SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: The Giants and A’s open up the second leg of the Bay Bridge series this afternoon, this time meeting at the Coliseum…SF swept Oakland in a two-game set last week (Tuesday-Wednesday) and could take home the Tom Pellack Memorial Bridge Trophy for a third straight year with a win today.
ROSTER MOVES: IF Thairo Estrada (#39) returned from his rehab assignment and was reinstated from the 10-day Injured List…IF Isan Díaz was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
ROAD TRIPPING: SF kicks off a brief five-game road trip this afternoon…the trip comes in the heels of their longest homestand of the year in which the Giants posted a 7-2 record after hosting the A’s (2-0), Red Sox (2-1) and Diamondbacks (3- 1)…the trip will continue in Anaheim from Monday-Wednesday before SF returns home to welcome in old friend Bruce Bochy and his Texas Rangers on Friday.
WHERE WE STAND: The Giants enter today 3.0 games back of the NL-West leading Dodgers and 2.0 games ahead of the Phillies for the top Wild Card spot…SF has won seven of its last nine games, with Giants pitchers sporting a 1.91 ERA (18er, 85.0ip) in that span.
A WIN IS A WIN: SF is coming off a 1-0 victory over Arizona on Thursday in which they recorded just two hits…the win was just the sixth time in franchise history where the Giants won 1-0 with two or fewer hits and one being a home run, with their such victory coming on July 7, 2019 vs. St. Louis…overall, the Giants have the most 1-0 wins of any Major League team over the last five seasons…SF’s 11 such wins since 2019 are most in MLB ahead of Tampa (10) and Milwaukee (9)…the Giants have beaten Oakland 1-0 just once when Tim Lincecum pitched 7.0 scoreless innings on June 28, 2008.
BECK LIKE HE NEVER LEFT: RHP Tristan Beck earned his third win of the season on Thursday, making him the eighth different Giant with at least three wins out of the bullpen this season… SF’s eight different relievers with at least three wins are most in the Majors this year and matched the 2021 club for the most in franchise history (Stats, LLC).
NO TRAFFIC: The Giants haven’t allowed more than eight hits in any of their last nine games…the nine games are tied for the third-longest such streak in MLB and the longest active one… the last time the Giants went 10 straight games allowing eight hits or fewer was from June 20 to July 2, 2021 (Stats, LLC).
D-UP: Since July 1, the Giants have been one of MLB’s best defensive teams in terms of fielding percentage…SF’s .993 fielding % since that date is tied for second-best in the Majors behind the Twins (.997)…the Giants have made only seven errors in that span (28 games, 250.0 innings)…from the start of the season through June the Giants had a .980 fielding % (30th in MLB).
MR. VERSATILITY: C/OF Blake Sabol is the only Giant in modern era (since 1901) to start at least 25 games as both an outfielder and a catcher in the same season…he is also just one of a handful of Major League rookies to do so (see chart below courtesy of Stats, LLC).
WADE’S WORLD: SF’s lone run on Thursday’s 1-0 victory over the Dbacks was scored in a solo shot by IF/OF LaMonte Wade Jr., marking his 10th homer from the top of the lineup this season… Wade became just the sixth Giant in modern era to record at least 10 home runs and 50 walks from the leadoff position in the same season…he joined Ronald Acuña Jr., Mookie Betts and Brandon Nimmo as the only Major Leaguers with such splits from the top of the order this year.
FROM THE DESK OF SIS: Since C Patrick Bailey’s debut on May 19, he’s caught 222 called strikes on pitches that were gauged to be out of the strike zone according to Statcast…the 222 called strikes are most in MLB in that span by a wide margin, with the next-closest being Francisco Alvarez at 164…A’s Shea Langeliers (26) and Bailey(19) rank 1-2 in caught stealings this year, but Langeliers has allowed 61 steals to Bailey’s 32.
WILLLLLMAAAHHH: IF Wilmer Flores has reached base safely in 15 consecutive games entering play today…the 15 games are tied for the third-longest active on-base streak in MLB, trailing only LAD’s Mookie Betts (20) and TOR’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (16)…Flores is slashing .407/.450/.852 with six home runs, 11 RBI and 11 runs scored during that span…since June 1, Flores’ 1.127 OPS is second-best in the Majors behind LAA’s Shohei Ohtani (1.321) (min. 125 PA).
BUCKET LIST?: OF Joc Pederson has homered against 28 of 30 teams, with Oakland and Detroit being the only two teams he’s yet to hit a home run against…Pederson has struggled against the A’s throughout his career, posting a .447 OPS in 16 games… his .477 OPS vs. Oakland is his lowest againt any team.
