CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:
The Reds have a season-high 5-game winning streak, tying their longest winning streak of last year (7/7-7/12)…haven’t produced a winning streak longer than 5 games since 2021, when their season-best streak was 6 straight wins (4/3-4/9, 6/11-6/16)…the Reds’ 5-game winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the Major Leagues behind the Blue Jay’s current 6-game streak.
RED HOTS
• The Reds today placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to yesterday, RHP Fernando Cruz (right shoulder strain) and reinstated from the bereavement list RHP Graham Ashcraft.
• In yesterday’s 3-2 win Reds pitchers recorded a season-high 17 strikeouts, matching their single-game high from 2022 (17 strikeouts in 11 innings on 9/17/22 at StL).
• TJ Friedl, Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson each has appeared in all 27 Reds games, and each has amassed at least 27 hits…Scooter Gennett (27g, 32h) was the last Reds player to produced those numbers, in 2018…Friedl, India and Stephenson comprise the first trio of teammates to produce at least 27 hits while appearing in each of the Reds’ first 27 games since 1990, when Barry Larkin (27g, 38h), Paul O’Neill (27g, 31h) and Todd Benzinger (27g, 32h) did it.
TODAY’S GAME
• Is Game 3 (2-0) of a 3-game series vs Mikey Thalbum’s Athletics and Game 3 (2-0) of a 6-game road trip that features an upcoming 3-game series at SD’s Petco Park beginning tomorrow night.
• This road trip is the first of the Reds’ 3 visits to the West Coast.
• Following this road trip the Reds return to Great American Ball Park for a 6-game homestand vs the White Sox (3g) and Mets (3g).
• Wednesday the Reds completed a stretch of 20 games on 20 consecutive days (7-13) following rainouts on 4/5 vs Cubs and 4/6 in the Phillies’ home opener…on Thu enjoyed a beautiful, sunny off day here in the Bay Area.
SERIES NOTES
• The Reds and Athletics are meeting for their ninth series during the regular season and for the first time since 2019, also at Oakland Coliseum.
• The Reds are 11-13 during the regular season vs the Athletics, including 7-9 at Oakland Coliseum.
• In 2013, the Athletics became the last current Major League team to visit Great American Ball Park (est. 2003)…the American League West rival last played in the Queen City in 2016.
• The Reds and Athletics met twice in the World Series…Oakland won in 7 games in 1972, while Cincinnati capped its wire-to-wire championship
season with a 4-game sweep in 1990.
PADRES UP NEXT…
• The Padres won all 6 games in 2022 and 12 of the 13 games over the previous 2 seasons.
• Since the rivalry began in 1969, in 2022 the Padres produced the first season series sweep by either team.
• Beginning in 2013 the Reds are 8-21 at Petco Park and lost their last 8 games there dating back to a 4-2 win on 4/20/19.
…FOLLOWED BY THE WHITE SOX
• The White Sox won 21 of the previous 30 interleague games, including 8 of 14 games at GABP and 5 of 6 games at Cinergy Field.
• The teams are meeting for the first time since 2021, when the Sox earned a 3-1 series win with a 1-1 split at Great American Ball Park and a 2-0 series sweep at Guaranteed Rate Field.
THE WINNING STREAK
• Mon vs Tex, the Reds tied the score in the eighth inning following consecutive 2-out, bases-loaded walks to Henry Ramos and Nick Senzel…
in the ninth, TJ Friedl’s RBI-single off Will Smith lifted the Reds to a 7-6 walkoff win.
• In Tue’s 7-6 win vs Tex, the Reds overcame a 6-0 deficit with 1 run in the seventh inning and 6 runs in the eighth.
• In Wed’s 5-3 walkoff win vs Tex, Nick Senzel snapped the 3-3 tie with a game-ending, 2-run HR off Jonathan Hernández.
• In Fri’s 11-7 win at Oak, 8 Reds batters recorded at least 2 hits in the same game for the first time since 8/3/2007 at Pit.
• With the bases loaded and 2 outs in the ninth inning of Sat’s 3-2 win at Oak, Jake Fraley’s 2-run double off Jeurys Familia erased a 2-1 deficit… Reds pitchers recorded a season-high 17 strikeouts.
Today’s Pitcher – #40 Nick Lodolo, LHP
• This afternoon will make his first career appearance vs the Athletics.
