KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
BUMMER IN BALTIMORE: The Royals suffered a 3-2 loss last night to begin this weekend series in Baltimore, falling to 0-4 on this 6-game trip…Daniel Lynch made the Royals 1st quality start in more than three weeks, allowing just 3 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk in 6.0 innings, but dropped to 0-2 in 3 starts…Nicky Lopez tripled and scored the Royals 1st run on a sacrifice fly in the 3rd inning, and Maikel Garcia scored on a wild pitch in the 7th, before Lopez struck out to leave the tying and go-ahead runs stranded in scoring position.
ROSTER MOVE: The Royals announced today that outfielder Edward Olivares has been reinstated from the Restricted List…in a corresponding move, infielder Vinnie Pasquantino has been placed on the 10-day Injured List with right shoulder instability…Olivares returns to the club today as the Royals face left hander Cole Irvin, who surrendered 2 homers to Olivares in his 1st career multi-HR game last June 24 when Irvin was with the A’s.
COUNTDOWN TO 50,000: The Royals enter today with 49,998 pitching strikeouts in 55 seasons, and are just 2 shy of becoming the 24th franchise to reach 50,000…the Royals have recorded at least 2 strikeouts in each of their last 454 games since Sept. 20, 2019, a streak that spans parts of five seasons…the Royals all-time strikeouts leader is Kevin Appier with 1,458, and Zack Greinke is the club’s active leader with 1,054 strikeouts as a Royal, which are 3 strikeouts shy of Paul Splittorff (1,057) for 5th place on the franchise’s all-time strikeouts list.
LEADS LOST: Wednesday night marked Kansas City’s 21st blown lead loss, matching St. Louis and Oakland for the most in the Majors…the Royals have held a lead in 24 of their last 34 games (70.6%) since the start of May, but they’re 11-23 during that stretch with 13 blown lead losses, including a blown lead in 4 of their last 8 road games.
SOUTHPAW STORY: Today’s opponent Cole Irvin will mark the ninth time in the Royals last 15 games that they’re facing a left-handed starting pitcher…this recent run vs. southpaw starters comes on the heels of a 15-game stretch from May 7-22 in which they faced all right-handed starters…the Royals are 5-12 vs. left-handed starters.
Maikel Garcia is 12-for-36 (.333) with 4 doubles vs. left-handed pitchers since his May 2 recall, including his 1st career HR on Sunday off left hander Kyle Freeland…Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 18 hits and 5 HR vs. left handers, and is batting .295 against them with .557 slugging percentage and .886 OPS.
Left-handed batters Michael Massey and Nick Pratto have fared especially well vs. left-handed pitching, batting .314 (11-for-35) and .308 (12-for-39), respectively…their averages vs. southpaws rank tied for 6th and 9th, respectively among left-handed batters in the American League (min. 25 at-bats).
CHIEFS DAY AT THE K: The Royals on Thursday announced details for Chiefs Day at The K on Monday night, when they will celebrate Kansas City’s Super Bowl LVII championship…the Royals will host Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid, among others from the Super Bowl-winning team…many of GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium’s gameday traditions will follow the Chiefs to Kauffman Stadium, including the Chiefs cheerleaders, flag runners, KC Wolf and more…Crown Vision will also show highlights from the Chiefs fourth quarter comeback in the Super Bowl…fans should be in their seats by 6:45 to see Coach Reid, Mahomes and Kelce carry the Super Bowl LVII trophy from the bullpen to the infield, and Kelce will throw out the first pitch to Mahomes.
WHAT A RELIEF!: Kansas City’s bullpen ranks 28th in the Majors with a 4.86 ERA, but it has been taxed to the tune of 244.1 innings, 6th most in the Majors, and there are many other underlying numbers that suggest improvement from last season…for example, Royals relievers have recorded 278 strikeouts this season, 2nd most in the Majors behind this weekend’s opponent, Baltimore (281)…Royals relievers have struck out 25.8% of their batters in 2023—tied for 6th most—which marks a significant improvement over last year’s 21.2 K% (26th).
