BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The O’s fell to the Phillies last night, 4-3, in the second game of the three-game set at Citizens Bank Park…Ryan O’Hearn clubbed a solo homer in the eighth inning, his ninth long ball of the year, and Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-2 with two walks and a pair of runs scored…Kyle Gibson turned in his team-leading 11th quality start of the year while Shintaro Fujinami worked 2.0 scoreless innings in relief with three strikeouts.
BURNING RUBBER: The Orioles and Phillies square off in a rubber game in tonight’s series finale…The Orioles have gone 8-5 in rubber games after going 11-11 in such games last year.
SWEEPLESS IN BALTIMORE: With Monday night’s win, the Orioles have now gone 72 consecutive series without being swept…According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the most consecutive series of at least two decisions (no ties) without getting swept in Orioles history (since 1954), ahead of 46 consecutive sweepless series from 1971-72…It is tied with the 1921-23 St. Louis Browns, 1997-99 San Diego Padres, and 2003-05 Atlanta Braves for the sixth-longest such streak in MLB history, trailing the 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals (124), 1906-09 Chicago Cubs (115), 1903-05 New York Giants (105), 1922-24 New York Yankees (83), 1904-1906 Philadelphia Athletics (74).
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won five of their last seven games, 13 of their last 17, and 14 of their last 20…At 62-39 (.614), the Orioles have the best record in the AL and second-best in MLB; they are one of only two teams with a .600 winning percentage and one of two teams with fewer than 40 losses (see box at right)…The Birds are 124-88 (.585) since the beginning of June 2022, the second-best record in the AL and fourth-best in MLB during that time…Had a season-best eight-game winning streak from July 5-16, Baltimore’s longest since a 10-gamer from July 3-13, 2022…They outscored their opponents, 60-20, during the streak for a +40 run differential; according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Orioles won eight straight games with a run differential of at least +40 within one season was from August 24-31, 1983 (+45).
The Birds currently have a 1.5-game lead over the Rays in the AL East.
The Orioles have two winning streaks of at least seven games this year; Atlanta (4x), San Francisco (2x), and Tampa Bay (2x) are the only other teams with multiple win streaks of at least seven games this season.
WRAPPING UP THE ROAD TRIP: The Orioles conclude their seven-game road trip tonight… Baltimore opened the trip by taking three of four games at Tampa Bay over the weekend… The Birds have split the first two games of the current three-game set in Philadelphia… Baltimore has a scheduled off day tomorrow, Thursday, July 27, before hosting the Yankees for three games from July 28-30.
The O’s have won nine of their last 11 road games; their six-game road winning streak from July 5-20 was the longest by the team since an eight-gamer from July 25 to August 13, 2020.
Baltimore has the second-best road record in MLB at 32-19 (.627), trailing only the Braves at 32-16 (.667).
AGAINST THE PHILLIES: The Orioles and Phillies meet for the only time during the regular season this week…The teams last met with Philadelphia taking two of three games at Citizens Bank Park from September 20-22, 2021…Baltimore is 19-14 all-time in Philly since the teams first met in the regular season in 1997…The O’s beat the Phils for their third and most recent World Series title in 1983, winning four straight games, including the last three in Philadelphia, after dropping Game 1 at Oriole Park.
BROHEARN: Ryan O’Hearn has hit safely in seven of his last eight games while slashing .348/.360/.652 (8-for-23) with one double, two homers, three runs scored, five RBI, and one walk since July 17…O’Hearn is batting .326/.365/.583 (47-for-144) with 10 doubles, nine homers, 23 runs scored, 27 RBI, eight walks, two hit-by-pitches, and one stolen base in 45games (39 GS) since May 16…He ranks among AL leaders during that period (min. 150 PA) in slugging (4th), average (5th), and OPS (7th, .949).
AY, TONE: Anthony Santander recorded his 500th career hit last night, a double in the first inning…He is the 50th player to reach 500 career hits in an O’s uniform since the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954…Has reached base safely in 20 of the last 22 games since June 30…Had a season-long 17-game on-base streak from June 30 to July 20…It was the second-longest on-base streak by an O’s batter this season behind Adam Frazier, who reached safely in 18 straight games from May 6-25…Since the beginning of May, Santander is slashing .278/.353/.513 (77-for-277) with 18 doubles, one triple, 15 homers, 43 runs scored, 44 RBI, 28 walks, four hit-by-pitches, and three stolen bases in 72 games…During that time, he ranks among AL leaders in homers (5th), extra-base hits (T-5th, 34), and total bases (6th, 142).
