BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
A BIRD BLOWOUT IN THE BRONX: The O’s defeated the Yankees last night, 14-1, to split the four-game set at Yankee Stadium…Used a seven-run third inning and a five-run fourth… Recorded a season-high 20 hits, their most since June 6, 2021 vs. Cleveland (21 H) and 14 runs, their most since September 26, 2022 at Boston (also 14)…Gunnar Henderson finished 4-for-7 with two home runs, three runs scored, and five RBI…Kyle Bradish tossed 6.0 scoreless innings and has allowed two or fewer runs in five straight starts (31.0 IP).
Marks the first time with multiple 5+ run innings by the Birds since August 26, 2021 vs. Los Angeles-AL.
Eight Orioles reached base safely at least three times, tying the team record (since 1954) set on May 16, 1999 at Texas.
The 13-run victory is the largest by the O’s this season.
Baltimore has now gone seven straight sets against AL East opponents without losing a series for the first time since April 14 to June 22, 2014 (8 series), per the Elias Sports Bureau.
Henderson tallied all four hits in the first four inning, joining Cedric Mullins (4/4/21) as the only Orioles in club history to record four hits through the first four innings of a game, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
Ryan O’Hearn tied a career high with three hits (15x) for the fourth time this season; also matched a career high with four RBI (4x) for the second time this year.
Adam Frazier matched a season high with three hits (3x).
YOUNG GUNN: Gunnar Henderson recorded his first career leadoff home run and set career bests with four hits and five RBI last night…He also matched career highs reaching safely four times and scoring three runs…He’s the fifth O’s rookie (sixth occurrence) with a leadoff home run, joining Cedric Mullins (2x), Joey Rickard, Ryan Flaherty, and Matt Angle… Became the fourth Orioles rookie with four hits and at least two homers in a game, joining Ryan Mountcastle, Chris Richard, and Curt Blefary…Also became the first MLB player with four hits and two home runs in the first four innings of a game since Matt Carpenter did so for St. Louis on July 20, 2018 at Chicago-NL.
Henderson is slashing .314/.352/.608 (32-for-102) with four doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 14 runs scored, 21 RBI, five walks, and three stolen bases in 26 games since the start of June…During that time, he ranks among AL leaders in homers (T-3rd), slugging (4th), OPS (6th, .960), and total bases (9th, 62).
He was voted the AL Rookie of the Month for June, his first monthly award and sixth O’s rookie to earn the honor; named AL Player of the Week for the week of June 5-11, his first career weekly award.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Baltimore is in the middle of a seven-game road trip to complete the pre-All-Star Break schedule…The O’s went 2-2 in the Bronx and begin a three-game set in the Twin Cities against Minnesota tonight…The Orioles open after the break with a six-game homestand against Miami and Los Angeles-NL from July 14-19.
Despite dropping the first two games in New York this week, the O’s still have the third-best road record in MLB at 25-17 (.595).
The Birds went 38-43 (.469) on the road last year, 14th-best in MLB, after going a combined 114-237 (.325) away from Camden Yards from 2017-21.
AGAINST THE TWINS: The Orioles and Twins are meeting for the second and final time in the regular season this weekend…Baltimore dropped the first two games to Minnesota at Oriole Park last week but rallied for two runs in the eighth inning on Sunday in a 2-1 comeback win…The O’s lost 16 straight games to the Twins from March 31, 2018 to May 31, 2021, the longest losing skid by the Orioles against Minnesota since the team moved to the Twin Cities in 1961 and the third-longest against a single opponent in club history (since 1954).
OPENING STATEMENTS: O’s starting pitchers have a 2.25 ERA (9 ER/36.0 IP) with 28 hits (5 HR), 10 total runs, 13 walks, and 31 strikeouts in six games this month…Only four teams have a better starter ERA in July – Minnesota (0.77), San Diego (1.04), New York-NL (1.64), and Atlanta (2.20).
BIG TIME RUTSCH: Adley Rutschman has hit safely in a career-high-tying eight straight games while slashing .343/.378/.486 (12-for-35) with two doubles, one home run, six runs, three RBI, and two walks during that stretch since June 28 (also 4/7-14/23).
Reached base safely three times last night for the 20th time this year, tied for seventh-most in MLB; his 141 times on base (87 H, 54 BB) are fourth-most in the AL.