Scott Barlow has not allowed a run in 14 of his last 15 appearances since April 22, a stretch in which he has 2 wins, 6 saves, a 1.10 ERA (2 ER in 16.1 IP) and has held opponents to a .143 average (8-for-56) with just 2 extra-base hits (.392 OPS), 5 walks (2.8 BB/9) and 25 strikeouts (13.8 K/9)…Barlow’s season K% of 35.1 ranks 8th among qualified American League relievers and is well above his career average of 29.2%.
Taylor Clarke has not allowed a run since May 2 vs. Baltimore and has recorded a career-high 14.0 scoreless innings in 13 appearances since, a stretch in which opponents are batting .149 (7-for-47) with 2 extra-base hits (.407 OPS), 4 walks (2.6 BB/9) and 14 strikeouts (9.0 K/9)…his 7 holds during this run of 13 scoreless outings are only 3 shy of Hector Neris, who has a Majors-most 10 holds in 15 outings since May 3.
LET’S GO, PRATTO!: Nick Pratto was recalled on April 28 and has played in 36 of the Royals 38 games since…including 2 games he played during his first stint with the Royals from April 5-6, Pratto leads the team (min. 100 plate appearances) in batting average (.300), on-base percentage (.391) and OPS (.852), and ranks 2nd to Salvador Perez (.489) in slugging percentage (.462)…since his April 28 recall, his .403 on-base percentage ranks 6th in the American League and his .309 batting average (38-for-123) ranks 9th.
He’s reached safely in each of his last 16 starts dating back to May 20, during which he has an .843 OPS.
Pratto has batted leadoff in 12 of the club’s last 15 games since May 22…in his 12 games batting leadoff, he has reached base to begin the game eight times—including 6 hits—for a .667 on-base percentage.
VS. BALTIMORE: The Royals continue their Father’s Trip with a 3-game visit this weekend to Baltimore, where they haven’t won a series since 2014…the Royals are 6-17 at Camden Yards over their last seven-plus series here with six losses and one 4-game split…these two teams met at Kauffman Stadium last month for an eventful 3-game series from May 2-4…the Royals blew an early 3-0 lead in Game 1 en route to an 11-7 loss, but they tied the series with a 6-0 win in Game 2, a 1-hour, 59-minute game that is 1 of only 6 9-inning games this year to be completed in less than 2 hours…the O’s won a wild rubber game by a 13-10 score… Kansas City erased a 8-1 deficit to take a 9-8 lead in the 7th, but the O’s scored 2 in the 8th and 3 in the 9th to complete a comeback of their own.
TIME OF GAME: Wednesday’s 2-hour, 3-minute game in Miami was the Royals 5th fastest of the year and was 4 minutes longer than their shortest game, a 1-hour, 59-minute contest vs. these Orioles on May 3 in Kansas City…for the season, the Royals average game time of 2:35 is tied with Tampa Bay and Texas for the fastest in the Majors and would be their 6th-fastest average in club history…their last season with a faster average was 1978 (2 hours, 32 minutes).
TODAY’S STARTERS: RHP BRADY SINGER (4-4, 6.45)
BRADY SINGER is making his 13th start of 2023 and 76th of his career today vs. Baltimore…it’s his 2nd start vs. the Orioles and 1st since July 17, 2021…Singer is in his fourth season in the Majors and was selected by Kansas City in the 1st round (18th overall) of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Florida.
LAST START: Singer earned his team-best 4th win in a 2-0 victory vs. Colorado last Sunday at Kauffman Stadium, in which he allowed just 5 hits over 5.2 scoreless innings with 7 strikeouts…he allowed exactly 1 hit in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th, but did not allow a runner past first base…following a 2-out single in the 6th, he exited 1 out shy of earning a quality start in favor of Taylor Clarke, who stranded the inherited runner.
JEKYLL AND HYDE: Brady has been charged with at least 5 runs in half of his 12 starts this season, after doing so in only 2 of his 27 appearances (24 starts) last year… the Royals, predictably, are 1-5 in games that he allows at least 5 runs…but on the flip side, he’s held opponents to 2 earned runs or fewer in his other 6 starts, in which the Royals are 5-1…he appears to be trending in the right direction of late, as he’s held opponents to 2 earned runs or fewer in 4 of his last 5 starts, in which he’s 2-0 with a 3.42 ERA (10 ER in 26.1 IP)…despite the ups and downs, the Royals are 6-6 in his 12 starts and those 6 wins in games started by Singer are the most among all Royals starters.
