BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: The Orioles beat the Padres, 4-1, in last night’s three-game series opener at Petco Park…Improved to 26-13 in series openers and 15-5 in series openers on the road…Are 13-1 when only allowing one run in a game this season.
Grayson Rodriguez earned his third win after allowing one run on three hits (1 HR) with one walk and six strikeouts in a career-high 7.0 innings; in six starts since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on July 17, he has gone 1-1 with a 3.03 ERA (12 ER/35.2 IP) and 30 strikeouts to 11 walks while lowering his season ERA from 7.35 to 5.44.
Gunnar Henderson went 2-for-4, including a bases-clearing double in the fifth.
Ryan O’Hearn blasted his 10th home run of the season and 48th of his career in the second inning to open the scoring; the O’s are 8-2 when O’Hearn homers this season.
Félix Bautista earned his AL-leading 32nd save after working a scoreless ninth inning with two walks.
SWEEPLESS IN BALTIMORE: With tonight’s game, the Orioles will have gone 78 consecutive series of at least two decisions (no ties) without being swept…According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the most consecutive series without getting swept in Orioles history (since 1954), ahead of 46 consecutive sweepless series from 1971-72…It is the fifth-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), and 1922-24 New York Yankees (83)…The Birds have not been swept in a series of at least two games since May 13-15, 2022 at Detroit (0-3), and have not been swept at home in a series of at least two games since August 27-29, 2021 vs. Tampa Bay (0-3).
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won three in a row, four of their last five, seven of 10, 11 of 15, 12 of 17, 25 of 35, and 26 of 38…At 74-45 (.622), the Orioles have the best record in the AL and second-best in MLB (see box at right)…The Braves (76-42, .644) and Dodgers (71-46, .607) are the only other teams with at least 70 wins and a .600 winning percentage this season…The Birds are 136-94 (.591) since June 2022, the second-best record in the AL and fourth-best in MLB during that time…The team had a season-best eight-game winning streak from July 5-16, Baltimore’s longest since a 10-gamer from July 3-13, 2022.
The O’s hold a 3.0-game lead over the Rays in the AL East.
O’s AT A GLANCE: Baltimore is 44-11 (.800) when scoring first this season, the best record in MLB…The Birds are 22-11 (.667) in one-run games, the best record in the AL and third-best in MLB…They are 37-18 (.673) in games decided by two or one runs and 49-25 (.662) in games decided by three runs or less, both the best such records in MLB…The Orioles have 36 comeback wins this year, second-most in MLB behind Cincinnati (37).
AGAINST SAN DIEGO: The Orioles and Padres are meeting for the first and only series of the season this week…Prior to the current series, the Birds and Friars had not faced each other since 2019, when the O’s were swept in two games in Baltimore from June 25-26 and split a two-game set in San Diego from July 29-30…The O’s hold a 12-10 advantage over the Padres since the teams first met in 2002, including a 9-4 edge in San Diego.
O THE PLACES YOU’LL GO: The Orioles are in the middle of a nine-game, 10-day road trip, which began with three games in Seattle (2-1) over the weekend and continues with three games each in San Diego (through tomorrow) and Oakland (August 18-20)…The O’s have scheduled off days on Thursday, August 17 and Monday, August 21 before beginning a nine-game homestand from August 22-30…The current trip is tied for Baltimore’s second-longest of the season with another nine-game, 10-day tour from September 1-10, which features three games each in Arizona (September 1-3), Los Angeles-AL (September 4-6), and Boston (September 8-10)… Baltimore’s only longer trip this season was a 10-game, 11-day expedition from April 27 to May 7, during which the O’s went 6-4 in Detroit (3-1), Kansas City (2-1), and Atlanta (1-2).
Baltimore is 38-22 (.633) away from Camden Yards this season, the best road record in the AL and tied with Atlanta for the best road record in MLB.
The Orioles’ .633 road winning percentage would be the second best since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954, behind only the 1997 team that went 52-29 (.642) away from home.
MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle has reached base safely in a career-high 21 straight games since July 21, tied for the second-longest active streak in MLB (see box at Night)…It is the longest on-base streak by an Orioles batter since Austin Hays also reached safely in 21 straight games from September 12, 2021 to April 8, 2022, and the longest in a single season since Trey Mancini reached safely in 22 straight games from September 5-29, 2019…Mountcastle has recorded a hit in 15 of the last 16 games since July 28…His 12-game hitting streak, the second-longest of his career, was snapped on Friday night…Mountcastle is slashing .435/.509/.609 (20-for-46) with two doubles, two home runs, nine runs scored, eight RBI, eight walks, and one stolen base in 13 games this month…In August, he ranks second in MLB in batting average and third in on-base percentage…He’s reached base safely in all 24 of his starts since returning from the Injured List on July 9. He slugged a 472-foot, two-run blast on August 8 vs. Houston, marking the longest home run hit by an Orioles player at Oriole Park in the Statcast era (since 2015) and the second-longest Statcast-era home run at Camden Yards overall, trailing only a 474- foot homer by Houston’s Carlos Correa on August 10, 2019; with an exit velocity of 113.1 mph, it was also tied for the hardest-hit homer of his career.
Mountcastle went 11-for-13 with four doubles, five runs scored, six RBI, three walks, and one stolen base during the four-game set in Toronto from July 31 to August 3… The 11 hits are tied with Merv Rettenmund (September 24-26, 1971 at Cleveland) for the most in a four-game series since the Orioles moved to Baltimore in 1954.
