LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:
LEADING OFF: Today, the Angels play the eighth (3-4) of nine games on a road trip against the New York Mets (2-1), Philadelphia Phillies (1-2) and Oakland A’s (0-1; Sept. 1-3)…Halos went 1-5 on last homestand against Tampa Bay (1-2) and Cincinnati (0-3)…Halos went 2-4 on last road trip against Houston (1-2) and Texas (1-2).
SCHANUEL’S STREAKS: Nolan Schanuel has reached base safely in each of his first 11 MLB games…He set a franchise record with a 10-game hit streak to begin his MLB career (see list below), before having the streak snapped last night.
RENGIFO ROLLING: Luis Rengifo has hit safely in a season-high nine straight games and has multiple hits in five of those contests…His career high hit streak was 10 straight games from June 29 – July 10, 2022…Over hislast 11 games, he is batting .475 (19/40) with two doubles, one triple, three home runs and nine RBI.
HELLO, MY NAME IS…: With his season debut, Jóse Marte would become the 62nd different player used by the Angels this year…Halos currently lead the Majors with 61 different players used this season…LAA set a franchise record last year with 66 players used.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW: Kyren Paris is a native of Oakley, CA (approximately 48 miles from the Coliseum)…He reached base safely in each of his last 29 games for Double-A Rocket City, leads the Southern League in walks (88) and runs (79) and is tied for second in the league in stolen bases (44).
LATE COMEBACKS: Wednesday at Philadelphia was the Angels fifth win this season when trailing after eight innings…It’s the highest total for the Club since 2017, when the Angels also had five wins when trailing after eight frames.
HOME RUN LEADERS: Angels lead the American League and rank third in the Majors with 196 home runs this season…Only the Braves (256) and Dodgers (213) have homered more.
VS. OAKLAND: Angels lead the season series 5-3 and are 2-2 at the Coliseum in 2023…LAA is 17-10 against the A’s since the start of 2022.
SETTING THE TONE: The Angels lead the American League with eight leadoff home runs this season (four by Mickey Moniak and two each from Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo)…The eight leadoff homers are tied for the third-most in a season in Halos history (LAA had 10 leadoff HR in 1986 and nine in 2021).
THE INJURED LIST: Angels currently have 16 players on the injured list and have used the IL a total of 32 times this year for 27 different players.
RECENT ROSTER MOVES: Yesterday the Angels selected the contract of INF Kyren Paris and recalled RHP Jimmy Herget, LHP Kolton Ingram, RHP Gerardo Reyes, INF Michael Stefanic and RHP Andrew Wantz from Triple-A Salt Lake…On Wednesday, RHP Jóse Marte was recalled from Salt Lake.
CLAIMED: Yesterday, five Angels players were claimed off waivers by other clubs: Cleveland claimed RHP Lucas Giolito, RHP Reynaldo López and LHP Matt Moore…OF Hunter Renfroe was claimed by Cincinnati and RHP Dominic Leone was claimed by Seattle.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – RHP GRIFFIN CANNING7-4, 4.38 ERA
In last 10 starts, is 4-2 with a 3.32 ERA (62.1 IP – 23 ER)
- TODAY’S GAME: Making 20th appearance (18th start) of the season and 12th on the road (11th start)…Is in fourth Major League season with Angels.
- SUPPORTED: Third in the Majors (min. 95 IP) with an average of 6.84 runs of support per nine innings.
- LAST TIME OUT: Took no decision on August 27 at Mets, tossing 7.0 innings and surrendering one run on five hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts.
- SELF STARTER: Has a 2.55 ERA (17.2 IP – 5 ER) and 29 strikeouts in last three starts dating back to July 17.
- FROM THE ‘PEN: Has made two pitching appearances out of the bullpen this season…Is 1-0 with a 6.43 ERA (7 IP – 5 ER) in two outings as a reliever in 2023.
- CURRENT TRENDS: Has allowed three-or-fewer earned runs in 13 of 17 starts this season, including ten of last 12 starts…In last 10 starts, is 4-2 with a 3.32 ERA (62.1 IP – 23 ER).
- VS. OAKLAND: In eight career starts vs. Oakland, is 2-3 with a 4.79 ERA (41.1 IP – 22 ER) and 40 strikeouts (most starts, innings pitched and strikeouts against any opponent)…Took win in only previous start against A’s this season, pitching 5.0 innings and surrendering three runs on four hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts on April 25.
