TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
WINS AND LOSSES: Texas lost to the Padres last night, 7-1, and club has a 1-3 record on this 6-G, 7-day road trip to HOU (1-2) and SD (0-1 + 2 G)…TEX has dropped 3 of 4 and 5 of 7 after a season-high 6-G win streak (7/14-19) out of the break, club’s longest since going 6-0, 6/22-28/19…team’s 8-5 (.667) record to start the 2nd “half” is still T5th-best in A.L. and T6thbest in MLB…TEX is 9-7 in last 16, 10-11 in last 21 G, and 11-13 in last 24 G…team is 20-24 (.455) beg. 6/7, a stretch which came after club reached season high point at 20-over on 6/6 (40-20)…team’s 46-33 (.582) record since 4/28 is still 2nd-best in A.L. and 5th-best in MLB over that span (ATL: .640, 48-27; LAD: .592, 45-31; BAL: .590, 46-32; CIN: .588, 47-33)…TEX is 50-38 in last 88 G and 55-40 last 95 G (beg. 4/9).
- At 60-44 (.583), TEX owns the 3rd-best record in the A.L. and 4th-best in MLB (ATL: .644, 65-36; BAL: .612, 63-40; TB: .594, 63-43)…60 wins rank 3rd in A.L. and 4th-most in MLB (65-ATL, 63-BAL/TB, 60-TEX).
- The 60-44 mark matches the 3rd-best 104-G start to a season in Washington/Texas franchise history (see chart below).
SERIES STUFF: TEX has dropped 2 straight series after back-to-back sweeps to open 2nd “half” (vs. CLE and TB)… club is 2-5-0 in last 7 series and 2-6-1 in last 9 series…TEX is 4-8-1 in last 13 series following a 6-0-0 span from 5/19- 6/7, longest series win streak for team since club-record 10 straight series victories from 5/20-6/20/16…is 19-12-2 overall in series this year, going 10-5-2 at home and 9-7-0 on the road…is 15-9-2 in last 26 series and 18-10-2 in last 30…on the road, team has lost 4 straight, 1-5-0 in last 6 road series.
- Rangers’ only wins in last 7 G have been series finales, as TEX is 0-5 in 1st or 2nd games of series beg. 7/21, seeking 1st such win since 7/18 vs. TB.
ON THE ROAD: TEX has lost 5 of 6, 7 of 9, 9 of 12, and 13 of last 20 away games…4-G skid 7/8-23 matched longest road drought in ’23 (also 0-4, 4/24-5/5)…club is still 26-24 (.520) on the road, T4th-best away record in the A.L…from 5/6-30, TEX went 13-4 on the road.
- Rangers rank 2nd in MLB in R/G (5.46) on the road this season (LAD-5.77), but have 3-or-fewer runs in 7 of last 12 away tilts…club’s .757 road OPS is 3rd-highest in A.L. (.792- LAA, .765-TB), but still nearly 100 points lower than OPS at home (.849).
VS. SAN DIEGO: TEX has dropped 9 straight vs. SD (beg. 9/16/18), this after a span of going 7-1 vs. Pads from 5/9/17- 9/15/18…the 9-G skid is one shy of matching the longest losing streak in club history vs. a single opponent: 0-10 from 7/8/76-5/28/77 vs. MIL…TEX trails all-time, 23-26, going 10- 12 overall in America’s Finest City, 8-6 here at Petco (2-6 at Jack Murphy/Qualcomm).
- TEX is 15-15 in Interleague play, losing 5 of last 6 G…team is 4-9 in N.L. parks this year, losing 3 straight since win 7/7 at WAS…this is Rangers’ 1st series in a N.L. West park in ’23.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Texas avoided its 7th shutout of the season last night with a 9th-inning run on a bases loaded walk…the Rangers have still not been shut out in over a month (last 6/24 at NYY)…last night was just the 3rd time since the start of 2022 for Texas to go scoreless over the 1st 8 innings before scoring in the 9th to avert a shutout…last instance was actually a win: 6/16/22 at DET, when an Ezequiel Duran 2-out, 3-R triple in the 9th keyed a 3-1 victory…the other ’22 instance was 4/20/22 at SEA (4-2 loss).