Ranks tied for seventh in the AL with 26 doubles and 44 extra-base hits this season.
Santander has two multi-homer games this year and his 12 career multi-homer games are tied for ninth-most in O’s history (since 1954).
His 17 home runs are tied for third among MLB switch hitters this season; his 50 home runs since the start of last season are the most among MLB switch hitters.
MOUNTAIN TIME: Félix Bautista is tied for the AL lead and tied for third in MLB with 28 saves this season…He has secured a win or save in 33 of his 45 appearances 73.3%) this year…That would be the fourth-highest such percentage in O’s history (since 1954), behind Jim Johnson (74.6%, 53-of-71) in 2012, Randy Myers (77.0%, 47-of-61) in 1997, and Lee Smith (82.9%, 34-of-41) in 1994, per the Elias Sports Bureau…Bautista is looking to become the eighth Oriole in team history to lead the league in saves and the first since Zack Britton locked down 47 games in 2016…Johnson has the team record of 51 saves set in 2012.
His 96 strikeouts are more than 15 qualified pitchers, per STATS.
STARTING PITCHER – #39 KYLE BRADISH RHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 19th start of the season, 11th on the road, and first career start against the Phillies tonight…Made 23 starts in his rookie season with the Orioles in 2022…Went 4-7 with a 4.90 ERA (64 ER/117.2 IP) with 111 strikeouts to 46 walks…Was one of 13 O’s players (7 pitchers) to make their debut in 2022…Started on the bump for Adley Rutschman’s debut on May 21 vs. Tampa Bay…Tossed 16.0 consecutive scoreless innings across four starts from August 26 to September 6…Acquired by the Orioles along with RHP Kyle Brnovich, RHP Zach Peek, and RHP Isaac Mattson from Los Angeles-AL in exchange for RHP Dylan Bundy on December 4, 2019…Originally drafted by the Angels in the fourth round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of New Mexico State…Teammates at NMSU with INF Joey Ortiz.
LAST TIME OUT: Dealt the loss on July 21 at Tropicana Field after allowing two runs on six hits (1 HR) with one walk and five strikeouts in 6.0 innings…Threw 93
pitches, 61 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST THE PHILLIES AND NL EAST: Making his first career start against the Phillies and fourth career start against the NL East tonight..Earned the win in his last outing against the division on July 16 vs. Miami…Pitched a season-high 7.1 scoreless innings with three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts, and one hit batter…Threw 100 pitches, 71 strikes…Sports a 2-0 record with a 1.47 ERA (3 ER/18.1 IP) in three career outings against the NL East, all in 2023.
ROAD TRIPPIN’: Making his 11th road start of the 2023 campaign tonight… Through his first ten outings away from Oriole Park this season, Bradish has pitched to a 3-2 record with a 3.72 ERA (20 ER/48.1 IP) and two quality starts… The O’s own a 6-4 edge in his road starts this season.
INTERLEAGUE HERO: Will be his 10th career Interleague start; has pitched to a 3-1 record with a 2.70 ERA (15 ER/50.0 IP) and four quality starts in nine career outings against the National League…Held opposing hitters to a .223 (42-for188) batting average in those games…Earned the win in his last start against the National League on July 16 vs. Miami…Earned his first career win and tallied a career-high 11 strikeouts on May 10, 2022 at St. Louis…Threw a career-high 105 pitches on June 7, 2022 vs. Chicago-NL…Has allowed three earned runs-or-fewer in each of his eight career Interleague outings.
SHIFTING SPEEDS: Bradish is holding opposing hitters to a .169/.206/.266 (21-for-124) slash line against his slider this season…His 48 punchouts via his primary pitch are the ninth-most among MLB starting pitchers entering play today…In 2022, opposing batters slashed .212/.278/.343 (29-for-137) against the off-speed pitch.
HITTING HIS STRIDE: Has pitched to a 5-4 record with a 2.50 ERA (23 ER/82.2 IP) and nine quality starts in his last 14 outings since May 6…Has allowed three earned runs-or-fewer in 13 of those games…Tossed a season-high 10 strikeouts on June 8 at Milwaukee…Did not allow a home run in a career-high-tying three straight starts from May 28 to June 8 (also: 10/2/22-4/19/23)…Completed 7.0 innings in two of those outings (6/14 vs. TOR & 6/25 vs. SEA)…Has won four of his last six starts since June 20.
