ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Braves and Guardians are set to open a three-game series tonight in what is the only scheduled meetings between the two teams this season…Atlanta and Cleveland are playing for the first time since 2019.
- The Braves took two-of-three from the Guardians in 2019, with Atlanta winning the final two games to take the series.
- That 2019 series was also here in Cleveland, and the two clubs have not played in Atlanta since 2016… The Guardians are the only major league team yet to play at Truist Park after the Twins visited last homestand.
- The Braves and Guardians have played just 15 times since the advent of interleague play in 1997, with Atlanta playing to an 8-7 record (.533) all-time versus Cleveland…The two franchises have met twice in the World Series, with the then-Indians beating the Boston Braves in six games in 1948, before Atlanta bested Cleveland in six games in 1995 for the championship.
- RH Bryce Elder has never faced Cleveland, but has pitched against one current member of the Guardians roster…Josh Bell is 1-for-3 with a homer against him…The 6-foot-2, 220-pound righthander was named to his first NL All-Star team yesterday afternoon, and enters tonight with a 6-1 record and a 2.44 ERA (26 ER/96.0 IP) over 16 starts on the season.
- RH Gavin Williams is set to make just the third start of his major league career, and his first against Atlanta…The 6-foot-6, 250-pound native of Fayetteville, NC, has yet to collect a decision, going 0-0 with a 2.84 ERA (4 ER/12.2 IP) over his first two turns…The former first-round selection in the 2021 draft is listed by MLB.com as Cleveland’s top overall prospect.
WIN: Atlanta rallied from an early two-run deficit to beat Miami, 6-3, yesterday afternoon to complete the sweep…It marked the Braves’ ninth sweep of the season.
- Atlanta has swept three-game sets from the Cardinals, Reds, Royals, Marlins (twice), Mets and Twins, owns a four-game sweep of the Rockies, and took both games in a two-game series from the Phillies.
- The Braves have swept each of their last three series at Truist Park: July 15 – 18 vs. Colorado (4), June 26 – 28 vs. Minnesota (3) and June 30 – July 2 (3)…Per Elias, since the ballpark opened in 2017 this is the first time Atlanta has completed three consecutive series sweeps – with each series being at least three games in length.
- The Braves have won each of their last 10 games at Truist Park and 16 of 17, overall, dating to May 28…Their 10-game home winning streak is their best run at Truist Park this season, and their longest here since also collecting 10 straight wins from August 21 to September 20 of last year
HOMER STREAK: Atlanta hit three home runs yesterday afternoon, with Orlando Arcia, Ozzie Albies and Travis d’Arnaud all going deep…The Braves have now homered in each of their last 20 games dating to June 10.
- The Braves have hit 53 total homers during these 20 games.
- Atlanta’s run is the longest active homer streak in baseball, and the second-longest such run this season…Tampa Bay homered in 22 straight to open the season.
- The Braves last homered in more consecutive games in 2006, going deep in 23 straight from June 25 to July 24.
- Atlanta has 158 total homers on the season, 27 more than any other team in baseball (Tampa Bay, 131).
RONALD ACUNA JR.: Went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and run scored yesterday, extending his hitting streak to 13 games and his on-base streak to 20 games… He also stole his 38th and 39th bases of the season, a new career high-total.
- Acuña Jr. is on pace to steal 76 bases this season, which would set the Braves modern-era (since 1901) record…That number would also be MLB’s most since José Reyes stole 78 bags for the New York Mets in 2007.
- Oakland’s Esteury Ruiz leads Major League Baseball with 42 stolen bases…Prior to Acuña Jr. and Ruiz, the last major leaguer with at least 38 steals before the All-Star break was Billy Hamilton, who had exactly 38 stolen bags at the midseason intermission in 2017.
Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #55 Bryce Elder RHP
2023 Record: 6-1, 2.44 ERA • 2022 Record: 2-4, 3.17 ERA
vs. RHB: .223 (14-184), 3 HR • vs. LHB: .234 (39-167), 5 HR
Home: 3-1, 3.09 ERA (20 ER/58.1 IP) • Away: 3-0, 1.43 ERA (6 ER/37.2 IP)
Tonight’s Game
- Set to make his first career start against Cleveland and 17th on the season.
- Enters play with 21 consecutive outings of at least 5.0 innings pitched.
- Named to 2023 National League All-Star Team, his first selection.
- Joined Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz and Michael Soroka as the only starters in Atlanta-franchise history to make the All-Star team in their second year playing.