- Last night was the Rangers’ 7th loss of ’23 by 6-or-more runs, and 3 of those have come since the AS break (also 7/21 vs. LAD and 7/22 vs. LAD)…only teams with fewer such losses in MLB this season are TB-3, ATL-5, and SD-6.
MOSTLY CLEAN: Despite a forgettable play in left field last night (6th inning), when a catchable ball was scored a double, the Rangers once again played an errorless game… team has just 2 errors in the 2nd “half”, T2nd-fewest in MLB (1-MIN, 2-TEX/MIL/SF)…TEX has committed multiple errors in just 2 of the team’s last 80 G beg. 4/27…team has more than 2 errors just once all year: 5 E on 4/8 at CHC…the Rangers’ .988 (43 E/3723 TC) fielding pct. ranks 3rd in the A.L. and 6th in MLB for the season, with a .991 (27 E/2884 TC) fielding pct. since 4/27 ranking 1st in MLB.
JUNG THE GIANT: Josh Jung recorded 3 of the 6 TEX hits last night, had both of team’s XBH (2 2B), and scored club’s lone run…he leads all MLB rookies in 2B (23), RBI (61), and H (111), while 196 TB are tied w/ ARI’s Corbin Carroll for MLB rookie lead…leads A.L. rookies in HR (20), R (65), XBH (44).
CAN’T FIGHT THE YOUTH: After Josh Jung’s performance last night, Texas has 542 TB by players 25-and-younger, 4thmost in MLB to only KC (760), ARI (604), and STL (551).… have 3rd-most HR (49) in that category to KC (56) and STL (54), both of which have 150+ more PA’s than TEX…the TEX HR: 20-Jung, 13-Duran, 11-Taveras, 4-J Smith, 1-Huff.
EVERYDAY MAN: Marcus Semien has started 236 consecutive games for Texas since his lone day off as a Ranger on 5/12/22…he has started 265 of the Rangers’ 266 games
since the beginning of last season at 2B (252) or SS (13), as he has no starts at DH w/ TEX…his current streak of 236 straight games played ranks 2nd in MLB.
I WILL REMEMBER YU: Tonight’s starting pitchers, Martín Pérez and Yu Darvish, both made their MLB debuts with the 2012 Rangers, (Darvish in April, Pérez in June) and they were teammates in Texas from 2012 until Darvish was traded to the Dodgers in 2017…Darvish has the highest SO/9 rate in Rangers history (11.04 SO/9) among pitchers with 300+ IP, ahead of 2nd-place Nolan Ryan (10.06 SO/9)…he ranks among all-time Texas leaders in strikeouts (4th, 960) and WHIP (4th, 1.18)…Pérez ranks among all-time TEX leaders in starts (7th, 179), innings (7th, 1060.1), and wins (9th, 63).
SHORTS: Congratulations to Bruce Bochy on his election to the Appalachian League Hall of Fame…Bochy began his pro career in Covington, Va. in 1975…Nathaniel Lowe’s current 11-G hit streak is 2nd-longest active streak in MLB (18-LAA’s Mickey Moniak)…OF Wyatt Langford, the Rangers’ 1st round selection (4th overall) in the 2023 MLB Draft, made his professional debut last night with ACL Rangers at ACL Mariners in Peoria (2-5, 2 2B, RBI, R)…the Rangers won, 19-15… plate umpire Ryan Blakney’s umpire scorecard of +1.47 runs in favor of SD last night is 2nd-largest figure to go against Texas in 2023 (Jeff Nelson, -1.84 in favor of Tigers on 6/26).