LIMITING THE DAMAGE: Bradish has surrendered one or no home runs in each of his last 33 starts since June 13, 2022; the O’s own a 20-13 edge in those games… Marks the third-longest active streak among MLB starting pitchers and longest by an O’s starter since Ubaldo Jiménez accomplished the feat in 36 straight starts from July 23, 2015 to September 10, 2016.
SWING AND A MISS: Bradish registered 16 swings and misses on May 12 vs. Pittsburgh, his second-most in a game in his career behind the 17 he recorded on August 26, 2022 at Houston.
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:
GAME #101 RECAP: The Phillies defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3, in walk-off fashion at Citizens Bank Park … Starter Taijuan Walker (ND) went 5.2 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts … Down 2-1 in the 6th, Bryce Harper homered to tie the game before Baltimore scored a run in the top of the 8th to retake the lead … Down 3-2 with 2 outs in the 9th, Bryson Stott laced a double to right that scored Harper from 1st base – J.T. Realmuto then legged out an infield single to extend the inning (29.3 ft/s sprint speed) before Alec Bohm singled home Stott to end it.
- ARMS RACE: Over the last 44 games (since 6/3), the Phillies’ starting rotation has gone 17-10 with a 3.09 ERA (90 ER, 262.0 IP) with 261 strikeouts to 64 walks (4.08 SO/BB ratio) – during this stretch, they have the lowest OPS among all starting staffs in MLB at .645 (next: MIL, .682), the lowest ERA at 3.09 (next: SD, 3.15), the lowest opponents OBP at .274 (next: MIL, .288), the lowest WHIP at 1.08 (next: MIL, 1.12) and the most innings pitched at 262.0 (next: MIN, 259.2) … The staff has gone at least 6.0 innings in 29 of those 44 games (66%) and at least 7.0 innings in 14 of those 44 games (32%) … Since June 3, the Phillies bullpen has tossed the fewest innings of any relief corps in MLB at 140.0 (29th is MIN at 142.1 and most is SF at 213.0) but have the fourth-lowest ERA in MLB at 3.41, trailing only ATL (2.91), TB (2.98) and SF (3.25) … Philadelphia’s starters and relievers have combined for 14.9 fWAR which leads MLB (next: MIN, 14.0) and is more than three full wins clear of the next closest NL club (MIA, 11.6 fWAR).
- HATS OFF TO YOU THOMS: Since Rob Thomson was named manager of the Phillies on June 3, 2022, the Phils are 26 games over .500 at 119-93 with a .561 winning percentage that is tied for 5th in MLB (with SEA), trailing only ATL (.670), LAD (.640), HOU (.615) and BAL (.586) … On June 15 at ARI, Thomson reached 100 career wins in 180 games at the helm which was tied for the 6th fastest of the 56 managers in Phillies history and the fastest since Pat Corrales in 1983 (also 180 games) … On July 9, Thomson managed his 200th game for the Phillies and had more wins (113) through his first 200 games than all but four of the 55 other managers in Phillies franchise history: Steve O’Neill (1952-54, 118 wins), Pat Moran (1915-18, 117 wins), Dallas Green (1979-81, 116 wins) and Bill Shettsline (1898-1902, 116 wins).
- HARP ON IT: In “Close & Late” situations (7th inning or later with the batting team ahead by one run, tied, or with the tying run on base, at bat or on deck), Bryce Harper has 49 plate appearances this season and he is slashing .442/.510/.628 with a 1.138 OPS that leads MLB (min. 45 PA) … Since the start of last season (including the postseason), Harper has stepped to the plate 116 times in close and late situations and has slashed .357/.448/.643 with a 1.091 OPS that leads MLB (min. 100 PA) – Aaron Judge (1.080 OPS) ranks 2nd and Yordan Alvarez (1.073 OPS) ranks 3rd … Last postseason, Harper had 10 such plate appearances and reached base in five while posting a 1.214 OPS.
