ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: The Braves and Royals today conclude a three-game interleague series in what is scheduled to be the only meetings between the two clubs this season.
• The Braves scored four eighth-inning runs last night to help secure a 9-3 win, and have taken the first two games of this series to secure the set.
• Atlanta and Kansas City have not played since 2019, when the Royals won three of four games between the clubs, including a two-game sweep
at Truist Park.
• The Braves have played just nine total games here at Kauffman Stadium and have compiled a 5-4 record in the park…Prior to this weekend, Atlanta had never won a series here; the Braves and Royals split two games in 2013 and 2019, and Kansas City won two of three in 2016.
• Entering this weekend, Atlanta and Kansas City had played just 17 times since the advent of interleague play in 1997, with the Braves going
8-9 in these games…Atlanta’s 17 games versus the Royals were its second fewest against any A.L. team, just two more than the Braves have played against Cleveland…For comparison, Atlanta has played Boston 86 times in interleague play.
• RH Kyle Wright has never faced Kansas City, and has pitched against just two members of the Royals’ current roster…Jackie Bradley Jr. is 1-for-4 with a homer, while Matt Duffy has a hit-by-pitch in his only plate appearance…The 6-foot-4, 215- pound right-hander has made one start for Atlanta this season, and allowed four hits and four runs over 3.0 innings in a no-decision.
• RH Zack Greinke has made 11 career starts against Atlanta, compiling a 4-1 record with a 2.75 ERA (22 ER/72.0 IP)…He last faced the Braves in 2019 while with Arizona, and pitched 7.0 one-run innings to earn the win…The 6-foot-2, 200-pound native of Orlando, FL, has not lost to Atlanta since 2011, and is 4-0 with a 2.21 ERA (15 ER/61.0 IP) over his last nine starts in that span.
WIN: Atlanta beat Kansas City, 9-3, last night to win the second game of the series and secure the set…The Braves have outscored the Royals, 19-6, over the first two games.
• Atlanta improved to 7-1 (.875) on the road this season, and has outscored opponents, 51-20, away from Truist Park.
• The Braves’ .875 winning percentage on the road is best in baseball…Cleveland ranks second with a .778 mark (7-2).
• Atlanta also improved to 4-1 in day games following yesterday’s victory…The Braves went 24-27 (.471) in day games last season, the 12th worst such record in the majors…In night games, however, the Braves led the majors with a .694 (77-34) winning percentage.
MURPHY EXTRA BASES: Sean Murphy went a perfect 3-for-3 with two doubles and a home run last night, driving in four…After opening the season 3-for20 (.150) over his first seven games, he is 9-for-19 (.474) over his last five and is batting .308/.481/.718 on the season.
• Each of Murphy’s last 10 hits have gone for extra bases, dating to a fourth-inning double on April 6… He has seven doubles and three homers during the streak.
• The streak matches the longest run of consecutive extra-base hits in Atlanta history (since 1966), tying the mark set by Gary Matthews, Sr. in 1979… Matthews had 10 in a row from June 17-23.
• Only one player in Braves franchise history (since 1900) has a longer such streak…Wally Berger of the Boston Braves had 12 consecutive extra-base hits in August of 1935.
• The last player in baseball with at least 10 consecutive extra-base hits was Houston’s Alex Bregman, who had 11 straight in August of last season.
• The last catcher with such a streak was Detroit’s Dustin Garneau in 2021, who tallied 11 straight from August 22 to October 3.
• Murphy’s 10 extra-base hits on the season are tied for most in the National League, and his .718 slugging percentage is best in the N.L.
• Research courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau.
FIRST-TO-HOME: Austin Riley scored from first on Sean Murphy’s first-inning double yesterday, the third time this season Riley has scored from first base on a non-homer…No one in baseball has scored more often from first.
• Riley has gone first-to-home on three of his four opportunities to do so this season…Last year, he had nine such chances and went just twice, scoring both times.
• Riley ranks 121st in the majors in sprint speed, averaging 27.4 feet per second to fall in the 66th percentile.
FIRST INNING, AGAIN: Atlanta plated a run in the top of the first yesterday afternoon, and has scored five runs in the first inning over the first two games of this series.
• Atlanta is batting .412/.432/.809 in the first inning this season, leading the majors in average and OPS (1.241) in the frame.