WALK THIS WAY: Brady has recorded at least 5.0 innings without issuing a walk in 13 of his 36 starts since last season, matching Kevin Gausman, Aaron Nola and Jameson Taillon for the 2nd-most such starts in the Majors during that time, trailing only Corey Kluber (15)…Singer has 4 such starts this season, 1 shy of the league leaders.
CASTING CALLS: In 36 starts since his recall on May 17 of last season, Brady has induced a called strike on 684 of 3,420 pitches (20.0%), 4th most in the Majors behind Logan Webb (711), Gerrit Cole (690) and Aaron Nola (688)…Singer’s rate of 20.0% called strikes since May 17, 2022 leads the Majors (min. 2,500 pitches), ahead of Sonny Gray (17.8%), and since his 2020 debut season, Singer’s called-strike rate of 20.8% ranks 2nd in the Majors (min. 5,000 pitches), trailing only Adam Wainwright (21.0%).
CAN’T TOUCH THIS: Singer has recorded 398 strikeouts in 406.0 innings since his 2020 debut for an 8.8 K/9, which is the best rate in Royals history among pitchers who’ve started at least 70 games, ahead of Ian Kennedy (8.4), Jakob Junis (8.1) and Danny Duffy (8.1)…his 398 strikeouts are the most by a Royal through 78 career appearances, 3 more than Jakob Junis’ 395…to keep his lead through 79 career outings, Singer needs only 2 strikeouts today to pass Junis’ 399 strikeouts, which would make him the fastest to 400 strikeouts (by appearances) in Royals history.
STOPPER: Singer has had success in his career following a Royals loss, and he’ll attempt to be the stopper again today after Kansas City’s 3-2 defeat last night vs. the O’s…in 47 career appearances following a Royals loss, Singer is 17-11 with a 3.81 ERA (105 ER in 248.1 IP), and all 4 of his wins this year have followed a Royals loss.
AFTERNOON DELIGHT: Brady is 1-2 in 6.23 ERA (21 ER in 30.1 IP) in 6 daytime starts this season, after going 7-3 last season with a 2.91 ERA (25 ER in 77.1 IP)…his 7 daytime wins last year were 1 shy of the Major League leaders, and he allowed 2 runs or fewer in 7 of his 12 starts, including 4 scoreless appearances…in his 1st 3 matinee starts this season, he allowed 18 runs in 13.2 innings, but in his last 3 daytime Starts, hes allowed just 3 runs in 16.2 innings for a 1.62 ERA, in which the Royals are 2-1.
VS. BALTIMORE: In his only previous start vs. Baltimore on July 17, 2021 at Kauffman Stadium, Singer suffered an 8-4 loss after allowing 7 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk in 2.0 innings plus six batters…he allowed 2 runs in the 2nd before surrendering 6 straight hits to begin the 3rd and exited without recording an out in the frame.
Brady is 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA (27 ER in 53.0 IP) in 11 career starts vs. the AL East, but all 3 of his losses came during the 2021 season…since the start of last year, he’s 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA (7 ER in 35.0 IP) in 6 starts vs. the division, including a 9-5 win vs. Toronto on April 3, in which he allowed 1 run in 5.0 innings.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Singer is 2-1 in 4 road starts this season despite a 6.97 ERA (16 ER in 20.2 IP), but he’s completed at least 6.0 innings in 3 of those 4 starts…the Royals are 3-1 in his 4 road starts, including a win in his most recent road outing, which came more than three weeks ago on May 16 in San Diego…Brady held the Padres to 4 runs (2 ER) on 7 hits and 2 walks in 6.0 innings en route to a 5-4 victory.
BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Orioles beat the Royals last night, 3-2, to begin the homestand…Austin Hays hit the first pitch he saw in the first inning for a leadoff homer and Gunnar Henderson recorded a career-high three hits with a run scored and two stolen bases…Tyler Wells earned his second consecutive win after surrendering two runs over 6.2 innings…Félix Bautista secured his 17th save of the season, tied for second-most in MLB (see box at right), with two strikeouts in a perfect ninth inning.
The O’s have won back-to-back games for the first time since May 24-25.
