CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS RALLY LATE, BUT FALL VIA FRANCO WALK-OFF
Coming off a 3-4 homestand, the Cleveland Guardians opened a 5-game road trip with a 9-8 walk-off loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night at Tropicana Field…Wander Franco ended the contest with a solo blast (17) on NICK SANDLIN’s third offering in the bottom of the 9th, nullifying a bizarre 3-run rally by the Guardians in the top half of the frame that knotted the game at 8-8…the club is 0-1 to begin a 5-game, 6-day swim thru Tampa Bay (0-1, two-toplay) and Cincinnati (2G)…club has gone 11-7-3 over last 21 series (+2G above .500/35-33 record since May 26).
While the Guardians struck first on RAMON LAUREANO’s RBIsingle in the 3rd, the third of 3 singles in the frame, and also briefly held a 4-3 advantage after a pair of RBI-singles by MYLES STRAW and ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ in the 6th, Cleveland played from behind for much of the evening…Straw connected for his first home run since 2021, a solo shot in the 8th…STEVEN KWAN contributed an RBI-triple in the 4th…XZAVION CURRY (5.0IP, 6H, 5R-ER, 2BB, SO, HR, 70 pitches) limited the Rays to a trio of runs and held that 4-3 lead before coming back out for the 6th and surrendering a 2-run shot to Isaac Paredes (23) that followed a lead-off double by Randy Arozarena…former Guardians hurler Aaron Civale logged 91 pitches over 5.0 frames (5.0IP, 7H, 2R-ER, BB, 2SO, WP, 91 pitches)…Cleveland drew 3 walks and a hit batsman in the unorthodox 9th, plating all 3 runs on wild pitches by Pete Fairbanks (2) and Robert Stephenson (1).
Cleveland (56-61) sits in 2nd place in AL Central standings, 3.5 games behind 2nd-place Minnesota (60-58) and 3.5 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-7.0G, 52-64)…despite dropping 10 of last 14, Guardians have still won 24 of 47, 31 of 60 and 35 of last 68…have also dropped 55 of last 102 overall since starting year 9-6.
LET’S GET IT STARTED
In the second half, the Guardians’ starting rotation has held opponents to 2-or-fewer earned runs in 22 of its 26 starts since July 14…they have lasted 5.0-or-more innings in 21 of their 26 starts since the All-Star break, with 3 of those 5 outings being XZAVION CURRY’s spot starts…the 2.77 ERA from the rotation (45ER/146.0IP) to start the second half is the lowest in MLB, 47 points lower than the next-best team (Toronto, 3.24)…the table above shows how Cleveland’s starting pitching ranks among MLB teams since the All-Star break.
RUMBLE, YOUNG MAN, RUMBLE
Cleveland is one of 2 MLB teams (also Oakland) to have 6 different rookies throw 30.0+ innings this season; TANNER BIBEE (101.2IP) LOGAN ALLEN (91.1IP), XZAVION CURRY (69.0IP), GAVIN WILLIAMS (49.2IP), PEYTON BATTENFIELD (34.2IP) and HUNTER GADDIS (31.1IP)…40.09% of Cleveland’s innings pitched this season (418.2IP/1044.1IP) have come via rookies, 2nd in MLB behind Oakland (41.62%)…the Guards rookies rank amongst MLB clubs’ rookies in wins (20, 1st), games started (61, 1st), strikeouts (377, 2nd) and innings pitched (418.2, 2nd).
In the first 3 games against Toronto last series, the trio of Williams, Bibee and Allen combined for a 0.47 ERA (1ER/19.0IP) with 21 strikeouts and 4 walks while allowing only 11 hits in their 19.0 innings of work…per Elias, Williams, Bibee and Allen are the first trio of Cleveland rookie starting pitchers to start in 3 consecutive games and allow a total of one earned run across the 3 starts since Stan Coveleski (9.0IP, 0ER), Al Gould (9.0, 0ER) and Jim Bagby (9.0IP, 1ER) on August 1-3, 1916.
