OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Dropped game one of this three-game set by a score of 8-2 last night…shut out the Rangers on Wednesday 2-0 for their third shutout of the season…lost their 82nd game of the season Tuesday night to clinch a losing record for the second consecutive season (went 60-102 last year)…it marks the first time the A’s have had back-to-back losing seasons since 2015- 17 when they had three straight…lost the first two games of the Texas series but won the finale to avoid the sweep…have been swept 15 times this year, which are the most times the A’s have been swept in a season since 1997 (also 15)…the only time in Oakland history the A’s have been swept more than 15 times was in 1978 (17)…have lost seven of the last 10 games and are 8-16 (.333) since the All-Star Break, which is the third lowest winning percentage in the majors…are 21-33 (.389) over the last 54 games dating back to June 6 after going 12-50 (.194) over the first 62 contests…are 50 games under .500 at 33-83 (.284) which matches their season high of 50…have not been more than 50 games under .500 since finishing the 1979 season 54 under at 54-108…have the lowest winning percentage in the majors behind the Royals (38-80, .322)…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…swept a two-game series from San Francisco over the weekend for their second series sweep of the season (June 9-11 at Milwaukee)…including the Texas series, are 8-11-1 over the last 20 series after going 1-16 over the first 17.
OFFENSE: The A’s are batting .198 (61-for-308) with 24 runs scored over the last 10 games (2.4 runs per game)…overall, rank last in the majors in batting (.222), slugging (.360), OPS (.660), runs (411) and extra base hits (285), tied for second in most times shut out (12), third in fewest doubles (156), fourth in lowest on-base percentage (.300), fifth in fewest home runs (111) and eighth in most strikeouts (1058)…lead the majors in sacrifice hits (24) and rank eighth in hit by pitches (59).
IN THE PINCH: A’s pinch hitters lead the majors in hits (31), rank third in plate appearances (133), fourth in doubles (5) and tied for seventh in walks (12) and extra base hits (7).
PITCHING: The A’s compiled a 7.02 ERA over the first 49 games through May 22 but have a 4.91 ERA (320 er in 587.0 ip) in 67 games since then…have a 5.80 ERA overall, which is the highest in the majors…also have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.356), the second highest slugging percentage (.460) and OPS (.815), and fourth highest batting average (.268)…lead the majors with 72 hit batters, which is tied for the second highest total in Athletics history (81 in 1911, 72 in 2022, 72 in 1903)…also lead the majors in most walks (494), are tied for second in most wild pitches (48) and tied for first in fewest shutouts (3), rank fifth in most home runs (158) and sixth in fewest strikeouts (934).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 0-6 with a 5.93 ERA (29 er in 44.0 ip) over the last nine games and 11-53 with a 6.10 ERA overall…have the fewest wins in the majors, the highest ERA and are tied for the second 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 second fewest innings pitched in the majors (530.0) behind just the Giants (524.1).
FOR OPENERS: The A’s used an opener on Wednesday for the 14th time this season (last on July 25)…openers are 0-4 with a 7.11 ERA (19.0 ip, 25 h, 15 r, 15 er, 4 bb, 22 so) and the main pitchers are 4-3 with a 4.55 ERA (65.1 ip, 55 h, 34 r, 33 er, 25 bb, 66 so)…are 4-10 over the first 14 games using an opener…used an opener nine times in 2018 (all in September) and three times in 2019 (none after June 5).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has three wins, a loss, two saves and two blown saves over the last six games…has 16 saves over the last 53 games after tallying just four over the first 63…is 20-for-40 (50.0%) in save opportunities for the season, which is the tied for the second lowest percentage in the majors…has the second fewest saves and is tied for the ninth most blown saves (20)…has the highest ERA in the majors (5.48), the most losses (30) and the second most innings pitched (488.0)…the 30 losses are one short of the Oakland record for losses by relievers (31 in 1993 and 2015)…has allowed 87-of-226 (38.5%) inherited runners to score, which is the fourth highest percentage…has the second most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 111-for-133 (83.5%) in stolen base attempts…rank fifth in the majors in steals, attempts, and percentage…the stolen bases are the most by an A’s team since 2012 (122)…A’s opponents are 79-for-115 (68.7%) in stolen base attempts, which is the second lowest success rate in the majors…the 36 caught stealings are the most in the majors…A’s pitchers have 11 pickoffs, which is tied for fourth most.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS: The A’s have committed five errors in the last seven games and have 70 for the season, which is fifth most in the majors…are tied for second in fewest double plays (80), tied for 10th in outfield assists (19) and tied for 10th in most passed balls (7).