STARTING PITCHER – #19 COLE IRVIN LHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 10th appearance (eighth start), fifth appearance (third start) on the road, and third career start against the Twins tonight…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 First-Year Player Draft out of Oregon.
LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor in the decision in his last start on July 2 vs. Minnesota…Allowed one run on six hits with three walks, a wild pitch, a hit batter, and one strikeout in 5.0 innings…Completed 5.0 innings for just the second time this season (last: 6/10 vs. KC, 5.1 IP) and has allowed just one earned run in each of those starts…Threw 82 pitches, 49 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST THE TWINS: Making his third career start against the Twins tonight…Did not factor into the decision in his last start on against Minnesota at Oriole Park on July 2…Has a lone career start at Target Field with Oakland on May 15, 2021…Did not factor in the decision, after allowing one run on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 6.2 innings…Left with three runners on, who were all stranded…Threw 81 pitches, 59 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST AL CENTRAL: Owns a 5-3 record with a 2.68 ERA (23 ER/77.1 IP) in 14 career games (13 starts) against the AL Central…Earned his only win of the season on June 10 vs. Kansas City…Allowed one run on six hits with a season-high tying five strikeouts (also: 4/8 vs. NYY) in a season-high 5.1 innings…Threw 72 pitches, 55 strikes.
SWIRVIN’ IRVIN: Has a 1-1 record with 3.38 ERA (7 ER/18.2 IP), five walks, and 15 strikeouts in his last six appearances (four starts) since May 20, compared to an
0-2 record with a 10.66 ERA (15 ER/12.2 IP) with eight walks and 13 strikeouts in his first three starts of the year.
LIFE ON THE ROAD: Making his fifth road appearance (third start) of the season… Did not factor into the decision in his last start away from Oriole Park on June 21 at Tampa Bay…Owns an 0-2 record with a 9.64 ERA (10 ER/9.1 IP) in four road outings this season.
MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: After completing their nine-game, 10-day road-trip with a record of 4-5 (2-1 in Detroit, 0-3 in Atlanta and 2-1 in Baltimore), the Twins began their six-game, seven-day homestand with a three-game sweep over the Royals…tonight, the Twins will begin a three-game weekend series against the Orioles leading up to the All-Star break…the Twins have gone 26-19 at home and 19-24 on the road.
After the All-Star break, the Twins will go on a seven-game road-trip with three against Oakland from July 14-16 and four against Seattle from July 17-20.
PABLO LÓPEZ RYAN JEFFERS: The Twins beat the Royals on Wednesday night by a score of 5-0, recording their eighth shutout of the season and completing the three-game sweep — their third sweep of the season (2nd of 3 games)…Pablo López (5-5) pitched his first career complete-game shutout, allowing four hits with no walks and a career-high 12 strikeouts… Ryan Jeffers had two of the club’s five hits, including his fourth home run of the season.
López and Joe Ryan (June 22 vs. BOS) became the first pair of Twins teammates to both throw a complete-game shutout in the same season since Brian Duensing, Francisco Liriano (no-hitter) and Carl Pavano all did so in 2011.
The Twins are one of four teams in baseball with multiple complete games this season, joining Texas (3), New York-AL (2) and Seattle (2).
SIX PACK: The Twins have won five of their last six games…below are the hitting and pitching numbers over the last six since the Baltimore series started on June 30:
AVG R H 2B 3B HR BB K OBP SLG OPS
BATTING .276 32 55 9 0 10 19 51 .351 .472 .823
W L S IP H ER HR BB K ERA BAA
PITCHING 5 1 1 53.0 30 9 4 11 61 1.53 .162
ADDITIONALLY: The Twins are hitting .341 (15-for-44) with runners in scoring position in their last six after finishing the series in Atlanta 0-for-23 with RISP from June 26-28.
TWINS AND O’s: The Twins and Orioles are playing each other for the fourth of six meetings in 2023…these two played a three-game series last weekend as the Twins won the first two games and outscored the O’s 10-3 in the series…Twins vs. Baltimore since 2017 in box to the bottom right.
Since 2019, the Twins have hit 42 home runs against Baltimore for an average of 1.9 home runs-per-game (22 games).
