SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue an 11-day, 9-game road trip with the first of 3 games against the Oakland Athletics…Seattle has already taken on the Philadelphia Phillies (1-2) and Toronto Blue Jays (1-2) in a pair of 3-game series on the trip…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Dave Sims and Mariners Hall of Famer Dan Wilson on the call and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith.O
DDS AND ENDS…the Mariners defeated the Blue Jays by a 10-8 score in dramatic, extra inning fashion in their series finale on Sunday…each of the Mariners last 6 games (4/25-c) have been decided by 2-orfewer runs, including 4 one-run games during that stretch…Seattle is 7-9 at T-Mobile Park and 5-7 on the road this season.
• Series Openers – The Mariners are 5-4 in series openers this season.
• Happy Birthday! – Mariners relief pitcher Penn Murfee celebrates his 29th birthday today.
• We’re The Millers – Bryce Miller is set to become the first starting pitcher to make his MLB debut against a starting pitcher with the same last name (Mason Miller-OAK) since Pat Underwood-DET made his MLB debut against his brother, Tom Underwood-TOR, on May 31, 1979.
MILLER SET TO MAKE MLB DEBUT…right-hander Bryce Miller is set to make his Major League debut for the Mariners in a start tonight…the 24-year-old is ranked as the #88 prospect in the Majors by MLB. com…Miller was selected by Seattle in the 4th round of the 2021 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Texas A&M University…in 36 career minor league games (33 starts), he is 7-6 with a 3.65 ERA (66 ER, 162.2 IP) with 51 walks and 196 strikeouts…he also appeared in 4 Cactus League games (2 starts) with the Mariners in 2023 Spring Training…Miller is set to be the 45th Seattle pitcher to start their Major League debut and first since George Kirby (6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 7 SO) on May 8, 2022 vs. Tampa Bay.
ALL THE SMALL THINGS…the Mariners have the best pitching staff in the Majors by FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (4.9), ranking ahead of Minnesota (4.8) and Texas (4.5)…in 28 games this season, the Mariners pitching staff has posted a 3.60 ERA (102 ER, 254.2 IP) with 87 walks and 249 strikeouts, and a 1.233 WHIP while holding opponents to a .234 batting average…the Mariners starting rotation ranks 4th in fWAR (3.2), trailing Minnesota (3.8), Tampa Bay (3.4) and Texas (3.3)…the Mariners bullpen ranks T2nd in fWAR (1.8) with Cincinnati, trailing only Baltimore (2.1)…Seattle’s pitching staff has done the best job in the Majors at limiting hard contact, allowing a league-low 39 barrels and 3.7 barrels-per-plate appearance. MATTY B…Matt Brash is 2-2 with 1 save and a 4.85 ERA (7 ER, 13.0 IP) with 5 walks and 26 strikeouts across 16 appearances this season…the 24-year-old right-hander ended the month of April as the Major League leader in both appearances (16) and strikeouts (26) out of the bullpen, also posting the highest strikeouts-per-9 innings rate (18.0) among relievers with at least 10.0 innings pitched…Brash ended the month with 0.7 fWAR, leading American League relievers…in Seattle’s most recent game on April 30 at Toronto, the Kingston, Ontario native Brash became just the second Canadian-born pitcher in Major League history to register his first career save on Canadian soil, joining Montreal Expos hurler Bill Atkinson, who notched his first save on April 16, 1977 in Montreal.
CAL HEATING UP…Cal Raleigh went 2-for-4 with 3 runs scored, 2 home runs, 4 RBI and a walk in Sunday’s 10-8 win over the Blue Jays…Cal hit a 2-run homer in the 8th inning to cut Seattle’s deficit to 8-7, and followed that up with another 2-run homer in the 10th, which gave the Mariners a 10-8 lead…it was Raleigh’s third career multi-homer game (others: 8/17/22 at LAA, 9/2/22 at CLE)…since the start of 2022, Cal leads Major League catchers with 32 home runs.