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s continue a six-game road trip to Washington (0-1) and St. Louis (three games)…went 3-2 on this five-game homestand against San Francisco (2-0) and Texas (1-2)…won the final game against the Rangers to clinch their first winning homestand of the season…went 3-7 on the last homestand against Minnesota (0-3), Boston (2-1) and Houston (1-3) and are 18-41 (.305) 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 15-42 (.263) on the road, which is the worst road record in the majors…have compiled a 4.97 ERA (300 er in 543.0 ip) at home compared to 6.75 on the road.
ONE-RUN GAMES AND THE REST: The A’s are 17-22 (.436) in one-run games and 16-63 (.203) in games decided by two or more runs…17 of the A’s 33 wins (51.5%) are by one run…have a run differential of -282, 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 14 of their 33 victories (42.4%)…are 6-6 (.500) in extra inning games and the six wins matches the A’s total from last year…have six walk-off wins, which is tied for fifth most.
PLAYER NOTES: The A’s have used 55 players, which is third most in the majors…will be 56 players used this season when LHP Francisco Pérez makes his A’s debut…employed a franchise record 64 players last year…have used 34 pitchers, which ties the Athletics record (2018, 2022) and is fourth most in the majors this year…have used 30 relievers, which is an on-going franchise record…16 different pitchers have started a game, which ties the Oakland record set in 1983…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: Wednesday concluded a 27-day stretch that began July 14 where the A’s left the state of California just once (July 28-30 at Colorado)… went 8-15 over that span…the A’s are 6-31 (.162) in the final game of a series…are 24-43 (.358) in night games, 9-40 (.184) during the day…are 8-10 (.444) on Tuesday, 7-11 (.389) on Friday and 17-63 (.213) on all other days of the week.
A’S VS. NATIONALS
- The A’s have lost each of their last two season series to Washington, dropping two of three in their first ever visit to Nationals Park last year after losing two of three in Oakland in 2017.
- Have faced the Nationals just four times, as they also swept a three-game series in Oakland in 2014 and were swept in a three-game series at RFK Stadium in 2005.
- Swept a three-game series from Montreal in 2003.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-1 0-1
2022 0-0 1-2 1-2
Oakland History: 8-8
at the Coliseum: 4-2
at Nationals Park: 1-3
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Zack Gelof has six home runs in 23 games played making him the fastest player in Oakland history to reach six home runs…since Gelof made his debut on July 14, he is one of just four players with six homers, six steals, and an OPS over .800 (Cody Bellinger-CHC, Kyle Tucker-HOU, Bobby Witt Jr.-KC)…Esteury Ruiz has three steals in six games since returning from the injured list on Aug. 5…is tied for third in the Majors in stolen bases over that span…for the season, he has 46 steals which is second only to Ronald Acuña Jr. (54) despite having played 23 fewer games (Ruiz 90 GP, Acuña Jr 114) in 2023.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Luis Medina (3-8, 5.47 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his 17th appearance and 13th start of the season…is 2-2 with a 3.35 ERA (15 er in 40.1 ip) and .227 (35-for-154) opponents batting average over his last eight games after going 1-6 with a 7.55 ERA and .288 opponents average over his first eight contests…was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas May 11 for his second stint with the A’s this year… was called up for the first time on April 25, started and lost the next day at Los Angeles (AL) in his Major League debut, and was optioned back to Las Vegas on April 27.
STARTING AND RELIEVING: Is 2-7 with a 5.55 ERA (36 er in 58.1 ip) in 12 starts and is 1-1 with a 5.23 ERA (12 er in 20.2 ip) in four games where he pitched in relief in a game started by an opener (Waldichuk on May 28 vs. Houston, Moll on June 9 at Milwaukee, Waldichuk on June 20 at Cleveland, Long on July 7 at Boston)…has tossed at least five innings 12 times, including three times as a reliever…his season high is 6.0 innings in starts on May 11, May 17 and July 7…his low is 2.0 innings in a start on June 3 at Miami.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Has allowed 10 home runs in 191 at bats against right-handed hitters (19.1 at bats per home run), two in 119 at bats against left-handers (59.5 at bats per home run)…eight of the 12 home runs he has allowed have come with the bases empty.
