MLB Preview: Arizona Diamondbacks (54-42) at Atlanta Braves (61-33)

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:

No team release available.

ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:

Four Straight
Atlanta has lost each of its last four games, dropping the final two games to Chicago over the weekend and the first two to Arizona this week. It matches the Braves’ longest losing streak of the season. Atlanta also lost four straight from April 19 to April 23, and again from May 10 to May 14. The club has not lost five straight games in over five years, last doing so with six straight losses from September 25-30, 2017. Atlanta’s run of consecutive division titles began the next season. The Braves are the only team in baseball without a five-game losing streak since the start of 2018.

TODAY’S GAME: The Braves and D-backs today conclude a three-game series in what is the sixth and final scheduled meeting between the clubs this season…Atlanta took two-of-three from Arizona at Chase Field, June 2-4.

• Arizona beat Atlanta, 5-3, last night and has won each of the first two games of this series…The Braves need a win this afternoon to avoid the sweep and split the season series.
• Atlanta and Arizona played six total games last season, with the Braves winning four of the six… The Braves have won the season series with the Diamondbacks in each of the last two years, and since 2008, Atlanta has only lost the season series with Arizona twice…They went 3-4 against the D-backs in 2019, and 2-5 in 2016…Atlanta is 54-43 (.557) overall against Arizona since that year.
• The Braves swept three games from the D-backs at Truist Park last season, but are just 8-9 (.471) against Arizona here since the facility opened in 2017…Atlanta swept Arizona last season and in 2017, but went 2-7 here from 2018-’21.
• Starting with Atlanta’s series in Arizona, the Braves have won 28 of their last 38 games (.737) and lost just one series, their most recent one to Chicago.
• RH Spencer Strider has made two career starts against Arizona, compiling a 1-1 record and a 4.35 ERA (5 ER/10.1 IP) with 14 strikeouts…He beat the D-backs earlier this season, June 3 at Chase Field, allowing just three hits and two runs over 6.0 innings…The 6-foot-0, 195-pound right-hander is set for his 20th start of the season, and is 11-3 with a 3.66 ERA (45 ER/110.2 IP) over his first 19 turns.
• RH Zac Gallen has never lost to Atlanta, going 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA (4 ER/18.2 IP) in three career turns versus the Braves…The 6-foot-2, 189-pound native of Gibbsboro, NJ, took a no-decision against Atlanta earlier this season, allowing nine hits and three runs, two earned, in 6.0 innings…Gallen is set for his 21st start of the season this afternoon, and is 11-4 with a 3.14 ERA (43 ER/123.1 IP) thus far.

LOSS: Atlanta dropped its fourth consecutive game last night, falling to Arizona, 5-3…The Braves had not lost four straight games here at Truist Park since a five-game skid, May 11 to May 18, 2021.

• Prior to their current spell, the Braves had won 11 consecutive home games and 17 of 18 games at Truist Park, dating to May 28 vs. Philadelphia.
• Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna homered for Atlanta last night, and the Braves fell to 36-10 (.782) when hitting at least two home runs in a game this season…However, Atlanta has lost each of its last three games in which it has hit at least two homers, the club’s first such streak since April 2021.
• Furthermore, the Braves now sport a 43-12 (.782) record when out-homering their opponents this season, although two of their losses during their current four-game skid have come in such fashion

LONG HOMERS: Austin Riley drove a 2-1 pitch in last night’s seventh inning out to left-center for his 19th home run of the season…The blast traveled 451 feet.

• Atlanta as a club now has 19 home runs this season of a least 450 feet, nine more than any other team in baseball…The Braves’ 19 such home runs tie the single-season record for teams in the Statcast era (since 2015), matching the total set by the 2021 Rockies.
• Excluding the Rockies, the previous single-season record for homers of at least 450 feet was 15, done in 2017 by both the Marlins and Yankees.
• Riley’s shot was the 50th Braves homer of the Statcast era to travel at least 450 feet, the third-highest total in baseball in that span…Only the Rockies (117) and Yankees (55) have more since 2015…Thiry-eight percent of Atlanta’s 450-foot homers in the last nine years have come this season.

EXTRA-BASE HITS: All four of Atlanta’s hits last night went for extra bases, including a double, triple and two homers…The Braves lead the National League and rank second in the majors with 350 extra-base hits on the season.

• Only the Rangers, with 359, have more such hits this season…Texas has played three more games than Atlanta.
• Last night’s game was the second this season in which the Braves did not collect a single, joining a three-hit game on April 23 vs. Houston (two doubles, homer)…The Braves’ four hits last night were their most in a game with no singles since September 19, 2020, when Atlanta had six extrabase hits (four doubles, two homers) and no singles in a loss to the Mets.
• Since the 60-game 2020 season, Atlanta’s 1,666 extra-base hits are the most in baseball, 29 more than any other team (Boston, 1,637)…The Braves lead all of baseball in slugging (.455) and OPS (.782) since that season.

