PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES:….lost 5-1 in the opener of their three-game series against the Twins last night…Have gone 5-6 in their last 11 games on the road…Have gone 13-14 in their last 27 games since losing each of their first five games following the All-Star break…Have lost back-to-back series after going 2-0-3 in their previous five.
ABOUT TONIGHT’S STARTER: Mitch Keller will make his 26th start of the season tonight in the middle game of this weekend series against the Twins…Keller limited the Reds to two runs (1er) in 6.0 innings in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader but had a no-decision in Pittsburgh’s 4-2 win.
AND THE WHIFF: Mitch Keller has a career-high 161 strikeouts coming into today, which ranks 10th in all of MLB…The last Pirate to finish among the top 10 leaders in strikeouts in MLB was A.J. Burnett with 209 in 2013…Keller’s 161 punchouts are the most by a Pirate since Jameson Taillon had 179 in 2018.
STRIKING NUMBERS: The Pirates recorded 11 strikeouts in last night’s game, giving the team 149 for this month…That’s the fifth-most strikeouts in all of MLB behind the Rangers (159), Marlins (153), Braves (150) and Twins (150).
REYNOLDS ROLLING: Bryan Reynolds enters today ranked fourth in all of MLB with 45 total bases this month…The only three players with more total bases this month are Julio Rodriguez (50), Bobby Witt Jr. (49) and Mookie Betts (47)…Since July 26, Reynolds also ranks 11th in all of MLB and fourth in the National League with a 1.045 OPS…The only three National Leaguers with a higher OPS in that time are Matt Olson (1.267), Mookie Betts (1.214) and Lars Nootbaar (1.127).
YOUNG BUCS: The Pirates currently have nine rookies on the team’s active roster…In addition, a total of 18 different rookies have played at least one game this season for the Pirates, which is tied for the second-most in MLB along with Oakland…The Reds lead MLB with 19 rookies who have played at least one regular season game this season according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
ON THE MEND: Last night right-handed pitcher Dauri Moreta made his first rehab appearance with Triple-A Indianapolis…Moreta, who has been on the 15-day injured list since August 4 with low back inflammation, struck out two of three batters he faced in 1.0 scoreless inning of relief… Moreta threw a total of 16 pitches (10 strikes).0
DOWN ON THE FARM: Last night Greensboro’s Thomas Harrington struck out eight batters while allowing one run in 7.0 innings in the team’s 5-3 win… Harrington leads all Pirates minor leaguers with 125 strikeouts…Since the beginning of last month, Harrington ranks third in all of Minor League Baseball with 59 strikeouts…The only two pitchers in all of MiLB with more punchouts in that time are Drew Thorpe (73), who pitches in the New York Yankees minor league system and Joe Boyle (61) of the Reds organization.
KE’S TO THE GAME: Ke’Bryan Hayes has recorded a hit leading off the game in each of his last three games in that spot of the lineup, singling on both Tuesday and Wednesday along with August 13 in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader…Hayes has also hit safely in eight of his last nine starts, going 15-for-39 (.385) with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 11 RBI.
GO JOE: Connor Joe has reached base safely six times in his last nine plate appearances in his last two starts, going 3-for-6 with a double, three walks and two runs scored…Since July 28, the 31-year-old Joe has also hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games, going 12-for-42 with three doubles, two home runs, three RBI, .375 OBP, .500 slugging percentage and .875 OPS.
ANDREW ON THE BASES: Andrew McCutchen enters today with a 19-game on-base streak… That’s the second-longest active on-base streak among all National League players (Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies has the longest active streak at 23 games)…Since the streak began on July 22, McCutchen’s 19 walks are the fourth-most in MLB behind Kyle Schwarber (27), Matt Olson (21) and Aaron Judge (20)…McCutchen has the team’s longest on-base streak of 2023, reaching base safely in 20 straight from June 5 to July 1.
STARTING PITCHER – 23 – RHP MITCH KELLER
MITCH KELLER: The 27-year-old righthander will make his 26th start of the season tonight…He had a no-decision (6.0ip/2r/1er) in game one of Sunday’s doubleheader vs. Cincinnati.
vs. MINNESOTA: Has never faced the Twins
MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: Have gone 2-1 through three games on their five-game, six day homestand, splitting a two-game series with Detroit earlier this week, followed by a win over Pittsburgh last night…tonight, they will continue the homestand with the second of three against the Pirates…after tomorrow afternoon’s series finale, the Twins will travel to Milwaukee for a twogame, three-day roadtrip with an off-day on Monday, followed by two against the Brewers on Tuesday and Wednesday…the Twins have gone 35-25 at home and 29-34 on the road…nine of the final 11 August games will be at Target Field.