MYLES STRAWNG
MYLES STRAW’s solo home run in the 6th inning of last night’s contest marked his first homer of the season and his first home run in 1,040 at-bats…was his first home run since August 26, 2021 at Texas, a span lasting 716 days and 295 games played with one-or-more at-bat…the last MLB hitter with a span of 295-or-more games between home runs was Ben Revere, who had a 370-game homerless streak spanning from September 7, 2010 to May 26, 2014…Straw’s 295-game homerless streak was the 7th-longest streak in MLB since the Wild Card Era began in 1995, and the 2ndlongest such streak with a single team, behind Reggie Willits (301 games, July 22, 2006-May 31, 2011) with the Los Angeles Angels… marks the longest homerless streak snapped by a Cleveland hitter since Félix Fermín, whose streak ended at 408 games and lasted from April 23, 1990 to July 4, 1993.
CITY OF ROCK AND ROLL PLAYING THE HITS
Since June 1, Cleveland has out-hit their opponents in 38 games, 3 more than any other MLB team (Texas, Los Angeles-NL and Atlanta, 35)…the Guardians 26 wins in those 38 games are T2nd-most in the AL and T4th-most in MLB behind Atlanta (31), Los Angeles-NL (30) and Boston (27)…their 12 losses when out-hitting their opponents since June 1 are more than any other MLB team, ahead of Houston (11).
Cleveland snapped a season-long stretch of 13 straight games without reaching the 10+ hit mark last night, tied for the longest such streak by a Cleveland team since April 17-May 2, 2021… however, the Guardians rank 1st in the AL/2nd in MLB with 29 10+ hit games since May 30, trailing Atlanta (30)…the club’s 588 hits since May 30 rank 2nd in the AL/3rd in MLB during the stretch, behind Atlanta (591) and Texas (592)…their .267 batting average since May 30 trails only Texas (.270) and Atlanta (.286)…Cleveland has 3 players ranking in the top-20 in hits among MLB players since May 30; only Atlanta also has 3 players…JOSH NAYLOR (74, T6th), JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (72, T11th) and STEVEN KWAN (71, T16th) comprise the Cleveland trio.
NO STRIKEOUTS HERE
Cleveland has struck out 810 times in 2023 and has a plate appearance per strikeout rate of 5.41, both the best marks in MLB ahead of Washington (835, 5.27)…the Guardians have struck out 5-or-fewer times in 33 games this season, the most of any MLB team ahead of Washington (29)…JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (9.78, 3rd) and STEVEN KWAN (9.14, 5th) both rank in the top-5 in PA/SO rate, while JOSH NAYLOR (6.84) ranks 17th.
The Guards are the only team in MLB to have 3 players rank in the top-15 for lowest swing and miss rate with Kwan (2nd, 11.1%), MYLES STRAW (6th, 14.2%) and Ramírez (12th, 14.9%) leading the charge…Kwan also leads MLB, ahead of BAL’s Adley Rutschman (11.5%), with an 11.4% first-pitch swing rate…since 2022, he leads MLB with a 10.0% first-pitch swing rate and ranks 2nd in MLB behind MIA’s Luis Arraez (7.7%) with a 10.0% swing and miss rate.
TODAY’S STARTER – #63 GAVIN WILLIAMS RHP
WILLIAMS ON THE ROAD, MLB
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 0-2 2.12 3 3 17.0 9 4 4 9 16
Career 0-2 2.12 3 3 17.0 9 4 4 9 16
WILLIAMS’ MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-3 2.90 9 9 49.2 31 16 16 22 49
Career 1-3 2.90 9 9 49.2 31 16 16 22 49
TODAY’S START
The 6-6, 250-pound 24-year-old right-hander is making his 10th career start, fourth on the road, in the second matchup of this 3-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays…marks his first career start against the club that originally drafted him in the 30th round of the 2017 MLB Draft…he was eventually selected in the first round, #23 overall, out of East Carolina University by Cleveland in the 2021 MLB Draft…the rookie has allowed 3-or-fewer runs in each of his past 5 outings…is seeking his first win since July 8 at Kansas City…has not thrown more than 95 pitches in any outing this season.
