BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Orioles fell to the Mariners last night, 9-2, to begin the three-game series…Anthony Santander hit his team-leading 21st home run of the season in the fourth inning, most among AL switch hitters and third-most among MLB switch hitters this year…Jacob Webb and Nick Vespi both tossed 1.1 scoreless innings in relief for the Birds. Webb struck out the side in his team debut on August 9 and fanned the first two batters faced yesterday; he’s the first player in O’s history (since 1954) to strike out each of the first five batters he faced with the team.
SWEEPLESS IN BALTIMORE: With Thursday’s win over Houston, the Orioles have gone 76 consecutive series of at least two decisions (no ties) without being swept…According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the most consecutive series without getting swept in Orioles history (since 1954), ahead of 46 consecutive sweepless series from 1971-72…It is 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)…The Birds have not been swept in a series of at least two games since May 13-15, 2022 at Detroit (0-3), and have not been swept at home in a series of at least two games since August 27-29, 2021 vs. Tampa Bay (0-3).
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won eight of their last 12 games, nine of 14, 22 of 32, and 23 of 35…At 71-45 (.612), the Orioles have the best record in the AL and second-best in MLB (see box at right)…The Braves (73-41, .640) are the only other team with at least 70 wins and a .600 winning percentage this season…The Birds are 133-94 (.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 and a 2.0-game lead over the Rangers and Rays for the best record in the AL.
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.
O’s AT A GLANCE: Baltimore is 41-11 (.788) when scoring first this season, the best record in MLB…The Birds are 21-11 (.660) in one-run games, the best record in the AL and third-best in MLB…They are 35-18 (.660) in games decided by two runs and 46-25 (.648) in games decided by three runs, both the best such records in MLB…The Orioles have 35 comeback wins this year, second-most in MLB behind Cincinnati (36) and 71 come-from-behind victories since the start of 2022, second-most in MLB behind Los Angeles-NL (76).
AGAINST SEATTLE: The Orioles and Mariners are meeting for the second time this season… The Birds took two of three games at Camden Yards from June 23-25…Baltimore dropped two of three games in both series against Seattle last year, at T-Mobile Park from June 27- 29 and at Oriole Park from May 31 to June 2.
O THE PLACES YOU’LL GO: The Orioles began a nine-game, 10-day road trip last night with three games each in Seattle (August 11-13), San Diego (August 14-16), and Oakland (August 18-20)…The O’s have scheduled off days on Thursday, August 17 and Monday, August 21 before beginning a nine-game homestand from August 22-30…The trip is tied for Baltimore’s second-longest of the season with another nine-game, 10-day tour from September 1-10, which features three games each in Arizona (September 1-3), Los AngelesAL (September 4-6), and Boston (September 8-10)…Baltimore’s only longer trip this season was a 10-game, 11-day expedition from April 27 to May 7, during which the O’s went 6-4 in Detroit (3-1), Kansas City (2-1), and Atlanta (1-2).
Baltimore is 35-22 (.614) away from Camden Yards this season, the best road record in the AL and the second-best in MLB behind Atlanta (36-22, .632).
TOP GUNN: Gunnar Henderson paces AL rookies in bWAR and triples and ranks among the top in a variety of statistical categories (see box at right).
MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle has reached base safely in a career-high 18 straight games since July 21, tied for the second-longest active streak in the AL and tied for the fourth-longest current stretch in MLB…It is tied with Adam Frazier (5/6-25) for the longest onbase streak by an Oriole this season…Mountcastle had his 12-game hitting streak since July 28, the longest by an Oriole this season and second-longest of his career, snapped last night…He is slashing .397/.465/.658 (29-for-73) with seven doubles, four homers, 15 runs scored, 14 RBI, 11 walks, and one stolen base in 25 games while reaching base safely in all 21 of his starts since returning from the Injured List on July 9.
He slugged a 472-foot, two-run blast in the first inning Tuesday night against the Astros, marking the longest home run hit by an Orioles player at Oriole Park in the Statcast era (since 2015) and the second-longest Statcast-era home run at Camden Yards overall, trailing only a 474-foot homer by Houston’s Carlos Correa on August 10, 2019; with an exit velocity of 113.1 mph, it was also tied for the hardest-hit homer of his career.