The Twins have gone 19-13 since the All-Star break, the fifth-most wins in the AL.
The Twins are 9-3 in their last 12 home games and 14-6 in their last 20 here.
SORRY MISS JACKSON: The Twins beat the Pirates and Andre Jackson last night at Target Field by a score of 5-1…Pablo López was the starter, pitching 6.0 shutout innings, with six hits allowed, two walks and seven strikeouts…Pablo extended his scoreless inning streak to a career-long 19.0 innings…Twins pitchers held the Pirates to a 1-for-14 clip with runners in scoring position…the offense recorded 10 hits, giving them double-digit hits for the sec- ond-straight game and fourth time in their last five games…Donovan Solano and Christian Vázquez each had two hits, while Michael A. Taylor hit his 16th home run and drove in two.
TWINS AND BUCS: The Twins are 24-16 all-time against the Pirates, going 2-4 at Three Rivers Stadium, 8-4 at the Metrodome, 8-4 at PNC Park and 6-4 at Target Field…the Twins have won eight of their last 11 games vs. Pittsburgh, dating back to April of 2018.
Donovan Solano is hitting .324 (22-for-68) with nine RBI in 28 career games vs. Pittsburgh.
Kyle Famer 8-for-15 (.533) with three walks in his career against Mitch Keller.
NATIONALLY KNOWN: The Twins have gone 18-15 in Interleague Play this season, going 1-2 at Miami, 1-2 vs. Washington, 2-1 vs. San Diego, 2-1 vs. Chicago-NL, 1-2 at Los Angeles-NL, 1-2 vs. San Francisco, 2-0 vs. Milwaukee, 0-3 at Atlanta, 2-1 at St. Louis, 3-0 vs. Arizona, 2-1 at Philadelphia and 1-0 vs. Pittsburgh…the Twins have gone 7-1 in their last eight in IL Play and 11-5 in their last 16…their 18 wins are their most in IL Play for a single season (16 in 2006).
Max Kepler has six home runs against NL opponents this season…he has 21 career IL home runs, tied with Justin Morneau for fourth most in club history, trailing Torii Hunter (33), Eddie Rosario (23) and Joe Mauer (22).
LAND OF 10,000 RAKES: The Twins have hit 53 home runs since the All-Star break, the most in the AL and second most in baseball, trailing Atlanta (63)…on the season, they have homered 168 times, fourth most in the AL and seventh most in baseball.
SURGING IN THE SECOND HALF: The Twins have recorded double-digit hit totals in two straight and four of their last five games…below are the offensive numbers and
MLB ranks pre-All-Star break vs. post-All-Star break:
AVG R/G H HR BB OBP SLG OPS TB ISO
PRE: .232 (25) 4.2 (24) 708 (22) 115 (8) 297 (16) .309 (25) .400 (20) .709 (22) 1219 (20) .167 (10)
POST: .258 (8) 5.2 (7) 283 (9) 53 (2) 121 (8) .342 (6) .468 (4) .811 (5) 513 (5) .210 (2)
STARTERS ON STRIKE: Twins starters have struck out an MLB-best 758 batters and are on pace to strike out 998 hitters this season, which would shatter the club record of 870, done in 1967…in fact, 998 would land them eighth on baseball’s all-time list, behind the 2018 Astros (1,101), 2017 Guardians (1,066), 2018 Guardians (1,066), 2019 Astros (1,063), 2017 Nationals (1,012), 2019 Nationals (1,010) and 2017 Red Sox (1,001). A758 strikeouts rank sixth most in club history…next is the 2018 staff that had 760 (right).
Minnesota starters lead baseball with a 4.31 strikeouts-to-walk ratio and is the fourth best in baseball history, trailing the 2019 Dodgers (4.55), 2018 Guardians (4.37) and 2021 Dodgers (4.36).
C4 IGNITING: After drawing two walks last night (0-for-2), Carlos Correa has reached base safely in 10-straight games, since August 5…during that date, he is hitting .344 (11-for-32) with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, six walks, a .462 on-base percentage, a .688 slugging percentage and a 1.149 OPS.
From August 1 of last season to the end of the 2022 season, Correa hit .323 (72-for-223) with 10 doubles, nine home runs, 28 RBI, a .402 on-base percentage, a .498 slugging percentage and a .900 OPS in his final 59 games.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Notes and rankings on notable Twins rookies.
