BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Orioles fell to the Brewers, 4-3 in 10 innings, in last night’s series opener at American Family Field…Marked their second loss in a series opener on the road (now 9-2).
O’s pitchers struck out a season-high 16 batters, their most since also fanning 16 in 9.0 innings on September 20, 2020 vs. Tampa Bay.
Aaron Hicks hit a two-run home run in the second inning to tie the game, his first since joining the O’s…Has reached safely in each of his first five games with Baltimore and has hit safely in four of them, slashing .400/.500/.733 (6- for-15) with one triple, one home run, five runs scored, three RBI, and three walks with two multi-hit efforts.
Ryan O’Hearn hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to give the O’s the lead… Has hit safely in at least five straight games for the fourth time in his career and first since a five-game streak from June 26-30, 2021 with Kansas City; one shy of tying his career high of six games from August 27 to September 3, 2019 with Kansas City.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Of Baltimore’s 60 games this season, 53 have been decided by four or fewer runs, second-most in MLB behind Los Angeles-AL with 54…The O’s have gone 33-20 in those games, the most wins and second-best winning percentage (.623) in the majors behind Tampa Bay (.636, 28-16)…The O’s are 24-14 in games decided by three or fewer runs, the best winning percentage (.632) and tied for the most wins in MLB with the Cleveland (24-23) and Miami (24-17).
Baltimore is 11-7 (.611) in one-run games, tied with five other teams for the third-most wins in games decided by one run this season; only Miami (16-4) and Cleveland (12-17) have more one-run victories.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The O’s are in the middle of a six-game road trip, which began with three games in San Francisco (2-1) over the weekend…After an off day Monday, the Orioles are facing Milwaukee for three games through tomorrow (0-1)…Baltimore is 20-11 (.645) away from Oriole Park, the second-best road record in MLB this season behind Atlanta (20-10, .667)…The Birds went 38-43 (.469) on the road last year, 14thbest in MLB, after going a combined 114-237 (.325) away from Camden Yards from 2017-21.
AGAINST THE BREWERS: The Orioles and Brewers are squaring off for the first and only time this season…The O’s hosted the Brewers at Oriole Park for their first home series of the 2022 campaign; the Birds won their Home Opener but dropped the next two games…The Orioles are playing in Milwaukee for the first time since 2017, when they were swept in three games from July 3-5.
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won 28 of their last 44 games, 31 of 48, and 32 of 51…The 37-23 overall record is the third-best in MLB to start the season (see box at right)…Entering today, the Orioles are one of eight teams with at least 35 wins, along with the Rays (44-19), Rangers (40-20), Diamondbacks (36-25), Braves (36-24), Astros (36-25), Yankees (36-26), and Dodgers (35-26)…They are one of four teams with less than 25 losses, along with the Rays, Rangers, and Braves.
Last season, the Birds did not collect their 37th win until their 81st game on July 4 (37-44).
BIG TIME RUTSCH: Adley Rutschman leads the AL with 44 walks and 106 times on base (62 H, 44 BB)…He’s also fourth in the AL with a .402 on-base percentage…He ranks among MLB switch hitters in OBP (1st), OPS (2nd, .833), and batting average (3rd, .284), and among primary catchers in OBP (1st) and OPS (3rd).
HAYS OF OUR LIVES: Austin Hays was named the Fielding Bible Award Co-Defensive Player of the Month for May with Toronto’s Kevin Kiermaier by Sports Info Solutions after he led MLB with 10 Defensive Runs Saved last month…Hays has four outfield assists this season, tied for fourth in the AL…His 21 outfield assists since the start of 2021 are tied for the second-most in the AL and fifth-most in MLB during that time.
He ranks sixth in the AL with a .305 batting average.
His .394 (26-for-66) batting average in the seventh inning or later leads MLB and he’s the only qualified player currently over .380 in those spots this season; he also leads MLB with a .431 (25-for-58) average with two outs; the next closest player is Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds, who is hitting .389 (21-for54) with two outs.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – #64 DEAN KREMER RHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 13th start of the season, seventh on the road, and first career start against the Brewers tonight…Made a career-high 22 appearances (21 GS) in 2022, 11 appearances at home (10 GS), and 11 on the road…Owned an 8-7 record with a 3.23 ERA (45 ER/125.1 IP) and 87 strikeouts… Made six starts of 5.0-or-more scoreless innings, tied for seventh-most in the AL…Acquired by the Orioles along with INF Breyvic Valera, OF Yusniel Diaz, RHP Zach Pop, and INF Rylan Bannon in exchange for INF Manny Machado on July 18, 2018…Originally selected by the Dodgers in the 14th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of UNLV.