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #54 Martín Pérez, LHP (8-3, 4.91)
TONIGHT: The 32-year-old left-hander is slated to make his 20th start of the season tonight in game 2 of 3 against the Padres here in San Diego…ranks among TEX leaders in quality starts (T2nd, 8) and wins (T2nd, 8), and his .727 win pct. is T4th-best among A.L. qualifiers…has permitted 18 HR in 19 G/GS this season, 2nd-most among Rangers (19-Heaney), after surrendering just 11 HR over 32 G/GS in 2022…his .809 opp. OPS allowed in 2023 is 3rd-highest among A.L. pitchers (min. 100.0 IP) to CWS’ Lance Lynn (.837) and KC’s Brady Singer (.810), while his season-high 4.91 ERA (56 ER/102.2 IP) would be 4th-highest in A.L. if he qualified…has gone 2-2, 6. ERA (22 ER/28.2 IP) in last 6 starts since the 6/11 to raise his season ERA from 4.67 to 4.91…will work tonight on extra 5 days’ rest after earning the win in Texas’ 8-4 victory on Sun. vs. LAD (see below)…made 2 starts for Venezuela in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, posting no record and a 9.82 ERA (4 ER/3.2 IP)…after returning to the Rangers on a one-year free agent deal for 2022, he elected to stay with Texas in 2023 on a one-year deal after accepting the club’s qualifying offer in November…spent the first 11 seasons of his professional career with the Rangers (2008-18), and has been with the organization for 12 of his 15 years as a pro…left the club for 3 years for brief stints with Minnesota (2019) and Boston (2020-21)…since 2016, his first full campaign after returning from ‘Tommy John’ surgery, has the 2nd-most starts (194) and 2nd-most innings pitched (1109.1) of any pitcher in the American League…saw two seasons cut short in 2014-15 following ‘Tommy John’ ligament reconstruction surgery on his left elbow on 5/19/14…Texas has gone 13-6 in his 19 starts this season.
LAST START: Earned the win in Rangers’ 8-4 victory on Sun. vs. LAD despite allowing a 1st-inning grand slam to Max Muncy, holding the Dodgers scoreless after the opening frame (W, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R-ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 94 pitches/61 strikes)…became just the 2nd pitcher in club history to earn a win after surrendering a grand slam in the 1st inning, joining Doc Medich on 4/14/80 vs. CLE (6.2 IP, 4 R-ER), who permitted a 1st-inning slam to Jorge Orta in a 7-4 Rangers triumph…6 strikeouts were most since season high-tying 7 K’s on 5/19 vs. COL.
FOREVER RANGER: Has a 63-60 record with a 4.34 ERA over 192 games/179 starts in his Rangers career, ranking among club’s all-time leaders in starts (7th), innings (7th, 1060.1), quality starts (8th, 95), wins (9th), and strikeouts (11th, 699)…his 63 wins are the 2nd-most ever by a Texas left-hander, trailing only Kenny Rogers (133)…Pérez and Rogers (1909.0 IP) are also the only lefties in Texas history to log 1000.0+ IP with the club.
- Pérez this evening will face former Rangers teammate Yu Darvish (2012-17 w/ TEX), who ranks among the club’s all-time leaders in SO (4th, 960), quality starts (11th, 79), wins (14th, 52), starts (17th, 122), and innings (20th, 782.2).
- Since returning to Texas prior to the start of the 2022 campaign, Pérez has gone 20-11, 3.58 ERA (119 ER/299.0 IP) in 51 G/GS…ranks among qualified A.L. pitchers over that span in quality starts (5th, 31), innings (7th), starts (T7th), wins (T7th), HR/9 (8th, 0.87), and ground ball pct. (9th, 47.8%)…the only other A.L. hurlers with 31+ QS over the last 2 seasons? HOU’s Framber Valdez (39), NYY’s Gerrit Cole (37), CLE’s Shane Bieber (34), and TOR’s Kevin Gausman (32).