THIS AND THAT: Walked five batters in his first start in August last Sunday against San Francisco after walking five batters in 22.0 innings in all of July… posted a 5.56 ERA in May and a 5.88 in June but logged a 2.86 ERA in four games in July…has allowed just two home runs in his last 11 games and 51.1 innings after surrendering 10 home runs in his first five games and 27.2 innings…is tied for fifth in the majors in wild pitches (8)…has allowed 17 of his 51 runs in the second inning for a 9.39 ERA (16 er in 15.1 ip)…has a 2.25 ERA (3 er in 12.0 ip) in the first inning.
2023 DAY-BY-DAY: Began the season at Triple-A Las Vegas and was 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in three starts when he was recalled by Oakland on April 25… made his Major League debut the next day with a start at Los Angeles (AL) and was the losing pitcher in the A’s 11-3 loss…became the 59th pitcher in Oakland history to start in his ML debut, the third this year (Fujinami on April 1, Miller on April 19)…allowed eight runs in 5.0 innings, which match the most runs in Oakland history by a pitcher in his debut…the first pitcher to do it was Fujinami earlier this year on April 1…it matches the most runs by an Athletics pitcher in his debut over the last 103 years (fifth time)…in addition to runs, he also had a career high in hits (8)…was optioned back to Las Vegas on April 27 and went 0-1 with a 15.75 ERA in two starts before he was recalled by Oakland a second time on May 11…matched his career high with 6.0 innings pitched on May 11 against Texas and May 17 against Arizona…his fifth career appearance on May 28 against Houston came in relief of opener Ken Waldichuk…allowed a career high three home runs and took the loss in a 10-1 decision…started in his next outing on June 3 at Miami but took the loss after allowing six runs on six hits and four walks in 2.0 innings… it was the shortest start of his career…it gave him a career-opening streak of six consecutive games with three or more runs allowed, which matched the longest such streak in Oakland history…joins Mike Morgan (June 11, 1978- July 7, 1979) and Dillon Overton (June 25-Sept. 15, 2016)…pitched in relief of opener Sam Moll on June 9 at Milwaukee and picked up his first Major League win in the A’s 5-2 victory…allowed two runs on three hits in 5.0 innings…it snapped a career-opening five-game losing streak…had an 8.19 ERA during the streak, which spanned six games, including five starts, from April 26 to June 3…it matched the third longest career-opening losing streak in Oakland history…allowed a career-high tying eight hits in 4.2 innings in a start and loss to Tampa Bay on June 14…had a no decision in the A’s 3-2, 10-inning loss at Cleveland on June 20…pitched in relief of opener Ken Waldichuk and was the pitcher of record when he was relieved by Moll with a 2-0 lead in the seventh…Moll allowed an inherited runner to score plus a run of his own for the blown save…walked a career-high seven batters in 5.0 innings in a 12-1 loss at Toronto on June 25…is one of two A’s pitchers to walk seven batters in a game over the last eight years (Kaprielian earlier this year on April 14)… logged a career-high 100 pitches in 5.0 innings on June 30 against Chicago (AL) but allowed just one run for the win…struck out a career-high nine batters in a career-high tying 6.0 innings in relief of opener Sam Long on July 7 at Boston… combined with Long, Fujinami, Moll and May on a five-hit shutout in the A’s 3-0 win over Boston on July 8…tossed 5.2 innings and allowed three of the hits.
LAST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 8-6 win over San Francisco last Sunday in Oakland…tossed just 3.1 innings, allowing a RBI single to Davis in the first, a a RBI single to Wade in the second and two runs in the third on a Bailey RBI single and a fielders choice…was relieved by Long after walking Flores with one out in the fourth and the A’s trailing 4-3.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:
OPPONENT – OAKLAND ATHLETICS
The Nationals and Athletics will face off three times this season (3 in D.C.)…The A’s were the last team in Major League Baseball to visit Nationals Park when they came to Washington last season on August 30…Kyle Finnegan was drafted by Oakland in 2013 (6th rd.) and spent six seasons in their Minor League system before signing with the Nationals in 2019…Jordan Weems made his Major League debut with Oakland in 2020…Robert Garcia is from Manteca, Calif. and attended Modesto Christian High School before going to UC Davis…Zack Gelof is from Rehoboth, Delaware and attended Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes, Delaware before going to the University of Virginia.
CHEERS TO THE WEEKEND
The Washington Nationals beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-2, on Friday night behind 6.0 shutout innings from the bullpen and an offense led by Ildemaro Vargas (2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R), Keibert Ruiz (2-for-4, HR, RBI, BB, 3 R) and Jake Alu (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, R).