STRIDER STRIKEOUTS: Spencer Strider enters today’s start with 176 strikeouts on the season, most in the majors…No Atlanta pitcher has led the majors in strikeouts since John Smoltz in 1996 (276).

• Through 19 starts and 110.2 innings, he is on pace to fan 303 batters on the season…No pitcher has reached the 300-strikeout threshold since Justin Verlander in 2019…Smoltz’s 276 strikeouts in 1996 stand as the modern-era franchise record.
• Since the date of his first major league start, May 30, 2022, he has 13 double-digit strikeout performances…That total is the most such games in the N.L. and tied with the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani for most in the majors.
• Strider has induced 407 swings-and-misses this season, easily the most in baseball and 84 more than any other pitcher…SEA’s Luis Castillo ranks second with 323…Strider generates a swing-and-miss on 21.5% of his offerings.

Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #99 Spencer Strider RHP
2023 Record: 11-3, 3.66 ERA • 2022 Record: 11-5, 2.67 ERA
vs. RHB: .209 (44-211), 9 HR • vs. LHB: .218 (44-for-202), 5 HR
Home: 4-2, 4.30 ERA (28/58.2) • Away: 7-1, 2.94 ERA (17/52.0)

Tonight’s Game

• Strider is set to make his 20th start this year and second against Arizona.
• Leads the majors with 176 strikeouts.
• Toronto’s Kevin Gausman ranks second with 153.
• His 13 games with at least 10 strikeouts are the second most in MLB history (1901) through a player’s first 39 starts; trails only Dwight Gooden (17).
• Has struckout at least nine in five consecutive starts.
• Is the only pitcher this season with multiple streaks of at least three consecutive games with nine or more strikeouts.
• Only three pitchers have streaks of nine or more strikeouts in four consecutive games, Strider has done it twice.
• Strider’s two separate five-game streaks of at least nine strikeouts are the longest in baseball this season.
• Struck out 10 while allowing eight hits and five runs through 6.0 innings, suffering the loss in his last turn against Chicago (AL).
• Snapped a seven-game win streak with the loss that dated to May 28.
• Strider’s 11 wins are tied for the most in the majors.
• Joined Denny Neagle and Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux as the only Atlanta-franchise pitchers to have at least 11 wins and two losses or less before the All-Star break.
• Leads all qualified starters with a rate of 14.31 strikeouts per nine innings this season.
• His swing and miss rate of 40.0% is the highest in the majors (among QS).
• Strider’s 52.4% rate of pitches in the zone is the sixth highest in the National League among qualifiers.

2023 Recap

• Became the first Braves pitcher to enter the All-Star break leading the National League in Strikeouts with 166 since Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz in 1996.
• Strider passed Smoltz (149) for the most strikeouts before the All-Star break.
• Strider joined Cy Young award winner, Dwight Gooden as the only pitchers in the modern era to reach 300 strikeouts in their first 35 career starts.
• Through the 35 starts, Gooden recorded 302 strikeouts in 248.0 innings pitched while Strider logged 301 punchouts in 192.0 frames.
• His 136 punchouts are the mosth in Braves franchise history through a pitcher’s first 15 games to start a season…HOF’er John Smoltz struck out 125 in 1996.
• Struckout Nick Castellanos in the fourth inning on May 28 to become the fastest starting pitcher, by innings pitched (61.0), to reach 100 strikeouts in a season, since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893…Strider bested his own franchise record, set last season in 64.2 innings. (Research courtesy of Elias)
• Struckout J.T. Realmuto to reach 300 on his career.
• Strider became the 13th player in major league history to record at least 300 strikeouts in 44 career appearances or less and first since Shane Bieber in 2018.
• Of the other 12 pitchers, Strider is the only one to have more than two relief appearances in his first 44 outings.
• Snapped a streak of 12 consecutive games with at least eight strikeouts on May 17.
• Tied Hall-of-Famers Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson for the seventh longest such streak in the live ball era.
• Only Hall-of-Famers Ryan, Johnson, Pedro Martínez and active pitchers Corey Kluber and Shane Bieber have longer streaks.
• Struck out 12 hitters on May 12 at Toronto, giving Strider nine games of at least 10 strikeouts; the most through a player’s first 41 appearances in franchise history(1901).
• The next closest were Brandon Beachy, Tommy Hanson, and Julio Teheran with three each in their first 41 outings.
• Tied with Noah Syndergaard, Kerry Wood, and Al Downing for seventh most in MLB history (dating to 1901) through a player’s first 41 games.
• Recorded a streak of nine consecutive games with at least nine strikeouts between 9/1/22-5/1/23; it is tied for third-longest such streak in the modern era (1900).
• Passed Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz for the longest streak in franchise history.
• Carried a perfect game into the seventh inning on April 24against Miami until he lost his bid on a Matt Olson error.