- Held Minnesota to four hits and two runs through 6.0 innings pitched in his last turn, earning his sixth win of the year.
- His 2.44 ERA on the season is the second lowest in the majors among qualifiers.
- No Braves pitcher was won the ERA title since Greg Maddux (2.22) in 1998.
- Elder’s 4.36 ERA with ROB is the second lowest in the NL among qualifiers.
- Opponents are hitting .190 against him with runners on base, tied for the lowest rate in the National League (among QS).
- His 47.3 LOB% is the sixth lowest in the National League (among QS).
- His groundball rate of 56.0% of balls put in play is the fourth highest in the majors among qualified starters.
- Has recorded an out on 62.4% of those grounders put in play, the sixth highest rate in baseball among qualifiers.
- The average launch angle of balls put in play against Elder is 6.70; sixth lowest in the majors and third in the NL.
- Elder is pitching to a 1.63 ERA while holding opponents to a .216/.275/.322 line the first two times through the lineup.
- Conversely, owns a 5.84 ERA and hitters have a line of .267/.343/.422 the third time through the order.
- Is 7-2 with a 2.24 ERA over his last 21 games started after being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett for the second time, dating to August 14, 2022.
- His 2.24 ERA is the lowest among pitchers with at least 20 starts during
that span.
- In that stretch, Elder is averaging 6.0 innings pitched per outing, tied for the third highest rate in the National League (min. 20 starts).
- He has six starts in his career of at least 6.0 innings without allowing a run, the most such games in Braves franchise history (since 1900) in a player’s first 25 starts…Irv Young (1905), Clif Curtis (1909-’10) and Ian Anderson (’20-21) each had five such starts.
2023 Recap
- Joined Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz, Shelby Miller and Julio Teheran as the only Atlanta-era pitchers, age 24 or younger to post a 2.40 ERA or lower through their first 15 starts to a season.
- Elder has 20 games of at least 5.1 innings pitched in 25 career starts; the most in Atlanta franchise history through as many games started.
- Elder’s 2.30 ERA through 20 career starts is the lowest in Atlanta franchise history to begin a career.
- His 117.1 innings pitched through his first 20 games started were the most by an Atlanta player to begin their career since Julio Teheran in 2011-13.
- His 30 earned runs allwed are also the fewest during that span.
- Elder has held opponents to one run or less in nine games this season while pitching at least 5.0 frames in every outing.
- His 13 appearances of at least 5.0 innings pitched while holding opponents to one run or less are the most through a player’s first 25 outings in Atlanta franchise history
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS SURVIVE CUBS RALLY, WIN IN EXTRAS
After weathering yet another lengthy rain delay prior to first pitch (1:55), the Cleveland Guardians secured a series win over the Chicago Cubs with a 10-inning, 8-6 victory on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field…Guardians followed up a 4-2 homestand by going 4-2 on the just-completed 6-game road trip thru Kansas City (2-1) & Chicago-NL (2-1)…Cleveland is 7-3-1 over club’s last 11 series since May 26 (20-14 record)…have now won 9 of last 11 finales.
Cleveland built up an early 6-0 advantage to back a quality start by AARON CIVALE (6.0IP, 3H, 1R-ER, BB, 2SO, 2HB, 94 pitches)…worked around a pair of hit batsmen, a walk and an infield single to begin the night with 4.0 scoreless frames…gave up a pair of singles to start the 5th, which led to a run-scoring groundout by Michael Tauchman…ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ followed a MYLES STRAW lead-off single in the 3rd with a 2-run blast (6) off Jameson Taillon (5.0IP, 7H, 6R-5ER, 0BB, 6SO, HR, 95 pitches) to give Cleveland a 2-0 lift…a pair of singles in the 4th by JOSH NAYLOR and WILL BRENNAN set up a run-scoring fielder’s choice…AMED ROSARIO followed back-to-back hits by CAM GALLAGHER and Giménez to start the 5th with a 2-run single and later scored on JOSH BELL’s RBI-groundout…trailing 6-2 in the 9th, the Cubs plated 4 runs off EMMANUEL CLASE, leveraging a lead-off walk, 2 passed balls, 4 singles and a sac fly to send the game to the 10th, where Naylor would deliver a game-winning 2-run single to score the Guards Auto Runner and Rosario (lead-off single)…in the bottom half of the 10th, SAM HENTGES punched out a pair in while retiring the side in order to earn his first relief win of the year. » Cleveland (41-42) sits in 2nd place in the AL Central standings, just win pct. points behind 1st-place Minnesota (42-43) and 4.0 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (37-46)…Guardians have won 9 of 13, 16 of 26 and 19 of last 32, though have also dropped 36 of last 68 overall since starting the year 9-6.