SEAUSWALD…Paul Sewald is 7-for-7 in save opportunities this season, going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA (5 ER, 15.0 IP) with 4 walks and 19 strikeouts across 15 appearances…the righty has posted a 0.867 WHIP while holding opponents to a .170 batting average (9×53) this season…in 142 appearances with the Mariners (2021-c), Sewald owns the best WHIP (0.891) and lowest opponent batting average (.162/83×511) in franchise history among pitchers with at least 100.0 innings pitched.
HOP ON THE TAYLOR TRAIN…Taylor Trammell made his season debut on Sunday, hitting a grand slam in the top of the 1st in his first plate appearance of 2023…he became the second Mariners player in franchise history to hit a grand slam in his first PA of the season, joining Jay Buhner on June 1, 1990.
J.P. THE ON-BASE MACHINE…J.P. Crawford came up with the 2-out, game-tying RBI single in the top of the 9th inning in Sunday’s win at Toronto…on the season, the Mariners shortstop has gotten on base at a .373 clip, reaching safely 38 times in 103 plate appearances…Crawford’s 18 walks lead the Mariners.
LA PIEDRA’S ‘ROCK’ SOLID APRIL…Luis Castillo went 2-0 with a 1.82 ERA (7 ER, 34.2 IP) with 8 walks and 38 strikeouts in 6 March/April starts…the right-hander became the first pitcher in MLB history with 3 outings of 5.0+ scoreless IP and 2-or-fewer hit allowed within his team’s first 16 games of a season… he also became just the third pitcher in MLB history with a sub-1.00 ERA, 11-or-fewer hits allowed, 4-orfewer walks and 25+ strikeouts through his first 4 starts, joining Cliff Lee-CLE (2008) and Corbin BurnesMIL (2021)…Lee and Burnes both won the Cy Young Award those seasons.
DE-FENSE…the Mariners are tied for the 2nd-best defense in the Majors this season according to Baseball Savant’s Outs Above Average (9) with Detroit, trailing only Arizona (10) in OAA…Seattle ranks 5th in the Majors according to FanGraphs’ Defensive Runs Saved metric, tallying 12 DRS and ranking behind Milwaukee (25), Toronto (23), Arizona (17) and Detroit (16).
AS YOU KNOW…Jarred Kelenic had an excellent month of March/April…in 26 games of action, the 23-year-old outfielder hit .308 (28×91) with 14 runs scored, 7 doubles, 7 home runs, 14 RBI and 9 walks, went 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts and got on base at a .366 clip, slugging .615 with a .982 OPS, but…DID YOU KNOW?…that Kelenic put together one of the best opening months by a Mariners player his age in team history?…Kelenic’s .982 OPS is the 5th-best (min. 50 PA) by a Seattle player age 23-oryounger in March/April, trailing only Alvin Davis’ 1.223 OPS (1984), Ken Griffey Jr.’s 1.044 OPS (1990) and .985 OPS (1993) and Alex Rodriguez’s 1.015 OPS (1998) during the season’s opening month.
MARINERS STARTER – RHP BRYCE MILLER
ABOUT BRYCE MILLER… • The 24-year-old right-handed pitcher is scheduled to make his Major League debut. • Selected by Seattle in the 4th round (113th overall) of the 2021 MLB First-Year Player Draft; signed by Mariners scout Derek Miller. • Spent 3 seasons at Texas A&M from 2019-21…also spent 2 seasons playing for Brazos Valley Bombers of the Texas Collegiate League in 2018 and 2020, and 1 season with the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod League in 2019. • Was born in Mount Pleasant, Texas and attended New Braunfels High School in New Braunfels, Texas.
LAST TIME OUT…ND in last start with the Arkansas Travelers after pitching 5.0 innings and allowing 1 hit, 1 run, 1 home run, and 1 walk while striking out 5 on 85 pitches, 55 strikes.
MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT…is set to make his Major League debut tonight…has spent the 2023 season
pitching for Double-A Arkansas.
THIS SEASON IN ARKANSAS…has made 4 starts with Double-A Arkansas this season and has gone 0-2 with a 6.41 ERA (19.2 IP, 14 ER) and has allowed 3 walks while striking out 18…his 18 strikeouts ranks fifth on the Travelers among starting pitchers.