VS. SAN DIEGO / INTERLEAGUE: Has no record and a 2.16 ERA (2 ER/8.1 IP) in 2 games/one start against the Padres in his career…this will be his 1st time to face San Diego since a relief app. on 9/15/18 at SD w/ TEX (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB), which is currently his lone career outing here at Petco Park…only prev. start opposite the Pads came on 5/11/17 vs. SD w/ TEX (ND, 6.1 IP, 2 R-ER), a 5-2 Rangers’ win that ended with a walk-off, 9th-inn. 3-run HR by Mike Napoli.
- Pérez has gone 4-1, 2.25 ERA (11 ER/44.0 IP) in 7 starts against N.L. foes this season, and owns a lifetime 16-13 record and 3.86 ERA (110 ER/256.1 IP) across 47 games/42 starts in Interleague play.
ON THE ROAD: Has seen far better ERA results in his 9 starts at home this season (4-1, 3.78 ERA) than 10 starts on the road (4-2, 5.98 ERA), as he owns the 4th-highest road ERA among A.L. starting pitchers (min. 10 GS on road)… tonight’s scheduled start will be his 1st away outing since 6/21 at CWS (W, 7.0 IP, 3 R-2 ER), as each of his last 4 starts have come in Arlington…opponents are batting .312/.369/.526/.895 (67-215) with 12 HR in his road outings vs. .251/.313/.398/.710 (48-191) with 6 HR at Globe Life Field.
HOW SUPPORTIVE: Has received an average of 8.06 runs of support per 9.0 innings this season, which would easily be MLB’s highest mark if he qualified (7.07 by ATL’s Charlie Morton)…Derek Holland currently owns the highest full-season qualified RSA ever by a Ranger, boasting a 7.64 mark in 2011.
- TEX has backed up Pérez with 5+ R of support in 10 of his 19 starts this season, including double-digit runs twice (14 RS on 4/30 vs. NYY, 11 RS on 5/7 at LAA). 2023: Opponents have batted .283/.343/.466/.809 (115-406) with 37 extra-base hits (18 HR, 3B, 18 2B), incl. opp. BA’s of .324 (22-68) vs. LHB and .275 (93-338) vs. RHB…3.67 pitches per batter faced is 4th-lowest mark in A.L (min. 100.0 IP)…opp. BA by time thru the order: 1st (.285, 43-151), 2nd (.276, 40-145), 3rd (.299, 32-107), 4th (0-3)…Jonah Heim has caught all 19 of Pérez’s starts…has logged at least 5.0 IP in 15 of 19 starts, and has reached season-high 7.0 IP four times (last 6/21 at CWS)…in win on 5/24 at PIT, recorded season-high 15 ground balls, 2 of which resulted in GIDP’s…held Buccos scoreless over final 5.0 frames…had season-high 104 pitches in ultra-quality start on 5/19 vs. COL (7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R-ER, 0 BB, 7 SO).
SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Musgrove is quality & Padres plate 7 in win over Rangers
- Joe Musgrove, throwing in front of Jake Peavy (his favorite pitcher growing up and for whom he wears No. 44) and former San Diego manager, Bruce Bochy, worked 6.0
scoreless frames with 5 punchouts and 2 walks allowed…it was Joe’s 9th straight quality start, the longest active quality start streak of any pitcher in baseball. - Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, and Jake Cronenworth had multi-hit games, and the club saw a homer from Tatis in the 5th and a double from both Cronenworth and Gary Sánchez.
Win No. 50
- The Padres won their 50th game last night, the fewest wins in their 1st 104 G in a season since they won 49 at this point in 2019…they’re 9.0 games back in the NL West and 6.0 games back in the NL Wild Card race…the Friars’ longest winning streak this year has been 3 games (done 6x now), and the last time they were .500 was on May 11.
- Of all teams vying for NL Wild Card spots, the Padres’ run differential of 57 is the best of any team…in fact, their run differential ranks 3rd best in the NL overall, behind the Braves’ 143 and Dodgers’ 96.