• On 4/8 at Phi, his career-high 12 strikeouts were the most by a Reds lefthander since Amir Garrett had 12 strikeouts on 4/19/17 vs Bal…was Lodolo’s third career game with at least 10 strikeouts…became only the fourth Reds lefthander to record at least 7.0 scoreless innings with at least 12 strikeouts (Tom Hall on 5/14/72/g2 vs StL, Johnny Vander Meer 5 times, Rube Benton on 6/11/1915 vs Dodgers).
• Started the second game of the season and earned the 6-2 win vs the Pirates.
• In his 2022 Major League debut season received 2 third-place votes in the BBWAA’s Jackie Robinson Award voting for National League Rookie of the Year.
• In 2022 ranked among the National League rookie pitching leaders in ERA (4th, 3.66), wins (T5th, 4), strikeouts (3rd, 131), starts (T3rd, 19), innings pitched (5th, 103.1), opponents’ BA (4th, .235) and WHIP (3rd, 1.25).
• Led all Major League pitchers in hit batters (19), 4 shy of Jake Weimer’s 1907 single-season franchise record.
• Went 1-2, 5.52 in his first 3 career starts, but then from 4/28-7/4 missed 69 days and 61 games while on the injured list with a lower right back strain…was transferred from the 15- to the 60-day injured list on 6/21, when IF Donovan Solano came off the 60-day IL.
• Following 4 rehabilitation starts from 6/13-6/29 at ACL Reds (1gs) and Louisville (3gs), came off the injured list on 7/5 and finished the season 3-5, 3.35 over 16 starts.
• In his last 9 starts of the season beginning 8/17 went 1-3, 2.75 (55.2ip, 35h, 17er, 15bb, 67k, 6hr, .182baa, 0.90whip)…the Reds went 3-6 in those 9 starts.
• Beginning 8/17, finished the season ranked among the National League leaders in that span in starts (T3rd), innings pitched (T5th), ERA (8th), strikeouts (7th), opponents’ BA (4th) and WHIP (5th).
• On 9/9 at Mil (8ip, 0bb, 11k) and 9/14 vs Pit (6.1ip, 0bb, 11k) became only the second rookie since 1893, the year the pitching mound was moved to its current distance, to record in consecutive apps 0 walks and at least 11 strikeouts, joining Dwight Gooden (9/12 & 9/17, 1984, 16k vs Pit, 16k at Phi).
• Is only the third Reds rookie since 1900 to record in consecutive apps at least 11 strikeouts, joining Gary Nolan (6/1 & 6/7, 1967, 12k vs Cubs, 15k vs SF) and Bruce Berenyi (8/24 & 8/29, 1981, 12k vs NYM, 11k at NYM).
• Was selected by the Reds in the first round (7th overall) of the June 2019 first-year player draft…was signed by Paul Scott…was Texas Christian University’s highest-ever baseball draft pick.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Have a five-game losing streak and have also lost seven of the last eight, 14 of the last 16 and 20 of the last 23…are 5-23 .179) overall, which is the lowest winning percentage in the majors (Royals and White Sox, 7-21/.250)…it is the worst record in Athletics history after 28 games and tied for the fourth worst record by an AL, NL or FL team since 1901 (last: Reds in 2022)…with a loss today, the A’s would have the worst 29-game record to start a season since the 2003 Tigers started 4-25…have lost the first two games of this series and have now lost each of the first nine series of the season for the first time in Athletics history (previous: 5 in 1935, 1946 and 1951)…this is the first time the A’s have lost nine consecutive series at any point in the season since July 11-August 20, 2008 when they lost 11 straight.