After starting the season hitting .182 (6-for-33) with a .576 OPS in his first eight games, Royce Lewis has hit .411 (30-for-73) with a .997 OPS in his last 21 games, including six three-plus-hit games…among all rookies in baseball with a minimum of 100 plate appearances, Royce ranks first in batting average (.340), and runs created-per-27 (8.7), second in OPS+ (140.8), third in OPS (.871) and fourth in wOBA (.381).
Edouard Julien is hitting .333 (33-for-99) with 18 walks, a .441 on-base percentage and a .946 OPS in his last 31 games, since July 8…among all MLB rookies with a minimum of 250 plate appearances this season, he ranks first in on-base percentage (.385) and OPS+ (140.4), second in OPS (.868) and wOBA (.378), and third in batting average (.290).
Matt Wallner exited last night’s game with a right hand contusion…in his last 23 games, since July 23, Wallner has hit eight home runs with 18 RBI and a .901 OPS…among all AL rookies with a minimum of 125 plate appearances, he ranks first in OPS (.868), runs created/27 (6.87), slugging percentage (.527), isolated power (.286) and second in OPS+ (137.2).
AND I WAS LIKE, EMILIOOOOOOO!!!: Emilio Pagan has posted a 1.00 ERA (18.0 IP, 2 ER) with four walks allowed, 16 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .100 (6-for-60) in his last 19 games, since July 7…since that date (minimum of 15.0 IP), his opponent batting average ranks second in all of baseball and his ERA ranks tied for sixth…additionally, he is tied for second in WHIP (0.56) and tied for third in fewest hits allowed (6).
RIP, ALEX COLE: Former Twins outfielder Alex Cole recently passed away at 58 years old…the Fayetteville, North Carolina native played in 133 games for the Twins from 1994-95, hitting .304 (129-for-424) with 18 doubles, seven triples, 78 runs scored and 30 stolen bases.
ON THIS DAY IN TWINS HISTORY: In 2007, Johan Santana set a club record with 17 strikeouts against the Rangers at the Metrodome, allowing two hits (both to Sammy Sosa – one single and one double) and no walks in 8.0 innings as Joe Nathan pitched the ninth inning and the Twins beat the Rangers 1-0…Michael Cuddyer provided the game’s only run with a homer…Santana passed the Twins previous mark of 15, set by Bert Blyleven (1986), Joe Decker (1973) Jerry Koosman (1980) and Camilo Pascual (1961).
STARTING PITCHER – $54 SONNY GRAY
2023: 6-5, 3.04 ERA CAREER: 96-82, 3.52 ERA
Making his 272nd career appearance and 263rd career start…also his 25th start/appearance this season.
Currently owns a five-game quality start streak dating back to July 22, going 2-1 with a 2.61 ERA (31.0 IP, 9 ER), four walks and 34 strikeouts in that span.
Owns the third-lowest ERA among qualifying American League pitchers (3.04), trailing TEX’s Nathan Eovaldi (2.69) and NYY’s Gerrit Cole (2.76).
Facing Pittsburgh for the first time since August 5, 2021 (W, 5.0 IP, 4 R/ER, 2 BB, 7 K)…is 4-3, 4.20 ERA (45.0 IP, 21 ER) with 13 walks and 46 strikeouts in nine career appearances against the Pirates (including 8 starts).
Acquired by the Twins on March 13, 2022 in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, along with right-handed pitcher Francis Peguero, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Chase Petty.
LAST TIME OUT: Earned the win in his fifth-consecutive quality start in his last appearance on August 13 against Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park…pitched 6.0 scoreless innings and allowed a season-low tying two hits, three walks and seven strikeouts in a 3-0 Twins’ victory…allowed a single to Alec Bohm in the first inning…yielded another single to Jake Cave in the second for his final hit allowed…retired 13 of the final 16 batters he faced after the second single…relieved by Griffin Jax in the seventh inning who loaded the bases with two singles to Cave and Garrett Stubbs and hit Johan Rojas with a pitch…replaced by Caleb Thielbar who escaped the bases-loaded jam…Thielbar combined with Emilio Pagán to pitch a scoreless eighth inning…Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless ninth…the Twins’ run support came from Jordan Luplow (solo home run in the first) and Jorge Polanco (two RBI singles in the third and ninth innings).