At the time of his MLB debut, Williams was the organization’s #1 prospect, MLB’s #2 pitching prospect and the #10 prospect overall (MLB.com)…became the 7th different rookie to make their Major League debut for the Guardians this season…is starting on 4 days’ rest for the third time in his career; owns a 1-0 record with 2.79 ERA (3ER/9.2IP) through his first 2 starts on 4 days’ rest.
LAST TIME OUT
Williams took the hill in the opening matchup of a 4-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday…Williams did not factor into the decision, despite throwing 7.0-shutout innings, allowing one hit with 12 strikeouts and one walk…he allowed his lone walk and hit within the first 2.0 innings…recorded 7 of his first 9 outs via the strikeout…the only baserunner he allowed after the 2nd frame came from a hit by pitch in the 4th frame.
Williams became the first Cleveland rookie and 12th rookie in MLB history to post an outing of 12+ strikeouts and one-or-fewer hits…his 12 strikeouts were the most by a Cleveland rookie since Luis Tiant on August 18, 1964 (G2) and T6th-most in a game by a rookie in franchise history…with TANNER BIBEE throwing 7.0-shutout innings in the following contest, Williams and Bibee became the first duo of Cleveland rookies to throw 7.0-scoreless innings in back-to-back starts since Albie Lopez and Jeff Mutis on July 17-18, 1993.
THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM
While Williams has been successful against opposing team’s lineup the first time through the order (.214, 15-for-70), he has sustained it the second and third time through the order…opposing lineups are hitting .232 (16-for-69) the second time through and .164 (6-for-37) the third time through the lineup…he has allowed 11 runs the second time through the order, compared to a combined 5 runs when facing the lineup the first and third time…24 of his 49 strikeouts have come the first time through the lineup.
ROAD TO THE SHOW
2023: Opened up the season at AA Akron and was effective in his 3 starts…over 14.1 innings, he allowed just one earned run (0.63 ERA) on 6 hits with 20 strikeouts against 3 walks… was promoted to AAA Columbus following his start on April 20… made 9 starts at Columbus, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.93 ERA (15ER/46.0IP) with 61 punchouts and 21 walks…opposing hitters sported a .186 average (29-for-186)…at the time of his promotion to the bigs, among AAA pitchers (min 45.0IP), he was 2nd in SO/9 (11.93), 4th in WHIP (1.09) and 5th in ERA (2.93)…over his Minor League career he owns an 11.81 SO/9 and 3.59 SO/BB.
TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:
COLD BLOODED — SS Wander Franco (2-for-4, HR, 3RBI, 2R, BB, SB) delivered his first career walk-off home run in the Rays 9-8 series-opening win over the Guardians last night…with Tampa Bay trailing 4-3 in the sixth inning, 3B Isaac Paredes (1-for-3, HR, 2RBI, R, BB) launched a go-ahead, two-run homer before the Rays tacked on three more runs in the seventh for an 8-4 lead…Cleveland responded with four runs over the final two innings, including three on wild pitches in the ninth frame, to set the stage for Franco’s homer, his first career walk-off plate appearance…1B Yandy Díaz (2-for-5, 2B, RBI, R) drove in a pair of runs for Tampa Bay while RHP Aaron Civale (5.0IP, 7H, 2ER, BB, 2SO) worked 5.0 frames in his first start opposite his former club.
It marked the Rays fifth walk-off victory of the season…their three walk-off homers are tied with five other clubs for the most in the majors.
Tampa Bay committed a season-high three errors in the contest, marking its first win when recording 3+ errors since 7/20/21 vs. Baltimore…it also marked the
Rays first victory when blowing multiple leads in a game since 6/3 at Boston (G2).
The Rays have won six consecutive series openers, their longest streak since winning 11 straight from 4/21-5/26…their 26-12 (.684) record in series-opening games is tied with the Braves (26-12) for second best in MLB behind the Dodgers (27-11/.711).