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 from July 31 to August 3… 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.
AD SPACE: Adley Rutschman is slashing .327/.382/.531 (16-for-49) with two doubles, one triple, two home runs, eight runs scored, 11 RBI, and five walks in the last 12 games since July 30…Since moving to the leadoff spot on July 29, he is batting .500/.615/1.100 (5-for-10) with one double, one triple, one home run, two walks, and one hit-by-pitch as the first batter of the game.
He ranks fourth in the AL with 183 times on base (116 H, 66 BB, 1 HBP); his 183 times on base are already sixth-most by a primary catcher in a single season in O’s history (since 1954) with Javy López having the most with 236 times on base (183 H, 47 BB, 6 HBP) in 2004.
Rutschman’s 131 walks in his first 224 career games are the most in Orioles history.
His home run on Thursday, though coming as the designated hitter, was the first leadoff homer by a primary catcher in team history; no player had ever done so for the O’s in a season where they appeared in a game at catcher.
RISING TIDE: MLB Pipeline and Baseball America both released updated Top 100 prospects lists in the last few days following the additions of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft selections…Jackson Holliday, the No. 1 overall pick by the Orioles in 2022, is the top prospect by both oulets…Colton Cowser (MLB No. 14, BA No. 12), Heston Kjerstad (MLB No. 25, BA No. 50), Coby Mayo (MLB No. 28, BA No. No. 27), Samuel Basallo (MLB No. 50, BA No. 49), and Joey Ortiz (MLB No. 55, BA No. 72) are all ranked in the Top 100 by both publications while Jordan Westburg appears at No. 33 on Baseball America’s list after graduating from Pipeline’s list…Enrique Bradfield Jr., who the Orioles picked 17th overall in the First-Year Player Draft this year, debuts on Pipeline’s O’s Top 30 at No. 8.
STARTING PITCHER – #19 COLE IRVIN LHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 17th appearance (ninth start) of the season, eighth appearance (fourth start) on the road, and seventh career start against the Mariners tonight…Will be his first start since July 7 at Minnesota…Recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on June 10, his third stint with the O’s…Spent the 2022 season with the Athletics; led the team in wins (9), starts (30), innings pitched (181.0), and strikeouts (128)…Posted career-lows in ERA (3.98), opponent batting average (.251), on-base percentage (.293), slugging percentage (.416), and OPS (.709)…Allowed two earned runs-or-fewer in 17 of his 30 starts…Acquired by the Orioles along with RHP Kyle Virbitsky from Oakland in exchange for SS Darell Hernaiz on January 26, 2023…Originally selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Oregon.
LAST TIME OUT: Credited his first career hold in his last outing on August 6 vs. New York-NL…Worked a scoreless seventh inning with one strikeout…Threw 12 pitches, eight strikes.
LAST START: Did not factor into the decision in his last start on July 7 at Minnesota despite allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts in 6.1+ innings, his longest start as an Oriole…Left with one runner on, who later scored…Retired the first nine batters of the game before surrendering a leadoff single to Carlos Correa in the fourth inning…Marked his first quality start of the season…Threw 84 pitches, 57 strikes.
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE: Is slated to make his seventh career start against the Mariners tonight…Dealt the loss in his last start against Seattle with Oakland on
August 19, 2022 at Oakland Coliseum…Allowed six runs (5 ER) on six hits (2 HR) with two walks and two strikeouts in 6.0 innings…Threw 92 pitches, 57 strikes… Owns an 0-6 record with a 8.42 ERA (24 ER/25.2 IP) in his six career outings against the Mariners.
WILD WEST: Making his 36th career start against the AL West…Has pitched to a 9-19 record with a 4.45 ERA (97 ER/196.1 IP) and 14 quality starts in 35 career assignments against the division…Did not factor into his last such outing on April 13, 2023 vs. Oakland, his first start against his former team…Permitted six runs on five hits (1 HR) with two walks, a hit batter, and four strikeouts in 4.0 innings…Threw 80 pitches, 50 strikes.
LIFE ON THE ROAD: Is scheduled to make his eighth road appearance (fourth start) of the season tonight…Sports a 0-2 record with a 5.30 ERA (11 ER/18.2 IP) in seven outings away from Oriole Park this season.
