CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
BRENNAN’S DOUBLE SAVES GUARDS IN SERIES OPENER
The Cleveland Guardians staged a late 9th-inning rally to edge the Kansas City Royals by a 2-1 final in the opener of a 3-game set on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium…coming off a 4-2 homestand, the Guardians are 1-0 to begin a 6-game road trip thru Kansas City (1-0, two-to-play) & Chicago-NL (3 games)…the Guards are 5-3-1 over their last 9 series.
GAVIN WILLIAMS toed the slab for his second Major League start, retiring 20 of the 23 batters he faced on the night (7.0IP, H, 0R, BB, 6SO, 92 pitches)…all 3 baserunners allowed by the 23-year-old right-hander came in the 3rd inning, as Williams had a one-out walk erased by a caught-stealing before allowing a 2-out single to Freddy Fermin and hitting Nick Pratto…Williams went on to retire the final 13 batters he faced…the Royals lone run scored in the 8th after Edward Olivares greeted TREVOR STEPHAN with a lead-off double and later scored on a fielder’s choice throwing error, as Stephan’s throw to the plate went to the backstop…after Brady Singer held Cleveland scoreless across 6.0 frames (6.0IP, 4H, 0R, 2BB, 3SO, 95 pitches), WILL BRENNAN – a product of nearby Blue Valley [Stilwell, KS] High School and Kansas State – delivered the decisive blow in the 9th against reliever Scott Barlow by lacing a one-out, 2-run double down the right-field line to score pinch-runner GABRIEL ARIAS (JOSH NAYLOR lead-off single) and ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ (walk)…EMMANUEL CLASE worked around a 2-out error to nail down his MLB-leading 24th save.
Cleveland (38-40) sits in 2nd place in AL Central standings, just one half-game behind 1st-place Minnesota (40-41) & 4.0 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-4.5G, 34-44)…Guardians have won 6 of 8, 13 of 21 and 16 of last 27, though have also dropped 34 of last 63 overall since starting the year 9-6.
NO GLOOM HERE
Through 23 games in June, the Guards’ offense is hitting .277 while averaging 4.52 runs/game compared to a .233 mark with 3.41 runs/game in May and a .231 clip with 3.81 runs/game in April…in June, the club ranks among AL/MLB teams in triples (8, 1st in AL/ MLB), batting average (.277, 1st in AL/2nd in MLB), BABIP (.327, 1st in AL/2nd in MLB), singles (155, 1st in AL/2nd in MLB), fewest strikeouts (165, 1st in AL/3rd in MLB) hits (224, 2nd in AL/T3rd in MLB), OPS (.745, 3rd in AL/9th in MLB) and OBP (.330, 3rd in
AL/10th in MLB) CLEVELAND SPLITS BY MONTH, 2023
MONTH G AVG H OPS HR R/GM
April 26 .231 203 .669 17 3.81
May 27 .233 206 .641 16 3.41
June 23 .277 224 .745 17 4.52
DYNAMIC DUO
Since May 30, JOSH NAYLOR has hit safely in 20 of 24 games, including multiple hits in 12 of those 20 contests…Naylor (.394 39-for-99) has the second-best batting average during the stretch, only trailing MIA’s Luis Arraez (.443, 43-for-97)…he has raised his batting average from .235 to .291 over this period…among primary first basemen, his 57 RBI ranks 2nd behind ATL’s Matt Olson (62) and his .291 batting average only trails LAD’s Freddie Freeman (.316)…he also leads MLB with 25 RBI in the 7th-inning-or-later ahead of STL’s Nolan Gorman.
JOSÉ RAMÍREZ has hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games and 17 of 22 games this month…in June, he owns a slashline of .330/.386/.615 with 6 home runs and 17 RBI…he ranks among primary third basemen in several categories this season, including hits (86, 1st), total bases (150, 1st), batting average (.294, 1st) and OPS (.871, 1st) extra-base hits (36, T2nd).
