NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets fell Royals, 9-2, yesterday in Kansas City…New York has lost three straight and four of its last five games…The Mets continue a six- game road trip (0-3) to Kansas City (0-3) and Baltimore (three games).
GET WELL SOON: Today, outfielder Tim Locastro begins a rehab assignment with the Florida Complex League Mets…Locastro is on the 60-Day IL recovering from a sprained thumb.
WE’RE BUILDING SOMETHING, HERE, DETECTIVE: David Peterson is set to make his 12th start of the season…Since July 14, he has worked exclusively from the bullpen, appearing in six games and going 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA (2 ER/8.0 IP) with three walks and eight strikeouts…In 12 games (eight starts) at night this year, Peterson is 2-5 with a 4.60 ERA (23 ER/45.0 IP) with 16 walks and 46 strikeouts…Tonight will make his second appearance against the Orioles…He is 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA (4 ER/6.2 IP) with three walks and five punchouts in his previous appearances against the club.
CHARMED: Buck Showalter returns to Baltimore as an opposing manager tonight… Showalter managed the Orioles from 2010-18, going 669-684 in that span…He was named Manager of the Year in 2014, guiding the Birds to a 96-66 record and ending the club’s 15-year playoff drought…In 22 seasons as a manager, Showalter has compiled a 1,702-1,635 record…He places 19th on the all-time managerial wins list.
THE CITY THAT READS: Brandon Nimmo has appeared in three games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards…He is a 9-12 lifetime hitter with five runs, two doubles, two triples, three RBI and a walk…Starling Marte has batted .455 (5-11) in three career contests at the yard with one run, three RBI and two walks.
BIRDS AREN’T REAL: Pete Alonso has gone 11-30 (.367) with two doubles, five home runs, nine RBI, 11 runs scored in eight career games against the Orioles…Is on a five-game hitting streak against Baltimore, going 10-19 (.526) with two doubles, four home runs, seven RBI, nine runs scored and a 1.835 OPS…Has three homers, six
RBI, five runs scored and a 2.222 OPS in his last two games against the O’s.
FOR PETE’S SAKE: Alonso is third in the majors and second in the Senior Circuit with 31 home runs…He is third in the NL and sixth in the majors with 77 RBI…He is hitting .333 (17-51) with eight extra-base hits, 15 RBI, nine runs and a 1.081 OPS in his last 13 games…He was hitting .132 (12-91) with seven extra-base hits and a .549 OPS over his previous 25 games (since his return from the IL on June 18-19).
RANK PLAYER SLG
- Mike Piazza .542
- Pete Alonso .530
- Darryl Strawberry .520
- Carlos Delgado .506
- John Olerud .501
(min. 2000 PA)
RANK PLAYER RBI
- Edgardo Alfonzo 538
T8. Cleon Jones 521
T8. Jose Reyes 521 - Keith Hernandez 468
- Pete Alonso 457
- Kevin McReynolds 456
METS CAREER LEADERS
WELCOME TO THE ORG.: OF Ryan Clifford made his Mets organizational debut last night with the Brooklyn Cyclones…He homered in his first at-bat in the system, finishing 2-3 with two runs, one home run, two RBI and two walks…The left-handed hitter is batting .294/.404/.531 in 84 games in the minor leagues this year…Clifford was acquired along with OF Drew Gilbert from the Houston Astros in exchange for RHP Justin Verlander…He is the sixth-best prospect in the system according to MLB Pipeline.
HERE’S THE CATCH: Francisco Alvarez has hit 21 home runs this season…He joins Pete Alonso (53, 2019) and Darryl Strawberry (26, 1983) as the only Mets rookies to have 20 or more home runs in a season…Alvarez leads all major league catchers with 19 home runs playing that position and is tied with Arizona’s Corbin Carroll for the rookie lead in homers….In 21 games last month, Alvarez batting .284 (21-74) with 16 runs, nine home runs, 18 RBI, six walks with a .354 OBP and a .649 SLG…He was fourth in the NL with nine home runs in July.
PLAYER HOME RUNS YEAR
Johnny Bench 26 1969
Francisco Alvarez 21 2023
Darrell Porter 16 1973
Johnny Bench 15 1968
Research courtesy of Sarah Langs
MOST HR IN AGE-21 SEASON OR YOUNGER, AL/NL CATCHERS:
IF YOU START ME UP: The Mets are 32-9 when the starting pitcher throws at least 6.0 innings…New York has gone 14-1 when its starter pitches 7.0+ innings and are a perfect 5-0 when the starter completes 8.0 innings.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Mets are 24-35 on the road this year…They have posted a 4.83 ERA in away games…This compares to a 3.84 mark at home…New York has played 58 games on the road this year…That is the second-most in the majors…Only the Phillies have played more road games with 61.