WHAT A RELIEF IT IS: Since his last start on July 7 at Minnesota, Irvin has made six relief appearances, pitching to a 5.23 ERA (6 ER/10.1 IP) in those games… Credited his first career hold in his last such outing on August 6 vs. New YorkNL (1.0 IP, K)…Worked a career-high 4.0 innings of relief on July 18 vs. Los Angeles-NL, allowing two runs on four hits with three walks, a hit batter, and four punchouts.
SWIRVIN’ IRVIN: Irvin has posted a 1-1 record with a 3.60 ERA (14 ER/35.0 IP) in his last 12 appearances (five starts) since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on June 10…Owned an 0-2 record with a 10.38 ERA (15 ER/13.0 IP) in his first four appearances (three starts) of the year.
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE:Irvin has relied on his fastball more than any other pitch this season, throwing it 30.5 percent of the time…Opposing hitters are slashing .242/.273/.435 (15-for-62) against his primary pitch…In 2022, Irvin held batters to a .218/.266/.379 (53-for-243) slash line against his heater
SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue a 5-game homestand (3-0) with the 2nd of 3 games against the Baltimore Orioles (1-0)…Seattle opened the homestand with a 2-game series sweep of the San Diego Padres (2-0)…following tomorrow’s series finale against Baltimore, the Mariners will embark on a 10- game road trip against the Kansas City Royals (4 G, Aug. 14-17), Houston Astros (3 G, Aug. 18-20) and Chicago White Sox (3 G, Aug. 21-23)…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS and FS1 and broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM).
ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners defeated the Orioles by a 9-2 score last night…the Mariners have won a season-high 8 consecutive games and are 10-1 over their last 11, 13-2 over their last 15, 16-4 over their last 20 and 25-10 over their last 35 games, all season-best stretches…the Mariners are 48-18 when scoring at least 4 runs and 15-34 when scoring 3-or-fewer…the Mariners are 34-26 at T-Mobile Park and 29-26 on the road this season…they are 21-19 in day games and 42-33 at night.
- Higher And Higher – The Mariners are a season-high 11 games above the .500 mark.
- Theme From ‘The Jeffersons’ – Coming into Saturday, Seattle is just a half-game back of the final Wild Card spot in the AL…on June 30, Seattle was 6.0 games back of the final spot.
- Well-Attended – Since July 21 vs. Toronto, Seattle has totaled 344,967 fans at T-Mobile Park and averaged 38,330 across its last 9 home games (7-2)…overall this season, the Mariners are 16-7 (.696) in home games with 35,000+ fans in attendance and 18-19 before crowds below 35,000.
- Ju-li-o! – With his next home run, Julio Rodríguez will become the first player in Mariners history with 20+ home runs in each of his first 2 Major League seasons.
- Roster Move – RHP Juan Then cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma…Seattle’s Major League, 40-man roster is now at 39 players.
FÉLIX HERNÁNDEZ TO BE INDUCTED INTO MARINERS HALL OF FAME…Félix Hernández will be inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame tonight, becoming the 11th member of the Hall of Fame…”King Félix” will join Alvin Davis, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, Dan Wilson, Ken Griffey Jr., Jamie Moyer, Ichiro Suzuki, broadcaster Dave Niehaus and manager Lou Piniella…after Induction Night tonight, Félix Hernández Mariners Hall of Fame Bobblehead Day will occur tomorrow, Aug. 13.
THE W8-ING IS THE HARDEST PART…the Mariners have won a season-high 8 consecutive games (8/2- c), marking their first 8+ game winning streak since winning 14 consecutive games from July 2-17, 2022… it marks Seattle’s 18th 8+ game winning streak in franchise history…a win tonight would secure Seattle’s 8th 9+ game winning streak in franchise history.