Naylor and Ramírez have combined for 103 of Cleveland’s 281 RBI this season, accounting for 36.7% of the Guardians run production…the 36.7% rate is the highest of any MLB combo of 2 teammates for their respective team, ahead of New York-NL’s Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor (31.5%).
CHILL WILL: A ROYAL PAIN IN THE SIDE
With last night’s game-winning, go-ahead 2-RBI-double in the 9th inning, WILL BRENNAN became the second AL hitter and sixth MLB hitter this season with 3-or-more go-ahead RBI in the 9thinning-or-later…he only trails Houston’s Kyle Tucker (4) for most go-ahead RBI in the 9th-or-later this season among MLB hitters…Brennan, a Kansas native, improved his career average against the Royals to .455 (10-for-22) in 5 career games against the club…the .455 average is his highest against any other MLB team (min. 10 AB)…entering tonight, his .455 average ranks 4th among MLB hitters (min. 20AB) vs. Kansas City since last season…since May 29, his .373 batting average (31-for-83) ranks 3rd in MLB (min. 80PA) behind Josh Naylor (.379) and Luis Arraez (.441)…he also ranks among MLB hitters since May 29 in BABIP (4th, .426).
LOCKING DOWN THE LATE INNINGS
Cleveland’s bullpen leads MLB this season in WHIP (1.17), OBP (.291), BR/9 (10.72) and inherited runners scored/% (18, 20.9%)… they also rank among MLB bullpens this season in ERA (2.94, 2nd), average (.216, 2nd), OPS (.646, 2nd), BABIP (.261, 2nd), H/9 (7.13, 2nd), SLG (.355, 4th) and saves (27, 4th)…individually,
EMMANUEL CLASE leads MLB this season with 24 saves and ranks T1st with 39 appearances…since June 3, Cleveland’s bullpen ranks among MLB’s best in several categories, including ERA (2.49, 1st), fewest home runs (5, T2nd), batting average (.209, 4th), SLG (.315, 4th), OPS (4th, .602), BABIP (.257, 4th), H/9 (6.89, 4th), wins (7, T4th), BR/9 (10.62, 5th) and FIP (3.47, 5th). CLEVELAND BULLPEN RANKINGS SINCE JUNE 3 ERA HR AVG SLG OPS H/9 2.49 (1st) 5 (T2nd) .209 (4th) .315 (4th) .602 (4th) 6.89 (4th)
THE GUARDIAC KIDS
The Guardians lead MLB with 34 one-run games out of their 78 games played this season, owning a 16-18 (.471) record in such contests…Cleveland’s 34 one-run contests are T2nd-most in club history through the first 78 games of a season, the most since 1966 when they went 20-14 (.606) over 34 one-run contests…last season, the Guards finished 28-17 (.622) in one-run games, holding the 4th-best win percentage in MLB…the Guardians are the first MLB team with 34-or-more one-run contests in their first 78 games since the 2018 Seattle Mariners (23-11, .676).
MOST CLE ONE-RUN GAMES IN FIRST 78G YEAR COUNT RECORD (W%)
1918 38 21-17 (.541) 2023 34 16-18 (.471) 1966 34 20-14 (.588) 1910 33 16-12-5 (.561) » The Guards also lead MLB this season with 49 games decided by 2-or-fewer runs, holding a 26-23 record…Cleveland has the 3rdmost games decided by 2-or-fewer runs in the first 78 games of a season in the Wild Card Era (since 1995), the most since the 2013 Arizona Diamondbacks (28-22, .560)…Cleveland’s 49 games decided by 2-or-fewer runs are T2nd-most in club history through the first 78 games of a season, the most since 1943 (22-27, .449).