LAST TIME OUT: Earned the win in his 50th career start on June 2 at San Francisco, his first career start against the Giants…Allowed two runs on five hits (1 HR) with two walks and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work…Marked his fifth quality start of the season…Threw 100 pitches, 61 strikes.
AGAINST THE BREWERS/NL CENTRAL: Making his first career start against the Brewers and third start against the NL Central…Earned the win in his last start against the division on August 5, 2022 vs. Pittsburgh…Worked 6.1 scoreless innings on four hits with two strikeouts…Retired 14 straight Pirates batters from the second to the seventh innings…Threw 83 pitches, 61 strikes… Owns a 1-1 record with a 5.06 ERA (6 ER/10.2 IP) through his first two career outings against the division.
ROAD TRIPPIN’: Making his seventh road start of the 2023 campaign tonight… Earned the win in his last start away from Oriole Park on June 2 at San Francisco…Has pitched to a 3-1 record with a 3.94 ERA (14 ER/32.0 IP) in six road starts this season.
INTERLEAGUE WARRIOR: Making his seventh career Interleague start; has gone 5-1 with a 3.15 ERA (12 ER/34.1 IP) and four quality starts in six career outings against the National League…Earned the win in his last Interleague start on June 2 at San Francisco…Has logged a quality start in each of his three assignments against the National League this season.
LEAN, DEAN, FIGHTING MACHINE: Kremer has pitched to a 4-1 record with a 2.55 ERA (10 ER/35.1 IP) and four quality starts in his last six outings since May 5…Has allowed three earned runs-or-fewer and completed at least 5.0 innings in each of those games…Tied a career high with three straight wins from May 5-21 (also: 6/12-7/9/22)…Also tossed a career-high-tying seven strikeouts (4x, last: 7/9/22 vs. LAA) on May 21 at Toronto.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:
On The Mend
OF Jesse Winker is slated to begin a rehab assignment this afternoon with Triple-A Nashville as the team visits Jacksonville (Marlins) in a DH….. Winker has been on the 10-day injured list since May 30 with a cervical strain.
Rare Birds
The Brewers are hosting the Orioles at American Family Field for just the fourth time (2008, ’14, ’17 and ’23)….. the team is 8-2 all-time here against Baltimore, winning the last 6 games.
Baseball Brothers
This series marks the first meeting between the Brewers’ Luis Urías and the Orioles’ Ramón Urías in the big leagues…..the brothers were slated to play against each other last season at Camden Yards, but that plan was foiled as Luis was on the injured list at that particular point in time…..Ramón (1994) and the younger Luis (1997) were both born on June 3 in Mexico.
Extra Credit
The Brewers last night improved to 4-0 in extra-inning games.
Date/Opponent Result
4/13 at San Diego ……………. W, 4-3 (10)
4/18 at Seattle ……………………W, 6-5 (11)
6/2 at Cincinnati ………………..W, 5-4 (11)
6/6 vs. Baltimore …………….. W, 4-3 (10)
Four Goodness Sake!
The Brewers are a Major League-best 29-4 (.879) when scoring at least 4 runs in a game.
Sealing The Deal
The Brewers are 33-0 when leading (27-0) or tied (6-0) after 8 innings.
One and Done
The Brewers are 10-3 (.769) in 1-run games…..the Marlins at 16-4 (.800) are the only team better in MLB.
Field of Wiems
Joey Wiemer, who won last night’s game with a walk-off, RBI-single in the 10th inning, is on a 7-game hitting streak, batting .391 (9-for-23) with 1 HR and 4 RBI…..the streak ties his career high from April 1-8.