TODAY’S STARTER – ROSS STRIPLING RHP #48
2023 RECORD: 0-4, 5.52 ERA
WITH THE GIANTS: The 33-year-old right-hander inked a twoyear Major League contract with the Giants this past December… the deal included an opt-out following this season.
TODAY’S GAME: Today marks Stripling’s 11th start and 17th appearance this season…as a starter this year, Stripling is 0-4 with a 5.32 ERA (26er, 44.0ip), 30 strikeouts and a 1.32 WHIP in 10 starts.
LAST OUTING: Came in as a reliver for the first time since June 28 (five games), with his lone earned run coming as a home run from BOS’ Adam Duvall in the 7th inning…According to Sports Info Solutions, Stripling threw 15 of his 19 sliders for strikes, allowing no hits and getting 10 of his 13 outs…in his last start, Stripling limited Detroit to three runs on 10 hits.
VS. OAKLAND: Stripling will make his second start and third appearance against Oakland in his career…has yet to play at the Oakland Coliseum, with his first appearance vs. the Athletics coming at Dodger Stadium in 2018 and his last in Toronto in 2022.
MOTOR CITY MATCH-UPS: No Oakland batter has had more than two career at-bats against Stripling except for IF Aledmys Díaz, who is 3-for-9 with two doubles, a home run and a 1.289 OPS in his career vs. the right-hander.
ON THE UPSWING?: Since returning from the IL on June 25, Stripling has a 3.64 ERA (12er, 29.2ip) in seven games (five starts) with 22 strikeouts, a 1.08 WHIP and just one walk.
MINIMIZE THE FREEBIES: Stripling has allowed just one walk over 118 batters faced (0.85 BB%) in his seven games since returning from the injured list…Stripling had walked 10 of the 146 batters he faced (6.8 BB%) in his nine games prior to his stint on the IL… Stripling has allowed the fewest walks in MLB since his return on June 28 (min. 25.0 innings pitched)…it is the fifth time in his career Stripling has not allowed a walk in five consecutive games.
NEED SOME HELP: Stripling has received three or more runs of support once in his 16 outings this season…his run support average of 3.05 is the third-lowest in the NL and his 21 runs of support are the second-least (min. 60.0ip).
SLIDE ON OVER: The damage vs. Stripling has been rather spread out between his three primary pitches (slider, changeup and four-seam fastball)…the three pitches all have usage rates of at least 24%, yet also have opposing slugging percentages of at least .420…Baseball Savant also shows a notable change in production from Stripling’s slider, which had an impressive +7 run value last year, and currently is 0 in 2023.
CHANGE IT UP: SIS noted a statistical drop off this season in Stripling’s changeup…opponents hit .203 vs. his changeup in 2022… they are batting .314 vs. the pitch this year…SIS also noted that Stripling’s changeup, which had a +2 run value last year, is now -6.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Were swept by the Dodgers to start the week and have now been swept 15 times, which are the most times the A’s have been swept in a season since 1997 (also 15)…have lost four straight and seven of the last nine games and are 5-13 (.278) since the All-Star Break, which is the fourth lowest winning percentage in the majors…are 18-30 (.375) over the last 48 games dating back to June 6 after going 12-50 (.194) over the first 62 contests…are 30-80 (.273) overall, which is the lowest winning percentage in the majors behind the Royals (36-75, .324)…are a season-high 50 games under .500 for the first time since finishing the 1979 season 54 under at 54-108…the last two Major League teams to finish with a winning percentage under .290 are the 2003 Tigers (43-119, .265) and 1962 Mets (40-120, .250)…are 7-11-1 over the last 18 series after going 1-16 over the first 17.
OFFENSE: The A’s have scored six runs over the last four games, all on solo home runs…are 22-for-123 (.179) over that span, including 0-for-20 with runners in scoring position…overall, rank last in the majors in batting (.222), slugging (.360), OPS (.662), runs (393) and extra base hits (271), tied for second in most times shut out (12), third in fewest doubles (148), fourth in lowest on-base percentage (.302) and seventh in most strikeouts (1011) and fewest home runs (106)…are tied for the lead in sacrifice hits (23) and tied for sixth in hit by pitches (59).
IN THE PINCH: A’s pinch hitters lead the majors in hits (29), are tied for third in plate appearances (121), rank fourth in doubles (5), tied for sixth in extra base hits (7) and tied for 10th in home runs (2).
