BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
IN THE WIN COLUMN: The Orioles defeated the Royals, 11-7, in last night’s three-game series opener at Kauffman Stadium…The Birds tied a season high with 15 hits (also 3/30 at BOS) and scored double-digit runs for the third time this year (4/11 vs. OAK, 12 & 3/30 at BOS, 10)…The O’s plated five runs in the fourth inning, tying their season high for the fifth time (4/27 at DET, T-7; 4/25 vs. BOS, B9; 4/11 vs. OAK, B-7; & 4/4 at TEX, T-2).
OPENING STATEMENTS: With last night’s win, Baltimore improved to 10-0 in series openers to begin the 2023 campaign, the only team to have won all of their series openers this season…The streak of 10 consecutive series-opening victories to begin a season is the longest in club history (since 1954) and the longest by any MLB team since the 1973 San Francisco Giants won their first 11 series openers, per the Elias Sports Bureau…It is tied with the 1963 Orioles — who also won 10 straight from July 23 to August 23 — for the fourth-longest streak at any point in a season in O’s history… The club record is 11 straight series-opening wins, done three times: May 16 to June 18, 1980; May 23 to June 20, 1978; and August 30 to September 30, 1974. WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won 12 of their last 14 games, 14 of their last 17, and 16 of their last 20…The 20-9 record is tied for the second-best start to begin a season in team history, also done in 1969, 1997, and 2005, and trailing only the 21-8 start in 1970 (see box at right)…With a win tonight, the O’s would tie the 1997 team (21-9) for the second-best record through the first 30 games of a season in club history, behind only the 1970 squad (22-8).
Baltimore owns the second-best record in MLB, trailing only Tampa Bay (24- 6); the O’s and Rays are the only teams in the majors without double-digit losses this season.
Last season, the Birds didn’t reach 20 wins until the 48th game on May 28; they did not reach 21 wins until the 50th game on May 30.
The 18 wins in April marked the most in team history (since 1954) and the most in a single month by the O’s since winning 19 in June 2016.
THE MOUNTAIN: Félix Bautista has been voted Major League Baseball’s American League Reliever of the Month for April…Marks the first career Reliever of the Month Award for Bautista and just the second by an Orioles pitcher since the award’s inception in 2005, joining Jim Johnson (May 2012)…Bautista made 14 appearances, including his outing on March 30 at Boston, and pitched to a 2-1 record with seven saves in nine opportunities with a 1.32 ERA (2 ER/13.2 IP) and 25 strikeouts…For the month, his seven saves were tied for third in the AL and fifth in MLB.
KING OF THE CASTLE: Ryan Mountcastle clubbed his team-leading seventh and eighth home runs of the season last night to record his eighth career multi-homer game and second this season (also 4/11 vs. OAK)…Slugged a two-run homer off Ryan Yarbrough in the fourth inning and another two-run shot off Jose Cuas in the fifth.
The long balls snapped his 15-game homer drought since April 13.
His homer off Yarbrough in the fourth had an exit velocity of 112.2 mph, the hardest-hit homer run by an O’s batter since he had a 113.1 mph homer on September 16, 2021 vs. New York-AL; since 2020, Mountcastle owns three of the four hardest-hit home runs and five of the seven hardest-hit home runs by Orioles, per Statcast.
Also added an RBI double in the sixth to mark his third career game with three extra-base hits, along with June 14, 2022 at Toronto and June 19, 2021 vs. Toronto; each of his last five hits have gone for extra bases, including a pair of doubles on Sunday in Detroit, after his previous 13 hits went for singles from April 14-29.
Tallied five RBI, two more than the three he had in his previous 17 games combined, since he tied the Orioles record with nine RBI on April 11 vs. Oakland.
PATIENCE AT THE PLATE: Last night, Anthony Santander fouled off 12 consecutive pitches against Taylor Clarke in the eighth inning in a 16-pitch at-bat that ended with a broken-bat single to right field…Marked the most pitches seen in an at-bat that ended with a hit by an O’s batter since pitch count data is available (1988)…Tied with Albert Belle — who popped out to first base on the 16th pitch of an at-bat on April 28, 2000 vs. Texas — for the second-most pitches seen in a plate appearance by an O’s batter since pitch data is available, trailing a 17-pitch walk by Chris Hoiles on May 5, 1991.
The Orioles lead the AL and rank second in MLB with 4.04 pitches per plate appearance; the O’s have five players in the top 17 in the AL in pitches per plate appearance: Anthony Santander (5th, 4.30), Adley Rutschman (6th, 4.26), Gunnar Henderson (10th, 4.21), Cedric Mullins (12th, 4.18), and Adam Frazier (17th, 4.13).
