ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:
HERE’S THE STORY
♦ The D-backs’ 24 wins are tied for the third most in the NL (also: Brewers), behind the Dodgers (27) and Braves (26).
♦ Arizona is second in the NL West and has spent 23 total days in or tied for first place (April 2-30).
♦ A win today will secure the D-backs’ second straight series win and fifth in their last 7.
ROSTER MOVES
♦ The D-backs made the following roster moves:
- Recalled RHP Luis Frías from Triple-A Reno.
- Optioned OF Alek Thomas to Reno following last night’s game.
OH, LOURDES!
♦ Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has a 10-game hit streak, tied for the fourth longest active streak in the Majors, and has an extra-base hit in 6 straight games (4 doubles, 2 homers)… is batting .436 (17-for-39) with 4 doubles (1 walk-off ), 6 homers, 13 runs, 12 RBI and 8 walks.
♦ His current streak is the second longest by a D-back this season (behind Corbin Carroll, 12 games) and ties for the second longest in his career (also: June 4-15, 2022 with Toronto)…his career long is 12 games (July 11-Aug. 24, 2018 with Toronto).
♦ In his last 9 road games, is hitting .333 (11-for-33)/1.086 OPS.
KETEL BEING KETEL
♦ Ketel Marte has a 17-game on-base streak (since April 26), the sixth longest active streak in MLB…has 1 double, 1 triple, 3 homers, 10 RBI, 9 walks and 2 HBP…he is 5 games shy of tying his career-long (22, Aug 2-29, 2019).
♦ He has reached base in 10 straight road games, since April 15, hitting .366 (15-for-41)/1.124 OPS with 1 triple, 4 homers, 8 RBI and 4 walks.
THE FLETCH SHOW
♦ Last night, Dominic Fletcher joined Gerardo Parra (2009), Mark Reynolds (2007), Chad Tracy (2004) and Matt Kata (2003) as the only D-backs with at least 20 hits in their first 15 career games.
♦ Fletcher is batting .377 (20-for-53)/1.004 OPS with 4 doubles, 1 triple, 2 homers, 7 runs, 13 RBI and 2 walks in his first 15 Major League games.
SEEING IT WELL
♦ Since April 23, the D-backs’ .360 OBP leads the Majors, ahead of Red Sox (.355), Rays (.340) and Braves (.338).
♦ Since April 23, the D-backs’ 11.0 walk pct. is second in the Majors, behind the Padres (11.7), compared to their 5.0 walk pct. (MLB low) from the start of season to April 22.
SNAKE BITES
♦ Christian Walker’s 8 homers since April 21 are the most in the Majors…since 2022, Walker ranks among NL players in home runs (3rd, 46) [T-5th in MLB], RBI (6th, 124), extra-base hits (10th, 81) and total bases (10th, 356).
♦ Gabriel Moreno, in his last 10 games, is hitting .400 (14- for-35)/.904 OPS with 2 doubles, 3 RBI and 2 stolen bases.
♦ Geraldo Perdomo is hitting .464 (13-for-28) with runners in scoring position and ranks third in the Majors [min. 35 PA], behind Marcus Semien/TEX (.525) and Yordan Alvarez/HOU (.500).
UNAVOIDED EXTRAS
♦ Last night, the D-backs entered their first extra-inning game of the season, marking the longest span of games in team history to start a season without going to extras (42 games)…the previous record was 38 games in 2020.
YOUNG ‘BACKS
♦ The D-backs and Athletics are tied for the third-youngest team in the Majors at age 27.8, behind the Guardians (26.4) and Orioles (27.5) and ahead of Nationals (27.9) and Angels, Nationals, Phillies, Mariners, Pirates, Rays (28.0).
♦ Arizona has featured the most players aged 23 or younger (5) in the Majors this season (Corbin Carroll/22, Gabriel Moreno/23, Geraldo Perdomo/23, Alek Thomas/23 and Carlos Vargas/23), ahead of Los Angeles-AL (4).
TODAY’S STARTER – RHP RYNE NELSON ♦ #19
AT A GLANCE: Selected by the D-backs in the second round (56th overall) of the 2019 draft.
- Attended the University of Oregon, where he was a 2019 First-Team All-Pac-12 selection…finished his junior year with a conference-high 104 strikeouts and finished fourth in the nation with a 14.40 K/9 IP.
- A Nevada native, attended Basic High School in Henderson where he was a shortstop and pitcher.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Making his fourth road start in 2023 and first against an AL West opponent.
- Has exited 5 of his 8 starts with a lead or tied.
- Has walked 3 batters in his last 4 starts after walking 8 in his first 4.
LAST START: Did not factor in the win on May 12 vs. Giants… allowed a game-tying single to J.D. Davis before exiting in the fifth inning.
VS. ATHLETICS: Making his first career start.
