against them…The O’s are also looking for their first series win over an AL East rival since September 30 to October 2, 2022 at New York-AL.
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won nine of their last 11 games and 11 of their last 14… The 15-8 start to the season is tied for the sixth-best in team history (since 1954) and is the best start since the 2017 O’s also went 15-8 to open the year. Entering today’s games, Baltimore owns the second-best record in the AL, trailing only Tampa Bay (20-4); the O’s .652 winning percentage is the fourth-best in MLB behind Tampa Bay (.833) and Atlanta and Pittsburgh (.667).
HOME SWEET HOME: The O’s wrap up their six-game homestand today with the finale of the three-game series against the Red Sox…The Orioles swept the series against the Tigers over the weekend…The O’s have gone 8-4 so far at home and their .667 home winning percentage ranks tied with Texas for third in MLB, trailing Tampa Bay (.933) and Toronto (.750)…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 RED SOX: The current three-game set marks the second matchup between Baltimore and Boston after the teams squared off at Fenway Park for the opening series of the year from March 30 to April 2…The O’s and Red Sox do not meet again until a three-game series from September 8-10 in Boston…The teams wrap up the regular season with four games at Oriole Park from September 28 to October 1.
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 .249/.333/.420 (189-for-760) with 42 doubles, two triples, 28 home runs, 119 runs scored, 115 RBI, and 93 walks to start the season… The O’s rank sixth in the AL and tied for ninth in MLB in runs scored after finishing 10th in the AL and 20th in MLB with 674 runs scored in 2022…The Birds rank among AL teams in walks (T-1st, 93), on-base percentage (3rd, .333), slugging percentage 4th, .420), OPS (4th, .753), and batting average (6th, .249).
The Orioles lead MLB with 4.07 pitches per plate appearance this season; the O’s have three players in the top nine in the AL in pitches per plate appearance: Adley Rutschman (3rd, 4.35), Adam Frazier (8th, 4.28), and Anthony Santander (9th, 4.26).
99 PLATE VISION: O’s batters did not strike out Monday night, the first time since August 8, 2010 vs. Chicago-AL that they did not strike out in a game…According to Statcast, O’s batters swung and missed on just four pitches, tied for Baltimore’s fewest in the Statcast era (since 2015) with four whiffs on September 22, 2019 vs. Seattle; Statcast’s definition of a “swing-and-miss” includes swinging strikes, blocked swinging strikes, and foul tips…All nine starters recorded a hit in a game for the first time since August 6, 2022 vs. Pittsburgh.
WHAT A RELIEF: The Baltimore bullpen owns a 2.88 ERA (29 ER/90.2 IP), the thirdbest mark in the AL and fourth-best in MLB…O’s relievers have pitched to a 2.81 ERA (15 ER/48.0 IP) at Oriole Park after working to a 3.26 ERA (122 ER/336.2 IP) at Camden Yards in 2022.
THE CANO SHOW: Yennier Cano earned his first career save Monday night after tossing a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts…Has set down the first 20 hitters he has faced to begin the season, including five on Saturday 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.
NEED FOR SPEED: The O’s have 25 stolen bases, third in MLB behind the Guardians (29 SB) and Pirates (28 SB)…The 25 steals through the first 23 games of the year are the most in O’s history (since 1954) to open a campaign, though the team has not stolen base in the last six games since April 19 (1 CS)…The O’s have only been caught stealing four times for an 86.2 percent success rate…Cedric Mullins is tied with Chicago-NL’s Nico Hoerner for third in MLB with nine stolen bases, behind only Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. (13 SB) and Arizona’s Corbin Carroll (10 SB), while Jorge Mateo is tied for second in the AL and fifth in MLB with eight steals…The duo’s 17 combined stolen bases are more than 16 MLB teams.
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 – #68 – TYLER WELLS RHP
QUICK HITS: Slated to make his fifth appearance (third start) of the season, third at home, and seventh career appearance (second start) today against the Red Sox…Went 7-7 with a 4.25 ERA (49 ER/103.2 IP) in 23 starts for the O’s in 2022… Made his first career start on April 10, 2022 at Tampa Bay; dealt the loss after allowing four runs on three hits (1 HR) with two walks and two strikeouts in 1.2 innings…Did not walk a batter in fi ve consecutive starts from April 21 to May 15, becoming the only Oriole starting pitcher in franchise history (since 1954) to not walk a batter in fi ve consecutive games…Allowed three earned runs-or-fewer in 17 straight starts from April 16 to July 15…Ended the 2022 season on the 15-day Injured List with right shoulder inflammation…Originally selected by Minnesota in the 15th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Cal State, San Bernardino before being taken by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft on December 10, 2020.
LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor into the decision on April 21 vs. Detroit… Worked a career-high 7.0 scoreless innings on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts…Marked his first quality start of the season and first since July 3, 2022 at Minnesota…Threw a career-high-tying 95 pitches, 61 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST BOSTON: Making his seventh career appearance (second start) against the Red Sox…Sports a 1-0 record with a 2.57 ERA (4 ER/14.0 IP) through his fi rst six appearances against Boston…Earned the win in his only career start against the AL East foe on May 30, 2022, tossing 6.0 shutout innings on two hits with one walk and three punchouts at Fenway Park…Threw 88 pitches, 64 strikes…Marked the beginning of his career-high six-game winning streak from May 30 to July 3, 2022.
CAREER AGAINST AL EAST: Making his 34th career appearance (13th start) against the AL East…Owns a 3-7 record with a 5.06 ERA (47 ER/83.2 IP) and one save through his first 33 games against divisional opponents…Made 11 starts against the division in 2022; went 2-4 with a 4.56 ERA (25 ER/49.1 IP) and two quality starts…Made his 2023 debut against the Yankees on April 9 at Oriole Park; dealt the loss after allowing four runs on six hits (2 HR) with six strikeouts in a then career-high-tying 6.0 innings.
LOVING LEFTIES: Opposing left-handed batters are slashing .183/.216/.308 (51-for-279) against Wells through his first 71 career games (26 GS)…He has recorded more career strikeouts against lefties (76) than hits allowed (51)… Owns the fifth-lowest on-base percentage allowed to lefties (.216) in MLB since the start of the 2021 season (min. 230 BFP), while his batting average against left-handed batters (.183) is the 13th-lowest in the majors in that span (min. 230 BFP).
YOU SHALL NOT PASS: Wells has issued just two walks and 14 hits in 23.1 innings through his first four appearances (three starts) this season…His 0.69 WHIP is the lowest in MLB among qualified pitchers…He also ranks among qualified leaders in opponent on-base percentage (1st, .190), BB/9 (2nd, 0.77), OPS (5th, .483) and batting average (7th, .171).
ALL HE DOES IS WIN, WIN, WIN: Wells won five straight starts from June 11 to July 3, 2022, tied for the fifth-longest streak in MLB last season…Pitched to a 1.93 ERA (6 ER/28.0 IP) with 21 strikeouts to eight walks in that span, holding opposing batters to a .168 (17-for-101) batting average…The O’s owned a 9-5 record in his final 14 starts, including wins in eight straight from May 30 to July 8, after going 2-7 in his first nine outings.