AGAINST THE ROYALS: Baltimore and Kansas City began a six-game season series last night with the first of three games at Kauffman Stadium…The Orioles will host the Royals in Baltimore for three games from June 9-11…The Birds went 4-3 against the Royals in 2022, going 2-1 in Baltimore and 2-2 in Kansas City.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Orioles are currently on an 11-day, 10-game road trip, their longest of the season, which began last Thursday night in Detroit…The O’s went 3-1 against the Tigers and are in the midst of three games at Kansas City from May 2-4 before playing three at Atlanta from May 5-7.
ON THE ATTACK: Baltimore is batting .261/.341/.433 (253-for-970) with 53 doubles, three triples, 36 home runs, 158 runs scored, 153 RBI, and 117 walks to start the season…The O’s rank fourth in the AL and fifth in MLB in runs scored after finishing 10th in the AL and 20th in MLB with 674 runs in 2022…The Birds rank among AL teams in walks (1st), on-base percentage (2nd), batting average (3rd), slugging percentage (4th), and OPS (4th, .774).
ROSTER MOVES: The Orioles today announced that they have acquired catcher Luis Torrens from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations…In a corresponding move, right-handed pitcher Joey Krehbiel has been designated for assignment…The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players
STARTING PITCHER – #48 KYLE GIBSON RHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his seventh start of season, fifth on the road, and first against the Royals tonight…Became the first O’s pitcher in club history (since 1954) to start and win each of his three first appearances with the team… Has started a season 4-0 for the second time in his career, joining a 6-0 start with Texas in 2021; is the fifth Oriole starting pitcher since 2004 to begin a year 4-0, joining John Means (4-0 in 2021), Bud Norris (4-0 in 2013), Wei-Yin Chen (4-0 in 2012), and Erik Bedard (4-0 in 2006)…In 273 career appearances (267 GS), Gibson owns a 93-91 record with a 4.50 ERA (770 ER/1538.1 IP)…The O’s signed Gibson to a one-year contract on December 5, 2022…He has also spent time with the Twins, Phillies, and Rangers across 10 Major League seasons.
LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor in the decision on April 27 at Detroit…Allowed three runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 4.1 innings, his shortest start of the season…Threw 102 pitches, a season-high, and 64 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST THE ROYALS: Making his 27th career appearance (25th start) and first start this season against the Royals…Owns a 10-5 record with a 3.79 ERA (60 ER/142.1 IP) in his first 26 career appearances against Kansas City…His 11 career quality starts against the Royals and Tigers are tied for his second-most against any opponent, trailing only Chicago-AL (12).
CAREER AGAINST THE AL CENTRAL: Making his 95th career appearance (91st start) against the AL Central…Owns a 33-31 record with a 4.49 ERA (261 ER/522.2 IP) and 40 quality starts through his first 94 appearances…Made his MLB debut on June 29, 2013 against the Royals with Minnesota; earned the win after allowing two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and a hit batter in 6.0 innings at Target Field…Threw 91 pitches, 64 strikes…With the Rangers, he tossed a career-low 0.1 inning on April 1, 2021, at Kansas City.
ROAD WARRIOR: Making his fifth road start of the 2023 campaign…Owns a 2-0 record with a 5.40 ERA (13 ER/21.2 IP) through his first four outings away from Oriole Park…Made his Orioles debut and second career Opening Day start on March 30 vs. Boston; earned the win after allowing four runs on six hits with one walk, one hit batter, and three strikeouts in 5.0 innings…Sports a 45-43 record with a 4.53 ERA (389 ER/773.1 IP) with 62 quality starts and three complete games in 138 career road appearances (134 GS).
KANSAS CITY ROAYLS NOTES:
FOR THE BIRDS: The Royals suffered an 11-7 loss last night to Baltimore at Kauffman Stadium to begin this season-long, 10-game homestand…starter Ryan Yarbrough retired the first 10 Orioles—including the first five via strikeout—before Adley Rutschman doubled with 1 out in the 4th, which began a stretch in which eight consecutive batters reached…that run turned a 3-0 lead into a 5-3 deficit, and the Orioles hung crooked numbers in the 5th and 6th to build a 10-3 lead…Salvador Perez did his best to lead a comeback, hitting a solo homer in the 6th and a 2-run shot in the 7th to mark his 15th career multi-homer game, before exiting in the 8th with a left middle finger contusion…despite the Royals 7-run output, they had only 2 at-bats with a runner in scoring position, as 4 of their 7 hits were home runs, including a leadoff HR by Bobby Witt Jr. in the 1st, and a 2-run shot by MJ Melendez later in the inning…that marked the Royals 1st multi-homer inning since last July 23 vs. Tampa Bay, and the Royals hit 4 homers in a loss last night for the first time since Aug. 8, 2019 at Detroit.