PITCHING: The A’s allowed 25 runs in the three-game series at Los Angeles (NL) and now have a 5.89 ERA for the season, which is the highest in the majors…have hit a batter in each of the last four games (five HBP total) and now have a Major League leading 70 hit by pitches for the season…that is already the fourth highest total in Athletics history (81 in 1911, 72 in 2022, 72 in 1903)…are on pace to hit 103 batters, which would break the American League record of 95 set by the 2003 Rays…the ML record is 110 by the 2022 Reds…have the highest opponents on-base percentage in the majors (.357), the second highest slugging percentage (.465) and OPS (.821) and fourth highest batting average (.270)…lead the majors in most walks (465) and wild pitches (48), are tied for the fewest shutouts (2) and rank fifth in
most home runs (154) and fewest strikeouts (877).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers have been charged with the loss in each of the last four games (16 er in 17.0 ip, 8.47 ERA)…are now 11-51 with a 6.19 ERA overall…have the fewest wins in the majors, the highest ERA and are tied for the most losses…the fewest wins from starting pitchers in Major League history is 21 by the Pirates last year…have tossed 7.1 innings or fewer in each game and have the fewest innings pitched in the majors (503.0) behind the Giants (506.0).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has a 5.57 ERA, which is the highest in the majors…also the has the most losses (29) and the second most innings pitched (462.0) to the Giants (475.2)…the 29 losses are two short of the Oakland record for losses by relievers (31 in 1993 and 2015)…has 14 saves over the last 47 games after tallying just four over the first 63…is 18-for-36 (50.0%) in save opportunities for the season, which is the second lowest percentage in the majors…has the second fewest saves and tied for the 10th most blown saves (18)…has allowed just 11-of-45 (24.4%) inherited runners to score since the All-Star Break but has allowed 81-of-211 (38.4%) to score overall, which is the fourth highest percentage…has the second most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 103-for-125 (82.4%) in stolen base attempts… rank fourth in the majors in steals, fifth in attempts and sixth in percentage…the stolen bases are the most by an A’s team since 2012 (122)…A’s opponents are 79-for-113 (69.9%) in stolen base attempts, which is the second lowest success rate in the majors…the 34 caught stealings are six more than any other team…A’s pitchers have 11 pickoffs, which is third most.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS: The A’s have committed three errors over the last six games but have 67 for the season, which is fourth most in the majors…rank fourth in fewest double plays (78) and tied for ninth in most passed balls (7).
ONE-RUN GAMES AND THE REST: The A’s are 16-22 (.421) in one-run games and 14-60 (.189) in games decided by two or more runs…16 of the A’s 30 wins are by one run…are tied for the most one-run losses in the majors and rank third in games (38)…have a run differential of -274, which is the lowest in the majors…the lowest in Oakland history is -287 in 1979 and the lowest in Athletics history is -344 in 1915.
WINNING LATE: The A’s have scored the winning run in their final at bat in 13 of their 30 victories (43.3%)…are 6-6 (.500) in extra inning games and the six wins matches the A’s total from last year…are tied for eighth in the majors in extra inning games (12) and wins and rank ninth in losses…have six walk-off wins, which is tied for fifth most…have 12 wins when tied or trailing after seven innings, which is tied for 10th most.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s begin a five-game homestand against San Francisco (two games) and Texas (three games) today…went 3-7 on the last homestand against Minnesota (0-3), Boston (2-1) and Houston (1-3) and are 15-39 (.278) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors…went 2-6 on the last road trip to San Francisco (0-2), Colorado (2-1) and Los Angeles-NL (0-3) and are 15-41 (.268) on the road, which is the worst road record in the majors…have compiled a 5.13 ERA (284 er in 498.0 ip) at home compared to 6.71 on the road.
PLAYER NOTES: The A’s have used 54 players this year, which is third most in the majors…employed a franchise record 64 players last year…have used 34 pitchers, which ties the Athletics record (2018, 2022) and is tied for third most in the majors this year…have used 30 relievers, which is an on-going franchise record…have used the injured list 25 times…the only times in Oakland history the A’s used the IL more times for non-Covid reasons were in 2016 (27) and 2018 (26).
THIS AND THAT: The A’s are in a 27-day stretch that began July 14 and runs through Wednesday where the A’s left the state of California just once (July 28-30 at Colorado)…are 5-13 over that stretch…have used an opener 13 times and are 3-10 in those games…are 24-40 (.375) in night games, 6-40 (.130) during the day…are 4-31 (.114) in the final game of a series…are 8-9 (.471) on Tuesday, 7-10 (.412) on Friday and 15-61 (.197) on all other days of the week…have an average time of game of 2:44, which is fifth longest in the majors…however, have not averaged under 2:53 per game since 2010 (2:44).
A’s IN JULY: The A’s went 8-15 (.348) in July…finished with a losing record for the sixth consecutive full month and 10th time in the last 11 months… had their only full month with a winning record last year in July (14-12)… the .348 winning percentage was fifth lowest in the majors…had the worst record in the majors in April and May and the eighth worst in June…had a run differential of -18 in July after posting marks of -118 in April, -78 in May and -42 in June…hit .238, which was seventh lowest in the majors but the best by an A’s team in any month since Sept. 2021 (.247).