The Twins are 38-18 vs. Baltimore since the start of 2014…that marks the most wins against Baltimore among non-American League East teams in that span.
Byron Buxton has a .982 OPS in his last nine games vs. Baltimore, with four home runs and 10 RBI in that span.
Michael A. Taylor is hitting .301 (34-for-113) with five doubles, three home runs, 17 RBI, 11 walks, a .365 on-base percentage and a .790 OPS in 37 career games against the O’s.
Carlos Correa is hitting .298 (28-for-94) with seven doubles, five home runs, 18 RBI, six walks, a .352 on-base percentage, a .532 slugging percentage and an .884 OPS in his last 25 games vs. the Orioles (since May of 2017).
Max Kepler is hitting .350 (35-for-100) with seven doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 24 RBI, 12 walks, a .416 OBP and a 1.156 OPS in 28 career games against Baltimore.
ROTATIONAL PULL: Below are the Twins starters the last time through the rotation:
DATE/OPP STARTER W/L IP H R ER HR BB K SWING/MISS FINAL
7/1 at BAL Ober W 7.0 2 0 0 0 0 8 11 W, 1-0
7/2 at BAL Gray ND 6.0 2 0 0 0 3 7 9 L, 1-2
7/3 vs. KC Ryan ND 6.0 6 2 2 1 1 9 21 W, 8-4
7/4 vs. KC Maeda W 7.0 3 2 1 1 1 9 15 W, 9-3
7/5 vs. KC López W 9.0 4 0 0 0 0 12 17 W, 5-0
MAX EFFORT: Max Kepler is hitting .311 (14-for-45) with five home runs, 12 RBI, seven runs scored, four walks, a .367 on-base percentage, a .644 slugging percentage and a 1.012 OPS in his last 15 games…in that span, he is slashing .308/.308/.538 against left-handed pitching with just two strikeouts.
NUMBER ONE HIT: Carlos Correa went 0-for-2 on Wednesday night but drew two walks and has now reached safely in all six games since being placed in the leadoff spot on June 30…in those six games, he is hitting .375 (9-for-24) with two doubles, two walks, five runs scored, a .444 on-base percentage and a .903 OPS.
OUTSTANDING ‘PENMANSHIP: Over the last 12 games, since June 21, the Twins bullpen has posted a 2.23 ERA (36.1 IP, 9 ER) with 14 walks, 40 strikeouts, a .183 opponent batting average and a .553 opponent OPS…since that date, they rank second in baseball in opponent batting average and opponent OPS and third in ERA.
DONNIE BARRELS: Since June 1, Donovan Solano has posted a .398 on-base percentage in 30 games, reaching 41 times in 103 plate appearances (24 hits, 15 walks, 2 HBP)…in 38 home games this season, he is hitting .321 (34-for-106) with 15 walks, a .415 on-base percentage and an .867 OPS…in 16 home games since June 1, he is hitting .340 (16-for-47) with a .456 on-base percentage and a 1.031 OPS.
STARTING PITCHER – BAILEY OBER 17
2023: 5-4, 2.70 ERA CAREER: 10-10, 3.44 ERA
Making his 14th start of the season and ninth home start…also his 45th career start and appearance.
Facing the Orioles for the second time this season…marks the fourth time in his career Ober has faced the same opponent in two-consecutive starts.
Began the season with Triple-A St. Paul and was recalled when Kenta Maeda landed on the Injured List on April 29…since being inserted into the rotation, the Twins have gone 8-5 in his 13 starts.
Selected by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the College of Charleston.
LAST START: Earned his fifth win of the season on July 1 at Baltimore…pitched a season-high-tying 7.0 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits, issued zero walks and struck a season-high-tying eight batters in his second-consecutive game…marked his eighth quality start of the season; owns the third-most quality starts in the Twins’ rotation, trailing Joe Ryan (12) and Pablo López (11)… pitched a 1-2-3 first inning…allowed a single to Gunnar Henderson in the second inning…retired 13 of the next 14 batters he faced before allowing another single to Anthony Santander in the seventh (hit Ryan O’Hearn with a pitch in the fourth)…relieved by Griffin Jax in the eighth inning who combined with Jhoan Duran to pitch 2.0 scoreless innings to complete the shutout…the only run scored by the Twins was on a solo home run by Joey Gallo in the fourth inning…marked just the second 1-0 shutout of the season for Minnesota (also, June 2 vs. Cleveland, an Ober start).