Baltimore tied a season high with five stolen bases for the fourth time (last: 5/4 at KC); the Orioles had swiped five total bases in the previous 15 games from May 23 to June 8.
Hays’ leadoff homer was the first by the O’s since Cedric Mullins on September 26, 2022 at Boston and the first leadoff blast on the first pitch since Mullins on September 1, 2022 at Cleveland; Mullins had hit the last 14 leadoff home runs and 16 of the previous 17 for the Orioles.
Henderson became the eighth Orioles rookie (since 1954) with 3+ hits and 2+ stolen bases in the same game and first since Jerry Hairston Jr. on July 8, 1999 vs. Toronto (4 H, 2 SB), per the Elias Sports Bureau.
STRIKE A POSE: Baltimore pitchers have struck out 91 batters since May 31, the most in an eight-game span in team history (since 1954)…This comes on the heels of 40 strikeouts in six games from May 25-30.
Orioles’ pitching ranks seventh in MLB with 587 strikeouts…The team is on pace to strike out over 1,500 batters (9.3/G) which would shatter the club record of 1,248 strikeouts (7.7/G) set in 2016 and 2019.
O’s relievers lead MLB with 281 strikeouts.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Of Baltimore’s 63 games this season, 55 have been decided by four or fewer runs, second-most in MLB behind Los Angeles-AL with 57…The O’s have gone 35-20 in those games, the most wins and second-best winning percentage (.636) in the majors behind Tampa Bay (.652, 30-16)…The Orioles are 26-14 in games decided by three or fewer runs, the best winning percentage (.650) and tied for the most wins in such games in MLB with Cleveland (26-23).
The Birds improved to 12-7 in one-run games last night; the .632 winning percentage is tied for the fourth-best in MLB this season and the 12 wins are tied for third-best.
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won 30 of their last 47 games, 33 of 51, and 35 of 54… The 39-24 (.619) overall record is tied for the third-best in MLB to start the season (see box at right)…Entering today, the Orioles are one of five teams in MLB with a winning percentage over .600 along with Tampa Bay (.712, 47-19), Texas (.645, 40-22), Atlanta (.619, 39-24), and Arizona (.603, 38-25).
This marks the ninth time in team history (since 1954) that Baltimore has had a winning percentage above .600 through 63 games to begin a season and the first time since 1997 (.698, 44-19); six of the previous eight occurrences resulted in playoff appearances (1997, 1979, 1971, 1970, 1969, and 1966); a win today would mark the seventh time in club history that the team has won 40 of the first 64 games to start a year.
HOME COOKING: The Orioles began a six-game, seven-day homestand last night with three games against Kansas City through tomorrow…Following an off day on Monday, the Birds host Toronto for three games from June 13-15.
AGAINST THE ROYALS: Baltimore and Kansas City wrap up the six-game season series this weekend…The O’s took two of three games at Kauffman Stadium from May 2-4…The Orioles need one win in the next two games to clinch their third straight season series victory over the Royals (4-3 in 2022, 4-3 in 2021); have not lost a season series to the Royals since going 2-4 in 2018 (DNP in 2020, 3-3 in 2019).
The Birds are 17-6 (.739) in the last 23 games against the Royals at Oriole Park since 2015.
BIG TIME RUTSCH: Adley Rutschman leads the AL with 45 walks and 109 times on base (64 H, 45 BB)…He’s also fifth in the AL with a .394 on-base percentage…He ranks among MLB switch hitters in OBP (1st) and batting average (3rd, .278), and among primary catchers in OBP (1st) and OPS (3rd, .811).
YOUNG GUNN: Gunnar Henderson is slashing .294/.342/.559 (20-for-68) with four doubles, one triple, four homers, 11 runs scored, 10 RBI, five walks, and three stolen bases in 22 games (19 GS) since May 13…During that time, he ranks among AL rookies in OPS (2nd, .901), slugging (2nd), home runs (T-2nd), runs (T-3rd), extra-base hits (T-3rd, 9), batting average (4th), and total bases (4th, 38).
HAYS OF OUR LIVES: Austin Hays ranks fourth in the AL and 10th in MLB with a .306 batting average…Since April 11, his average has not dipped below .291…Last night marked his team-leading 19th multi-hit game of the season, tied for eighth in the AL, and first multi-extra-base hit game (2B, HR) since doing so in back-to-back games on April 10 and 11.