Padres riding a 9-game winning streak over the Rangers, T-3rd longest active win streak over a single opponent
- In their last 9 meetings since Sept. 16, 2018, the Padres won every single game that they’ve played against the Rangers…it’s tied for the 3rd longest active winning streak for any team in baseball over a single opponent, tying with the Blue Jays’ 9 game win streak over the Braves, and trailing just the Dodgers’ 10 game streak over the Angels and the Rangers’ 12 game streak over Philadelphia…the streak is San Diego’s longest ever over an Interleague opponent (Sportstrader).
- In those 9 games, the Padres have scored 60 runs while allowing 26 and hit 19 homers to the Rangers’ 8… the Padres hold a 26-23 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1997.
July highs
- The Padres have plated the 4th most runs in the Majors in the month of July (123), and their 36 home runs are tied for the 4th most…their 97 walks drawn are the 2nd most behind just the Dodgers’ 98, and they’ve struck out just 164 times, the 4th-fewest in the big leagues in July…San Diego pitchers have a 3.52 ERA this month, the 5th-lowest in the big leagues.
San Diego leads the NL in quality starts & ERA
- Joe Musgrove’s quality start last night was the Padres’ 50th overall this year, the most of any NL team and the 3rd most in the Majors behind just the Mariners’ 51 and Twins’ 53…SD starters lead the NL in ERA (3.71) and rank 2nd to just the Rays’ 3.69 for the best in all of baseball.
STARTING PITCHER – YU DARVISH 1
Darvish set for 2nd career start vs. TEX, his former club
Yu Darvish takes the mound for his 2nd career start vs. his former club, the Texas Rangers, with the lone start vs. TEX coming on March 30, 2019 while with CHC…that 2019 start was 1 of 5 in his career he failed to make it out of the 3rd inning…he’s faced all 30 ML clubs, and the Orioles are the only other team he’s faced just once…besides BAL and TEX, he’s faced the all other 28 teams at least 4 times.
Darvish allows career-high-tying 4 HR vs. PIT
This past Mon vs. PIT, Darvish allowed 4 home runs in a contest for the 4th time in his career (3rd time in a regular season start)…it was his 10th career start vs. the Pirates, and he entered the contest quality in 5 of his 9 starts vs. the Bucs – the lowest WHIP (0.86) and highest SO/BB ratio (8.14) among all active hurlers who had made at least 9 starts vs. PIT.
Free passes
Darvish’s 8.4 walk rate is highest since his 8.1 walk rate in 2014 vs. TEX, and his 3.20 BB/9 IP ratio is his highest since 2018 w/ CHC (4.73), but he made just 8 starts that season… this season is his highest BB/9 IP ratio in a season with 22+ starts since his first 2 Major League seasons with TEX in ’12 (4.19) and ’13 (3.43)…the 50th percentile in walk rate is the lowest percentile he’s been in the Statcast era (since ’16).
Limit the long balls
After not allowing any HRs through his first 4 starts of the season, he has allowed 15 across his 14 most recent starts since April 30 vs. SF in Mexico City…among the 37 NL hurlers who have tossed at least 75.0 IP since April 30, his 1.75 HR/9 IP ratio is T-7th-highest in NL…he is 6-3 and the Padres are 6-4 in the 10 games he has allowed 0 HR…he is 1-4 when he allows 1+ HR, and the Padres are 2-6.
Making SD history with the punchouts
Darvish has strukout 504 batters through his first 78 games pitched with Padres, the most ever by any pitcher by this milepost for the franchise…among all hurlers in their first 78 app in franchise history, the next closest is Joe Musgrove (479 SO) and Jake Peavy (436).
Historic hit rate numbers
Yu Darvish has yielded a career-high 8.62 H/9 IP this seaso, but he owns the 3rd-lowest H/9 rate (7.32) among active MLB pitchers (min. 1,000 IP) behind only Clayton Kershaw (6.83) and Jacob deGrom (6.90)…Darvish’s 7.32 H/9 rate ranks 26th all-time in MLB (also min. 1,000 IP).