TONIGHT’S STARTER – 41 LOGAN ALLEN LHP
ALLEN ON THE ROAD
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 2-1 3.94 6 6 32.0 38 10 10 11 29
Career 2-1 3.94 6 6 32.0 38 10 10 11 29
ALLEN’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 3-2 3.68 11 11 58.2 63 25 24 22 58
Career 3-2 3.68 11 11 58.2 63 25 24 22 58
TONIGHT’S START
The 24-year old rookie southpaw is making his 12th career MLB start, sixth at home, in the second matchup of this 3-game set with the Kansas City Royals…marks his 5th start against the AL Central, fashioning a 1-1 record with a 3.09 ERA (8ER/23.1IP).
Has made back-to-back starts of 4.0-or-fewer innings after working 5.0+ innings in 8 of his first 9 career outings…seeking his first win since June 3 at Minnesota, has not factored into a decision since.
Allen was originally selected by Cleveland in the 2nd Round (56th overall) of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Florida International University…entered the season as Cleveland’s #8 prospect according to MLB.com…is starting on extended 5 days’ rest; owns a 4.55 ERA (16ER/31.2IP) in 6 starts on 5 days’ rest.
LAST TIME OUT
Allen worked just 4.0 innings despite shutting out Oakland in his last outing on June 22 at Progressive Field…the lefty retired 9 of his first 11 batters faced through the first 3.0 frames…walked Ryan Noda to start the 4th frame and walked Brent Rooker 2 batters later…following a fielder’s choice, Allen had runners on first and third before walking Jonah Bride to load the bases…struck out Shea Langeliers to finish his day with 89 pitches through 4.0 innings…his outing featured 27 pitches in the 2nd inning and 29 pitches in the 4th inning…marked the shortest shutout start (noninjury related) by a Cleveland starter since CODY MORRIS on September 7, 2022 against Kansas City (4.0IP).
LIMITING LEFTIES
Opposing left-handed batters own a .189 (7-for-37) batting average against Allen this season, with 12 strikeouts…however, of the 11 opposing lineups he’s faced, only one has had 4-or-more left-handed hitters in the starting lineup (Boston, 4/30) and seven has had one-or fewer lefties in the starting lineup…17.8% of the batters he’s faced this season have been left-handed hitters… conversely, right-handed hitters are hitting .286 (56-for-196) against him with 5 of the 6 home runs he’s allowed this season.
GETTING IN THE EARLY WORK
Allen has had success the first time through the lineup…the lefty is holding opposing hitters to a .191 (17-for-89) average the first time through the lineup compared to a .310 (27-for-87) mark the second time through the order and a .333 (19-for-57) average the third time through…through the first 3 innings in his starts this season, opposing teams are hitting .207 (25-for-121) against Allen, compared to a .339 clip (38-for-112) in the 4th-7th innings.
RISP-Y BUSINESS
Opposing teams are .185 (10-for-54) with runners in scoring position, the lowest of any starter on the roster (min 30.0IP), and .130 (3-for-23) with runners in scoring position and 2 outs… comparatively, with no runners on base, opposing hitters are hitting .299 (40-for-134), the highest of any Cleveland starter this season (min 30.0IP).
THE ALLEN WRENCH
Through their first 11 starts, Allen and TANNER BIBEE are tied with Luis Tiant (1964) for the 5th-most strikeouts through a player’s first 11 appearances in club history with 58…TRISTON
MCKENZIE (60, 2020), SHANE BIEBER, (66, 2018), Danny Salazar (69, 2013-2014) and Herb Score (92, 1955) have more… on June 9, Allen became the 2nd pitcher in MLB history to throw 4.1+IP, allow 2-or-fewer-walks, and throw 3+SO in each of their first 9 career games, trailing only Minnesota’s Louie Varland (12, 2022-23).