• As a team, Atlanta’s 15 first-inning runs are tied for most in baseball, matching the Dodgers’ mark…The Braves’ seven first-inning homers pace the majors.
• The Braves have scored in the first inning in eight of their 15 games this season, and are a perfect 8-0 when doing so.
Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #30 Kyle Wright
Today’s Game
• Wright is set for his second start of the season, and the first of his career against Kansas City.
• In nine career appearances away from Truist Park, Wright is 10-8 with a 4.64 ERA (59 ER/114.1 IP).
• Is 4-2 with a 5.48 ERA in nine career inter-league outings.
• Allowed four hits, four runs and four walks with three strikeouts in 3.0 innings pitched during his season debut against Cincinnati.
• It was his shortest outing since tossing 2.0 frames on June 23, 2021 at New York (NL).
• The Braves returned RHP Kyle Wright on April 11 from his rehabilitation assignment and reinstated him from the injured list.
• Wright opened the season on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation…He pitched his first full major league season last year and went 21-5 with a 3.19 ERA (64 ER/180.1 IP)…His 21 wins were most in the majors.
• He became the first Braves pitcher to lead the N.L. outright in wins since 2003, when Russ Ortiz paced the league with 21, and the first Atlanta pitcher to lead the majors in wins since Tom Glavine in 2000…Glavine also had 21 that season.
• Wright had three more wins on the season than any other pitcher in baseball… Houston’s Justin Verlander finished second with 18.
2022 Recap
• N.L. Pitching Ranks: Wins (1st, 21), K/9.0 IP (9th, 8.648)
• Pitched his first full major league season and went 21-5 with a 3.19 ERA (64 ER/180.1 IP)…Lead the majors in wins.
• He is just the seventh Braves pitcher to win 20 games in a season since the club moved to Atlanta in 1966, and the first since Ortiz in 2003…Tom Glavine (‘91, ‘92, ‘93, ‘98, ‘00), Phil Niekro (‘69, ‘74, ‘79), John Smoltz (‘96), Ortiz (‘03), Greg Maddux (‘93) and Denny Neagle (‘97) all reached the mark for the franchise.
• Wright had two career victories entering this season…The last pitcher with fewer career victories before a 20-win season was Cincinnati’s Tom Browning, who went 20-9 in 1985 after entering the year 1-0 in three career starts.
• Atlanta went 24-6 in Wright’s starts last season…That is tied for the most such team wins in a start by one pitcher on the year…The Yankees went 24-8 when Jameson Taillon starts.
• The Braves lost three consecutive games started by Wright, May 3 to May 15…Since that date, Atlanta went 20-3 in Wright’s 23 starts, and did not lose back-to-back games in which he pitches….The Braves have won each of his last nine turns.
• He opened his career with losses in each of his first seven career decisions, going 0-7 with a 7.86 ERA (39 ER/44.2 IP) over 16 total appearances… Atlanta was just 2-14 in his games.
• Since his first career win in his 17th appearance, he is 23-6 with a 3.33 ERA, and Atlanta is 28-7 in his 35 total games, all starts.
• Ended the season on a career-best eight-game winning streak, dating to August 10…Went 8-0 with a 3.14 ERA (18 ER/51.2 IP) over his final nine turns, while Atlanta won all nine.
• In the only game he did not win, September 6 at Oakland, he allowed a careermost eight runs in 4.0 innings…In his eight wins during the run, he pitched to a 1.90 ERA (10 ER/47.1 IP).
• Wright’s eight-game winning streak was the longest active run in the National League, and the second longest in majors…Only Cleveland’s Cal Quantrill, who won his last 11 decisions, has a longer run.
• In 17 starts at Truist Park last year, Wright went 13-2 with a 2.86 ERA (33 ER/103.2 IP).
• Since the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, just five pitchers have won as many home starts for the club in a single season…Phil Niekro won 14 in 1969 to set the single-season record that Russ Ortiz later matched in 2003, and John Smoltz (1996) and Tom Glavine (1992, 1993) both won 13 at home.