Among American League pitchers with at least 13 games started in 2023, Oberranks second in WHIP (0.95), third in opponent batting average (.208), fourth in ERA (2.70), sixth in walksper-9.0 innings (1.76), and sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.93).
Currently owns a seven-game streak of allowing three-or-fewer earned runs…tied for the fifth-longest active streak among American League starters this season.
TWO STARTS AGO: Did not factor into the decision despite recording a quality start on June 25 against Detroit at Comerica Park, a 6-3 Twins’ victory…pitched 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on five hits, issued one walk and struck out a season-high eight batters in his seventh quality start of the season…pitched 1-2-3 first and second innings before allowing a single and a double to start the third inning; then yielded a two-run double to Zach McKinstry and a go-ahead RBI single to Kerry Carpenter…retired nine of the final 11 batters he faced after the RBI single, including striking out the side in the fifth inning…relieved by Jordan Balazovic in the seventh inning as the bullpen combined to pitch 4.0 scoreless innings with one hit and six strikeouts…Royce Lewis scored the tying run in the seventh inning on a throwing error by Chasen Shreve…the Twins entered extra innings for the 11th time this season; Minnesota scored three runs on three singles by Lewis, Willi Castro and Christian Vázquez to improve to 8-3 in extra innings.
FABULOUS FIRST HALF: Ober has posted a 0.95 WHIP in 13 starts this year, the lowest WHIP by a qualified pitcher before the All-Star break in Twins history (since 1961)…also owns the 11th-lowest opponent batting average (.208), 13th-lowest strikeouts-per-walk ratio (4.93) and 14th-lowest first-half ERA (2.70) in Twins history…is 7-7, 3.64 ERA (143.1 IP, 58 ER) with 33 walks and 140 strikeouts in 28 career first-half starts.
ICTERUS GALBULA: Facing the Orioles for the second time in his career…last faced the Orioles in his last start on July 1 for the first time in his career…marks the fourth time in his career Ober has faced the same opponent in consecutive starts (last, September 27- October 3, 2022 against Chicago- AL).
FAR EAST MOVEMENT: In four starts against American League East opponents this season (TOR, TB, BOS and BAL), Ober is 1-3 with a 3.09 ERA (23.1 IP, 8 ER), three walks, 26 strikeouts and a .209 (18-for-86) opponent batting average…in eight career starts against the AL East, he is 2-5, 2.68 ERA (43.2 IP, 13 ER) with seven walks and 45 strikeouts; Twins have gone 3-5 in those starts.
Owns the eighth-lowest ERA against the AL East since 2021 (min. 8 GS).
Owns the eighth-lowest opponent batting average and ERA against the AL East this season (min. 4 GS).
I’M GOING HOME: Ober is making his ninth home start of the season tonight…is 2-3, 3.18 ERA (45.1 IP, 16 ER) with 10 walks and 39 strikeouts in eight home starts this season; earned home victories on April 23 vs. Washington and June 14 vs. Milwaukee…is 3-1, 2.01 ERA (31.1 IP, 7 ER) with five walks and 35 strikeouts in five road starts in 2023.
In 23 career home starts, Ober has gone 6-4 with a 3.61 ERA (117.1 IP, 47 ER), 27 walks and 116 strikeouts…is 4-6 with a 3.26 ERA (107.2 IP, 39 ER), 18 walks and 105 strikeouts in 21 career road games.
TO THE LEFT: Left-handed hitters are batting .196 (29-for-148) with 36 strikeouts and 11 walks against Ober after 13 starts this season…right-handed hitters are hitting .221 (29-for-131) with 38 strikeouts and four walks…lefties went just 2-for-18 with seven strikeouts against him in his last start on July 1 at Baltimore while righties went 0-for-5 with one strikeout…in his career, left-handed hitters are batting .247/.309/.395 with 94 strikeouts against Ober…righties are hitting .223/.246/.421 with 127 strikeouts off him.
Owns the fifth-lowest opponent batting average against left-handed hitters among American League pitchers with at least 13 starts this season…also has the fifth-lowest slugging percent- age (.297) and OPS (.558) against lefties this year.
