LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S STARTER at ORIOLES: RHP MICHAEL GROVE (1-2, 6.89 ERA in 11 G, 8 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:
- Picked up his first win of the season in his last appearance on July 8 against the Angels, spinning six innings, allowing six hits, four runs, a homer and one walk while punching out six
- Spun a career-high 5.2 innings on April 15th against the Cubs…allowed just one earned run on two hits with six strikeouts
- Made his 2023 debut against the Rockies on April 3, where he hurled four innings, giving up three runs on two hits, two walks and punching out four
- Allowed career-highs in runs (9) and hits (12) in his start against the D-Backs on April 9
- Started six games during Spring Training, posting a 0-1 record with a 5.40 ERA (10 ER/16.2 IP) and 17 strikeouts against just three walks…produced a 1.03 WHIP
- Named to his first Opening Day roster as a Major Leaguer after making his big league debut last season on May 15 against the Phillies
VS. ORIOLES:
- Will face the O’s for the first time in his career
BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The O’s fell to the Dodgers, 6-4, in the series opener and had their season-long eight-game winning streak snapped, which was also the longest active streak in the majors…Dropped to 20-11 in series openers.
Grayson Rodriguez did not factor in the decision after allowing four runs on seven hits with two walks, two wild pitches, and four strikeouts in 5.0 innings; two of the runs scored after he exited the game.
Adley Rutschman launched his 13th homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth inning; matched his home run total from last year.
Gunnar Henderson collected his fourth triple of the year in the second inning; his four triples are tied for first among MLB rookies while his 30 extra-base hits and 131 total bases rank sixth.
Ramón Urías recorded his 50th career double in the second inning.
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won eight of their last 10 games and nine of their last 12… Had a season-best eight-game winning streak from July 5-16, Baltimore’s longest since a 10-gamer from July 3-13, 2022…They outscored their opponents, 60-20, during the streak for a +40 run differential; according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Orioles won eight straight games with a run differential of at least +40 within one season was in from August 24-31, 1983 (+45)…At 57-36 (.613), the Orioles have the second-best record in the AL and third-best in MLB and are one of only three teams with a .600 winning percentage (see box at right)…The Birds are 119-85 (.583) since the beginning of June 2022, the second-best record in the AL and fourth-best in MLB during that time.
The Orioles have two winning streaks of at least seven games this year; Atlanta (4x) and Tampa Bay (2x) are the only other teams with multiple win streaks of at least seven games this season.
The eight-game stretch marked the third winning streak of at least seven games for the O’s since last season; the Birds had four such streaks in the previous 16 seasons from 2006-21.
On Friday, the O’s moved to 20 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2014 season (96-66) and for the first time before August since 1997.
Entering play today, the O’s are 1.0 game back of the Rays (60-37) for first place in the AL East and lead the AL Wild Card by 5.5 games ahead of Toronto (53-41) and 6.5 games ahead of Houston (52-42).
COMEBACK KIDS: Baltimore’s 33 comeback wins rank tied with the Cincinnati for the most in MLB this year and their 69 come-from-behind victories since the start of 2022 are second behind Los Angeles-NL (70) for the most in MLB.
HOME COOKING: The O’s are 29-19 (.604) at Oriole Park this season and have the third-best home record in the AL and sixth-best in MLB…The Birds have won four of five games at Camden Yards after dropping four in a row from June 27 to July 1…After completing a three-game sweep of the Marlins over the weekend, the Orioles will close out the current six-game homestand with two more games against the Dodgers through Wednesday.
AGAINST THE DODGERS: The Orioles and Dodgers are meeting for the only time in the regular season this week…Before this series, the teams had not since September 10-12, 2019 with the Dodgers taking two-of-three…The current series marks the fourth between the two teams at Oriole Park.
The teams did not meet in the regular season until 2002, but the O’s swept the Dodgers in four games to win the 1966 Fall Classic, their first World Series title.
At the age of 20, Jim Palmer beat Sandy Koufax in Game 2 to become the youngest pitcher to ever throw a shutout in the World Series.
Frank Robinson, who also won the Triple Crown in 1966, was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.
PITCH PERFECT: O’s starting pitchers have a 2.73 ERA (24 ER/79.0 IP) with 61 hits (6 HR), 25 total runs, 25 walks, four hit batters, and 71 strikeouts in 13 games this month, including nine quality starts…Baltimore’s starter ERA in July is the second-best in the AL and fourth in MLB…Overall, Baltimore’s 3.10 ERA (40 ER/116.0 IP) in July is second in the AL and third-best in MLB this month (see box at right).
ON THE OFFENSIVE: Baltimore is batting .289/.365/.519 (92-for-318) with 20 doubles, four triples, 15 home runs, 64 runs scored, and 35 walks as a team in the last eight games since July 5…During that time, the Orioles rank among MLB leaders in runs (2nd), home runs (2nd), slugging percentage (2nd), OPS (hits (3rd), batting average (3rd), and on-base percentage (3rd)…In the previous five games from June 30 to July 4, the O’s slashed .198/.261/.290 (32- for-162) and scored an MLB-low 10 runs.
AY, TONE: Anthony Santander had his eight-game hitting streak snapped last night…He slashed .367/.472/.767 (11-for-30) with three doubles, three homers, six runs scored, seven RBI, four walks, and two hit-by-pitches from July 5-16…He walked last night to extend his on-base streak to 14 games, the longest active stretch by an Oriole, while reaching at a .433 clip since June 30.
He has two multi-homer games this year and his 12 career multi-homer games are tied for ninth-most in O’s history (since 1954).