• Wright’s 13 wins in his home park last year are easily most in the majors, and just one other pitcher, Houston’s Luis Garcia, even won double-digits…Garcia had 11 wins at Minute Maid Park.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Royals suffered a 9-3 loss to the Braves last night at Kauffman Stadium in a game that took 2 hours, 48 minutes to complete, which was nearly outlasted by a 2-hour, 35-minute rain delay that pushed back first pitch from 3:10 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. CT…as was the case in Friday night’s 10-3 loss, the Royals couldn’t solve the Braves offense, which pounded out a season-high 14 hits last night, including 3 for extra bases by Sean Murphy, who reached in all 5 of his plate appearances, including 2 doubles and a home run…Royals starter Kris Bubic was tagged for 5 runs on 10 hits—after allowing 2 runs on 9 hits in his previous 2 starts—and was placed on the Injured List this morning with a left flexor strain…on offense, the Royals recorded 11 hits, matching their 2nd-highest total of the season, but went 1-for-13 in scoring situations and stranded 10 baserunners.
The Royals 4-11 record marks their worst 15-game start since 2018, when they went 3-12 through 15 games.
The Royals had 6 doubles last night, their most in a game since last June 21 in Anaheim, the thrilling 12-11 win in 11 innings…last night was their first 6-double, 9-inning game since Aug. 6, 2020 vs. the Cubs (7).
ROSTER MOVE: The Royals announced this morning that they have placed last night’s starting pitcher, left hander Kris Bubic, on the 15-day Injured List with a left flexor strain…taking his place on the 26-man roster will be left-handed reliever Josh Taylor, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha…Taylor, who was acquired in a trade from Boston in January for Adalberto Mondesi, has allowed 4 runs on 9 hits in 5 outings (5.1 IP) with Omaha.
3-HIT WITT: Bobby Witt Jr. led the Royals with 3 hits again last night, including a single and 2 doubles, to mark his fourth straight multi-hit game, a stretch in which he’s batting .579 (11-for-19) following a 6-for-38 (.158) start to the season…last night was also his third consecutive 3-hit game, which puts him in rare air…he’s only the second Royals player, age 22 or younger, to record three consecutive 3-hit games, following Hall of Famer George Brett, who had six straight 3-hit efforts as a 22-year-old in 1976…Bobby is the seventh Major League player in the last 10 seasons to accomplish this feat and the first in four years, since Rafael Devers in 2019.
Bobby has hit safely in 8 of his last 12 plate appearances since the 4th inning on Wednesday night.
Witt Jr. leads the Royals in runs (8), hits (17) and steals (5) and is tied for 2nd on the team in RBI (6).
RISPY BUSINESS: The Royals situational hitting woes continued last night, as they went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and now rank 30th in the Majors with a .187 average in scoring situations…nearly half of their 25 such hits this season came in 2 games, and they’ve been held to 1 hit or fewer with a runner in scoring position in 10 of their 15 games…the opportunities have been plentiful, as their 134 at-bats in scoring situations rank tied with the Mets for 9th in the Majors, and that includes 56 at-bats with a runner in scoring position in 4 games since Tuesday, which ranks 3rd in the Majors during that time, despite having an off day on Thursday… situational hitting was an issue for this Royals offense early last season, when they hit just .205 in scoring situations through their first 39 games, but hit .261 over their last 122 games, which ranked 11th in the Majors.
HOME: The Royals are 1-8 through their first 9 games at Kauffman Stadium this season, in which they’ve been outscored 48-23 (-25)…this marks their worst home start through 9 games since 2018, when they were also 1-8 at this point, and began 1-12 before winning their 2nd home game…since a 9-5 win vs. Toronto here on April 3, the Royals have lost 5 consecutive home games, in which they’re batting .195 with a total of 10 runs scored.
Following today’s finale vs. Atlanta, the Royals will host Texas for 3 games beginning tomorrow night.
RAID THE ZONE: Through the first 15 games of the season, new Pitching Coach Brian Sweeney has made his mark on this pitching staff that finished near the bottom in several categories last season…the Royals finished last in the American League in 2022 with 589 walks and BB/9 ratio (3.74), and finished last in the Majors in K/BB ratio (2.02) and first-pitch strikes (58.0%)…this year, the Royals rank 7th in the Majors with a 3.03 BB/9 ratio, 11th with a 2.87 K/BB ratio and 14th in first-pitch strikes (60.8%)…Royals starting pitchers, specifically, have controlled the strike zone well, issuing 1 or no walks in 10 of 15 starts this season, tied for the 2nd-most such starts in the Majors this season behind only the Rays (11)…likewise, Royals starters have posted a 2.18 BB/9 ratio, which ranks 5th in the Majors behind the Giants (1.74), Guardians (2.09), Twins (2.14) and Dodgers (2.16).