A’S VS. GIANTS
- The A’s lost the first two games of the season series in San Francisco July 25-26.
- Have lost the season series in each of the previous two years and three of the previous four.
- Are 9-12 against the Giants dating back to 2019.
- Have lost six of the last seven games, including four straight in Oakland…the home losing streak marks the only time the A’s have lost more than two straight home games to the Giants.
- In the previous 26 seasons of interleague play, the A’s have won nine season series, lost seven and split 10.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-2 0-2
2022 0-2 1-1 1-3
Oakland History: 72-70
at the Coliseum: 39-31
at Oracle Park: 29-36
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Zack Gelof homered for the fourth time in his last six games Thursday night and now has five home runs over the first 17 games of his career… that matches Brian Lesher (1996) for the most home runs in Athletics history by a player over his first 17 career games…has 10 extra base hits, which are tied for third most in Athletics history by a player over the first 17 games of his career (Page 13, Barton 12)…Tony Kemp is batting .302 (38-for-126) with a .373 on-base percentage (12 bb, 3 hbp, 1 sf) over his last 37 games dating back to June 15, after hitting .146 with a .244 on-base percentage over his first 51 contests…Trevor May has converted each of his 10 save opportunities over his last 16 games.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Paul Blackburn (2-2, 4.83 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Was reinstated from the injured list May 29 and is scheduled to make his 12th appearance and 11th start of the season…the relief appearance came in the final game before the All-Star Break after being scratched from his scheduled start a day earlier…is 2-2 with a 5.67 ERA (21 er in 33.1 ip) over his last seven games after going 0-0 with a 3.48 ERA over his first four starts…began the year on the 15-day IL with a right middle fingernail avulsion…had no decisions, a 7.50 ERA and 1.012 OPS in six rehab starts with Single-A Stockton and Triple-A Las Vegas.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Has allowed five home runs, all to right-handed hitters…four have been solo shots…has allowed a .440 (11-for-25) batting average against the opponents number three hitter and .444 (12-for-27) with three of his five home runs against the clean-up hitter.
BY MONTH: His ERA has increased each month of the season…made one start in May and had a 2.25 ERA…was 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA in five starts in June and 1-2 with a 6.26 ERA in five games, including four starts, in July.
THIS AND THAT: The A’s are 5-5 in his starting assignments…has walked two batters or fewer in eight of his 10 starts…has allowed one run or fewer four times but has a win and three no decisions in those starts…has tossed six innings or fewer in each start…has not committed an error in 11 games and 13 total chances…did not make an error last year and his 21 total chances tied for fifth most among American League pitchers with no errors.
2023 DAY-BY-DAY: Began the season on the 15-day injured list with a right middle fingernail avulsion…made three rehab starts with Single-A Stockton and Triple-A Las Vegas from April 7-16 before his rehab assignment was halted…resumed on May 14 and made three more starts with the Aviators… had no decisions, a 7.50 ERA and 1.012 OPS in six rehab starts overall when he was reinstated from the IL on May 29…started and had a no decision that day in a 7-2 A’s loss to Atlanta in Oakland…it was his first Major League appearance since a start on Aug. 4, 2022 at Los Angeles (AL)…logged 4.0 innings, which was his shortest outing as a starter this year…tossed a season-high 6.0 scoreless innings June 10 at Milwaukee but had a no decision in the A’s 2-1, 10-inning win…left with a 1-0 lead but Lovelady allowed a run in the eighth for the blown save…struck out a career-high nine batters in 5.2 innings on June 15 against Tampa Bay but had a no decision in the A’s 4-3 loss…allowed a season-high nine hits on June 21 at Cleveland but had a no decision in the A’s 7-6 loss…it was his fifth no decision in his first five starts and the season-opening streak of five consecutive starts without a decision matches the longest such streak in Oakland history (Mike Oquist, 1998)…picked up his first decision in his sixth start, a 2-1 A’s win over New York (AL) on June 27…walked a season-high four batters in 5.0 innings in an 8-7 loss to Chicago (AL) on July 2…was scheduled to start on July 8 at Boston but was scratched due to illness…pitched in relief the next day against against the Red Sox and was charged with the blown save in the A’s 4-3 loss…it was his fourth career relief appearance (the other three were in 2019)…allowed a season-high six runs on a season-high tying nine hits in a 7-0 loss to Boston on July 17.
LAST START: He picked up his second win of the season in the A’s 11-3 victory at Colorado a week ago today…logged a season-high 106 pitches and matched his season highs in innings pitched (6.0) and hits (9)…had a 6-0 lead when he allowed a Toglia RBI single in the second…also allowed a Cron RBI single in the third and had an 11-2 lead when he was relieved by Long to start the seventh.