PITCH TRACKING: Opposing batters are 2-for-9 (.222) with 2 strikeouts off his changeup and 6-for-36 (.167) with 6 strikeouts off his cutter.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: The A’s defeated the Diamondbacks last night 9-8 in 12 innings for their 10th win of the season…eight of those 10 wins have come when tied or trailing after seven innings, seven are one-run wins, seven are last at bat wins and four are walk-off wins…have lost eight of the last 10 games and are 4-11 (.267) in May after going 5-23 (.179) in April…are 10-34 (.227) overall, which is the worst record in the majors (Royals, 13-31/.295)… it is the worst record in Athletics history after 44 games and is tied for ninth worst by an AL, NL or FL team since 1901…it is the worst since the 2006 Royals also started the year 10-34…the lowest winning percentage in American League history is .235 by the 1916 Philadelphia A’s (36-117)…are 1-12-0 in series play and have been swept six times…lost each of the first 10 series, won two of three at Kansas City from May 5-7, and have lost each of the previous two series.
WINNING LATE: The A’s have scored the winning run in their final at bat in seven of their 10 wins…had their fourth walk-off win of the season last night, which is tied with the Red Sox for the most in the majors…have five wins when tied after seven innings, three when trailing after seven innings and two when leading after seven inning…lead the majors in wins when tied after seven innings and are tied for sixth in wins when trailing after seven innings…however, no other team has fewer than 10 wins when leading after seven innings…are 3-4 (.429) in extra inning games…are tied with the Mariners and Twins for the most extra inning games in the majors (7), are tied for the second most losses and tied for fourth in wins.
RUN DIFFERENTIAL: Seven of the A’s 10 wins have been by one run and Oakland is 7-7 (.500) in one-run games…are tied for sixth in the majors in one-run games (14), tied for eighth in wins and tied for ninth in losses…however, have lost six games by 10 or more runs, which matches the A’s combined total from the previous four seasons and is the most since 2008 when they had eight such losses…have a run differential of -159, which is the lowest in the majors (White Sox, -66)…the lowest in Athletics history is -344 by the 1915 Philadelphia A’s and the lowest by an AL or NL team since 1901 is -349 by the 1932 Boston Red Sox.
TIME OF GAME: The A’s and Diamondbacks played the first four-hour game in the majors this year last night, clocking in at 4 hours and 9 minutes (previous, 3:50 by Tigers and Giants on April 14)…the A’s have an average time of game of 2:49, which is the longest in the majors by six minutes (three teams with 2:43)…however, have not averaged under 2:53 per game since 2010 (2:43).
NIGHT AND DAY: The A’s are 9-17 (.346) in night games and 1-17 (.056) during the day…are batting .259 (236-for-911) with 125 runs in 26 night games (4.8 runs per game), .184 (106-for-576) with 45 runs in 18 day games (2.5 runs per game)…have the lowest day batting average in the majors and the ninth best night batting average.
OFFENSE: The A’s have the fifth lowest batting average in the majors (.230), the eighth lowest OPS (.694) and on-base percentage (.310) and ninth lowest slugging percentage (.384)…have the most strikeouts (415), the fifth fewest doubles (61), are tied for the fifth fewest runs (170) and have the ninth fewest extra base hits (119)…have the most sacrifice hits (10), are tied for the most hit by pitches (27), tied for third in intentional walks (7) and tied for ninth in walks (149)…the seven intentional walks match the A’s season total from last year…have been shut out twice on the homestand and six times overall, which is tied for third most in the majors (Mets and Royals, 7)…A’s pinch hitters are 10-for-38 (.263) with eight walks (.391 on-base percentage)…lead the majors in pinch walks and rank third in pinch hits.
PITCHING: The A’s have compiled a 6.15 ERA (93 er in 136.0 ip) in May after posting a 7.97 ERA in April…have a 7.18 ERA for the season, which is the highest in the majors (White Sox, 5.40)…according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the highest ERA by an AL or NL team since the earned run became an official stat is 6.70 by the 1930 Philadelphia Phillies…the A’s have allowed 329 runs, which is an average of 7.5 per game…are on pace to allow 1211 runs and the modern Major League record is 1199 by the 1930 Phillies…also have the highest opponents OPS (.886), batting average (.287), on-base percentage (.380) and slugging percentage (.506) in the majors this year…lead the majors in most walks (214), hit batters (33) and wild pitches (24) and have the fifth fewest strikeouts (331).
THE LONG BALL: The A’s have allowed at least one home run in each of the last 20 games (34 home runs total), which is the longest streak in Athletics history (previous: 17, July 26-Aug. 14, 1964)…have yielded 77 home runs for the season, which is the most in the majors (White Sox, 66)…surrendered their sixth grand slam of the season Sunday, which is the most in the majors (Diamondbacks and Yankees, 3) and tied for fifth most in a season in Athletics history (8 in 1993 and 1999, 7 in 1954 and 1997).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 0-7 with a 6.84 ERA (39 er in 51.1 ip) in the nine games since recording their only two wins of the season on May 5 and 6 at Kansas City…are 2-23 with a 7.62 ERA for the season…the ERA is the highest in the majors (Reds, 6.05) and no other team has fewer than six wins from its starters…have the seventh fewest innings pitched (213.2)…went 0-16 over the first 32 games.