A’S IN APRIL: The A’s are 4-23 (.148) in April and have set a Major League record for most losses in April…the previous mark was set by the Orioles, who went 1-22 in 1988…the 23 losses are second most in any month in Oakland history (24 in June, 1979)…with a loss today, the A’s would set an Oakland record for lowest winning percentage in a month (min. 5 games)…a win would be second lowest to June, 1979 when the A’s finished 5-24 (.172)…this is the 15th 20-loss month in Oakland history, the third in the last two years…have an 8.12 ERA this April and will finish with the highest single-month ERA in Oakland history in a month of more than one game (highest previous ERA for a full month is 6.73 in Sept., 2015)…since the earned run became an official stat (1912 in NL, 1913 in AL), the two highest ERA’s by an AL or NL team in a month of 15 or more games are 8.20 by the Phillies in Sept. 1930 and 7.86 by the Phillies in July 1929…have allowed 225 runs, which are the most in any month in Oakland history and the most by any team since the 1950 St. Louis Browns yielded 232 in June (last with more than 232 were the Philadelphia A’s with 260 in Aug. 1938)…have set an Athletics record for hit batters in any month (23) and an Oakland record for home runs allowed in any month (49)…the only times in Athletics history the A’s allowed 50 or more home runs in a month are May 1964 (57) and July 1962 (56)…have 18 wild pitches, which is an Athletics record for April…have walked 139 batters, which is tied for third most in any month in Oakland history (148 in Aug. 1995, 140 in April 1996)…have stolen 28 bases this month, which are the most by an A’s team in April since they had 29 in 1987.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s have a nine-game home losing streak, which is their longest home losing streak since June 4-20, 1982 when they also lost nine straight…the only longer home losing streaks in Oakland history are 12 in 1977 (July 29-Aug. 21) and 11 in 1978-79 (Sept. 19-April 15)…are 0-2 on this six-game homestand against Cincinnati (0-2) and Seattle (three games) tonight… went 0-6 on the last homestand against New York-NL (0-3) and Chicago-NL (0-3)…had no winless homestands of six or more games in the first 54 years in Oakland but now have two in the last two years (0-6 from April 29-May 4, 2022 against Cleveland and Tampa Bay)…are 2-12 (.143) in the Coliseum, which is the second lowest home winning percentage in the majors (Royals, 1-12/.077)…went 2-5 on the last road trip to Texas (1-2) and Los Angeles-AL (1-3) and are 3-11 (.214) on the road, which is the worst road record in the majors.
OFFENSE: The A’s struck out a season-high 17 times yesterday and now have 261 strikeouts for the season, which is tied for fourth most in the majors…are batting .214 (78-for-365) over the last 11 games after hitting .279 over the previous eight contests…are hitting .227 for the season, which is eighth lowest in the majors…also have the eighth lowest on-base percentage (.309) and OPS (.680) and the ninth lowest slugging percentage (.371)…are tied for third in fewest doubles (36), tied for sixth in fewest extra base hits (70) and rank eighth in fewest runs (108)…have been shut out four times, which is tied for fourth most…have the second most hit by pitches (19)…A’s pinch hitters are 8-for-21 (.381) with five walks…are tied for second in the majors in pinch hits and pinch walks.
PITCHING: The A’s have allowed 226 runs, which are the most in the majors and second most by any AL, NL or FL team over its first 28 games since 1901… the most is 228 by the 1923 Philadelphia Phillies…the 226 runs are the most by an A’s team over any 28-game stretch since the Philadelphia A’s allowed 242 from June 28-July 26, 1939…have the highest ERA (7.86), opponents OPS (.909), batting average (.297), on-base percentage (.394) and slugging percentage (.515) in the majors…lead the majors in most walks (143), home runs (49) and wild pitches (19), have the second most hit batters (23) and the second fewest strikeouts (201).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 0-15 with an 8.68 ERA over the first 28 games…according to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the longest season-opening streak of consecutive games without a win by the starting pitcher in Major League history (previous: Pirates, 27 in 2022)…it is the longest at any point in a season in Athletics history…A’s starters have the highest ERA in the majors by more than two earned runs (Red Sox, 6.27) and no other team has fewer than four wins from its starters…have tossed fewer than five innings in 13 of the 28 games and are tied for the second fewest innings pitched (129.2).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has an 8.50 ERA (57 er in 60.1 ip) over the last 15 games and has allowed 10 or more runs three times over that stretch…had no games with 10 or more runs over the previous three seasons…now has a 6.95 ERA for the season, which is the highest in the majors (White Sox, 6.59)…has tossed more than 4.0 innings 11 times and has 115.1 innings pitched overall, which is second most to the Rays (120.2)…is 3-for-9 (33.3%) in save opportunities…has the lowest save percentage in the majors, is tied for the fewest saves and tied for second in most blown saves (6)…has allowed 25-of-54 (46.3%) inherited runners to score, which is the fifth highest percentage.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS: The A’s have committed six errors over the last four games and now have 20 for the season, which is tied with the Giants for second most in the majors…A’s outfielders have three assists in the last six games and seven for the season, which is tied with the Phillies for second most (Royals, 8)…A’s catchers have two passed balls, which is tied for seventh most. ON THE BASES: The A’s have thrown out seven attempted base stealers over the last 12 games and have nine caught stealings for the season, which is second most in the majors (Rockies, 10)…however, opponents have 28 stolen bases, which is tied for third most…offensively, the A’s have been successful in 29-of34 (85.3%) stolen base attempts…are tied for third in the majors in steals and attempts and tied for seventh in stolen base percentage.