- AT OAKLAND COLISEUM: In four career starts at the Coliseum, is 0-1 with a 3.98 ERA (20.1 IP – 9 ER).
- DOUBLE DIGITS: Notched a career-high 12 strikeouts on July 17 vs. New York (A.L.)…Second career start with 10+ punchouts (September 22, 2020 @ San Diego).
- SEVEN SCORELESS: Earned win on May 23 vs. Boston after tossing a season-high 7.0 scoreless innings; matched longest scoreless appearance of career (also, 7.0 shutout frames on May 18, 2019 vs. KC).
- FOURTH FRAME: Has yielded 17 of 49 (35%) runs this season in the 4th inning.
- GETTING AHEAD: Recorded a first pitch strike on 60.6% (252/416) of batters faced this season.
- UNFAMILIAR FOES: In his career as a starter, has held opponents to a .212 average (96/454) in opposing batter’s first plate appearances of a game.
- STREAK SNAPPED: Loss on June 30 snapped career high streak of four consecutive winning decisions (previously won three straight decisions from June 9, 2021 – May 4, 2023).
- OVER SEVEN HITS: Allowed career high nine hits in start on May 17 at Baltimore…Was first time allowing more than seven hits in his career…Streak of 46 straight starts with seven-or-fewer hits allowed was second-longest in Angels history (Rickey Clark had a 50 game streak between the 1967-1971 seasons).
- HE’S BACK: Made season debut on April 12 vs. Washington; first Major league appearance July 2, 2021… Missed Angels first 11 games of the season on injured list with a left groin strain…Spent entire 2022 season and final two months of 2021 season on IL with a low back stress reaction.
- ON REHAB: Made one rehab appearance on with Low-A Inland Empire on April 6 in the 66ers season opener… Took the loss after tossing 5.0 innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits with two walks and 10 strikeouts.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Have won two of the last three games and are 6-5 over the last 11…are 28-45 (.384) over the last 73 games dating back to June 6 after going 12-50 (.194) over the first 62 contests…are 40-95 (.291) overall, which is the lowest winning percentage in the majors…are 1½ games behind the Royals (42-94, .309)…the 95 losses are fifth most in Oakland history (fourth is 97 in 1997)…have been swept 17 times this year, which ties the Oakland record set in 1978…have swept two series…have a run differential of -301, 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.
OFFENSE: The A’s tied an Oakland record with eight doubles last night (eighth time, previous: Aug. 18, 2018 vs. Houston)…however, have just 190 doubles for the season, which is third fewest in the majors…are on pace for 228 doubles, which would be their fewest in a full season since 1992 (219)…scored nine runs on 14 hits last night after tallying 10 runs on 28 hits over the previous five games…went 6-for-19 (.316) with runners in scoring position after going 3-for-26 (.115) over the previous five games…overall, rank last in the majors in batting (.224), slugging (.368), OPS (.670) and runs (492), are tied for the most times shut out (14), rank second in fewest extra base hits (346), fourth in lowest on-base percentage (.301), seventh in most strikeouts (1229), tied for seventh in most grounded into double plays (104) and eighth in fewest home runs (138)…are second in sacrifice hits (26) and fifth in hit batters (77)…the hit batters are fourth most in Oakland history (98 in 2021, 88 in 2001, 87 in 2019) and the sacrifice hits are the most since 2012 (27)… the 138 home runs are one more than the A’s season total of 137 last year.
IN THE PINCH: A’s pinch hitters are 0 for their last 13…however, have 35 pinch hits for the season, which is tied for second most by an A’s team over the last 32 years (had 57 in 1997)…lead the majors in pinch hits, rank second in plate appearances (163), tied for fourth in walks (14), tied for sixth in doubles (5), tied for eighth in extra base hits (8) and tied for 10th in home runs (3).