VS. BRAVES: After going 9-7 vs. the Braves through their first 16 meetings, the Royals have lost 3 straight games, including 2 this week, and the loss last night clinched their first series defeat to the Braves at Kauffman Stadium…this marks only their second series loss to the Braves, following a 3-game sweep in Atlanta from June 18-20, 2010…the Royals are attempting to win today to avoid a 3-game sweep vs. a National League team for the first time since Aug. 13-15, 2021, when the Cardinals swept them in 3 games at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals are now 2-3 through the first 5 games of their franchise-record 46-game Interleague schedule.
Royals Executive VP and GM J.J. Picollo worked for the Braves from 1999-2005 and served as the Director of Minor League Operations in his final year before joining Kansas City in 2006…while with Atlanta, he also held positions as the Assistant Director of Player Development and as an Area Scouting Supervisor for Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Washington D.C.
Peter Moylan, who pitched for the Royals from 2016-17, returns to Kansas City this week as part of the Braves Bally Sports crew…following a 12-year big league career, Moylan is now in his fifth season appearing on the Braves Live pregame and postgame shows, and is in his second season calling games in the booth.
AFTERNOON DELIGHT: Today’s 1:05 p.m. CT start snaps a run of 5 consecutive night games, including last night’s game that started at 5:45 p.m. CT following a 2-hour, 35-minute delay…with yesterday’s day game delayed into the night, the Royals are now scheduled for 63 day games this season, which would mark the 3rd most in a single season in team history, trailing last season, when they played 69, and 2021, when they played 64.
PACE OF PLAY: The new pitch timer rules implemented for 2023 have already produced dramatic results through the first 17 days of the regular season…through 204 games that have ended in 9 innings, the average game time has been 2 hours, 38 minutes, and only 21 of the 204 games (10.3%) have lasted at least 3 hours… the Royals 15 games have averaged 2 hours, 29 minutes, which is 9 minutes below the league average and is the 2nd-fastest average time this season, longer only that the Twins (2:26)…compared to 9-inning games across the Majors last season, average time of game is down 25 minutes, while batting averages are up from .243 to .250, runs per game are up from 8.6 to 9.4 and stolen base success rates have jumped from 75.4% to 82.2%…the current success rate of steals would shatter the Major League record set in 2021 at 75.7%
TODAY’S STARTERS: RHP KYLE WRIGHT (0-0, 12.00) vs. RHP ZACK GREINKE (0-3, 3.31)
ZACK GREINKE is making his 4th start of the season and 518th of his career today vs. Atlanta, matching Hall of Famer John Clarkson (1882-94) for 42nd all-time…it’s his 12th career start vs. the Braves and 1st since 2019…Greinke, now in his 20th season in the Majors, is a six-time All-Star, a six-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner and was named the American League Cy Young Award winner in 2009 with the Royals.
He is one of three pitchers in Major League history with at least six Rawlings Gold Gloves and six All-Star selections, along with Greg Maddux and Bob Gibson.
Among active pitchers, Greinke ranks 1st in starts (517), innings (3263.1), 2nd in wins (223) and 3rd in strikeouts (2,893)…he is one of three pitchers in Major League history to win a Cy Young Award, a Rawlings Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award, along with Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser.
LAST START: Greinke suffered an 11-2 loss last Monday night in Arlington, in which he allowed a season-high 4 runs (3 ER) on 6 hits and 1 walk in 5.0 innings, with 3 strikeouts…Corey Seager hit a solo homer in the 1st inning, and added an RBI single in the 3rd that deflected off Greinke, after which Nathaniel Lowe doubled in a run to put Kansas City in a 3-1 hole…Jonah Heim homered to begin the 4th, after which Greinke retired six of the next seven batters and exited after 5.0 innings at a 4-1 deficit.
Seager’s HR in the 1st snapped Zack’s homerless streak at 41.2 innings, which dated back to Aug. 21, 2022…over 7 full starts in between the homers he allowed, Greinke went 0-3 despite pitching to a 2.04 ERA (9 ER in 39.2 IP).