REBORN — The Rays are 8-5 in their last 13 games following an MLB-worst 5-15 (.250) stretch from 7/1-26…they are 2.0 games behind first-place Baltimore in the AL East after spending 113 consecutive days atop the division from 3/30-7/21…the Rays are on the tail end of a stretch of three consecutive series against clubs below the .500 mark, having gone 4-3 in three-game sets vs. Detroit (2-1), St. Louis (1-2) and Cleveland (1-0) thus far… Tampa Bay went 6-9 (.400) across five straight series against clubs with winning records from 7/17-8/2 (2-2-1 in series play).
The Rays became the third major league club to reach 70 wins, joining the Braves (73- 41) and Orioles (71-45)…Tampa Bay reached the 70-win mark in 118 games, fourth
fastest in club history behind the 2021 (115G), 2010 (116G) and 2008 (116G) teams.
Tampa Bay has won back-to-back one-run games (7/28 at HOU & 8/11 vs. CLE) for the first time since 5/31 at Chicago-NL and 6/7 vs. Minnesota…from 6/8-7/27, the Rays dropped nine of their 11 one-run contests, including a five-game losing streak from 7/2-22.
Despite a 5-11 mark over their last 16 games at Tropicana Field, the Rays 39-21 (.650) home record is second best in the majors, trailing only the Rangers (40- 20/.667)…with a win today, Tampa Bay would secure its first home series victory since 6/9-11 vs. Texas — the Rays are 0-4-3 over their last seven home sets.
The Rays, who led the majors with 109 games played from March through July, have six off days in August (four remaining), more than any other major league club…Milwaukee is next closest with five scheduled off days.
The Rays have plated 4+ runs in 10 of their last 13 games, averaging 5.13 runs per game in that span…prior to that stretch, Tampa Bay had recorded 4+ runs in just eight of 20 games from 7/1-27, scoring an MLB-low 3.30 runs per contest.
BAPTIZED IN FIRE — The Guardians are scheduled to start three rookie pitchers in this weekend’s series: RHP Xzavion Curry, RHP Gavin Williams and RHP Tanner Bibee… along with LHP Matthew Liberatore’s outing for St. Louis on Thursday, the Rays will potentially face four consecutive rookie starters for the fifth time in club history (Elias)… it would mark the first such instance since 8/16-20, 2009 (TOR – Marc Rzepczynski; BAL – Jason Berken, Chris Tillman, Brian Matusz).
There have been 21 games in which the Rays faced a rookie starting pitcher this season, with Tampa Bay going 14-7 in those affairs…rookie starters are 4-10 with a 5.39 ERA against the Rays, the second-highest mark in the majors behind the Braves (6.61).
WILD’N CUZ I’M YANDY — Yandy Díaz has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games, batting .362 (17-for-47) with three doubles, two homers and 7 RBI…his .318 average on the season is .003 points behind leader TOR Bo Bichette (.321) in the race for the AL batting title.
Díaz has reached base safely in 16 of his 17 games against AL Central opponents this season, slashing .431/.486/.646 (28-for-65) with five doubles, three homers and
10 RBI…he ranks among MLB leaders against the division (min. 60PA) in several categories, including batting average (1st), on-base pct. (2nd), OPS (4th, 1.132) and
slugging pct. (8th).
He is riding an active five-game hitting streak against AL Central clubs, going 11- for-24 (.458) with three extra-base hits and 4 RBI in that span.
MAN ON THE MOON — Wander Franco has recorded multiple hits in five of his last six games, going 14-for-24 (.583) with one triple, three homers and 7 RBI in that span… it marks the most hits by a Ray over any six-game span since Austin Meadows went 14-for-27 (.519) from 5/25-30, 2019…Franco has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games since 7/28, leading AL qualifiers during that timeframe in OPS (1.363), slugging pct. (.863), homers (T1st, 6) and total bases (T1st, 44) while ranking highly in extra-base hits (T2nd, 8), batting average (3rd, .431), hits (3rd, 22) and on-base pct. (4th, .500).
This comes after Franco slashed .174/.248/.313 (20-for-115) from 6/17-7/26, the third-lowest batting average in the majors in that span, ahead of only SEA Ty France (.161) and MIN Byron Buxton (.167).