Last night was the Royals 9th blown lead loss of the season, but it was the first time they’d blown a multi-run lead since last Sept. 30 at Cleveland, when they led 3-0 (as they did last night), but lost 6-3.
Maikel Garcia, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha yesterday, made his season debut with 2 hits.
Elias announced a scoring change late last night to a play in the top of the 8th inning, when Ramón Urías singled to left field…an error was added to Edward Olivares’ line, which allowed Kyle Stowers to advance from second to third…this marked the Royals 9th error through 30 games this season, which is 1 more than the Diamondbacks and Padres, who each have 8 errors to tie for fewest in the Majors.
ROSTER MOVES: The Royals today announced that left hander Austin Cox has been selected from Triple-A Omaha and will be in uniform tonight wearing No. 53…Cox, 26, has pitched to a 2.21 ERA (5 ER in 20.1 IP) in 5 outings (4 starts) with the Storm Chasers this year, and most recently pitched last Thursday in Nashville, where he earned the win with 6.0 scoreless innings…his 1st appearance with the Royals will be his big league debut.
In a pair of corresponding moves, left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic, who had UCL reconstruction surgery last week, was placed on the 60-day Injured List, and right hander Jose Cuas was optioned to Omaha. HBD, AG!: Royals reliever Amir Garrett is celebrating his 31st birthday today, and shares this date of birth with former Royals pitchers Mike Morin (32), Homer Bailey (37) & Bob Buchanan (62)…other notable May 3 birthdays
include two-time All-Star and 2013 World Series champion Ryan Dempster (46), four-time All-Star and 1981 World Series champion Davey Lopes (78) and 2018-19 PGA Championship winning golfer Brooks Koepka (33).
STRIKEOUT CITY: Royals pitchers have recorded 14 strikeouts in each of the last 2 games, matching a club record previously done from May 8-9, 2017 and July 16-17, 1991…they are the third team this season to record 14 strikeouts in consecutive games, following the Twins, who did it from April 7-8, and the Blue Jays, who did it in 3 consecutive games from April 26-29…for the season, Kansas City has an 8.98 K/9, which ranks 14th among 30 teams and is a significant improvement on last season, when the Royals ranked 28th in the Majors with a 7.57 K/9…their current mark of 8.98 would be the 2nd-highest single-season rate in franchise history, trailing only the 60-game 2020 season, in which the Royals posted 517 strikeouts in 517.0 innings for a 9.0 K/9.
ONE YEAR AGO: May 3 marks a special anniversary for at least three Royals, including Bobby Witt Jr., who hit his 1st Major League home run one year ago today off Dakota Hudson in a 7-1 win vs. St. Louis…May 3 is also a day MJ Melendez will never forget, as he made his Major League debut in that same game, and recorded his 1st big league hit off Hudson, a 2-out single in the 6th…those memorable moments were called on 610 Sports Radio by Jake Eisenberg, who was making his Royals booth debut with Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney.
HOME: The Royals suffered an 11-7 loss last night, extending their losing streak at Kauffman Stadium to 10 games, which trails only a pair of 11-game home skids for the longest in franchise history, which happened from May 6-June 4, 2014 and Sept. 21, 2011-April 23, 2012…the Royals only home win this season was a 9-5 victory over Toronto on April 3, and their 1-13 home record is the worst in the Majors and marks the worst home start in franchise history…the Royals have been outscored 92-39 (-53) and out-homered 21-11 at home this season.
Last night began a season-long, 10-game homestand that will include 3-game visits from the O’s and A’s, followed next week by a 4-game set with the White Sox…Monday’s off day was the only break in the schedule for the Royals during a stretch of 27 days, which began on April 21 and runs through May 17.
SCHEDULE CHANGE: Major League Baseball announced yesterday a change to the Aug. 12 game between the Cardinals and Royals at Kauffman Stadium…originally scheduled to be televised by FOX with a 6:15 p.m. CT first pitch, the game will now be televised by Bally Sports Kansas City and will start at 6:10 p.m. CT.
APRIL HONORS: The Royals announced today that Vinnie Pasquantino and Aroldis Chapman have been named Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for March/April, which was determined by local media vote.