Among the 123 pitchers who have made at least 3 starts this season, Greinke is one of four pitchers who have received a total of 1 run of support or less, along with Josiah Gray (0), Merrill Kelly (0) and Sandy Alcantara (1).
OPENING DAY: Zack suffered a 2-0 loss on Opening Day vs. Minnesota, which marked his 7th career Opening Day start and 6th in the last eight seasons, matching Max Scherzer, Aaron Nola and Madison Bumgarner for the most in the Majors among pitchers since 2016…it was his 3rd Opening Day start with Kansas City, tied for the 3rd most among pitchers in Royals history behind Royals Hall of Famers Kevin Appier, who has a franchise-record 7 Opening Day starts, and Dennis Leonard (4).
At 39 years, 160 days old, he was the oldest Opening Day starter in Royals history, surpassing his own record set last season…the last pitcher older than Zack to start a game for an American League team on Opening Day was Curt Schilling, who started for Boston in 2007 at age 40 at Kauffman Stadium vs. the Royals.
BACK IN BLUE: Zack returns in 2023 for the second straight year to Kansas City, where he spent the first seven seasons of his Major League career, after being selected by the Royals 6th overall in the 2002 Draft…Greinke is the 33rd player to play for the Royals, leave the organization and later return…he missed time due to two stints on the Injured List in 2022, limiting him to only 137.0 innings, the 4th fewest in his career behind the shortened 2020 season (67.0 IP), 2006 (6.1 IP) and 2007 (122.0 IP)…he did, however, rank 2nd among Royals starters with a 3.68 ERA (56 ER in 137.0 IP).
In his most recent start, Zack passed Charlie Leibrandt (1257.0) for the 7thmost innings in Royals history…today marks his 199th career start with Kansas City, which ranks 8th in franchise history, 5 shy of Danny Duffy (204) for 7th.
He also ranks 7th in Royals history with 1,015 strikeouts, 33 shy of Duffy for 6th.
GRE1NKE: After surpassing 500 career starts and 50,000 pitches thrown last
season, Greinke is on the verge of many more milestones this year…among them is a rare feat, courtesy of Baseball Reference’s Kenny Jackelen…
Greinke has struck out 994 different batters in his 20-year career and is six new strikeout victims shy of joining Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens as the only pitchers in Major League history to fan 1,000 different batters…there are six players on Atlanta’s active roster who Greinke has yet to strike out, including Vaughn Grissom, Kevin Pillar, Austin Riley, Eddie Rosario, Chadwick Tromp and Eli White.
VS. BRAVES: Zack is 4-1 with a 2.75 ERA (22 ER in 72.0 IP) and .212 opponents’ average (56-for-264) in 11 career starts vs. the Braves, but hasn’t faced them since May 10, 2019, when he pitched 7.0 innings of 1-run ball as a member of the Diamondbacks…his only loss vs. Atlanta came 12 years ago, on May 4, 2011 with Milwaukee…his only previous start vs. the Braves with Kansas City came in 2010, when he did not factor into the decision of a 5-4 loss in Atlanta.
CROWN VISION: Greinke has made 108 starts at Kauffman Stadium, 6th most in the 51-season history of the ballpark…he’s 4-4 in 14 home starts since returning to the Royals in 2022, increasing his career win total to 41, the 7th most in this ballpark…his 1.91 ERA (14 ER in 66.0 IP) at Kauffman Stadium in 2022 was the 3rd-best home ERA in the American League (min. 10 starts) behind Justin Verlander (1.64) and Shohei Ohtani (1.82)…it was the 4th-best home ERA in Royals history (min. 10 starts) behind himself in 2009 (1.70), Bret Saberhagen in 1989 (1.71) and Paul Splittorff in 1971 (1.90).
Zack has allowed 2 earned runs or fewer in 19 of his last 21 starts at Kauffman Stadium dating back to Sept. 30, 2010, a stretch in which he owns a 2.23 ERA (30 ER in 121.1 IP), including 6 starts as a visitor from 2012-21…he allowed just 2 home runs in 66.0 innings at Kauffman Stadium in 2022 for a 0.14 HR/9, the best home mark in the Majors (min. 10 starts)…Zack has allowed just 1 HR in his last 16 starts at Kauffman Stadium, which dates back to 2019, and he has not allowed a homer in his last 44.2 innings in this ballpark dating back to June 29, 2022 vs. Texas