HOW BRAVE ARE YOU?
Cleveland and Atlanta are set to face off in their sixth regular season series all-time…they last met in 2019 in Cleveland, with the Braves taking 2 of 3 contests…the two sides have also squared off in two different World Series…Cleveland’s last World Championship came against the Boston Braves in 1948 (4-2), and the Braves won their first World Series in Atlanta in 1995 over Cleveland (4-2)… Cleveland is 7-8 all-time against Atlanta, holding a 2-4 record at Progressive Field, and has never won a home regular season series against the Braves…the Guards are seeking their first Interleague series opening win since May 26 vs. St. Louis…the Guards are 5-7 in home Interleague games and 11-16 in Interleague play this year.
JUNE JAMBOREE
In June, Cleveland and Atlanta were two of MLB’s best offenses, as both clubs led MLB in several stats (see table)…most notably, Atlanta and Cleveland were the top 2 MLB teams in batting average in June as each side led their respective league…both Cleveland and Atlanta also led MLB with 15 games of 10+ hits in June.
ATLANTA VS. CLEVELAND JUNE HITTING COMPARISON
TEAM AVG H 3B HR OPS
Atlanta .307 (1st) 270 (1st) 4 (T12th) 61 (1st) .944 (1st) Cleveland .279 (2nd) 257 (3rd) 9 (1st) 21 (T27th) .758 (8th)
TOUGH AS NAYLS
JOSH NAYLOR is on an 8-game hit streak dating back to June 23 and has the 2nd-longest active hit streak in the AL, trailing Houston’s Kyle Tucker (9)…he also has the AL’s highest batting average dating as far back as April 19 (.336)…among primary first basemen this season, Naylor only trails Atlanta’s Matt Olson in RBI (68) and Los Angeles-NL’s Freddie Freeman in batting average (.315)…his 60 RBI this season rank 4th in the AL/5th in MLB, and he is one of 10 MLB hitters with a .300-or-better batting average (.301, 10th in MLB)…Naylor and Los Angeles-AL’s Shohei Ohtani (.306, 68 RBI) are currently the only 2 MLB players this season with a .300-or-better batting average and 60+RBI…Naylor is the first Cleveland hitter with a .300-or-better average and 60+ RBI in the first 83 games of a season since Victor Martinez (.324, 63 RBI) in 2007…his 27 RBI in the 7th-inning-or-later and 19 go-ahead RBI lead all MLB hitters, while his 10 game-winning RBI rank T1st in
MLB with JOSÉ RAMÍREZ…since May 30, Naylor has hit safely in 24 of his last 28 games with multiple hits in 15 of the 24 contests… during the span, Naylor ranks among hitters in batting average (.402, 1st in AL/2nd in MLB), hits (47, 1st in AL/2nd in MLB), singles (31, 1st in AL/2nd in MLB), RBI (28, 2nd in AL/MLB), doubles (13, 2nd in AL/T3rd in MLB), OBP (.417, 3rd in AL/8th in MLB) and OPS (1.006, 4th in AL/8th in MLB).
YOU KNOW BRO…
JOSÉ RAMÍREZ has hit safely in 18 of his last 22 games dating back to June 7…since that date, Ramírez ranks among MLB hitters in RBI (22, 2nd in AL/T3rd in MLB), OPS (1.157, 2nd in AL/3rd in MLB), AB/RBI (4.00, 2nd in AL/4th in MLB), runs (21, 2nd in AL/ T5th in MLB), batting average (.375, 3rd in AL/4th in MLB), SLG (.716, 3rd in AL/4th in MLB), OBP (.464, 3rd in AL/5th in MLB), total bases (63, 3rd in AL/5th in MLB) home runs (7, T3rd in AL/ T6th in MLB) and hits (33, 4th in AL/T5th in MLB)…in 2023, he leads primary third basemen in hits (91), total bases (159), batting average (.293) and OPS (.873), and is T2nd with 2 others in extra-base hits (38).
THE GUARDIAC KIDS
The Guardians lead MLB with 35 one-run games (16-19 record), 51 games decided by 2-or-fewer runs (27-24 record), and 13 extra-inning games (7-6 record) out of their 83 contests this season… through the first 83 games of a season, Cleveland’s 35 one-run affairs are 3rd-most in club history (most since 1966) and T4thmost in the Wild Card Era (since 1995) among MLB teams…the Guards 51 contests decided by 2-or-fewer runs are T4th-most in club history (most since 1967) and is T-most in the Wild Card Era with 4 other teams.