ONE-RUN GAMES AND OTHERWISE: Four of the A’s five wins this year have been by one run (the other was an 8-4 win) and Oakland is 4-6 (.400) in one-run games…are tied for fifth in the majors in one-run games (10) and losses… however, the A’s have lost six games by 10 or more runs, which matches the A’s combined total from the previous four seasons and is the most since 2008 when they had eight such losses…have a run differential of -118, which is the lowest by an AL, NL or FL team over the first 28 games of the season since 1901 (previous: -100 by the 1936 St. Louis Browns)…it is the lowest in Athletics history over any 28-game stretch.
NIGHT AND DAY: The A’s are 5-11 in night games and 0-12 during the day… are the only team in the majors without a win in day games…the 12-game
losing streak in day games is second longest in Oakland history to a 13-game streak from July 17-Aug. 21, 1977…are batting .267 (148-for-555) with 78 runs in 16 night games (4.8 runs per game), .169 (65-for-384) with 30 runs in 12 day games (2.5 runs per game)…have the sixth best night batting average in the majors and the lowest day batting average.
A’S VS. REDS
• Have lost the first two games of this series and have been swept by the Reds in a three-game series once: June 21-23, 2010.
• The A’s and Reds are meeting for the first time since 2019 when Oakland won two of three in the Coliseum.
• Are 6-11 over the last 17 meetings after winning each of the first seven regular season contests.
• Have met twice in the World Series with the A’s winning in seven games in 1972 and the Reds sweeping in four games in 1990x
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-2 0-0 0-2
2019 2-1 0-0 2-1
Oakland History: 13-11
at the Coliseum: 9-7
at Great American Ball Park: 1-4
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Ryan Noda leads Major League rookies in on-base percentage (.398), is tied for the lead in walks (17), tied for second in runs (16) and ranks fourth in OPS (.837…Brent Rooker is tied for fifth in the majors in home runs (8) and tied for fifth in RBI (20)…Esteury Ruiz has 11 stolen bases in April, which are the most by an Athletic in April since 1990 when Rickey Henderson also had 11…the last with more is Dave Collins, who had 12 in 1985
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Ken Waldichuk (0-2, 7.82 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his sixth start of the season…took the loss in each of his first two starts, allowing 14 runs on 17 hits in 8.2 innings (14.54 ERA)…has no decisions and a 4.32 ERA (8 er in 16.2 ip) in three starts since then…begins his second season in the majors and is on his first Opening Day roster…made his Major League debut with Oakland last September.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Left-handed hitters have just 14 at bats against him and are 3-for-14 (.214)…right-handers are batting .333 (30-for-90)…his career splits are .163 (7-for-43) against lefties, .302 (58-for-192) against righties…has allowed a .393 (24-for-61) batting average with the bases empty compared to .209 (9-for-43) with runners on base…opponents are 5-for-22 (.227) with runners in scoring position.
THIS AND THAT: Has allowed nine home runs, which is tied for the most in the majors and tied for second most in Oakland history in the month of April…the most is 10 by Gil Heredia in April of 2001…three of the nine home runs have been hit by the eight hitter in the batting order…has yielded 22 runs, which is tied for ninth most in the majors and five short of the Oakland ecord for April (27 by Matt Keough in April of 1979 and Shintaro Fujinami in April of 2023)…16 of the 22 runs he has allowed have scored on home runs… has not allowed a run in the first inning but has yielded nine of his 22 runs in the second inning (16.20 ERA)…yielded three home runs in his first start and four in his second start and the seven home runs in back-to-back starts match the most in Oakland history by a pitcher over a two-game stretch… Mike Fiers (Sept. 3-9, 2019) is the only other one to do it over the last 25 years
FIRST START: He was the losing pitcher in the A’s 6-0 loss to Los Angeles (AL) on April 2 in Oakland…allowed six runs on a career-high nine hits in 5.2 innings and all of the runs which scored on three home runs…O’Hoppe hit a three-run home run in the fourth and Trout and Ohtani hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth, with Trout’s being a two-run shot…the O’Hoppe home run snapped a career-high 14.0-inning scoreless streak dating back to last year.