- With the win, the Nationals have won 10 of their last 12 home games dating to July 8 vs. Texas.
STATUS CHECK
The Nationals have won six of nine, eight of their last 13, 13 of their last 21, 17 of their last 29 and are 23-19 (.548) since June 24…This stretch includes series victories over the San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds.
WHAT A RELIEF
The Nationals have the best bullpen ERA in the NL (2nd in MLB) since July 21 at 2.74 (22 ER/72.1 IP)…Nationals relievers have posted 8.8 strikeouts per 9.0 innings and a .216 opponents’ average over this stretch.
- Since Aug. 2, the group has pitched to a 2.12 ERA (8 ER/34.0 IP) with 9.8 strikeouts per 9.0 innings and a .175 opponents’ batting average…They have allowed just two of 13 inherited runners to score over this stretch (15.4%).
BACKSTOP BAT
Keibert Ruiz leads Major League catchers in average (.341) on-base percentage (.410) and slugging percentage (.545) since July 9…He’s recorded six doubles, four homers, 12 RBI, 11 walks, one stolen base and 12 runs scored in 25 games over this stretch.
- Ruiz’s 30 hits and 11 walks both rank second among National League catchers during this span.
NEXT ON 20-20: LANE THOMAS
Lane Thomas hit his 20th home run and stole his 15th base on Tuesday…With five more stolen bases, Thomas would record the sixth 20 home run – 20 stolen base season in Nationals History (2005-pres.) and the first since 2016.
- Thomas ranks in the National League in hits (4th, 131), doubles (T5th, 29), total bases (T6th, 224) and runs (8th, 79)..He leads the National League (T1st in MLB) with a career-high 11 outfield assists.
BORN TO RUN
CJ Abrams ranks fourth in the National League with 28 stolen bases…He stole 25 consecutive bases without being caught from May 5 to Aug. 10, the longest streak in Nationals history (2005-pres.) according to the Elias Sports Bureau…It was the longest active streak in MLB at the time.
- Since being moved to the leadoff spot on July 7, Abrams is hitting .317 with six doubles, a triple, four homers, 10 RBI, eight walks, two hit by pitch, 17 stolen bases and 23 runs scored.
OK, KYLE
Kyle Finnegan has seven saves, five holds and has pitched to a 0.71 ERA (2 ER/25.1 IP) with a .146 opponents’ average (12-for-82) in his last 23 appearances.
- He’s set a new career-high and is eighth in the NL with 18 saves this season.
- Finnegan surrendered seven earned runs and three home runs in his first three outings…Since the next outing on April 7 at Colorado, he has pitched to a 1.51 ERA (8 ER/47.2 IP) with 49 strikeouts and three home runs allowed in 45 games.
STARTING PITCHER – #74 JAKE IRVIN
Tall right-handed starter was added to Washington’s 40-man roster following the 2022 season…Has the “Best Control” in Washington’s system, perBaseball America…Joins other University of Oklahoma pitchers Cade Cavalli (2020 Draft) and Jake Bennett (2022 Draft) in the Nationals organization….Is the 25th pitcher drafted/signed and developed by the Washington Nationals to start a game for Washington (2005-pres.).
LAST START
Allowed three earned runs on five hits, walked two and struck out six in 4.1 innings against Cincinnati at Great American Ball park on August 6…He did not factor in the Nationals’ 6-3 victory.
vs. OAKLAND
Has never faced the Athletics.
RECENCY BIAS
Since having his turn in the rotation skipped in early June for rest, Irvin has pitched to a 4.42 ERA (26 ER/53.0 IP) with 45 strikeouts and 16 walks allowed in 10 starts…He has allowed 17 extra-base hits (5 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR) while holding opponents to a .259 average…His best start came on July 21 against San Francisco when he allowed three earned runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and one walk in 6.2 innings.
FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE WIN
Earned his first Major League win on May 8 at San Francisco…Tossed 6.1 shutout innings with five strikeouts, three walks and four hits allowed…With the outing, Irvin became the first pitcher in Nationals history (2005- pres.) to finish one of his first two career starts with at least 6.0 scoreless innings.
THE STORY OF HIS CURVEBALL
As told to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post: “To Irvin, baseball was more about having fun than plotting a future. He learned his curveball grip by messing around in the backyard. He honed the pitch by throwing it from shortstop to first base during practice, a way of messing with his teammates.”
- Opposing batters are 18-for-99 (.182) with 26 strikeouts against his curveball.
