ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:
Thirty Over
The Braves beat the Guardians last night, 4-2, to move to 30 games over .500 on the season. Atlanta’s 57-27 (.679) record is the best in baseball. The Braves reached the 30-over plateau in their 84th game of the season, and Atlanta’s 57-27 record through 84 games is the best for the franchise in the modern era. Two clubs, the 1997 and 1998 Braves, were both 55-29 to hold the previous mark. Atlanta’s 57 wins through 84 games are tied for third most by any team since 2000, trailing just the 2001 Mariners and 2022 Yankees, who were both 61-23 (.726) The Braves are on pace for 110 wins.
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Braves and Guardians are set to continue a three-game series tonight in what is the only scheduled meetings between the two teams this season…Atlanta and Cleveland are playing for the first time since 2019.
- Atlanta beat Cleveland, 4-2, last night and has won three straight in total against the Guardians…The Braves took two-of-three from the Guardians in 2019, with Atlanta winning the final two games to take the series.
- That 2019 series was also here in Cleveland, and the two clubs have not played in Atlanta since 2016… The Guardians are the only major league team yet to play at Truist Park after the Twins visited last homestand.
- The Braves and Guardians have played just 16 times since the advent of interleague play in 1997, with Atlanta playing to a 9-7 record (.563) all-time versus Cleveland…The two franchises have met twice in the World Series, with the then-Indians beating the Boston Braves in six games in 1948, before Atlanta bested Cleveland in six games in 1995 for the championship.
- LH Kolby Allard is set to make his second career appearance and first start against Cleveland, after pitching 3.1 innings of one-run relief against them in 2021 while with Texas…The 6-foot-1, 195- pound left-hander makes his second start of the season for Atlanta, and pitched 4.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts in his season debut, June 28 vs. Minnesota.
- RH Shane Bieber has made one career start against Atlanta, allowing six hits and seven runs (five earned) against them in 2019 to take the loss…The seven runs still stand as a career-high tying amount…The 6-foot-3, 200-pound native of Orange, CA, and 2020 AL Cy Young winner is
5-5 with a 3.48 ERA (41 ER/106.0 IP) through 17 starts this season.
WIN: Atlanta never trailed to Cleveland last night, beating the Guardians, 4-2, to take the opening game of the series…Three of Atlanta’s four runs scored on solo
homers by Michael Harris II (two) and Marcell Ozuna.
- The Braves moved to 20-8 (.714) in the first game of a series, including a 9-5 (.643) mark in such games on the road…Atlanta is 11-2-0 in series on the road this season.
- Atlanta is 27-12 (.692) in total on the road this season, the best record in baseball, while the Braves’ 27 total wins away from home also stand as the most…The Braves’ current .692 winning percentage on the road stands as the highest in the franchise’s modern era, better than the .654 (53-28) mark held by the 1993 club.
- Since the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, just two teams have played to a better record on the road for a full 162-game season…The 2001 Mariners went 59-22 (.728) away from home, while the 2018 Astros played to a 57-24 (.704) mark outside of Minute Maid Park.
STREAKING, PT. I:Atlanta beat Cleveland, 4-2, last night and has won each of its last nine games dating to June 24, the longest active winning streak in baseball…It is also the longest winning streak for Atlanta this season.
- The Braves also won their previous eight games preceding their most recent loss, and are 17-1 in their last 18 games.
- Atlanta’s current run is it third winning streak of eight games this season, joining stretches from April 10 to April 18 and June 14 to June 22.
- No other team in baseball has even two runs of at least eight straight wins, and just five teams have a single streak of at least that length this season.
- The Braves are 24-3 (.889) over their last 27 games in total, dating to June 3…It is the best 27-game stretch in the franchise’s modern era…Just two iterations of the club have even 23 wins in a 27-game run, with the 2003 club doing so from April to May, and the 1914 Miracle Braves going 23-3-1 over July and August.