Devinly Body
Devin Williams has gone 10-for-10 in save opportunities…..he is unscored upon in 19 of his 20 outings, posting a 0.44 ERA…..opponents are batting just .114 (8-for-70, 1hr) and he has a 0.82 WHIP with 28 K in 20.2 innings
TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 2 (1-0) of a 6-game homestand against Baltimore (1-0) and Oakland (3g)…..following this homestand and an off day next Monday, the team takes a 2-game trip to Minnesota…..their next homestand covers 6 games from June 16-21 against Pittsburgh (3g) and Arizona (3g).
IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: SS Willy Adames (concussion), RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP JB Bukauskas (neck), RHP Matt Bush (right rotator cuff), LHP Eric Lauer (right shoulder), LHP Wade Miley (left lat), OF Garrett Mitchell (left shoulder), 1B Darin Ruf (right knee), OF Tyrone Taylor (right elbow), LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow), OF Jesse Winker (neck) and RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) are on the injured list…..Alexander, Ashby, Mitchell, Ruf, Wilson and Woodruff are on the 60-day IL.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 9-10-0 in series play.
Game 1: 9-11, Game 2: 12-7, Game 3: 10-9, Game 4: 2-1
Sweep Wins (3): vs. NYM (3g, 4/3-4/5), at SEA (3g, 4/17-4/19), vs. KC (3g, 5/12-5/14)
Sweep Losses (1): at COL (3g, 5/2-5/4)
AT HOME: The Brewers are 17-12 at home, going 5-4-0 in series play…..the team went 46-35 at home last season, going 15-8-4 in series play.
ON THE ROAD: The Brewers are 16-16 on the road, going 4-6-0 in series play…..the team went 40-41 on the road last season, going 9-12-5 in series play
LET’S GO TO THE VIDEO TAPE: The Brewers have made 11 replay challenges this season, going 5-6…..their last challenge (lost) came on June 6 vs. Baltimore as a safe call at first base involving Adley Rutschman stood.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: #39 – RHP CORBIN BURNES (12gs, 4-4, 3.75)
BURNES AT A GLANCE: Corbin Burnes, 28, is making his 13th start of the season…..Burnes last started last Friday at Cincinnati and received no decision in the Brewers’ 5-4, 11-inning win (6ip, 2h, 3r, 3er, 4bb, 7k, 1hr, 100 pitches)…..the team is 6-6 in his starts…..he has 7 quality starts…..opponents are batting .212 (54-for-255, 10hr)…..Burnes was selected by Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of St. Mary’s (CA) College…..he is under club control through 2024.
LAST SEASON: Burnes went 12-8 with a 2.94 ERA in 33 starts last season, finishing seventh in NL Cy Young Award voting after winning the award in 2021…..Burnes was an All-Star for the second straight season and was named Brewers Most Valuable Pitcher for the second year in a row…..his career-high 243 strikeouts led the National League and ranked second in the majors behind the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole (257)…..he became the first pitcher in franchise history to lead his league in strikeouts…..he also ranked among the NL top five in starts (T1st, 33), AVG (2nd, .197), K/9IP (2nd, 10.83), H/9IP (2nd, 6.42), innings pitched (4th, 202.0), K/BB (4th, 4.76), quality starts (T4th, 21) and WHIP (5th, 0.97)…..the team went 20-13 in his starts.
CAREER: Is 39-23 with a 3.28 ERA in 147 games/86 starts (585.1ip, 213er)…..is in his sixth Major League season, all with the Brewers (2018-23)…..is 31-20 with a 3.04 ERA as a starter (503.1ip, 170er) and 8-3 with a 4.72 ERA in relief (82ip, 43er)…..Burnes is a two-time All-Star (2021-22) and was a 2021 All-MLB First Team selection.
CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 19-13 with a 3.53 ERA in 72 games/45 starts (306ip, 120er)…..is 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA in 6 starts this season (33.1ip, 15er).
CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 20-10 with a 3.00 ERA in 75 games/41 starts (279.1ip, 93er)…..is 2-4 with a 3.47 ERA in 6 starts this season (36.1ip, 14er).
CAREER vs. ORIOLES: His only career appearance against the Orioles came on 4/13 last season at Camden Yards…..Burnes received no decision in the Brewers’ 4-2 victory (7ip, 3h, 0r, 1bb, 8k, 1hbp, 1wp).