- BEDLAM AT THE BANK: Through 47 games at CBP, the Phillies are averaging 39,383 in attendance per game which ranks 5th among all clubs in MLB behind only the Dodgers (48,167), Cardinals (42,065), Yankees (41,351) and Padres (40,501) … Of Philadelphia’s first 47 games at home, 23 have been sellouts (49%) and 36 have been over 35,000 (77%) … Among all clubs in MLB, the Phillies have the largest year-to-year increase in attendance per game this season at +10,913 (up from 28,469 per game through 47 home games in 2022) – CLE ranks 2nd at +6,614 per game … Per Baseball Reference, the last time a team saw a +10,000 spike in attendance from one year to the next was in 2010 when the Twins moved to Target Field from the Metrodome and saw a +10,332 spike from 2009 … For reference, the Phillies saw a +12,224 spike in attendance in 2004 when CBP was opened (40,125 per game) after averaging 27,901 per game during the final year at Veterans Stadium in 2003.
- RISP AND REWARD: Since June 3, the Phillies are 105-for-371 with runners in scoring position with a .283 AVG that ranks 6th in MLB and a .362 OBP that ranks 5th … League average since June 3 with RISP is a .260 AVG and .338 OBP … The Phils have five players with at least 40 plate appearances with RISP who are hitting over .290 since June 3: Alec Bohm (.357 AVG/.404 OBP), Bryson Stott (.343 AVG/.390 OBP), Trea Turner (.333 AVG/.417 OBP), Nick Castellanos (.295 AVG/.304 OBP) and Bryce Harper (.293 AVG/.362 OBP) … OPS leaders for the Phillies with RISP since June 3: Kyle Schwarber (1.003 OPS), Bohm (.928 OPS) and Castellanos (.873 OPS).
- PHILLY SPECIAL: The Phillies opened this season on the road and went 1-5 in six games through TEX (0-3) and NYY (1-2) … Since then (4/7-current), they are 53-42 with a .558 winning percentage that ranks 3rd in the National League behind only ATL (.630) and LAD (.570) and 7th in MLB … Since June 3, they have gone 29-15 and their .659 winning percentage in that span ranks 2nd in MLB behind only ATL (31-11, .738).
TONIGHT’S STARTER – RANGER SUÁREZ • LHP #55
2023: 2-5, 4.07 ERA Career: 27-20, 3.29 ERA
LAST START: 7/21 at CLE: L, 5.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO … Suárez vs Williams … Bryce Harper made his debut at first base, solidified by an outstanding diving catch on a foul pop up in the third inning … Alec Bohm collected his 400th career hit … Trailing 6-2 in the seventh inning, J.T. Realmuto and Bryson Stott launched back-to-back home runs to put the Phillies within one run
TONIGHT’S START:
- Beast vs the AL East: Today marks Suárez’s 3rd career start and 11th appearance against AL East teams … He has a career ERA of 1.52 (4 ER, 23.2 IP) against the division and a 2.13 ERA (3 ER, 12.2 IP) as a starter … His last appearance against the division came against Baltimore on 9/20/21
- Ground Level: Suárez’s ground ball % of 50.3% is 8th -highest among all National League pitchers with at least 60.0 IP and his ground ball/fly ball rate of 2.09 is 6th … Since 2021, his 56% ground ball % is 4th in baseball and 2nd in the NL
- Southpaw Starters: Among NL left-handers with at least 10 starts, Suárez ranks, 7th in OPP SLG (.411) and OPP OPS (.742), 8th in FIP (3.86) and 9th in ERA (4.07)
- Trouble With the Curve: Suárez has thrown his curveball 243 times in 73.0 IP this season after only throwing it 198 times in 155.1 IP last year … He is holding batters to a .154 average (8-52) with his curveball and has struck out 22 batters with a whiff rate of 36.2% … In his last start, 4 of his 5 strikeouts came as a result of the curveball, all of which were swings and misses … His .154 OPP AVG ranks 9th among all pitchers who have thrown at least 200 curveballs
- Pitch Usage: Sinker (29.9%), 4-Seam Fastball (20.7%), Curveball (20.1%), Changeup (17%), Cutter (11.8%), Slider (0.5%)
2023 SEASON:
- Recorded a 5-game streak with at least 6 IP and 1 or no runs (6/4-27) … It was the 10th time a Phillies Pitcher had done so and the first time since Cole Hamels in 2014
- Posted a 17.0-inning scoreless streak (6/9-20)
- Struck out at least 7 batters in a career-high four straight starts (6/9-27)
HOME:
- 2023: 0-2, 5.64 ERA (19 ER, 30.1 IP) in 6 starts
- Career: 14-8, 3.48 ERA (75 ER, 194.0 IP) in 61 games (29 starts)