- The last team with a better 27-game stretch in the regular season was tonight’s opponent, Cleveland, which went 26-1 over 27 games from August to September in 2017.
STREAKING, PT. II: Atlanta hit three more home runs last night, getting two solo shots from Michael Harris II and another from Marcell Ozuna…The Braves have now homered in each of their last 21 games dating to June 10.
- The Braves have hit 56 total homers during these 21 games (2.7 per game).
- Atlanta’s run is the longest active homer streak in baseball, and the second-longest such run this season…Tampa Bay homered in 22 straight to open the season.
- The Braves last homered in more consecutive games in 2006, going deep in 23 straight from June 25 to July 24.
- Atlanta has 161 total homers on the season, 30 more than any other team in baseball (Tampa Bay and Los Angeles-NL, 131)…The Braves are on pace for 311 home runs this season, which would establish a new single-season MLB record.
MICHAEL HARRIS II: Collected a pair of home runs last night, going 2-for-3 with the second multi-homer game of his career…He also did so on September 11 of last season at Seattle.
- Over his last 24 games dating to June 7, Harris II is batting .416/.424/.742 with seven homers, 16 RBI and a 1.166 OPS…He has compiled 1.8 fWAR in this span, fifth most in the majors.
- The homers were Harris II’s eighth and ninth of the season, and he is looking to become the eighth Braves player with at least 10 homers on the year…. Atlanta is currently tied with Texas for the most such players on the season, with seven.
Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #49 Kolby Allard LHP
2023 Record: 0-0, 0.00 ERA • 2022 Record: 1-2, 7.29 ERA
vs. RHB: .154 (2-13), 0 HR • vs. LHB: .250 (1-4), 0 HR
Home: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (0 ER/4.2 IP) • Away: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (0 ER/0.0 IP)
Tonight’s Game
- Set to make his second start of the season and second career appearance against Cleveland.
- Struck out eight hitters in 4.2 scoreless innings in his first start back since being reinstated form the injured list.
- His next strikeout will be 200 on his career.
- Made his season debut on June 28 against Minnesota after being reinstated from the 60-day injured list.
- Missed 78 games after being placed on the IL with a strained right oblique muscle on March 30.
- Made two rehabilitation starts with Triple-A Gwinnett, pitching to a 2.70 ERA over a combined 7.2 innings pitched.
- Prior to his season debut on the June 28, Allard last pitched in the majors on October 4, 2022, holding the Yankees to two hits over 4.0 innings of on-run ball in relief.
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
BRAVES HOLD OFF LATE SURGE FROM CLEVELAND
The Cleveland Guardians opened their final homestand prior to the All-Star break with a 4-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Monday night at Progressive Field…coming off a 4-2 road trip, the Guardians are 0-1 to begin a 7-game homestand against Atlanta (0-1, two-toplay) & Kansas City (4 games)…Cleveland is 7-3-1 over club’s last 11 series since May 26 (20-15 record). » The Braves smacked a trio of solo home runs to reel off their ninth straight victory and back a solid effort from Bryce Elder, who pitched deep into the 7th to earn his seventh individual win (6.2IP, 7H, 2R-ER, 2BB, SO, WP, 92 pitches)…Michael Harris II drilled a
pair of solo shots (8, 9) in the 3rd and 5th innings, sandwiched around Marcell Ozuna’s blast (17) in the 4th…Ozzie Albies also added an RBI-single to cap Atlanta’s 2-run 3rd…all 4 runs were charged to rookie GAVIN WILLIAMS, who shouldered his first MLB defeat (6.1IP, 7H, 4R-ER, 2BB, 2SO, 3HR, 91 pitches)…both
Cleveland tallies came on AMED ROSARIO’s 2-run, 2-out single in the 7th inning, which plated MYLES STRAW (single) and STEVEN KWAN (double)…Guardians offense stranded 9 runners in the contest…XZAVION CURRY retired all 8 batters he faced across 2.2 scoreless frames of relief.
