OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Dropped game two of this three-game series yesterday by a score of 6-2 and have now lost five straight games…shut out the Rangers at home 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…after being swept by Washington to begin this road trip, have now been swept 16 times this year, which are the most times the A’s have been swept in a season since 1997 (15)…the only time in Oakland history the A’s have been swept more than 16 times was in 1978 (17)…have lost 11 of the last 14 games and are 8-20 (.286) since the All-Star Break, which is the second lowest winning percentage in the majors…are 21-37 (.362) over the last 58 games dating back to June 6 after going 12-50 (.194) over the first 62 contests…are a season-high 54 games under .500 at 33-87 (.275)… have not been 54 games under .500 since finishing the 1979 season 54 under at 54-108…have the lowest winning percentage in the majors behind the Royals (39-82, .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 this series, are 8-13-1 over the last 21 series after going 1-16 over the first 17.
OFFENSE: The A’s are batting .209 (93-for-446) with 40 runs scored over the last 14 games (2.86 runs per game)…overall, rank last in the majors in batting (.222), slugging (.362), OPS (.662), runs (427) and extra base hits (299), tied for second in most times shut out (12), third in fewest doubles (163), third in lowest on-base percentage (.300), tied for fifth in fewest home runs (118) and eighth in most strikeouts (1087)…lead the majors in sacrifice hits (24) and rank tied for sixth in hit by pitches (63).
IN THE PINCH: A’s pinch hitters lead the majors in hits (32), rank third in plate appearances (137), fifth in doubles (5), tied for eighth in walks (12), and tied
for eighth in extra base hits (7).
PITCHING: The A’s compiled a 7.02 ERA over the first 49 games through May 22 but have a 4.95 ERA (341 er in 619.2 ip) in 71 games since then…have a 5.80 ERA overall, which is the highest in the majors…also have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.358), the second highest slugging percentage (.461) and OPS (.819), and third highest batting average (.270)…lead the majors with 75 hit batters, which is the second highest total in Athletics history (81 in 1911)…also lead the majors in most walks (517), are third in most wild pitches (49) and tied for first in fewest shutouts (3), rank fifth in most home runs (163) and sixth in fewest strikeouts (966).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 0-7 with a 5.63 ERA (39 er in 62.1 ip) over the last 13 games and 11-54 with a 6.06 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 (548.1) behind just the Giants (543.1).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has three wins, four losses, two saves and five blown saves over the last 10 games…has 16 saves over the last 57 games after tallying just four over the first 63…is 20-for-43 (46.5%) in save opportunities for the season, which is the lowest percentage in the majors…has the second fewest saves and is tied for the fifth most blown saves (23)…has the highest ERA in the majors (5.52), the most losses (33) and the second most innings pitched (502.1)…the 33 losses are an Oakland record for losses by relievers (31 in 1993 and 2015)…has allowed 93-of-236 (39.4) inherited runners to score, which is the third highest percentage…has the second most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 112-for-134 (83.6%) 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 83-for-119 (69.7%) 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 six errors in the last 11 games and have 71 for the season, which is tied for fifth most in the majors…are second in fewest double plays (83), tied for sixth in outfield assists (21) and tied for fifth in most passed balls (8).
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s continue a six-game road trip to Washington (0- 3) and St. Louis (0-2)…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 15-46 (.246) 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 6.68 (377 er in 507.2 ip) on the road.
ONE-RUN GAMES AND THE REST: The A’s are 17-24 (.415) in one-run games and 16-65 (.298) 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 -286, which is the lowest in the majors…the lowest in Oakland history is -291 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 57 players, which is third most in the majors…RHP Spenser Watkins made his A’s debut last night as the 57th player used…employed a franchise record 64 players last year…have used 36 pitchers, which is an Athletics record (34 in 2018 & 2022)…have used 31 relievers, which is an on-going franchise record…17 different pitchers have started a game, which ties the Oakland record set in 1983…have used the injured list 27 times…the only times in Oakland history the A’s used the IL as many 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 6-32 (.158) in the final game of a series…are 24-46 (.342) in night games, 9-41 (.180) during the day…are 8-11 (.421) on Tuesday, 7-11 (.389) on Friday and 17-66 (.205) on all other days of the week.
A’S VS. CARDINALS
- The A’s have won each of the last three season series dating back to 2013…are 8-2 against St. Louis over that span, outscoring the Cardinals 46-30.
- Lost the first three season series from 2004-2010, going 2-7.