BEST BALL…the Mariners have won 6 consecutive series, with a chance to take their 7th consecutive with another win against Baltimore in the current 3-game set…the Mariners have also won 9 of their last 11 series, owning an 9-1-1 series record since June 30…Seattle took 2 of 3 vs. Tampa Bay (6/30-7/2), 2 of 3 at San Francisco (7/3-7/5) and 3 of 4 at Houston (7/6-7/9) heading into the All-Star Break…the Mariners lost 2 of 3 vs. Detroit (7/14-7/16) and split a 4-game series vs. Minnesota (7/17-7/20)…in their last 6 series, they have won 2 of 3 vs. Toronto (7/21-7/23), 2 of 3 at Minnesota (7/24-7/26), 2 of 3 at Arizona (7/28-7/30), 2 of 3 vs. Boston (7/31-8/2), swept 4 games at Los Angeles-AL (8/3-8/6) and swept 2 games vs. San Diego (8/8-8/9).
FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS…over the Mariners last 35 games (7/1-c), the team has gone 25-10 (.714) which is the best record in the Major Leagues…the Mariners bullpen leads the Majors with a 2.39 ERA (29 ER, 109.0 IP) with 40 walks and 135 strikeouts during that stretch…Seattle starters have compiled a 3.66 ERA (83 ER, 204.1 IP) with 43 walks and 206 strikeouts over the last 35 games, 4th-best ERA in the Majors during that span…offensively, Seattle ranks in the top-10 in MLB in batting average (.258/T-9th), on-base percentage (.335/7th), slugging percentage (.447/8th) and OPS (.783/7th) since July 1.
EIGHT MEN (NOT) OUT…during Seattle’s 8-game winning streak (8/2-c), Seattle has 8 players with an .800+ OPS…Dylan Moore is batting .400 (6×15) with a 1.337 OPS, Julio Rodríguez is batting .364 (12×33) with a 1.099 OPS, Cade Marlowe is batting .389 (7×18) with a 1.006 OPS, Ty France is batting .280 (7×25) with a .960 OPS, Cal Raleigh is batting .207 (6×29) with a .944 OPS, J.P. Crawford is batting .308 (8×26) with an .886 OPS, Tom Murphy is batting .400 (6×15) with an .838 OPS and Teoscar Hernández is batting .290 (9×31) with an .817 OPS.
WHO DOES NUMBER TWO WORK FOR…Cal Raleigh hit his 20th home run of the season last night, becoming the 2nd catcher in Mariners history with back-to-back 20+ homer seasons and joining Mike Zunino, who hit 25 HR in 2017 and 20 in 2018…Raleigh has 47 home runs since the start of 2022, most among MLB catchers in that span…Raleigh has 13 home runs against the AL East Division this season, tied for most by a player against any division with Shohei Ohtani-LAA (13 HR against both AL West and Central)…Seattle is 37-7 in games that Raleigh homers in in his career (including Postseason)…the Mariners are 13-3 this season when both Raleigh and Tom Murphy are in the starting lineup together.
‘START’ YOUR ENGINES…the Mariners starting rotation is 20-11 with a 3.40 ERA (112 ER, 296.1 IP) over the team’s last 51 games (6/12-c), leading the AL in ERA during that stretch and ranking 2nd in MLB to San Diego (3.29 ERA)…Mariners starters have walked 3-or-fewer batters in 30 consecutive outings (7/6- c)…overall this season, Seattle’s 57 quality starts are 2nd-most in the Majors to Minnesota (59).
DO WE HAVE YOUR VOGT?…the Mariners bullpen has allowed no more than 1 run in each of its last 14 games (7/26-c)…during the 14-game stretch, the Mariners bullpen leads the Majors with a 1.42 ERA (7 ER, 44.1 IP) with 13 walks and 48 strikeouts, ranking ahead of Toronto (1.84 ERA)…during that stretch, Matt Brash is 3-0 with 1 save and a 1.08 ERA (1 ER, 8.1 IP)…Justin Topa (7 G), Gabe Speier (6 G) and Tayler Saucedo (5 G) have not allowed a run during that stretch.
YOUNG HURLERS…while the Mariners overall pitching staff has been stellar this season, ranking 2nd in the Majors in fWAR (15.9), 1st in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.55) and 2nd in walks-per-9 innings (2.61), Seattle’s young pitchers have been impactful in particular: Mariners pitchers age 26-or-younger lead the Majors in fWAR (10.7) by a wide margin, ranking ahead of the Dodgers (7.1) and Guardians (7.0)…they also lead MLB in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.61), WHIP (1.09) and walks-per-9 innings (2.03)…George Kirby (3.2 fWAR) and Logan Gilbert (3.0) are the 2 best pitchers age 26-or-younger in the American League.