Santander is batting .296/.367/.551 (73-for-247) with 16 doubles, one triple, 15 home runs, 40 runs scored, 43 RBI, 24 walks, four hit-by-pitches, and three stolen bases since the beginning of May; during that time, he ranks among AL leaders in slugging (5th), total bases (4th, 136), homers (5th), extra-base hits (5th, 32), OPS (5th, .918), hits (T-9th), and RBI (T-9th).
He heads MLB switch hitters with 50 home runs since the start of last season.
SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED: The Orioles yesterday announced that they have signed their first two selections of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft: center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. (Round 1, No. 17 overall) from Vanderbilt University (TN) and outfielder Mac Horvath (Round 2, No. 53 overall) from the University of North Carolina…The Orioles will welcome Bradfield Jr. to Baltimore today with an in-game greeting during tonight’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers…Overall, the Orioles have signed two selections from the 2023 Draft…The deadline for teams to sign their draft picks is Tuesday, July 25, at 5 p.m. ET.
ROSTER MOVES: The O’s reinstated Cionel Pérez from the 15-day Injured List today… He was placed on the IL on July 4, retroactive to July 3, with left forearm soreness…In a corresponding move, Nick Vespi was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after yesterday’s game.
STARTING PITCHER – #68 TYLER WELLS RHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 19th appearance (18th start) of the season, 10th start at home, and first career start against the Dodgers tonight…Wells became the third O’s pitcher since 2008 with 100+ strikeouts before the All-Star Break, joining Dylan Bundy (113 K in 2018) and Jason Hammel (101 K in 2012)…Went 7-7 with a 4.25 ERA (49 ER/103.2 IP) in 23 starts for the O’s in 2022…Made his first career start on April 10, 2022 at Tampa Bay…Ended the 2022 season on the 15-day Injured List with right shoulder inflammation…Also spent time on the Injured List with lower left side discomfort in 2022…Originally selected by Minnesota in the 15th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Cal State, San Bernardino before being taken by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft on December 10, 2020.
LAST TIME OUT: Earned his seventh win of the season on July 8 at Minnesota after allowing two runs on a season-high-tying six hits (3x, last: 5/18 vs. LAA) with two
walks, a wild pitch, and four strikeouts in 6.0 innings…Marked his third consecutive quality start and fifth in his last six outings since June 9…His seven victories this season match his total from 2022…Threw 82 pitches, 56 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST THE DODGERS AND NL WEST: Making his first career start against the Dodgers and second against the NL West tonight…Earned the win in his only
outing against the division on June 4 at San Francisco…Surrendered two runs on four hits (1 HR) with two walks and a career-high nine strikeouts in 5.1 innings…Threw a career-high-tying 102 pitches (also: 4/26/23 vs. BOS), 57 strikes.
INTERSTELLAR: In 12 career Interleague appearances (6 starts), Wells has pitched to a 3-1 record with a 1.76 ERA (8 ER/41.0 IP), two quality starts, and one
save…Dealt the loss in his last start against the National League on June 27 vs. Cincinnati…Allowed two runs on four hits (1 HR) with one walk and seven strikeouts in 6.0 innings…Retired the first nine batters of the game…Marked his sixth quality start…Threw 99 pitches, 64 strikes.
WATCH ME WHIP: Wells enters play leading MLB in WHIP (0.93) and opponent on- base percentage (.241), and ranks second in batting average (.193)…Has allowed 98
baserunners (73 H, 24 BB, 1 HBP) across 18 appearances (104.2 IP) this season, the fewest in MLB (min. 90.0 IP); his 73 hits surrendered this season are the fifth-fewest among pitchers who have thrown at least 90.0 innings…He posted a 0.72 WHIP in April, tied for the seventh-lowest mark by an O’s pitcher in a calendar month in club history (since 1954) and lowest since Scott McGregor recorded a franchise-record 0.61 WHIP in May 1978…Wells issued just three walks and allowed 18 hits in 29.0 innings through his first five appearances (four starts) in April.
PITCHIN’ SEASON: Wells has surrendered five hits-or-fewer in 14 of his 17 starts this season, tied for the fourth-most such outings among MLB starting pitchers this
season…Has allowed 73 hits in 104.2 IP for a 6.28 H/9, the second-lowest mark in MLB…Has also surrendered two earned runs-or-fewer in each of his last eight starts since May 29, tied for the third-longest streak among MLB starting pitchers entering play today…The last O’s starter to accomplish the feat in nine straight outings was Jamie Moyer from August 13 to September 29, 1993.
MR. CONSISTENT: Wells has tossed 5.0-or-more innings in each of his 18 appearances (17 starts) this season, tied for the fourth-most such outings in MLB…Is the first O’s pitcher to complete at least 5.0 frames in each of his first 18 games of the season since Mike Mussina accomplished the feat in each of his 24 assignments in 1994… Wells entered 2023 with 12 such performances, all in 2022.
LOVING LEFTIES: Opposing left-handed batters are slashing .186/.227/.326 (76-for- 408) against Wells through his first 85 career games (40 starts)…He has recorded
more career strikeouts against lefties (122) than hits allowed…Among pitchers with at least 400 left-handed batters faced in that span, Wells ranks first in opponent on-base percentage, third in opponent OPS (.553), and fifth in opponent batting average.
RACKING UP STRIKEOUTS: Wells has recorded 103 strikeouts this season, the most by an O’s pitcher through his first 18 games of the season since Dylan Bundy tallied 113 punchouts in his first 18 outings in 2018…His 103 strikeouts are a career high, surpassing his season total from last season (76)…Wells struck out at least seven batters in five straight starts from May 13 to June 4, tied with Erik Bedard (2007) for the second-longest streak by an Orioles pitcher since the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954, trailing only an eight-game streak by Connie Johnson in 1957.