- Are 5-8 on the road all-time against the Cardinals but had won each of the last four games at Busch Stadium prior to dropping the first two games of this series.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-2 0-2
2019 2-0 2-0 4-0
Oakland History: 10-12
at the Coliseum: 5-3
at Busch Stadium: 5-8
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Zack Gelof has homered seven times in his last 16 games and has eight homer over the first 27 games of his career which is the most in A’s history…in the last month since his debut, he is one of just five players in the Majors with eight or more homers and six or more stolen bases (Shohei Ohtani-LAA, Kyle Tucker-HOU, Cody Bellinger-CHC, Bobby Witt Jr-KC)…Seth Brown is hitting .319 (15-for-47) with a .864 OPS over his last 15 games dating back to July 29 with one homer and eight RBI, raising his batting average for the season to .220
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Paul Blackburn (2-3, 4.52 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Was reinstated from the injured list May 29 and is scheduled to make his 14th appearance and 13th 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 1-1 with a 2.74 ERA (7 er in 23.0 ip) and .730 opponents OPS over his last four starts…went 0-0 with a 3.48 ERA and .752 OPS over his first four starts and was 1-2 with a 7.36 ERA and .902 OPS in five games in between…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 six home runs, five to right-handed hitters…five have been solo shots…has allowed a .387 (12-for-35) batting average against the opponents number three hitter and .406 (13-for-35) with four of his five home runs against the clean-up hitter.
INTERLEAGUE PLAY: Is 1-1 with a 3.31 ERA (12 er in 32.2 ip) and .715 opponents OPS in six interleague starts compared to 1-2 with a 5.73 ERA (21 er in 33.0 ip) and .872 OPS in seven games against American League competition…is now 3-2 with a 3.43 ERA (23 er in 60.1 ip) and .659 OPS in 11 career starts against the National League and 12-18 with a 5.34 ERA and .819 OPS in 53 games against AL teams.
BY MONTH: His ERA increased each of his first three months…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…is 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA so far in August.
THIS AND THAT: Tossed 6.0 scoreless innings on Aug. 5…it was the fifth time in his 12 starts he allowed one run or fewer but he is 1-0 with four no decisions in those starts, all A’s wins…the A’s are 6-6 in his starting assignments… has walked two batters or fewer in eight of his 12 starts…has tossed six innings or fewer in each start…has not committed an error in 13 games and 15 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 seasonhigh 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…it was the first of two times he left with the lead only to have the pen blow the save (August 5 vs. San Francisco)…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…logged a season-high 106 pitches and matched his season highs in innings pitched (6.0) and hits (9) in an 11-3 win at Colorado on July 29…tossed a season-high tying 6.0 scoreless innings in the A’s 2-1 win over San Francisco on Aug. 5.
LAST START: Took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks over 5.2 innings while striking out three batters in the A’s 2-8 loss at
Washington…Oakland scored two runs in the top of the first inning was held scoreless for the remainder of the game.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:
RECENT REDBIRDS: The St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics wrap up their three-game series at 5:45 pm. tonight at Busch Stadium, followed by the New York Mets making their annual visit to St. Louis tomorrow for a four-game weekend series … The current seven-game homestand features teams with lowest ($56.8 million) and highest ($330.6 million) Opening Day payrolls … The Cardinals have won three in a row and five of their last six, while scoring 5+ runs in all six games (Aug. 9-present).
SWEEPSTAKES: A win tonight would give the Cardinals their 2nd series sweep of Oakland in franchise history and first since sweeping the Athletics in their inaugural Interleague matchup (June 15-17, 2004) at Busch Stadium II … This season, the Cardinals have swept the Red Sox at Fenway Park (May 12-14) and Marlins at home (July 17-19).
FLIGHT PATTERN: The Cardinals enter the day tied with Pittsburgh in 4th place in the NL Central, 11.0 games out of first place and 8.5 games back in the NL Wild Card chase … St. Louis has spent 100 of 136 days in last place on this season’s MLB schedule (April 26-May 19, May 29-July 7 & July 28-present) … This season is the Cardinals slowest start since 1997 when they were 54-66 (.450) after 120 games … St. Louis needs to go 27-15 (.643) over the remaining 42 games to finish at .500.
THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN’: According to research dating back to 1975, tonight’s scheduled 5:45 p.m. first pitch is the first regular season home game scheduled to begin at that time in the last 50 seasons in St. Louis … Tonight’s series finale was pushed up an hour from its usual 6:45 p.m. start to accommodate the Athletics travel schedule back to Oakland … Tomorrow’s series opener with the New York Mets will be televised nationally on FOX and is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m.