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen tossed a season-high 8.0 innings last night and now has 176.1 innings pitched for the season, which is second most in the majors (Rays, 186.2)…has a 6.64 ERA, which is the highest in the majors (White Sox, 5.76)…is 4-for-13 (30.8%) in save opportunities…has the lowest save percentage and fewest saves and the nine blown saves are tied for third most…has allowed 39-of-88 (44.3%) inherited runners to score, which is the fifth highest percentage…has the second most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 42-for-51 (82.4%) in stolen base attempts…are tied for second in the majors in stolen bases (Pirates, 50), rank third in attempts and tied for 10th in percentage…the 42 steals are the most by an A’s team over the first 44 games since 1992 (49)…A’s opponents are 38-for-53 (71.7%) in stolen base attempts, which is the ninth lowest success rate in the majors…the 15 caught stealings are second most (Rockies, 18) but the A’s have the fourth most stolen bases allowed…A’s pitchers have four pickoffs, which is tied for third most in the majors (Brewers and Royals, 5). HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 2-4 on this seven-game homestand against Texas (1-3) and Arizona (1-1)…went 1-5 on the last homestand against Cincinnati (1-2) and Seattle (0-3) and are 5-19 (.208) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors (Royals, 6-17/.261)…leave following the game today for a seven-game road trip to Houston (three games) and Seattle (four games) that begins on Friday…went 2-4 on the last road trip to Kansas City (2-1) and New York-AL (0-3) and are 5-15 (.250) on the road, which is the worst road record in the majors (White Sox, 7-16/.304)… have compiled a 6.03 ERA (150 er in 224.0 ip) at home compared to 8.73 on the road…are hitting .213 (171-for-802) with 79 runs in 24 home games (3.3 runs per game) compared to .250 with 91 runs in 20 road games (4.6 runs per game).
A’S VS. DIAMONDBACKS
- The A’s have won seven of their last eight games against Arizona, which includes a six-game winning streak that was snapped on Monday…that win streak was their longest ever against Arizona.
- Have won seven of the last eight and 10 of the last 13 in Oakland.
- The A’s and Diamondbacks meet for the first time since 2021 when the A’s swept the four-game season series, winning two-game series’ in
Oakland and Phoenix…it was the second time the A’s swept the season series (3-0 in 2001).
Year Home Road Totals
2023 1-1 0-0 1-1
2021 2-0 2-0 4-0
Oakland History: 24-19
at the Coliseum: 14-10
at Chase Field: 10-9
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Ryan Noda leads Major League rookies in on-base percentage (.404) and walks (29), ranks fourth in OPS (.837), sixth in runs (22) and slugging (.433), tied for sixth in doubles (8), tied for seventh in extra base hits (13) and 10th in RBI (14)…Brent Rooker leads the majors in OPS (1.042) and slugging (.624), ranks fifth in on-base percentage (.418) and tied for fifth in home runs (11)…Esteury Ruiz leads ML rookies in hits (47), stolen bases (20), doubles (11) and hit by pitches (10), ranks fourth in batting (.272) and RBI (22), tied for seventh in extra base hits (13) and ninth in on-base percentage (.333
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Luis Medina (0-2, 8.18 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas last Thursday for his second stint with the A’s this year…is scheduled to make his second start since is return and his third of the season…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…is 0-1 with a 7.42 ERA in five games, four starts, with the Aviators.
FIRST START: He made his Major League debut on April 26 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)…allowed five runs in the second inning, a solo home run to Renfroe in the third and a two-run home run to Drury in the fifth.
LAST START: He was the losing pitcher in the A’s 4-0 loss to Texas last Thursday in Oakland…retired the first 11 batters he faced before Lowe tripled with two outs in the fourth…then allowed a RBI single to Taveras in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth on a Semien home run and a wild pitch…Eovaldi shut out the A’s on three hits and a walk in 8.2 innings before Smith came on to get the final out.
OPPONENTS BATTING: His opponents batting average broke down to .232 (42-for-181) with a .732 OPS against right-handed hitters compared to .235
(39-for-166) with a .673 OPS against left-handers…had a .233 average with the bases empty, .234 with five of his seven home runs with runners on…opponents were 4-for-10 (.400) with two doubles and two walks with the bases loaded…had a .278 opponents batting average against the one through five hitters in the order, a .163 average against the six through nine hitters.
THIS AND THAT: Went 3-1 with a 3.78 ERA in 10 starts on five days rest or fewer, 2-6 with a 6.85 ERA in 13 starts on six days rest or more…was 1-2 with a 2.55 ERA in eight starts at home for Somerset but was 0-3 with a 20.25 ERA in three starts at home for Midland…was 4-2 with a 5.15 ERA in 13 starts on the road…his teams were 9-3 in his no decisions and had a 14-10 (.583) record in his starting assignments…tossed fewer than five innings in 15 of his 24 starts…walked at least one batter in every start.