PITCHING: A’s pitchers hit their 82nd batter of the season last night, which breaks the Athletics record of 81 set in 1911…lead the majors in hit batters and are 13 short of the American League record of 95 set by the 2003 Devil Rays…have compiled a 4.17 ERA (44 er in 95.0 ip) over the last 11 games but have a 5.68 ERA for the season, which is the highest in the majors, the highest in Oakland history (5.48 in 1997) and third highest in Athletics history (6.07 in 1936, 5.79 in 1939)…also have the highest opponents on-base percentage in the majors this year (.356), the second highest slugging percentage (.462) and OPS (.819) and third highest batting average (.270)…have a ML leading 567 walks, which are the most by an A’s team since 2008 (576)… have the most wild pitches in the majors (61), are tied for third in fewest shutouts (4), rank fifth in most home runs (184) and sixth in fewest strikeouts (1088).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 14-60 with a 5.97 ERA…have the fewest wins and highest ERA in the majors and the second most losses… the fewest wins from starting pitchers in Major League history is 21 by the Pirates last year…the ERA is currently the highest in Athletics history (5.94 in 1997)…have tossed 7.1 innings or fewer in each game and have the second fewest innings pitched in the majors (616.1).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen is 2-1 with a two saves, a blown save and a 2.33 ERA (7 er in 27.0 ip) over the last eight games…has a 5.36 ERA overall, which is the highest in the majors and the highest in Oakland history (5.22 in 1980)…also has the most losses in the majors this year (35) and the second most innings pitched (566.1)…has set Athletics single-season records for most losses, walks (302) and runs allowed (364) by relievers…is 23-for-48 (47.9%) in save opportunities…is tied for the second fewest saves in the majors, has the third lowest save percentage and is tied for the seventh most blown saves (25)…has allowed 96-of-249 (38.6%) inherited runners to score, which is the third highest percentage…has the second most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 124-for-148 (83.8%) 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 2010 (156) and the only time in Athletics history the A’s had a stolen base percentage above 81.5 was in 2020 (89.7%)…A’s opponents are 92-for-133 (69.2%) in stolen base attempts, which is the lowest success rate in the majors…the 41 caught stealings are the most…A’s pitchers have 13 pickoffs, which is fourth most.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 1-0 on this six-game homestand against Los Angeles-AL (1-0) and Toronto (three games)…went 2-4 on the last homestand against Baltimore (0-3) and Kansas City (2-1) and are 21-45 (.318) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors…the 45 home losses are tied for seventh most in Oakland history…lost an Oakland-record 51 home games last year and have back-to-back losing seasons at home for the first time since 2015-16…went 3-4 on the last road trip to Chicago-AL (2-2) and Seattle (1-2) and are 19-50 (.261) on the road, which is second the worst road record in the majors (Royals, 18-51/.261)
ONE-RUN GAMES AND OTHER CLOSE CALLS: The A’s are 18-25 (.419) in one-run games and 22-70 (.239) in games decided by two or more runs…are tied for the most one-run losses in the majors and are tied for fourth in games (42)…have seven walk-off wins, which is tied for sixth…have 15 last at bat wins…are 6-7 (.462) in extra inning games…are tied for eighth in the majors in extra inning losses and rank 10th in games (13).
AGAINST THE WEST: The A’s are 8-30 (.211) against American League West teams, which is the lowest intra-division winning percentage in the majors (Rockies, 8-27/.229)…the lowest mark in Oakland history is .306 (11-25) in 1997 and the lowest mark by any team against its own division is .224 (17- 59) by the Nationals last year…are batting .205 (249-for-1214) with 104 runs scored (2.7 runs per game) against teams from the West and have allowed 215 runs for a run differential of -111 (-2.9 per game).
PLAYER NOTES: The A’s have set Athletics records for most pitchers (37) and most relievers (33) in a season and an Oakland record for most starting pitchers (21)…the starting pitchers match the 2019 Blue Jays for second most in Major League history to the 1915 Philadelphia A’s (24)…have employed 58 players overall, which is second highest in Athletics history to the record of 64 set last year…the 58 players are tied for third most in the majors this year and the 37 pitchers are third most…have set an Oakland record for most non-Covid IL placements (30)…used the IL an Athletics record 31 times last year (including nine times for Covid).
A’S IN AUGUST: The A’s went 9-18 (.333) in the month of August, which was the fourth lowest winning percentage in the majors and the third lowest in August in Oakland history (.250 in 1978, .300 in 1993)…had the worst record in the majors in April and May, the eighth worst in June and fifth worst in July…this marks the seventh consecutive full month and 11th time in the last 12 months the A’s have finished with a losing record…posted a 5.30 ERA, which was fifth highest in the majors and second highest in August in Oakland history (5.54 in 2000)…struck out 227, which is an Athletics record for the month of August and seventh most in any month…batted .222 which was second lowest in the majors…had the fifth lowest on-base percentage (.291) and sixth lowest OPS (.686)…tied with the Marlins for the fewest runs scored (96)…walked 70 times, which is second fewest in a non-strike August in Oakland history (62 in 1972)…hit 37 home runs, which is their most in a month this year.