Franco has produced an average exit velocity of 94.3 mph over his last 13 games… this, compared to 89.9 mph during his extended slump from 6/17-7/26…four of Franco’s six highest exit velocities of the season have been recorded over his last eight games since 8/2, including a season-best 108.9 mph homer off NYY Gerrit Cole on 8/2…it marked the third hardest-hit ball of his career, trailing only a pair of homers against BOS Michael Wacha on 4/22/22 (112.4 mph, 109.7 mph).
Franco’s swiped his 30th stolen base of the season last night, becoming the fifth player in the majors to reach 30 steals in 2023…became the fourth player (12th instance) in club history to steal 30+ bases before September, including the first since B.J. Upton (37SB) and Carl Crawford (41SB) in 2010…joined Jason Bartlett (30SB, 2009) and Julio Lugo (39SB, 2005) as the only shortstops in Rays history to record a 30+ steal season.
CLEVELAND IS THE REASON—The Rays and Guardians meet for the first time since Cleveland dealt Tampa Bay its first postseason sweep in franchise history in the 2022 AL Wild Card Series (2-0)…including the postseason, Tampa Bay and Cleveland have played in six consecutive one-run games, with the Rays going 2-4 (2-1 at home).
With a win today, the Rays would secure their first series victory over the Guardians since 7/22-25, 2021 at Progressive Field (3-1).
The Guardians won the season series, 4-2, in 2022, with each contest being decided by two or fewer runs…the Rays have won three of the last four season series since
2018 (clubs did not meet in 2020) after dropping four straight from 2014-17.
The Rays are 19-7 (.731) over their last 26 matchups with the Guardians dating back to 9/1/18, including 10-3 at home…it marks their best record against any AL opponent during that timeframe, ahead of Los Angeles-AL (.714/15-6).
TODAY’S STARTER: RHP SHAWN ARMSTRONG (0-0, 1.15)
TODAY’S START — Shawn Armstrong will make his seventh career start, including his fourth this season…in his last start in game two of a doubleheader on 7/15 at Kansas City, Armstrong threw 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit with no walks and two strikeouts.
In his previous six career starts, Armstrong has posted an 0.61 ERA (14.2IP, 1ER), striking out 14 batters against one walk while holding opponents to a .196 (10-for-51) average.
STRONG START — Since his activation from the 60-day injured list on 6/3, Armstrong has pitched to a 1.15 ERA (31.1IP, 4ER), holding opponents to a .180 (20-for-11) AVG across 21 appearances (3 starts).
ON GUARD — Armstrong has made six career relief appearances against Cleveland, going 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA (6.0IP, 3ER)…in his last outing against the Guardians on 9/29/22, Armstrong allowed two runs on three hits and one walk with two strikeouts…he spent the first three seasons of his career with Cleveland from 2015-17.
CAREER DAY — On 7/6 vs. Philadelphia, Armstrong registered a career-high tying five strikeouts (also 4/13/17 vs. CWS)…he also tallied a career-high tying 3.0 innings in the outing (4x, last: 9/4/22 vs. NYY).
TOP DOG — Since making his season debut on 6/4, Armstrong’s 1.15 ERA (31.1IP, 4ER) is the lowest mark by a reliever in the majors (min. 30.0IP)…he threw 16.0 scoreless innings across nine appearances (2GS) from 6/30-8/4, limiting opponents to a .113 (6-for-53) batting average while posting a 0.50 WHIP.
PITCH MIX — Armstrong utilizes his four-seam fastball 22.1 pct. of the time and has limited opponents to an .067 (2-for-31) average on the offering…17 of his 34 strikeouts have come on the four-seamer this year…in 2022, he threw his four-seam fastball 28.9 pct. of the time and held opponents to a .197 (15-for-76) clip.
His sinker, which he uses 29.8 pct of the time, has also been an effective offering, as he is holding opponents to a .167 (4-for-24) clip.
Batters have found the most success on Armstrong’s cutter, a pitch he utilizes 38.8 pct. of the time…opponents are batting .222 (10-for-45) with one double, one triple and a home run off the pitch