Pasquantino slashed .279/.375/.500 (29-for-104) over 29 games in March/April and led the team in total bases (52), hits (29), doubles (8), home runs (5) and walks (15)…his .375 on-base percentage ranked 9th in the American League, and was fueled by a career-high-tying 21-game on-base streak from April 5-27.
Chapman led Royals pitchers with a 1.74 ERA (2 ER in 10.1 IP) over 11 appearances in March/April, and posted a 16.5 K/9 rate (19 K in 10.1 IP), which led all American League relievers (min. 10.0 IP)…of his 11 relief outings, 9 were scoreless, and he held opponents hitless in 7 of those appearances.
PACE OF PLAY: There have been 414 9-inning games in the Majors this season, and the average game time has been 2 hours, 37 minutes…the Royals
30 games—including 1 that required extra innings—have averaged 2 hours, 32 minutes, which is tied with the Twins the fastest average in the Majors… that includes last night’s 3-hour, 4-minute game, which was the Royals longest of the season and was 32 minutes longer than their average game time.
30 FIRST DATES: After going 0-1 in March and 7-21 in April, the Royals began the month of May with a loss last night, falling to 7-23 to match 2005 for the worst 30-game start in franchise history…the schedule makers haven’t done the Royals any favors either, as seven of their eight opponents—including Baltimore—are over .500 and have a combined record of 137-100 (.578), and six of those eight opponents are in 1st or 2nd place of their division…the only team the Royals have played this season that currently has a losing record is the Giants, who the Royals won 2 of 3 against on the first trip of the season.
VS. ORIOLES: The Royals last night began this season-long, 10-game homestand with an 11-7 loss in the 1st of 3 games vs. the Orioles, who have now won 12 of their last 14 games following an 8-7 start…the Royals are winless in their last four series vs. the O’s—with 2 losses and 2 splits—including a 3-4 record last season, when they lost 2 of 3 in Baltimore and split a 4-game set here in Kansas City…despite losing 3 of their last 5 home games vs. the O’s, the Royals have scored at least 7 runs in all but 1 of those games…Bobby Witt Jr. is batting .387 (12-for-31) with 4 extra-base hits in 8 games vs. the O’s.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP ZACK GREINKE (0-4, 6.10)
ZACK GREINKE is making his 7th start of the season and 521st of his career tonight vs. the Orioles, matching Andy Pettitte and Hall of Famer Jim Palmer for 39th place on the all-time starts list…it’s his 11th career start (13th appearance) vs. the Orioles and 1st since last May 8 in Baltimore…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 (520) and innings (3278.0), 2nd in wins (223) and 3rd in strikeouts (2,904)…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 his 4th loss in a 7-1 defeat last Thursday night at Target Field, in which he allowed a season-high 7 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in a season-low 3.2 innings, with 3 strikeouts…Trevor Larnach had an RBI single in the 1st, and Max Kepler added an RBI single in the 2nd, before Michael A. Taylor drove in a run on a force out to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead…that began a stretch in which Zack retired eight of nine, before Taylor singled in the 4th and Byron Buxton followed with a 2-run home run, after which Carlos Correa added a solo homer to end Zack’s night.
Both walks issued by Greinke scored, and last Thursday marked the first time he issued more than 1 walk and failed to complete 5.0 innings since last Sept. 14—at Target Field—snapping an 8-start stretch in which he issued only 6 walks over 45.2 innings, which tied for the fewest walks in the Majors (min. 8 starts).
BACK IN BLUE: Zack returned 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).
Tonight marks Zack’s 202nd start with the Royals, which ranks 8th in club history, trailing Paul Splittorff (392), Mark Gubicza (327), Dennis Leonard (302), Kevin Appier (275), Bret Saberhagen (226), Larry Gura (219) and Danny Duffy (204)…his 1,026 strikeouts with the Royals rank 7th, 22 shy of Duffy.
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 997 different batters in his 20-year career and is three 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 eight active Orioles who Zack has yet to strike out, including Adam Frazier, Gunnar Henderson, James McCann, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Adley Rutschman, Anthony Santander and Kyle Stowers…Henderson, who was born on June 29, 2001 was 2 years old when Greinke made his Major League debut on May 22, 2004.
VS. ORIOLES: In 12 career appearances (10 starts) vs. Baltimore, Zack is 3-2 with a 4.65 ERA (32 ER in 62.0 IP), and both losses came during his 2004 rookie season… in 10 outings (8 starts) since, he’s 3-0 with a 3.52 ERA (21 ER in 53.2 IP) and has held Baltimore to 2 runs or fewer in 5 of the 8 starts, including his most recent outing last May 8 in Baltimore, where he held to O’s to 2 runs in 5.2 innings.