A’S VS. ANGELS
- The A’s are 3-5 against the Angels this year after losing the season series last year for the first time in 2018.
- Have scored 36 runs in eight games this year (4.5 per game) after tallying 47 in 19 games last year (2.5 per game).
- Went 7-12 last year and the losses matched the most in Oakland history against the Angels (2009, 16, 17).
- Are 10-17 against the Angels over the last two years.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 2-2 1-3 3-5
2022 4-6 3-6 7-12
Oakland History: 481-407
at the Coliseum: 253-192
at Angel Stadium: 228-215
All-Time: 530-484
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Zack Gelof had two doubles last night and now has 25 career extra base hits, which are three more than any other player in Athletics history over the first 42 games of their career…since the break, he leads Major League rookies in doubles (14) and extra base hits (25), ranks second in home runs (10) and third in hits (44)…Esteury Ruiz has set Oakland rookie records for stolen bases (54) and hit by pitches (16)…is 12 short of the American League rookie record for steals (66, Kenny ofton in 1992) and five short of the AL rookie record for hit by pitches (21, David Eckstein in 2001)…his 54 steals are tied for 12th most in Oakland history and tied for fourth most by players not named Rickey Henderson.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Paul Blackburn (3-4, 3.93 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his 17th appearance and 16th start of the season…is 2-2 with a 2.36 ERA (11 er in 42.0 ip) and .708 opponents OPS over his last seven 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 season on the 15-day injured list with a right middle fingernail avulsion and was reinstated on May 29.
BY MONTH: Went 1-2 with a 2.35 ERA in five starts in August…the ERA was seventh lowest in the majors…his ERA increased each of his first three months…made one start in May and had a 2.25 ERA…then went 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.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Has allowed six home runs in 187 at bats against right-handed hitters (31.2 at bats per home run) and just one in 145 at bats against left-handers…six of the seven home runs he has surrendered have been solo shots…four have been hit by the clean-up hitter.
AGAINST THE WEST: Has made one start against an American League West team and had a no decision on July 22 against Houston (5.1 ip, 5 h, 1 r, 1 er, 3 bb, 5 so)…is now 4-10 with a 7.15 ERA (84 er in 105.2 ip) in 23 career games against the West, 12-11 with a 3.98 ERA (101 er in 228.1) in 44 games against all other teams.
AL AND NL: Is 2-1 with a 2.72 ERA (12 er in 39.2 ip) and .695 opponents OPS in seven interleague starts compared to 1-3 with a 5.00 ERA (25 er in 45.0 ip) and .837 OPS in nine games against American League competition…is now 4-2 with a 3.07 ERA and .652 OPS in 12 career starts against the National League and 12-19 with a 5.23 ERA and .816 OPS in 55 games against AL teams.
CAREER BESTS: Struck out six batters in his last start and now has 86 for the season, which is three short of his career high of 89 from last year…his 29 walks are one short of his high of 30 from last year…his 3.93 ERA is his best since logging a 3.22 ERA in 58.2 innings as a rookie in 2017
THIS AND THAT: Has a 1.80 ERA (3 er in 15.0 ip) in the first inning…has allowed one run or fewer in six of his 15 starts but is 2-0 with four no decisions in those starts, all A’s wins…the A’s are 8-7 in his starting assignments…has walked two batters or fewer in 11 of his 15 starts.
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 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 three times he left with the lead only to have the pen blow the save (Aug. 5 vs. San Francisco, Aug. 21 vs. Kansas City)… 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 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…allowed a season-high tying nine hits on a season-high 106 pitches in an 11-3 win at Colorado on July 29…logged 6.0 scoreless innings on Aug. 5 against San Francisco but had a no decision in the A’s 2-1 win…it was part of a career-high tying 10.0-inning scoreless streak from July 29 to Aug. 11…walked a season-high tying four batters in an 8-2 loss at Washington on Aug. 11…combined with Austin Pruitt on a ninehit shutout in the A’s 8-0 win at St. Louis on Aug. 16…tossed a season-high 7.0 scoreless innings and allowed six of the hits while walking on.
LAST START: He was the losing pitcher in the A’s 6-1 loss at Chicago (AL) last Sunday…allowed a RBI single to Vaughn in the first and two more runs in the third, including a bases loaded walk to Sheets…Oakland scored once in the sixth but he allowed a sheets RBI single in the bottom of the sixth…was relieved by Patton to start the seventh with the A’s trailing 4-1.