Cleveland (41-43) sits in 2nd place in the AL Central standings, 1.0-game behind 1st-place Minnesota (43-43) and 3.5 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (37-46)…Guardians have won 9 of 14, 16 of 27 and 19 of last 33, though have also dropped 37 of last 69 overall since starting the year 9-6.
FIREWORKS. I JUST WANT TO SEE FIREWORKS.
Cleveland enters today having lost 3 consecutive games and 4 of its last 6 games on the 4th of July…the club dropped both legs of a doubleheader, 4-1 and 5-3, against Detroit on the fourth last season…during the Terry Francona era (since 2013) the club is 3-7 on July 4th…the Guardians own a 91-80-2 record all-time on the 4th of July.
THE BOY OF SUMMER
Since June 6, AMED ROSARIO is slashing .337/.381/.413 with 7 extra-base hits, 15 RBI, 14 runs and a .794 OPS in 25 games… prior to that date, he had a slash line of .224/.270/.314 with 13 extra-base hits, 13 RBI, 24 runs and a .584 OPS in 52 games…his 35 hits since June 6 are T3rd in the AL with TEX’s Corey Seager and T6th in MLB…in his first 52 games he owned .275 average (14-for-51) against left-handed pitchers and a .208 average (33- for-159) against righties…since then (25 G), he’s hitting .385 (10- for-26) against lefties and .321 (25-for-78) against right-handers… Rosario has gone from hitting .167 (19-for-114) in his first 27 games on the road to .346 (18-for-52) over his last 12 games away from Progressive Field…in the past month, he has raised his average from .224 on June 3 to .261 today…he has seen success in the summer months (June-August) over his career, hitting for a .287 average (440-for-1,533) with 32 home runs and 164 RBI, compared to a .245 (223-for-907) average with 13 home runs and 84 RBI in the season’s opening months (March-May)…the table below shows how Rosario has fared against each pitch type this season.
AMED ROSARIO AVERAGES BY PITCH TYPE
SPAN FASTBALLS BREAKING OFFSPEED
PRE-JUNE 6 .234 (25-for-107) .195 (17-for-87) .313 (5-for-16)
SINCE JUNE 6 .377 (20-for-53) .229 (8-for-35) .438 (7-for-16)
OVERALL .281 (45-for-160) .205 (25-for-122) .375 (12-for-32)
ONE, TWO, THREE AND TO THE FOUR
The Guardians lead MLB with 35 one-run games (16-19 record), 52 games decided by 2-or-fewer runs (27-24 record), and 13 extra-inning games (7-6 record) out of their 84 contests this season… through the first 84 games of a season, Cleveland’s 35 one-run affairs are T4th-most in club history (most since 1966) and T4thmost in the Wild Card Era (since 1995) among MLB teams…the Guards 52 contests decided by 2-or-fewer runs in their first 84 games are T3rd-most in club history (most since 1967) and is T-most in the Wild Card Era with 3 other teams …during the Terry Francona era (since 2013), the Guards are 167-127 (.568) in 2-run games, good for the 3rd-best win percentage in such contests behind Los Angeles-NL (184-131, .584) and New York-AL (180- 124, .592)…since 2013, the club is 224-196 (.533) in one-run games, the 3rd-highest win percentage in the AL and 5th in MLB. MOST G BY 2-OR-FEWER RUNS IN FIRST 82G, WC ERA TEAM YEAR COUNT RECORD (W%) CLE 2023 52 27-25 (.519) ARI 2013 52 29-23 (.558) TB 2003 52 22-30 (.412) NYM 2002 52 26-26 (.510) PIT 2014 51 30-21 (.588) » Cleveland is 30-10 this season when scoring 4-or-more runs… however, the club’s 40 games scoring 4+ runs is the 2nd-lowest amount of such contests in MLB this season, ahead of Oakland (32)…since 2022, the Guardians are 108-23 (.824) when scoring 4+ runs, holding the 5th-highest win percentage among MLB clubs… Cleveland is 717-190 (.791) when scoring 4+ under Francona, holding the 2nd-highest win percentage in MLB behind Los Angeles-NL (780-167, .824).