INTERLEAGUE ACTION: The Cardinals are wrapping up a current stretch of eight straight against American League opponents (5-2 record) … St. Louis is 240-235 all-time in Interleague play, with a .505 win pct. that ranks 14th in MLB and only trails Los Angeles (.533) among NL clubs … The Cardinals are 21-21 in Interleague games this season (10-12 at home) … After tonight, the Cardinals only remaining Interleague games are from September 11-13 at Camden Yards against the Baltimore Orioles.
AWESOME AUGUSTS: Since 2000, the Cardinals .596 (388-263) combined winning percentage in the month of August is tops in MLB (Oakland ranks 4th at .550) … St. Louis is 7-6 this month and hasn’t experienced a losing August since 2006 (13-15 record).
WALKER AND STAN THE (YOUNG) MAN: With his home run last night, 21-year-old rookie Jordan Walker now has 11 homers this season, tying Stan Musial (1941-42) for 5th among Cardinals before turning age 22 … Rogers Hornsby (14 HR from 1915-18) ranks 4th, while Albert Pujols holds the franchise record with 37 blasts during his 2001 National League Rookie of the Year campaign.
INTERLEAGUE INSTIGATOR: Nolan Arenado leads MLB in Interleague RBI (35) this season … With the expanded Interleague schedule in 2023, Arenado has already broken his existing single-season record of 29 Interleague RBI in 20 games during the 2019 season with Colorado. 1,500 CAREER GAMES: Arenado, who plays in his 1,499th career game tonight, will become only the 8th player in MLB history to have 320+ home runs, 350+ doubles, 1,000+ RBI, and 3,000+ total bases in their first 1,500 career games, last achieved by Albert Pujols from 2001-10 with St. Louis (chart left).
BACKSTOP BRILLIANCE: Since July 1, Cardinals catchers Willson Contreras, Andrew Knizner, and Ivan Herrera have combined to lead all MLB backstops in hits (54), total bases (91), RBI (34), batting average (.386), OBP (.460), slugging (.650) and OPS (1.110). – stats as catcher only
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: LHP MATTHEW LIBERATORE (2-4, 5.72)
TONIGHT’S GAME
- Making his 11th start of the season (12th app.) and 18th career start (21st app.).
- It’s his 3rd straight start since his recall from Memphis (AAA) on July 28.
- Has made 8 of 17 career starts at Busch Stadium: 3-2 with a 3.68 ERA (36.2 IP) and 28 strikeouts
- Is 3-2 career in his home starts. Is 1-1 with a 4.44 ERA in five starts (6 app.) at home this season, including “home” game start on 6/25 in London vs. CHI.
- Three career wins have come against N.L. Central opponents, which were all scoreless starts allowing just three hits.
- Holding opposing LHB to .219 BA (7-32) and RHB .295 (44-149). Issued his first walk of the 2023 season to a LH batter (29 TBF) in his start vs. SF (6/12) – M. Conforto.
- The Cardinals are 9-8 in his 17 career starts and 12-8 overall in his 20 total appearances.
LAST TIME OUT
- Authored the pitching performance of his MLB career on Thursday at Tropicana Field against the Rays, his original drafting team. Hurled career-high 8.0 shutout frames while allowing a pair of hits in the 5-2 Cardinals win.
- Became the first Cards rookie LHP to throw 8.0+ scoreless IP since Jaime Garcia (9.0 on Aug. 22, 2010 vs. Giants) and the 9th since 1984 when Ricky Horton hurled a complete game shutout on June 29, 1994 at San Diego.
DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
8/10 @TB W 5-2 W-2 8.0 2 0 0 0 7 0 101-70
2023 SEASON
- Made an International start in London, England vs. CHI (6/25). Announced as the starting pitcher less than 15 hours prior when Jack Flaherty was scratched due to injury. Received a no decision after allowing four unearned runs in the 1st inning, but clamped down and did not allow another run for the next five outs.
- Become the first Cardinals rookie to start a regular season game against the NYY, when he drew starting assignment in Game 2 of July 1 doubleheader. Dropped a 6-2 decision as he failed to get out of the 5th inning for 3rd-straight start.
- Allowed his 1st HR of the 2023 season in his start at TEX (6/6). The 3rd inning solo HR by the Rangers’ Nathanial Lowe snapped his string of 13.0 homerless innings pitched to begin the season.