Extended his quality start streak to five games, his longest quality start streak as a Twin… is 2-1 with a 2.61 ERA (31.0 IP, 9 ER), four walks and 34 strikeouts in that span.
TWO STARTS AGO: Took his fifth loss of the season on August 8 at Detroit…pitched 6.0 innings and allowed three runs (2 earned) on seven hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts in a 6-0 Twins’ defeat… marked the second time this season Gray has recorded double-digit strikeouts (season-high 13 on April 7 vs. Houston)…in the first inning Riley Greene scored on a throwing error by Jorge Polanco after a groundball by Miguel Cabrera (the run was unearned)…retired seven of the next 10 batters he faced before allowing back-to-back RBI singles to Javier Báez and Zach McKinstry in the fourth inning…pitched a scoreless fifth inning and a 1-2-3 sixth to end his outing…relieved by Josh Winder in the seventh inning who permitted a solo home run to Jake Rogers…Winder also yielded a two-run single to Zack Short in the eighth inning.
KENNYWOOD’S STEEL CURTAIN: Gray is looking to extend his four-game win streak against the Pirates, dating back to May 27, 2019…owns a 3.58 ERA (27.2 IP, 11 ER) with eight walks and 32 strikeouts in the five-start span…is 4-3, 4.20 ERA (45.0 IP, 21 ER) with 13 walks and 46 strikeouts in nine career appearances against Pittsburgh (including 8 starts)…last faced the Pirates on August 5, 2021 at Great American Ball Park, when he earned the 7-4 Cincinnati Reds’ victory after pitching 5.0 innings and allowing four runs on six hits, with two walks and seven strikeouts…is 4-2, 5.40 ERA (31.2 IP, 19 ER) with 11 walks and 31 strikeouts in six career starts against the Pirates at home.
INTERLEAGUE PLAY: Making his seventh Interleague start of the season (May 12 vs. Chicago-NL, May 17 at Los Angeles-NL, May 23 vs. San Francisco, June 26 at Atlanta, August 3 at St. Louis and August 13 at Philadelphia)…is 2-1, 2.65 ERA (34.0 IP, 10 ER) with 10 walks and 39 strikeouts in his previous six starts, earning wins in St. Louis and Philadelphia and taking the loss in Atlanta…is 3-1, 2.77 ERA (48.2 IP, 15 ER) with 17 walks and 53 strikeouts in nine Interleague starts since joining the Twins.
Making his 45th career appearance (44th start) against the National League Central and third start of 2023 (May 12 vs. Chicago-NL and August 3 at St. Louis)…1-0, 2.19 ERA (12.1 IP, 3 ER) with one walk and 17 strikeouts in his two starts this season…is 15-15, 3.64 ERA (232.2 IP, 94 ER) with 77 walks and 272 strikeouts in his 44 previous appearances against the NL Central.
THE ARSENAL: Gray has used a six-pitch mix this season, per Baseball Savant…currently uses his 4-seam fastball the most at 25.5 percent…tossed 50 fastballs in his last start on August 13 at Philadelphia…recorded six of his seven strikeouts using his sweeper…also allowed both hits on a curveball…primarily uses his curveball (266 pitches) and changeup (132 pitches) against lefties and his cutter (234 pitches), sinker (302 pitches) and sweeper (303 pitches) against righties…here’s a look at his repertoire so far:
PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (# OF PITCHES, VS. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (92.8)………….25.5% (546 pitches, 187/359)… .331 (40-for-121), 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 8 K
Sweeper (84.1)……………………..19.0% (407 pitches, 303/104)………. .121 (17-for-140), 4 2B, 77 K
Curveball (79.4)……………………18.5% (396 pitches, 130/266)… .270 (24-for-89), 7 2B, 1 HR, 20 K
Sinker (92.7)………………………………16.0% (343 pitches, 302/41)…. .238 (19-for-80), 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 24 K
Cutter (87.5) …………………………14.7% (315 pitches, 234/81)…………… .236 (13-for-55), 5 2B, 9 K
Changeup (87.6)……………………..6.4% (137 pitches, 5/132)………. .207 (6-for-29), 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 K
Owns a .201 (79-for-393) opponent batting average across all of his secondary pitches (curveball, sweeper, sinker, cutter and changeup).
Owns the lowest opponent batting average against a sweeper in the majors (min. 100 PA)… also owns the third-highest whiff percentage against a sweeper (43.4), trailing only BAL’s Kyle Gibson (48.5) and LAD’s Yency Almonte (47.9).