SECOND START: He lost his second consecutive start in the A’s 9-5 loss at Tampa Bay on April 7…allowed a career-high eight runs and a career-high four home runs in 3.0 innings…surrendered a grand slam to Paredes in the second and solo home runs to Ramirez in the second and Margot and Bethancourt in the third.
THIRD START: He had a no decision in the A’s 8-4 win at Baltimore on April 12…the A’s scored three times in the first and he allowed two runs in the second…then blanked the Orioles on two hits and walk over the next four innings…had a 4-2 lead when he was relieved by Familia with one out and a runner on first in the seventh inning…Familia allowed the baserunner to score plus one run of his own for the blown save…the A’s came back with three in the eighth and one in the ninth for the win.
FOURTH START: He had a no decision in the A’s 4-0 loss to Chicago (NL) on April 18 in Oakland…tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, scattering five hits and three walks…stranded at least one baserunner each inning and a total eight in his five innings of work…was relieved by Moll to start the sixth with the score tied 0-0…the bullpen allowed four runs in the eighth and Stroman and three Cubs relievers combined to shut out the A’s on two hits and five walks.
LAST START: He had his third straight no decision in the A’s 11-10, 10-inning win at Los Angeles (AL) on Monday…had a 5-0 lead when he allowed a solo home run to Drury in the second and a 7-1 lead when Wallach hit a solo home run off him in the third…took a 7-2 lead into the sixth and allowed a two-run double to Rendon…was relieved by Kaprielian with one out in the sixth and a runner on second and Kaprielian allowed that run to score plus two of his own for the blown save.
WALDICHUK’S 2023 STARTS
Date Opponent Opponent Score Dec ERA IP H R ER BB SO HR #PIT
April 2 April 2 Los Angeles (AL) Los Angeles (AL) 0-6 L 9.53 5.2 9 6 6 1 4 3 96
April 7 April 7 at Tampa Bay at Tampa Bay 5-9 L 14.54 3.0 8 8 8 3 3 4 71
April 12 April 12 at Baltimore at Baltimore 8-4 – 10.20 6.1 5 3 3 3 4 0 107
April 18 April 18 Chicago (NL) Chicago (NL) 0-4 – 7.65 5.0 5 0 0 3 5 0 102
April 24 April 24 at Los Angeles (AL) at Los Angeles (AL) 11-10 – 7.82 5.1 6 5 5 1 2 2 81
WALDICHUK’S CAREER STARTS VS. CINCINNATI
Career: Is making his first career appearance and start
Date Site Score Dec ERA IP H R ER BB SO HR #PIT
Career Totals (0 games, 0 starts) Career Totals (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coliseum (0 games, 0 starts) Coliseum (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Great American Ballpark (0 games, 0 starts) (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2022 Totals (0 games, 0 starts) 2022 Totals (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WALDICHUK’S CAREER MATCHUPS VS. CINCINNATI
PLAYER BA OBP SLG OPS AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SH SF HB DP
Has no match-ups
OPPONENTS BATTING: Allowed a .244 opponents batting average, which broke down to .138 (4-for-29) with a .366 OPS against left-handed hitters compared to .275 (28-for-102) with an .897 OPS against right-handers…surrendered 17 of his 18 extra base hits and issued nine of his 10 walks to righthanded hitters…yielded a .288 batting average and .843 OPS the first time through the order, .196 with a .650 OPS the second time and .238 with a .923 OPS after that…the first two hitters in the batting order combined for a .371 batting average against him but he held the three through nine hitters to a .198 average…opponents were 0-for-12 on an 0-2 count.
THIS AND THAT: Was 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA and .653 opponents OPS in three starts in the Coliseum, 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA and .884 OPS in four starts on the road…however, surrendered four of his five home runs in Oakland…had a 7.52 ERA and .962 opponents OPS in odd numbered innings, a 1.26 ERA and .523 OPS in even numbered innings…did not allow a run in the fourth inning (6.0 ip)…tossed five innings or fewer in five of his seven starts.
