BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Orioles beat the Blue Jays yesterday, 4-2, to secure the series victory…The top three hitters in the order – Austin Hays, Adley Rutschman, and Anthony Santander – combined to go 7-for-13 and scored all four runs…Rutschman tied the game with a solo homer in the fifth inning, Santander gave the O’s the lead with an RBI single in the sixth, and Hays added insurance with a solo blast in the eighth…Tyler Wells surrendered two runs in 6.2 innings to earn his sixth win and Félix Bautista locked down his 18th save with two strikeouts in 1.1 perfect innings.
The Birds have won five straight series against AL East opponents for the first time since July 5 to August 28, 2014.
Baltimore improved to 20-11 in games decided by two or fewer runs; the .645 winning percentage in such games ranks third-best in MLB.
Jorge Mateo stole both second and third base in the second inning, marking the fifth time in his career that he’s swiped two bases in an inning; he’s the ninth Oriole to steal at least 20 bases in the team’s first 68 games and the first since Nate McClouth stole 23 in 2013.
COMEBACK KIDS: The O’s trailed briefly on Thursday before rallying for their 24th comeback win of the season, tied with Los Angeles-AL for the most in MLB…The 60 come-from-behind victories by the O’s since the start of 2022 are second-most in MLB behind Los Angeles-NL (65).
ROAD WARRIORS: The Orioles begin a five-game road trip this weekend in Chicago with three games against the Cubs through Sunday…Following an off day on Monday, the O’s travel to Tampa Bay for two games from June 20-21.
Baltimore is 21-12 (.636) away from Camden Yards this season, the third-best road record in MLB behind Atlanta (22-11) and Arizona (20-11); the Birds went 38-43 (.469) on the road in 2022 after going a combined 114-237 (.325) away from Oriole Park from 2017-21.
The O’s have won 21 of the first 33 road games for the eighth time in team history (since 1954), trailing only the 26-7 road start in 1969.
AGAINST THE CUBS: The Orioles and Cubs meet for the only time in 2023 this weekend at Wrigley…The O’s went 3-1 against the Cubbies last season, winning both games in Chicago from July 12-13…Baltimore and Chicago split a pair of games at Oriole Park on June 7 and August 18…Though the teams have only matched up 16 times since they first met in 2003, this marks the first time they’ve played in back-to-back seasons.
Adley Rutschman leads AL catchers with 460,496 votes; he would become the third O’s backstop to start an All-Star Game, along with Gus Triandos in 1958 and 1959, and Terry Kennedy in 1987.
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won 34 of their last 52 games, 37 of 56, and 39 of 59… The 43-25 (.632) overall record is the second-best in MLB (see box at right)…Baltimore is 91-60 (.603) since July 3, 2022, the fourth-best record in MLB during that time…This year marks the eighth time in Orioles history (since 1954) that the team has won 43 of the first 68 to start a season and for only the second time in the last 44 seasons, joining 1997 (46-22).
STRIKE A POSE: Baltimore pitchers rank seventh in MLB with 625 strikeouts…The team is on pace to strike out nearly 1,500 batters (9.2/G), which would shatter the club record of 1,248 strikeouts (7.7/G) set in 2016 and matched in 2019.
O’s relievers rank second in MLB with 295 strikeouts, trailing Kansas City (298).
OPENING STATEMENTS: Orioles starting pitchers have not allowed more than three runs in seven straight games and in 16 of the last 17 games…The starters have a 2.93 ERA (14 ER/43.0 IP) since June 8 and a 3.64 ERA (38 ER/94.0 IP) since May 27…In the team’s first 51 games through May 26, O’s starters had a 4.97 ERA (147 ER/266.0 IP).
BROHEARN: Ryan O’Hearn has slashed .367/.404/.776 (18-for-49) with five doubles, five homers, 11 runs, 13 RBI, and three walks in his last 15 games (14 GS) since May 16…Among players with at least 50 plate appearances during that time, he ranks second in slugging and OPS (1.179), and third in batting average…He homered in back-to-back games from June 11- 13 for the second time this season (also May 16-20).
YOUNG GUNN: Gunnar Henderson is slashing .405/.421/.838 (15-for-37) with one double, five homers, seven runs scored, 12 RBI, one walk, and two stolen bases in 10 games (9 GS) since June 1…He is tied for second in MLB in home runs and ranks fourth in the AL in RBI and total bases (31) this month…Henderson homered in three straight games from June 10-13, becoming the first O’s rookie to do so since Ryan Mountcastle from June 2-5, 2021…He scored a run in five consecutive games from June 8-13, one shy of his career high set earlier this year from April 11-16.
He earned his first AL Player of the Week honor last week; he’s the first Oriole to win the award since Mountcastle in June 2021.
Ranks among AL rookies in triples (T-1st, 2), home runs (2nd, 10), runs (2nd, 35), slugging percentage (3rd, .461), walks (3rd, 30), on-base percentage (4th, .347), OPS (4th, .808), extra-base hits (4th, 20), and total bases (4th, 88).
Henderson has raised his slugging percentage 157 points since May 9, going from .304 to .461 entering play today.