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Royals suffered a 2-1 loss to the Guardians at Kauffman Stadium last night to begin this 6-game homestand, falling to 35 games under .500 (22-57)…Brady Singer held Cleveland scoreless over 6.0 innings and the game remained tied 0-0 until the 8th, when Edward Olivares doubled off the wall and pinch runner Dairon Blanco stole third base and scored the game’s 1st run on an error…Scott Barlow pitched the 9th in attempt for the save, but allowed a single, a walk and a go-ahead, 2-run double by Will Brennan, whose 3 hits were more than Kansas City’s entire offensive output (2)…the loss was the Royals 1st this season when leading after the 8th inning—they entered 15-0—and was their Major League-leading 29th blown lead loss.
The Royals are 0-10 following an off day this year and have been outscored 54-25 (-29) in those games. HBD, JOSE!: Royals relief pitcher Jose Cuas is celebrating his 29th birthday today and shares this date of birth with former players Brandon Phillips (42), Richard Hidalgo (48), Corey Koskie (50), Mark Grace (59) and Don Baylor, who was born on this date in 1949, but passed away in 2017…Ron Mahay, who pitched for Kansas City from 2008-09 near the end of his 14-year Major League career, is celebrating his 52nd birthday today.
Last year on his 28th birthday, Cuas pitched a scoreless 8th inning in an 8-3 loss vs. the Rangers.
STARTING SOMETHING: Brady Singer last night threw 6.0 scoreless innings, matching Kris Bubic on April 9 at San Francisco for the 2nd-longest scoreless start by a Royal this season, following Daniel Lynch’s 7.0 scoreless innings on June 20 in Detroit…Royals starters, who rank 26th in the Majors in innings pitched this season, have completed at least 6.0 innings in 6 of the last 8 games, and 1 of the 2 exceptions was started by an opener.
Royals starters have recorded 4 quality starts in the last 8 games, after having just 8 through 71 games.
Tonight the Royals turn to left hander Austin Cox, who is making his 1st career start…in 6 relief appearances this season, Cox has recorded 12.1 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts and only 2 hits allowed…he held his first 39 batters hitless until a soft liner by Yandy Díaz found a hole in the 5th inning last Thursday night at Tropicana Field…Cox’s 39 batters without a hit is the longest streak to begin a career in the Expansion Era (since 1961), according to Elias…Cox’s 11.1 hitless innings to begin his career is also an Expansion Era-record, and no other pitcher has had even 10.0 hitless innings to begin a career.
Cox’s 12.1 scoreless innings are the 6th most to begin a career by a Royal, and are 4.2 innings shy of matching the club record set by Bob McClure, who began his career with 17.0 scoreless innings from 1975-76 (Elias).
LEADS LOST: The Royals broke a scoreless tie in the 8th inning last night, but lost that lead on Will Brennan’s 2-run double in the 9th, as they suffered their 29th blown lead loss of the season, which are the most in the Majors ahead of the Athletics (26), White Sox (25) and Cardinals (24)…the Royals have held a lead in 36 of their last 50 games (72.0%) since the start of May, but they’re 15-35 (.300) during that stretch with 21 blown lead losses, including 11 blown lead losses in 23 games this month, during which they’re a Majors-worst 5-18 (.217).
The Royals 29 blown lead losses are 7 shy of their total from all of last season, when they suffered 36 blown lead losses, and are 24 shy of the franchise record of 53, set during their 103-loss 2019 season.
They are 5-21 when scoring in the 1st inning with 11 straight losses since their last such win on May 10.
CLOSE CALLS: Including last night’s 2-1 loss, the Royals are now 10-10 in 1-run games this season and 14-37 (.275) in games decided by 3 runs or fewer…their 37 losses are by far the most in the Majors, 7 more than the Nationals (21-30), Mets (23-30) and Padres (19-30)…in fact, 11 of the Royals last 14 games have been decided by 3 runs or fewer, but they’re just 4-10 during that stretch and are 3-8 in the 11 games decided by 3 runs or fewer.