He was named the Fielding Bible Award Co-Defensive Player of the Month for May with Toronto’s Kevin Kiermaier by Sports Info Solutions after he led MLB with 10 Defensive Runs Saved; his 21 outfield assists since the start of 2021 are tied for the second-most in the AL and fifth-most in MLB during that time.
Hays’ .386 (27-for-70) batting average in the seventh inning or later leads MLB.
He also leads MLB with a .417 (25-for-60) average with two outs; the next closest player is Los Angeles-NL’s Freddie Freeman, who is hitting .391 (27-for-69) with two outs.
ROSTER MOVES: The O’s recalled Cole Irvin from Triple-A Norfolk today…In a corresponding move, Nick Vespi was optioned to the Tides after yesterday’s game.
STARTING PITCHER – #19 COLE IRVIN LHP
QUICK HITS: Recalled from Triple-A Norfolk prior to today’s game, his third stint with the O’s…Scheduled to make his fifth appearance (fourth start) of the season, third start at home, and fifth career start against the Royals this afternoon…Will be his first appearance since May 20 at Toronto and first start since April 13 vs. Oakland…Spent the 2022 season with the Athletics; led the team in wins (9), starts (30), innings pitched (181.0), and strikeouts (128)… Posted career-lows in ERA (3.98), opponent batting average (.251), on-base
percentage (.293), slugging percentage (.416), and OPS (.709)…Allowed two earned runs-or-fewer in 17 of his 30 starts…Acquired by the Orioles along with RHP Kyle Virbitsky from Oakland in exchange for SS Darell Hernaiz on January 26, 2023…Originally selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft out of Oregon.
LAST START: Did not factor into the decision in his last start on April 13 vs. Oakland…Allowed six runs on five hits (1 HR) with two walks, a hit batter, and four strikeouts in 4.0 innings…Did not complete 5.0 innings for the third straight start; also failed to do so in three consecutive outings from August 24 to September 5, 2021 with Oakland…Marked his first start against his former team…Threw 80 pitches, 50 strikes.
HIGH TIDE: Has gone 6-1 with a 3.21 ERA (15 ER/42.0 IP) and five quality starts in seven outings with Triple-A Norfolk this season…Completed 5.0-or-more innings in each of his seven assignments…Allowed two earned runs-or-fewer in six of his seven starts…Owns a 4-1 record with a 2.32 ERA (8 ER/31.0 IP) in his last five outings for the Tides since April 29…Earned the win, his third in a row, in his last start for Norfolk on May 31 (G1) vs. Gwinnett…Surrendered two runs on fi ve hits (1 HR) with a hit batter and three strikeouts in 6.0 innings… Threw 97 pitches, 67 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST THE ROYALS: Making his fifth career start against the Royals…Dealt the loss in his last start against the Royals with Oakland on June 24, 2022 at Kauffman Stadium…Allowed three runs on seven hits (2 HR) with two walks and four strikeouts in 5.1 innings…Threw 66 pitches, 46 strikes… Owns a 1-2 record with a 2.19 ERA (6 ER/24.2 IP) and three quality starts in four career outings against Kansas City.
AGAINST THE AL CENTRAL: Making his 13th career appearance (12th start) against the AL Central…Has pitched to a 4-3 record with a 2.82 ERA (21 ER/67.0 IP) and eight quality starts through his first 12 assignments against the division…Allowed three earned runs-or-fewer in 11 of those games… Earned the win in his last start against the AL Central on September 11, 2022 vs. Chicago-AL with Oakland…Allowed three runs (2 ER) on four hits with two walks, a hit batter, and five strikeouts in 7.0 innings…Threw 95 pitches, 64 strikes.
HIT IT IF YOU CAN: Irvin relied on his four-seam fastball more than any other pitch in 2022, throwing it 36.1 percent of the time…Opposing batters slashed .222/.263/.387 (51-for-230) against his primary pitch, meaning that he recorded more strikeouts (69) by way of the heater than hits allowed (51)…Irvin induced 121 swings and misses on 941 fastballs for a 12.8 percent swing-and-miss rate.