STRIKEOUT MACHINE…recorded 163 strikeouts in 2022 between High-A and Double-A which was the 12th-most among all Minor League pitchers.
CAREER-HIGH PUNCHIES…had a career-high 14 strikeouts against Corpus Christi on 9/17/22 while pitching for the Arkansas Travelers.
MINOR LEAGUE MAGIC…has pitched in 36 games (33 starts) since joining the Mariners Minor League system in 2021…he has a 7-6 record with 3.65 ERA (162.2 IP, 66 ER) and has allowed 51 walks while striking out 196 batters…he has held opponents to a .218 batting average.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: The A’s snapped a five-game losing streak on Sunday and will attempt to win back-to-back games for the first time this year tonight…have lost five of the last six games, seven of the last nine, 14 of the last 17 and 20 of the last 24…are 6-23 (.207) overall, which is the lowest winning percentage in the majors (Royals, 7-22/.241)…it matches the 1919 Philadelphia A’s for the worst record in Athletics history after 29 games and is tied for the eighth worst record by an AL, NL or FL team since 1901 (last: 2022 Reds)…lost two of three to the Reds to start the homestand 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 went 5-23 (.179) in April and 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)…the .179 winning percentage is second lowest in a month with at least five games to June, 1979 (5-24, .172)…it was the 15th 20-loss month in Oakland history, the third in the last two years…compiled a 7.97 ERA, which was the second highest ERA by an American League or National League team in any month of 15 or more games since the earned run became an official stat (1912 in NL, 1913 in AL)…the highest was 8.20 by the Phillies in Sept. 1930…allowed 229 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…set an Athletics record for hit batters in any month (24) and an Oakland record for home runs allowed in any month (50)…the only other times in Athletics history the A’s allowed 50 or more home runs in a month are May 1964 (57) and July 1962 (56)…issued 141 walks, which was second most in a month in Oakland history (148 in Aug. 1995)…set an Oakland record for wild pitches in April (18)…A’s hitters struck out 259 times, which is the most in Athletics history in April and fifth most for any month…stole 28 bases, which were the most by an A’s team in April since they had 29 in 1987.
ONE-RUN GAMES AND OTHERWISE: The A’s defeated the Reds 5-4 on Sunday on an Esteury Ruiz walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth…five of the A’s six wins this year have been by one run (the other was an 8-4 win) and Oakland is 5-6 (.455) in one-run games…are tied for fifth in the majors in one-run games (11) and losses and tied for seventh in wins…have scored the winning run in their final at bat five times…are 0-2 when leading after seven innings and 4-2 when tied after seven innings…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 -117, which is the lowest by an AL, NL or FL team over the first 29 games of the season since 1901 (previous: -97 by the 1936 St. Louis Browns)…the only time in Athletics history the A’s had a run differential worse than -117 over any 29-game stretch was from June 24-July 24, 1936 when they had a mark of -127.
OFFENSE: The A’s have been hit by a pitch in each of the last five games (eight HBP total), which is one short of the longest such streak in Athletics history (6, five times, last: June 9-15, 2019)…have been hit by a pitch 21 times for the season, which is the most in the majors…have the sixth lowest batting average (.229), seven lowest slugging percentage (.375), eighth lowest OPS (.686) and 10th lowest on-base percentage (.311)…have the second fewest doubles (36), are tied for fifth in most strikeouts (271) and fewest extra base hits (72) and rank sixth in fewest runs (113)…have been shut out four times, which is tied for fourth most.
IN THE PINCH: A’s pinch hitters are 6-for-12 (.500) with a double, home run, three RBI and six walks over the last 10 games…for the season, are tied for the most pinch walks (6) in the majors and rank third in pinch hits (8).