Although the losses are adding to the frustration of what’s becoming a disappointing 2023 season for the Royals, the tight games may be a precursor to future success…as first pointed out recently by Dave Holtzman, of the five teams with the most losses last season in games decided by 3 runs or fewer, four of them find themselves in contention as we near the halfway point of the 2023 season.
Those four teams include the Rangers, who lead the AL West with a 48-31 record; the Pirates, who are 5 games out of 1st place in the NL Central after losing 100 games in 2022; the Marlins, who have the 3rd-best record in the NL (46-34); and the Diamondbacks, whose 48-32 record leads the NL West.
SALVY SPLASHES: Salvador Perez had an eye procedure yesterday to clear up his blurry vision, which is why he didn’t play last night…he’s still sitting on 499 career extra-base hits, which is tied with Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney for 6th most in franchise history…with his next extra-base hit, Salvy will become one of six Royals to record 500, and will join Hall of Famer George Brett (1,119), Hal McRae (681), Frank White (625), Amos Otis (623) and Alex Gordon (573)…he’ll become one of 27 active players with 500 extra-base hits, a list that’s headed by Miguel Cabrera (1,141), who has 290 more than Nelson Cruz (851), the next closest player…Salvy’s 499 extra-base hits rank 21st all-time among primary catchers (min. 75% games played at the position), 5 shy of Jason Kendall (504) for 20th…that list is headed by Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez (934).
VS. CLEVELAND: The Royals and Guardians are playing their 2nd of 13 games tonight…this series marks the latest date on the calendar for their first set (excluding 2020) since 1996, when they played their 1st of 13 games on July 1…after playing 78 games this season before their 1st game vs. Cleveland last night, the Royals and Guardians are playing 7 games over 13 days, including a 4-game set in Cleveland before the All-Star break.
The Royals went 7-12 vs. the Guardians in 2022, losing the season series for the sixth time in the last seven seasons since 2016, with the only exception being a 5-5 split in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
ROYALS ON THE MEND: The Royals have had 16 players spend time on the IL, including 12 players currently on it, six of whom were on the Opening Day roster…Kansas City’s 12 current injuries include eight pitchers—five of which have made at least 1 start—and two position players who were in the starting lineup on Opening Day.
Ryan Yarbrough continued his rehab assignment Saturday night with Triple-A Omaha and pitched 4.0 scoreless innings in his 2nd rehab start and 1st with Omaha, as he recovers from skull fractures suffered from a comebacker on May 7 vs. the A’s.
Brad Keller, who last pitched on May 15 at San Diego, due to a right shoulder impingement, will begin a rehab assignment tonight with Omaha.
Left hander Amir Garrett made his 1st rehab appearance Thursday night with Triple-A Omaha, and issued 3 walks to the five batters he faced, but recorded 2 outs and was not charged with a run…Garrett has been on the Injured List since June 2 with left elbow valgus extension overload.
Outfielder Diego Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a triple last night while playing all 9.0 innings in center field in the Arizona Complex League…he’s 10-for-20 in 5 rehab games, and has been on the 60-day IL since March 30 after he suffered a dislocated right shoulder early in Spring Training.
Left hander Angel Zerpa had his rehab assignment transfered to Triple-A Omaha today after allowing 1 run over 4.0 innings last Friday in Double-A…Zerpa, who was placed on the 60-day IL on March 15 with left shoulder tendinopathy, has a 1.13 ERA (1 ER in 8.0 IP) in 3 rehab starts.
Josh Taylor, who has been out since May 28 with a shoulder impingement, had surgery today to repair a herniated disk in his lumbar spine.
Vinnie Pasquantino had successful surgery last week to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and is expected to miss the rest of the year.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP LOGAN ALLEN (3-2, 3.68) vs. LHP AUSTIN COX (0-0, 0.00) AUSTIN COX is expected to make his 7th career appearance (1st career start) tonight vs. the Guardians…Cox 26, was selected by the Royals in the 5th round of the 2018 Draft out of Mercer University (Ga.), and made his big league debut on May 4, 2023.