AS YOU KNOW…George Kirby paces the Majors with his 8.86 strikeout-to-walk ratio, striking out 124 batters and walking just 14 in 135.2 innings of work this season, but…DID YOU KNOW?…that Kirby could become the 2nd pitcher in Mariners history to lead the Majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio?…Marco Gonzales (9.14 SO/BB in 69.2 IP) in 2020 is the only qualified pitcher in franchise history to lead the Majors in SO/BB ratio, while Randy Johnson (4.52 SO/BB in 214.1 IP) in 1995 is the only other to lead the American League…since Gonzales led the league in the shortened season (60 G) in 2020, Kirby is also on pace to set the franchise record for SO/BB ratio (min. 162 IP) in a season…Hisashi Iwakuma (7.33 SO/BB in 179.0 IP) in 2014 currently holds the record among Mariners pitchers in full seasons.
MARINERS STARTER – RHP GEORGE KIRBY
2023 MLB Breakdown:
W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Overall 10-8 3.32 22/22 135.2 128 52 50 14 124 15
Home 6-3 3.26 11/11 66.1 57 25 24 7 71 8
Road 4-5 3.38 11/11 69.1 71 27 26 7 53 7
vs. BAL 0-1 2.84 1/1 6.1 6 3 2 1 4 1
Career MLB Breakdown:
W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Overall 18-13 3.35 47/47 265.2 263 106 99 36 257 28
Home 9-6 3.27 24/24 137.2 134 54 50 17 148 17
Road 9-7 3.45 23/23 128.0 129 52 49 19 109 11
vs. BAL 1-2 4.96 3/3 16.1 19 10 9 3 14 5
ABOUT KIRBY…
- 25-year-old right-hander is making his 23rd start of the season, 2nd against Baltimore…he is also making his 48th career start, and 4th career start against the Orioles.
- Selected by the Mariners in the first round (20th overall) of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft; signed by Mariners scout Ty Holub.
- Played 3 seasons (2017-2019) at Elon University (NC), going 19-8 with a 3.30 ERA (88 ER, 240.0 IP) in 45 games (34 GS) with the Phoenix.
- Became the first rookie in MLB history to record a save in the postseason in his first career relief appearance.
- Graduated from Rye HS (Rye, NY) where he was named to the all-metro, all-state, all-section and all-league baseball teams 3 times.
LAST TIME OUT…W#10 in last start on 8/5 at LAA…allowed 1 run on 3 hits (1 HR) with 7 strikeouts through 7.0 innings pitched.
THESE BOOTS WERE NOT MADE FOR WALKING…leads all qualified pitchers in the Majors with a 8.86 strikeouts-to-walk ratio, ranking ahead of Zach Eflin-TBR (7.59)…his 8.86 SO/BB ratio currently ranks as the 5th best in a single season in MLB history among qualified starting pitchers in the American League.
WALK AWAY…has the 2nd fewest walks allowed through the first 22 starts in a season with 14…he trails only Hisashi Iwakuma who recorded 13 walks through his first 22 starts in 2014.
NOTHING BUT STRIKES…had not given up more than 1 walk in his first 15 starts this season…this is the longest streak of giving up 1-or-fewer walks in a game among starters in the Majors this season.
CAREER-HIGH STRIKEOUTS…matched a career high in strikeouts for a single game with 10 in his start against Minnesota on 7/20…this was the 7th instance this season of a Mariners pitcher recording at least 10 strikeouts in a start…he joined Logan Gilbert, Bryce Miller, and Luis Castillo…Castillo has recorded 10+ strikeouts in a game three times this season.
CAREER-HIGH INNINGS…in his outing on 5/31 against NYY he threw 8.0 innings which matched a career high set earlier this year (4/27 at PHI).
LUCKY NUMBER 7…pitched 7.0 innings in his last outing against Los Angeles-AL…this marked the 9th time this season Kirby has pitched at least 7.0 innings in a game…he is tied for the 4th most 7.0+ inning games in the Majors this season.
NO WALKS ALLOWED…he did not give up a walk in 4 consecutive starts (5/26-620)…this was a new career-high in consecutive games without giving up a walk…Kirby has only allowed 14 walks all season.