BIG TIME RUTSCH: Adley Rutschman is batting .338/.394/.477 (22-for-65) with three doubles, two homers, nine runs scored, four RBI, and six walks in 16 games since May 26… He’s raised his batting average by 20 points from .262 to .282 during that span…Yesterday was his first home run since May 26 vs. Texas and his second of the year batting righthanded, joining April 10 vs. Oakland…Thursday also marked his sixth three-hit game of the season after having five such games all of last year.
He ranks second in the AL with 46 walks and 116 times on base (70 H, 46 BB), and is fourth in the AL with a .392 on-base percentage.
STARTING PITCHER – #19 COLE IRVIN LHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his sixth appearance (fifth start) of the season, third appearance (second start) on the road, and second career start against the Cubs this afternoon…Recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on June 10, his third stint with the O’s…Spent the 2022 season with the Athletics; led the team in wins (9), starts (30), innings pitched (181.0), and strikeouts (128)… Posted career-lows in ERA (3.98), opponent batting average (.251), on-base percentage (.293), slugging percentage (.416), and OPS (.709)…Allowed two earned runs-or-fewer in 17 of his 30 starts…Acquired by the Orioles along with RHP Kyle Virbitsky from Oakland in exchange for SS Darell Hernaiz on January 26, 2023…Originally selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of the 2016 FirstYear Player Draft out of Oregon.
LAST TIME OUT: Earned his first win as an Oriole in his last start on June 10 vs. Kansas City…Allowed one run on six hits with a season-high-tying five strikeouts (also: 5/8 vs. NYY) in a season-high 5.1 innings…Left with one runner on, who was stranded…Marked his first big league start since April 13 vs. Oakland…Also earned his second career win at Oriole Park, joining April 23, 2021 with Oakland…Threw 72 pitches, 55 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST THE CUBS: Making his second career start against the Cubs…Dealt the loss in his only start against Chicago-NL with Philadelphia on May 22, 2019 at Wrigley Field, allowing seven runs on seven hits (2 HR) with three walks, a hit batter, and six strikeouts in 4.2 innings…Threw 84 pitches, 50 strikes.
AGAINST THE NL CENTRAL: Making his fifth career appearance (second start) against the NL Central…Worked 0.2 scoreless innings of relief on one hit with a walk and a strikeout in his last outing against the division on September 5, 2019 at Cincinnati with Philadelphia…Threw 14 pitches, nine strikes…Owns an 0-1 record with a 7.00 ERA (7 ER/9.0 IP) and one save through his first four outings (one start) against the NL Central.
INTERLEAGUE WARRIOR: Has pitched to a 4-2 record with a 4.85 ERA (30 ER/55.2 IP) and four quality starts through his first 11 career Interleague appearances (nine starts)…Dealt the loss in his last such start on September 23, 2022 vs. New York-NL with Oakland…Allowed eight runs (7 ER) on a career-high 11 hits (1 HR) with two walks (1 IBB) and three strikeouts in 4.2 innings… Threw 77 pitches, 54 strikes.
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Orioles
The Cubs and Orioles meet for the second-straight season after playing two game sets in Chicago and Baltimore last season (Cubs went 1-3) … prior to 2022, the teams had previously met at Wrigley Field back in 2014 when current Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was Cubs bench coach.
ON A ROLL: The Chicago Cubs today play the first of three games against the Baltimore Orioles after last evening completing a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 7-2 victory thanks in part to another Marcus Stroman quality start (2 ER/6.0 IP) and Ian Happ’s three-hit, two-RBI night that included a double and a triple … Chicago plated 28 runs on 39 hits and 16 walks during the three-game series, the team’s second series sweep of the season (also April 17-19 at Oakland).
The Cubs enter today having won five of their last six games dating to June 9 and this three-game winning streak is the team’s longest since a season-high four-game run April 16-19 at the Dodgers (1-0) and Athletics (3-0).
Chicago is two-games over .500 (9-7) in its last 16 games starting May 29.
This is the 14th contest (7-6) in a stretch that began June 2 in which the Cubs play 15 of 21 games on the road … this stretch wraps up with the team’s two London Series against against St. Louis June 24-25 … eight of the 15 games are against division rivals — six against Pittsburgh (3 at home, 3 on the road) and the two games of the London Series.
After the game on April 21, Chicago was 12-7 and 1.5 games behind the division lead … since, the club is 19-30 and enters today 3.5 games behind the division-leading Pirates, sitting at 34-33.
THIS AND THAT: The Cubs are the only N.L. Central Division club with a positive run differential (+4) … Pittsburgh is at -15, Milwaukee -25, Cincinnati -29 and St. Louis -13.
Chicago trailed in each game of their three-game sweep of the Pirates … four of the team’s last five wins have been of the come-from-behind variety.
NO. 22,000: Today’s contest marks the franchise’s 22,000th regular season game as a National League franchise with the team going 11,192-10,646-152 with nine “no-decisions” in the first 21,999 games … “no-decisions” are games played to their entirety only to be tossed out later due to a technicality (the Cubs last “no-decision” was July 15, 1924 against the Giants – let Cubs PR know if you want to hear about it).