PITCHING: The A’s have allowed 230 runs, which are the most in the majors and tied for second most by any AL, NL or FL team over its first 29 games since 1901…the most is 241 by the 1923 Philadelphia Phillies…the 230 runs are the most by an A’s team over any 29-game stretch since the Philadelphia A’s also allowed 230 from Sept. 18, 1940-May 2, 1941…have the highest ERA (7.72), opponents OPS (.906), batting average (.298), on-base percentage (.393) and slugging percentage (.513) in the majors…lead the majors in most walks (145), home runs (50) and wild pitches (19), have the second most hit batters (24) and are tied for the third fewest strikeouts (214).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers have tossed at least five innings in three consecutive games for the first time this year…have pitched fewer than five innings 13 times and have the second fewest innings pitched in the majors (135.1)…starters are 0-15 with an 8.51 ERA over the first 29 games… according to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the longest season-opening streak of consecutive games without a win by a 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 (Reds, 6.05) and no other team has fewer than four wins from its starters.
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has been charged with a blown save in each of the last two games and is now 3-for-10 (30.0%) in save opportunities for the season…has the lowest save percentage in the majors and is tied for the most blown saves (7) and fewest saves…has a 6.83 ERA, which is second highest in the majors (White Sox, 6.86)…has 118.2 innings pitched, which is second most to the Rays (124.1)…has allowed 27-of-56 (48.3%) inherited runners to score, which is the fourth highest percentage.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS: The A’s have committed seven errors over the last five games and now have 21 for the season, which is tied with the Rockies for the most in the majors…A’s outfielders have three assists in the last seven games and seven for the season, which is tied for second most (Royals, 8).
ON THE BASES: The A’s have thrown out eight attempted base stealers over the last 13 games and have 10 caught stealings for the season, which is tied with the Rockies for the most in the majors…however, opponents have 29 stolen bases, which is third most…offensively, the A’s have been successful in 29-of-35 (82.9%) stolen base attempts…rank fourth in the majors in steals and tied for fourth in attempts.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s snapped their nine-game home losing streak on Sunday, which tied for the third longest home losing streak in Oakland
history…it was the longest since June 4-20, 1982 when they also lost nine straight…are 1-2 on this six-game homestand against Cincinnati (1-2) and Seattle (three games) and are 3-12 (.200) 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…leave following the game Thursday for a six-game road trip to Kansas City (three games) and New York-AL (three games).
NIGHT AND DAY: The win on Sunday was the A’s first during a day game this year…it snapped a 12-game losing streak in day games, which fell one short of the Oakland record of 13 (July 17-Aug. 21, 1977)…are batting .267 (148-for555) with 78 runs in 16 night games (4.8 runs per game), .179 (74-for-414) with 35 runs in 13 day games (2.7 runs per game)…have the sixth best night batting average in the majors and the lowest day batting average.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Mason Miller (0-1, 6.48 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Was selected from Triple-A Las Vegas April 19 and is scheduled to make his third start of the season and his Major League career…it will be the 14th appearance (13th start) of his professional career…had just 11 appearances, including 10 starts, and 28.2 innings pitched as a minor leaguer…the last A’s pitcher to start in his debut with fewer games pitched as a professional is Kirk Dressendorfer, who made the A’s Opening Day roster in 1991 and started on April 13 after pitching in just seven games, including four starts, in 19.1 innings with Short-Season Southern Oregon in his professional debut in 1990.
FIRST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 12-2 loss at Chicago (NL) on April 19 in Oakland in his Major League debut…became the 58th pitcher in Oakland history to start in his ML debut, the second this year (Fujinami on April 1)…blanked the Cubs on one hit and one walk over his first three innings… struck out the side in the second, including Cody Bellinger for his first strikeout…allowed a RBI double to Happ in the fourth and a sacrifice fly to Barnhart in the fifth…was relieved by Smith with one out in the fifth and the A’s trailing 2-1…Oakland came back to tie the game but the pen allowed 10 runs over the final four innings.
LAST START: He was the losing pitcher in the A’s 5-3 loss at Los Angeles (AL) a week ago today…allowed four runs in 4.0 innings of work, all in the first inning…yielded a two-run triple to Drury and RBI singles by Rengifo and Urshela…then retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced…was relieved by Lovelady to start the fifth with the A’s trailing 4-2.