LINSANITY: Francisco Lindor has homered three times in the last five games… He ranks 14th in the majors with a 14.7 fWAR…That is eighth-best in the National League…Over the last 38 games, Lindor is batting .279 (39-140) with 29 runs, six doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, 23 RBI, 22 walks, 11 steals with a .380 OBP, a .564 SLG and a .944 OPS…Lindor has stolen 17 bases in 107 games this season, exceeding his total from 2022 (16 steals in 161 games)…His career-best is 25 steals 158 games in 2018…The shortstop ranks third in the majors with a 94.4% success rate in steals…He has gone 17 out of 18 in stolen base attempts in 2023.
DOING THE SPLITS: Brandon Nimmo is batting .286 (63-220) with 30 runs, nine doubles, three triples, six home runs, 29 RBI, 30 walks, a .374 OBP and a .436 SLG on the road this season…This compares to a .218/.327/.425 slashline with 18 extra-base hits at home…Francisco Lindor is a .252 (58-230) with 41 runs, 15 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs, 45 RBI, 23 walks, a .330 OBP, a .504 SLG and an .834 OPS on the road in 2023…He is slashing .211/.314/.411 with 17 extra-base hits at Citi Field this year.
THEY’RE OUT OF MY LEAGUE: The Mets are in a stretch of 14 of 18 games against American League opponents…They are 4-7 in that span…The new schedule format has New York playing a total of 43 Interleague games in 2023, more than double their previous high for a single season (20)…The Mets are 14-17 against the American League this year…Overall, New York owns a 249-244 record in Interleague play… The team’s .507 winning percentage is the second-best among National League
clubs.
STEAL MY SUNSHINE: New York has recorded 79 steals in 87 attempts…The team’s 90.8 percent success rate is the best in the majors…The Mets had a franchise-record run of 35 consecutive stolen bases without being caught from May 14-June 29… Overall, New York has been successful in 53 of their last 55 stolen base attempts.
DAVID PETERSON LHP #23
2023 STATS: 3-7, 5.92 E R A
LAST TIME OUT: Threw 2.0 innings of relief and allowed one unearned run on one hit and struck out two batters for the Mets in their 5-2 win at Citi Field against Washington on July 30.
GOOD MORNING BALTIMORE: Tonight, Peterson will face the Orioles for the third time of his career and the first time this season…He has made one start and one relief appearance in his career against Baltimore…He’s posted a 5.40 ERA (4 ER/6.2 IP) in those outings…This will be Peterson’s third time facing the Orioles on the road…This season, Peterson is 1-5 in road games.
MAKIN’ IT MAJOR: Since returning to the majors on June 27 after a stint with Syracuse (AAA), Peterson has pitched to a 2-1 record with a 2.31 ERA (6 ER/23.1 IP) in nine games, three of which were starts…His last start came against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on July 8, during which he suffered the loss after allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks while also tallying seven strikeouts…Since July 14, Peterson has pitched to a 2.25 ERA (2 ER/8.0 IP) over six relief appearances…Did not allow a homer in any of those outings.
A MINUTE IN THE MINORS: Peterson was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on April 29, was recalled on May 9, then optioned again on May 16…In his first start with Syracuse following his May 16 option, he dealt 8.0 shutout innings, allowed just two hits and struck out nine…For his effort, he as named International League Pitcher of the Week…All told, he has made seven starts for the Syracuse Mets this season…Has a 1-2 record with a 4.86 ERA (20 ER/37.0 IP).
NO PLACE LIKE NEW YORK: This season, Peterson has pitched to a 2.67 ERA (8 ER/27.0 IP) in eight home outings (four starts)…Over nine road outings (seven starts) this season, the southpaw has pitched to an 8.41 ERA (33 ER/35.1 IP).
LETHAL LEFTY: Peterson has limited lefties to a .246 (62-252) average in his career…He whiffed 32 of the 96 left-handed batters he faced last year, a 33 percent strikeout rate that ranked fourth among all left-handed pitchers to face a minimum of 90 LHB in 2022.
BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: The O’s defeated the Blue Jays yesterday, 6-1, to clinch the four-game series victory in Toronto…Jack Flaherty earned the win in his Orioles debut, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings…Ryan Mountcastle (4-4, 2 R, RBI) and Austin Hays (4-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI) each collected four hits in the win, the first time the O’s had multiple players with at least four hits in the same game since August 12, 2022 at Tampa Bay (Mateo & Odor)…Danny Coulombe (1.0 IP, 2 K), Yennier Cano (1.0 IP, K), and Mike Baumann (1.0 IP, H, K) tossed 3.0 scoreless innings of relief.
The O’s have now gone 8-2 against Toronto this season, including 6-1 north of the border, and 17-12 (.586) against the Jays since the start of 2022.
The Birds are 24-14 (.632) against the AL East in 2023 and have gone 10 straight sets against AL East opponents without losing a series for the first time since doing so in 11 straight series from August 1 to September 30, 2012, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
JACK OF ALL TRADES: After allowing the first two batters to reach yesterday, Jack Flaherty set down 15 straight Blue Jays before surrendering a single to Kevin Kiermaier to lead off the fifth inning…According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Flaherty became the second pitcher since the O’s moved to Baltimore in 1954 to retire 15 straight batters at any point in his debut with the team, joining Dave McNally, who set down 17 in a row in his MLB debut on September 26 (G1), 1962 vs. Kansas City…McNally went on to throw a shutout, scattering two hits and three walks while striking out four in 9.0 innings of work.
Flaherty’s eight strikeouts yesterday are tied for the fourth-most by a pitcher in his O’s debut in club history; the last hurler to accomplish the feat for Baltimore was Bud Norris (8 K) on August 1, 2013 vs. Houston.
Flaherty’s 19 swings and misses yesterday are tied for the second-most by an Orioles pitcher in a game this season, trailing Kyle Gibson’s 22 on July 9 at Minnesota; they are tied for the ninth-most in a game in Flaherty’s career and are his second-most in a game this season, behind the 23 he recorded with St. Louis on April 23 at Seattle.
MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle went 11-for-13 with four doubles, five runs scored, six RBI, three walks, and one stolen base during the four-game set in Toronto…According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 11 hits are tied with Merv Rettenmund (September 24-26, 1971 at Cleveland) for the most in a four-game series since the Orioles moved to Baltimore in 1954… Mountcastle has recorded multiple hits in a career-high-tying four straight games since July 31; the last time he did so was from July 31 to August 3, 2021…He’s slashing .460/.500/.700 (23-for-50) with seven doubles, two homers, 12 runs scored, 10 RBI, six walks, and one stolen base in 18 games while tallying a hit in 13 of his 14 starts since returning from the Injured List on July 9…Mountcastle has batted .344/.404/.651 (64-for-186) with 12 doubles, 15 home runs, 34 runs scored, 42 RBI, 18 walks, two hit-by-pitches, and one stolen base in 49 career games against the Blue Jays…His 1.054 career OPS against Toronto is the best in MLB history (min. 150 PA).
SWEEPLESS IN BALTIMORE: The Orioles have now gone 74 consecutive series without being swept…According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the most consecutive series of at least two decisions (no ties) without getting swept in Orioles history (since 1954), ahead of 46 consecutive sweepless series from 1971-72…It is tied with the 1904-06 Philadelphia Athletics for the fifth-longest such streak in MLB history, trailing the 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals (124), 1906-09 Chicago Cubs (115), 1903-05 New York Giants (105), and 1922-24 New York Yankees (83).
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won five of their last seven games, 10 of 15, 18 of 25, and 19 of 28…At 67-42 (.615), the Orioles have the best record in the AL and second-best in MLB (see box at right)…The Birds are 129-91 (.586) since June 2022, the second-best record in the AL and fourth-best in MLB during that time…The team had a season-best eight-game winning streak from July 5-16, Baltimore’s longest since a 10-gamer from July 3-13, 2022.
The O’s hold a 2.0-game lead over the Rays in the AL East.
The Orioles have two winning streaks of at least seven games this year; Atlanta (4x), San Francisco (2x), and Tampa Bay (2x) are the only other teams with multiple win streaks of at least seven games this season.
FEELS GOOD TO BE HOME: Baltimore is 32-21 (.604) at Oriole Park this season, the third-best home record in the AL and fifth-best in MLB…The Birds are 77-57 (.575) at home since the beginning of 2022, the fourth-best record in the AL and eighth-best in MLB during that time.