YOUR MISSION, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT…
Cleveland’s bullpen has allowed 20.9% of inherited runners to score this season (19-of-91), the lowest pct. in MLB ahead of Toronto (22.0%)…ENYEL DE LOS SANTOS and SAM HENTGES have each allowed just one of 14 inherited runners to score this season, good for a 7.1% rate…NICK SANDLIN has inherited a team-high 23 runners this season and has allowed only 4 to score (17.4%)…over the past calendar month, the pen has inherited 29 total runners and let 6 score (20.7%).
STAND FOR THE LAND
The Guardians announced that Monday night’s contest was a sellout, their second of the season and first since Opening Day on April 7 against Seattle…the attendance of 38,106 marked the largest regular season crowd at Progressive Field since July 4, 2014.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – 57 SHANE BIEBER RHP
BIEBER AT HOME
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 4-2 2.51 7 7 43.0 34 12 12 16 38
Career 24-17 3.55 58 57 347.1 332 147 137 87 393
BIEBER’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 5-5 3.48 17 17 106.0 98 42 41 28 85
Career 59-31 3.22 130 128 809.0 716 309 289 181 916
TONIGHT’S START
The 2020 Cy Young winner is scheduled to make his 18th start of the season, eighth at home, in the middle of this 3-game set with the Atlanta Braves…is starting on 4 days’ rest; is 32-13 with a 3.33 ERA (151ER/407.2IP) in 65 career starts on 4 days’ rest… is 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA (16ER/39.2IP) in 6 starts on 4 days’ rest this season.
This will be Bieber’s 24th career start against the NL, holding an 11-7 record with a 3.91 ERA (60ER/138.0IP)…4 of Bieber’s 5 losses this season have come in Interleague play as he is currently 1-4 with a 4.22 ERA (19ER/38.2IP) in 6 Interleague games in 2023 with 3 quality starts…Cleveland has a 15-8 record in Bieber’s 23 Interleague starts, but has lost 5 of his last 6 outings against the NL.
LAST TIME OUT
He last took the mound on June 29 against the Royals…he did not factor into the decision despite tossing 6.0 shutout innings and allowing 2 hits with one walk and 8 strikeouts on 81 pitches…he retired 17 of the 20 hitters he faced, the lone blemishes coming from an MJ Melendez 2nd-inning double, a Drew Waters 3rdinning double, and a Melendez 4th-inning walk…marked the 4th outing of his career of 6.0-or-more scoreless innings pitched and 2-or-fewer hits allowed, last occurring in Kansas City on August 31, 2020 (6.0IP, 1H, 0R/ER, 4BB, 9SO)…also marks the 10th instance in Bieber’s career he has thrown 8+ strikeouts in 2-or-more consecutive starts, last done on August 26-September 1, 2022.
TIME TO BE BRAVE
This will be his second career start against Atlanta, previously facing off against the Braves on April 21, 2019 in Cleveland…he suffered the loss after lasting only 2.1 innings and allowing 7 runs (5 earned) on 6 hits with 2 home runs, a walk, and 3 strikeouts on 65 pitches…Atlanta scored off Bieber with 2 home runs from Josh Donaldson and an RBI-double from Nick Markakis…Ender Inciarte also added an RBI-double after Bieber was relieved with a runner on base.
This will be his seventh career start against the NL East, owning a 1-4 record with a 4.33 ERA (17ER/35.1IP) against the division… this season, he is 0-2 with a 3.66 ERA (8ER/19.2IP) against the division…he did not factor into a loss at Washington on April 16 and was tagged with losses vs. Miami on April 22 and at New York-NL on May 21…nevertheless, 2 of Bieber’s 3 starts against the NL East this season have been quality starts and came one out away on April 22 vs. Miami from a third quality start…his lone win against the NL East came on September 20, 2019 vs. Philadelphia.