He is one of six pitchers the Royals selected in the 2018 Draft to appear in a Major League game, joining Brady Singer (18th overall), Jackson Kowar (33rd), Daniel Lynch (34th), Kris Bubic (40th) and Jonathan Heasley (392nd).
LAST APPEARANCE: Austin pitched a season-high 3.2 scoreless innings as the bulk pitcher last Thursday in St. Petersburg against the Rays, scattering a pair of hits with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts, but did not factor into the decision as the Royals mounted a late comeback with 3 runs in the 8th and 9th innings en route to a 6-5 win…he entered with 1 out in the 2nd inning and stranded an inherited runner belonging to Jose Cuas, and retired 10 of his first 11 batters before Yandy Díaz connected for a 1-out single in the 5th, marking the first hit Cox had allowed all season to what was his 40th batter faced, an Expansion Era-record…he ended his outing by allowing a single to Randy Arozarena, but Díaz was thrown out trying to go from first to third.
MAJOR LEAGUE RECORD HOLDER: Cox began his Major League career by retiring 35 of the first 39 batters he faced across 6 relief appearances, allowing only 4 walks…his 39 batters without allowing a hit marked the longest such streak in the Expansion Era (since 1961), according to Elias, surpassing the record held by Mark Rogers (32, Sept. 10-Oct. 1, 2010) and Joel McKeon (32, May 6-25, 1986), as well as the previous Royals record, held by D.J. Carrasco (23, April 2-14, 2003).
Austin’s 11.1 hitless innings to begin his career is also an Expansion Era-record, and no other pitcher has had even 10.0 hitless innings to begin a Majors career.
He’s allowed 2 total bases across his first 12.1 innings of work…the next-closest innings total to begin a career while allowing 2 total bases or fewer belongs to Bill Dawley, who allowed 2 singles in 10.2 frames from April 15-May 3, 1983.
He enters tonight with a 0.49 WHIP, which is tied with Pat Perry (1985) for the 7th-lowest WHIP through 6 career games (min. 10.0 IP) since WHIP became an official stat in 1979 (Elias)…the record is held by Jeff Calhoun (0.18) in 1984.
Cox’s 12.1 scoreless innings are the 6th most by a Royal to begin a Major League career, according to Elias, trailing Bob McClure (17.0 IP), Aaron Crow (15.1), Kris Wilson (14.1), Joel Johnston (14.0) and Monty Montgomery (14.0).
LET’S GET STARTED: Austin is making his first Major League start tonight, and he has been built up as a starting pitcher in the minors, having already made 8 starts in Triple-A Omaha this year, in which he went 2-1 with a 2.92 ERA (12 ER in 37.0 IP) and a .233 opponents’ batting average…for his minor league career, 80 of his 89 career outings have been starts, in which he recorded a 3.46 ERA (150 ER in 388.1 IP) and 346 strikeouts, with a 21-16 personal record to a 45-35 team record.
Cox will be the 14th different pitcher to start a game for the Royals this year, which will break a tie with the Rays and A’s for the most in the Majors…there have only been four seasons in Royals history in which they’ve had more starting pitchers than their 14 in 2023: 2006 (17), 1992 (16), 1990 (16) and 2003 (15).
CHASING STORMS: Austin made 10 appearances (8 starts) in Triple-A Omaha this year across two stints, and went 2-1 with a 3.83 ERA (18 ER in 42.1 IP) and 36 strikeouts…he began the season with Omaha and remained there until he was selected on May 3…prior to his initial call-up, he went 1-0 with a 2.21 ERA (5 ER in 20.1 IP) across 5 games (4 starts)…he made his Major League debut on May 4 vs. Baltimore and pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, and was optioned postgame back to Omaha, where he remained through June 6…from May 5-June 6 with the Storm Chasers, he went 1-1 with a 5.32 ERA (13 ER in 22.0 IP), and was recalled on June 7.