MEET THE METS: The Orioles have gone 16-28 against the Mets in the regular season since the teams first met in 1997…The O’s last played the Metropolitans in 2021, splitting a two-game series at Oriole Park from June 8-9 after being swept in two games at Citi Field from May 11-12…The Orioles dropped the 1969 World Series to the Mets in five games.
MOUNTAIN TIME: Major League Baseball on Wednesday announced that Félix Bautista was voted the American League Reliever of the Month for July…He’s now won the award in back-to-back months and for the third time this season, joining April…Prior to this year, Jim Johnson (May 2012) was the only O’s pitcher in team history to take home the honor… Bautista did not allow a run and registered a win or a save in all 11 appearances last month, going 3-0 with eight saves and 25 strikeouts in 14.0 innings…He leads the AL and ranks third in MLB with 29 saves and has secured a win or save in 35 of his 47 appearances (74.5%) this season…That would be the fourth-highest such percentage in O’s history (since 1954)… Bautista is looking to become the seventh Oriole (eight occurrences) in team history to lead the league in saves and the first since Zack Britton locked down 47 games in 2016…Jim Johnson has the team record of 51 saves set in 2012.
His 101 strikeouts are more than 10 qualified pitchers; he has 23 more strikeouts than the next-closest reliever.
Bautista’s 17.59 K/9 (101 K/51.2 IP) would be the fourth-best by a qualified reliever in MLB history; Cincinnati’s Aroldis Chapman (2014), Cleveland’s James Karinchak (2020), and Milwaukee’s Devin Williams (2020) are tied for the record with a 17.67 mark.
He is the seventh O’s reliever to reach 100 strikeouts in a season and the first since B.J. Ryan fanned 100 in 2005; Ryan holds the Orioles record for strikeouts as a reliever in one season with 122 in 2004.
STARTING PITCHER – #64 DEAN LREMER RHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 23rd start of the season, 13th at home, and first career start against the Mets tonight…Made a then-career-high 22 appearances (21 GS) in 2022, 11 appearances at home (10 GS), and 11 on the road…Owned an 8-7 record with a 3.23 ERA (45 ER/125.1 IP) and 87 strikeouts…Made six starts of 5.0-or-more scoreless innings, tied for seventh-most in the AL…Acquired by the Orioles along with INF Breyvic Valera, OF Yusniel Diaz, RHP Zach Pop, and INF Rylan Bannon in exchange for INF Manny Machado on July 18, 2018…Originally selected by the Dodgers in the 14th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of UNLV.
LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor in the decision in his last outing on July 30 vs. New York-AL on Sunday Night Baseball…Allowed three runs on seven hits (1 HR) with
two walks and seven strikeouts in 4.0+ innings…Left with one runner on, who later scored…Marked his second career start on Sunday Night Baseball after also toeing the rubber in the 2022 MLB Little League Classic on August 21 vs. Boston…Threw 90 pitches, 59 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST THE METS/NL EAST: Making his first career start against the Mets tonight…Has gone 4-0 with a 1.76 ERA (6 ER/30.2 IP), a 0.98 WHIP, and four quality starts in five career outings against the NL East, in which the O’s have gone 5-0…Did not factor in the decision in his last start against the division on July 24 at Philadelphia, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts in a season-high-tying 7.0 innings (3x, last: 7/5 at NYY)…Threw 95 pitches, 61 strikes.
UNFAMILIAR FACES: Making his ninth interleague start of the season and the 12th of his career…Has gone 5-1 with a 3.30 ERA (7 ER/46.1 IP) in eight starts against National League opponents in 2023, in which the O’s have gone 7-1…In 11 career starts against NL teams, Kremer owns a 7-2 record with a 3.77 ERA (26 ER/62.0 IP); the Birds hold a 9-2 edge in those games.
ENJOYING THE NIGHT LIFE: Owns a 9-2 record with a 4.02 ERA (35 ER/78.1 IP) and eight quality starts in 14 night assignments this season…His nine victories after dark are tied for the most in MLB entering tonight’s game…The Orioles own an 11-3 edge in his night starts, including wins in his last four.
SWEET VICTORY: Kremer’s 10 wins this season are tied for the team lead (Gibson) and are a career high, surpassing his eight victories in 2022…Entering play today, his 10 wins are tied for fourth in the AL and tied for eighth in MLB…The Orioles own a 16-6 edge in his 22 assignments this season, including victories in five in a row and in eight of his last nine starts since June 13.