MOST G BY 2-OR-FEWER RUNS IN FIRST 82G, WC ERA
TEAM YEAR COUNT RECORD (W%) CLE 2023 51 27-24 (.529) PIT 2014 51 30-21 (.588) ARI 2013 51 28-23 (.549) TB 2003 51 21-30 (.412) NYM 2002 51 26-25 (.510)
THE STARS OF CLEVELAND
Major League Baseball announced yesterday that EMMANUEL CLASE and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ have both been selected for the American League All-Star Team…this is Ramírez’s third consecutive appearance and Clase’s second appearance in the All-Star Game… Ramírez leads ML in extra-base hits since 2017 (454) and is one of 2 MLB players with 4-or-more top-4 MVP finishes since 2016 (Mike Trout)…Clase has the most saves in MLB (66) since 2022 and is tied for most saves (24) in MLB this season…his 1.78 ERA since 2021 leads all MLB relievers (min. 110.0IP).
STAND FOR THE LAND
The Guardians announced that tonight’s game is a sellout, their second of the season and first since Opening Day on April 7 against Seattle…marks the club’s first non-Opening Day sellout since September 14, 2019 in the second game of a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins (31,841)…Cleveland won that game 7-5.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – 63 GAVIN WILLIAMS RHP
WILLIAMS AT HOME, MLB
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 0-0 6.35 1 1 5.2 4 4 4 3 4
Career 0-0 6.35 1 1 5.2 4 4 4 3 4
WILLIAMS’ MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 0-0 2.84 2 2 12.2 5 4 4 4 10
Career 0-0 2.84 2 2 12.2 5 4 4 4 10
TONIGHT’S START
The 6-6, 250-pound 23-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his third career start, second at home, on Monday in the opener of this 3-game set with the Atlanta Braves…made his MLB debut on June 21 vs. Oakland…Williams is the organization’s #1 prospect, MLB’s #5 pitching prospect and the #13 prospect overall (MLB.com)…he was selected in the first round, #23 overall, out of East Carolina University by Cleveland in the 2021 MLB Draft… became the 7th different rookie to make their Major League debut for the Guardians this season…is starting on extended 5 days’ rest.
In 12 starts at the Minor League level this season (3 at AA Akron and 9 at AAA Columbus), he was 4-2 with a 2.39 ERA(16ER/60.1IP) while striking out 81 and walking 24…opposing batters were hitting .186 (35-for-206) against him…in 2 starts for Cleveland, he’s 0-0 with a 2.84 ERA (4ER/12.2IP).
LAST TIME OUT
He shined in his first career road start at Kansas City on Tuesday, twirling 7.0-shutout innings with one hit, 6 strikeouts and one walk, however, he did not factor into the decision…he retired the first six batters in order before having to navigate through traffic in the 3rd frame…after walking Nicky Lopez, BO NAYLOR erased
him trying to steal second base…two more runners would reach base, but Williams got out of the inning with no damage…the rookie went on to retire the next 13 batters he faced in order to end his night…Williams became just the second pitcher in franchise history to throw 7.0+ innings with one-or-fewer hit allowed within
their first two Major League games…the other was Addie Joss in 1902 (9.0IP, 1H).
ROAD TO THE SHOW
2023: Opened up the season at AA Akron and was lights out in his 3 starts…over 14.1 innings he allowed just one earned run (0.63 ERA) on 6 hits with 20 strikeouts against 3 walks…was promoted to AAA Columbus following his start on April 20…has made 9 starts at Columbus, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.93 ERA (15ER/46.0IP) with 61 punchouts and 21 walks…opposing hitters sported a .186 average (29-for-186)…at the time of his promotion to the bigs, among AAA pitchers (min 45.0IP) he was 2nd in SO/9 (11.93) 4th in WHIP (1.09) and 5th in ERA (2.93)…he has not allowed opposing batters to hit above .190 at any level in his career…over his Minor League career he owns an 11.81 SO/9 and 3.59 SO/BB.
THAT’S SOME STUFF RIGHT THERE
Opposing batters are not hitting above .167 against any of his 4 pitches this season…hitters are .167 (3-for-18) with 5 strikeouts in at-bats ending with his 4-seamer, .111 (1-for-9) against his slider, .100 (1-for-10) against his curveball and .000 (0-for-4) against his changeup.