WHEN LEFT IS RIGHT: Chicago is hitting .264 (167-for-633) with a .770 OPS against left-handed pitching compared to a .242 mark (402-for-1,658) and a .708 OPS against righthanders … the team is 11-9 in 20 games against left-handed starting pitchers and 20-28 in contests started by righties.
Seiya Suzuki is hitting .380 (19-for-50) with a .956 OPS against southpaws this season.
INTERLEAGUE INTERLUDE: The Cubs are 10-11 against the American League this season, having started out 8-2 in the first 10 games through May 12 in Minnesota before dropping nine of their next 11, including each of their last four since May 31 vs. Tampa Bay.
Today’s Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks holds franchise marks with 34 career interleague starts, 196.1 innings pitched in interleague play and 162 strikeouts against the A.L. … his nine interleague victories are tied for third-most in franchise annals, trailing only Jon Lester (16 wins) and Jake Arrieta (13).
SERIES STUFF: Thanks to taking two of three in San Francisco to close out the previous trip, and sweeping a three-game set against the Pirates to open the homestand, the Cubs have won consecutive series for the first time since taking four-straight sets April 7-19 vs. Texas (2-1), vs. Seattle (2-1), at the Dodgers (2-1) and at Oakland (3-0).
THAT’S JUST GLOVELY: Dansby Swanson has gone 51-straight games at shortstop without an error dating to April 20 (171 TC) … he is the third Cub since 1901 to go at least 51-straight games without an error at shortstop: Don Kessinger in 1969 went 54-consecutive games at shortstop without an error (274 TC) and Mick Kelleher went 60-straight games at shortstop without a miscue, spanning the 1976-79 campaigns (199 TC).
Swanson’s 2.5 WAR is second among N.L. shortstops behind the Giants Thairo Estrada (2.7) and fourth among all shortstops, according to FanGraphs … Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco leads all shortstops with a 3.4 mark.
I MEAN, IT HAD TO TURN AT SOME POINT: Including two bases-loaded singles and a bases-loaded walk Wednesday night, the Cubs are 6-for-12 with a hit by pitch and a walk with the bases loaded dating to June 9 … prior to this, the team had been 0-for-10 in their previous 10 plate appearances with the bases loaded dating to May 23.
Looking further back, prior to June 9, the team had just one hit in its 22 at-bats with the bases loaded dating to the eighth inning April 29.
STARTING STUFF: Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 3.92 ERA (158 ER/362.1 IP) this season, the best mark among N.L. starting rotations and fifth-best in the majors … the rotation’s 1.20 WHIP ranks sixth among major league teams.
Cubs starting pitchers rank first and second among qualified starting pitchers in the N.L. in ERA, with Marcus Stroman pacing the pack with a 2.45 ERA and Justin Steele second with a 2.65 ERA.
Chicago has recieved 31 quality starts, the most in the N.L. and sixth-most in baseball.
WHAT A RELIEF: Adbert Alzolay has posted a 1.10 ERA (2 ER/16.1 IP) in his last 13 game since May 6, walking two, striking out 13 and posting a 0.80 WHIP … Julian Merryweather since April 17 has pitched to a 1.14 ERA (3 ER/23.2 IP) with one win and allowed 18 hits and 10 walks with 37 strikeouts in 24 appearances.
Mark Leiter Jr. has averaged 13.99 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (43 SO/27.2 IP), the fifth-best mark among N.L. relievers.
Starting Pitcher – #28 RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-2, 3.09)
Last Time Out
Kyle earned his second win of the season, carrying a no-hit bid into the eighth inning June 10 in San Francisco … was his second career outing of 8.0 or more innings pitched and one hit allowed (also, Sept. 12, 2016 at St. Louis) … was the ninth outing of his career in which he tossed 8.0 innings or more while allowing zero earned runs … earned his first quality start of the season.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
6/10 at SF W, 4-0 8.0 1 0 0 1 3 94-61 4-0
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 0-1 3.86 2 2 9.1 12 6 4 5 8
Road 1-1 2.57 2 2 14.0 7 4 4 1 7
AVG vs. LHB: .204 (10-for-49) / AVG vs. RHB: .243 (9-for-37)
Kyle will make his fifth start of the 2023 campaign, his third at Wrigley Field … has walked just one batter in his last two outings after walking five across his first two starts of 2023 … will make 35th career interleague start, where he is 9-11 with a 3.25 ERA (71 ER/196.1 IP).
June 10 in San Francisco, carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning … the 7.2 IP no-hit bid was the second-longest of his career (Sept. 12, 2016 at St. Louis, 8.0 IP).
Became the 12th pitcher in Cubs history to pitch for the Cubs in at least 10 season (last Kerry Wood).
Made his season debut May 25 vs. Mets (3 ER/4.1 IP), his first major league start since July 5, 2022.
Made five rehab starts with Triple-A Iowa, going 2-1 with a 5.75 ERA (13 ER/20.1 IP) … allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last three rehab starts, posting a 1.69 ERA (3 ER/16.0 IP) during those outings.
Began the season on the 15-day injured list, as he rehabbed from a capsular tear in his right shoulder that he suffered in July 2022.