MOUNTAIN TIME: Félix Bautista secured his AL-leading 32nd save last night, good for third in MLB…Bautista has secured a win or save in 39 of his 52 appearances (75.0%) this year…That would be the third-highest such percentage in O’s history (since 1954), behind 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 seventh Oriole (eighth time) 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 108 strikeouts are more than 12 qualified pitchers, per STATS.
Bautista’s 16.95 K/9 (108 K/57.1 IP) would be the fourth-best by a qualified reliever in MLB history in a full season; Cincinnati’s Aroldis Chapman holds the record with a 17.67 mark set in 2014.
STARTING PITCHER – #15 JACK FLAHERTY RHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 23rd start of the season, 14th on the road, and fifth career start against the Padres tonight…Made his Orioles debut on August 3 against at Toronto; was acquired by the O’s from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for LHP Drew Rom, INF César Prieto, and RHP Zack Showalter on August 1…Had spent his entire professional career with St. Louis after being selected in the first round (No. 34 overall) of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Harvard-Westlake High School (CA)…Since his MLB debut in 2017, Flaherty had more strikeouts (706) than any other Cardinal while throwing the third-most innings (633.0) prior to the trade…Pitched to a 41-31 record with a 3.58 ERA (252 ER/633.0 IP) and 50 quality starts in 122 career appearances (118 starts) with St. Louis…His 706 strikeouts in his first 122 career appearances are the most by a Cardinals pitcher in that span in franchise history (since 1882)…Allowed six hits-or-fewer in 30 straight starts from September 20, 2020 to April 28, 2023, the longest such streak in team history… Flaherty’s 6.12 run support average this season is tied for 8th-highest in MLB.
LAST TIME OUT: Dealt the loss in his last outing on August 9 vs. Houston, allowing three runs on six hits (1 HR) with two walks (1 IBB), two hit batters, and eight
strikeouts in 5.0 innings…His 16 strikeouts across his first two outings with the Orioles are the most in that span since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954…Threw a 97.2 mph fastball to Yordan Álvarez in the second inning, his fastest pitch of the season…Threw 98 pitches, 62 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST THE PADRES: Is slated to make his fifth career start against the Padres tonight…Earned the win in his last assignment against the Padres with St. Louis on September 22, 2022 at Petco Park…Permitted three runs on five hits (1 HR) with four walks and nine punchouts in 6.0 innings…Threw 99 pitches, 56 strikes…Owns a 2-0 record with a 2.01 ERA (5 ER/22.1 IP) in four career outings against San Diego.
CAREER AGAINST THE NL WEST: Making his 25th career start against the NL West…Last time out against the division on July 26 at Arizona, while with St. Louis,
did not factor in the decision…Allowed three runs on eight hits (1 HR) with two walks and four strikeouts in 5.0 innings…Threw 95 pitches, 59 strikes…Sports a 6-7 record with a 3.20 ERA (48 ER/135.0 IP) with 11 quality starts in 24 outings against the NL West.
JACK OF ALL TRADES: Flaherty (.216, 27.2%) is one of 10 MLB pitchers to own an opponent batting average of .220 or lower and a strikeout percentage of 25 percent-or-better since 2018 (min. 2500 batters faced)…His 84 games with five-or-fewer hits in that span are tied for 10th-most among MLB starting pitchers, while his 27 scoreless outings are tied for the eighth-most.
SHIFTING SPEEDS: Opposing batters are slashing .155/.234/.286 (13-for-84) with seven extra-base hits (5-2B, 2 HR) and 33 strikeouts against Flaherty’s knuckle curveball this season…In 2022, Flaherty held hitters to a .150/.190/.200 (3-for20) slash line against the off-speed pitch…Its whiff rate has increased from 35.9
percent in 2022 to 41.7 percent this season.
HOMER (UN)HAPPY: Flaherty did not allow a home run in nine straight starts from May 15 to July 6, the longest such streak by a Cardinals starter and tied for the third-longest streak by an MLB starting pitcher this season…Has allowed 11 home runs in 120.2 innings across his 22 starts this season; entering play today, he ranks among qualified MLB pitchers in HR/9 (6th, 0.82).
SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Darvish K’s 6 & becomes all-time strikeout leader for a Japanese-born player, but Padres plate just 1 in 4-1 loss to Baltimore
- Yu Darvish went 7.0 innings with 4 runs allowed (all earned) with 8 hits allowed, including a home run…he punched out 6 with 1 walk, and of his 81 pitches, 66 of them were strikes (threw just 15 pitches that were balls).
- With Darvish’s punchout of Ramon Urias in the T-6th, he raised his career strikeout total in MLB to 1,919, besting Hideo Nomo’s 1,918 career strikeouts for the most of any Japanese-born player in MLB history…Nomo, now a Padres’ advisor to Baseball Operations, watched his record break from the GM booth.
- At the plate, Garrett Cooper homered in the 6th for the Padres’ sole extra-base hit, and they went 0-for-3 collectively with RISP…Juan Soto drew a walk, snapping his career-long tying 8-game walkless streak.
Padres playing 13 games in 13 days & 19 games in 20 days
- Today is the 11th game of the Padres playing 19 games in 20 days, and their sole off day in the span from August 4-23 was on August 10…they’re also in a stretch of playing 32 games in 34 days (from August 4-September 6).
- Since August 11, the Padres also began playing 13 games in 13 days, with 7 of those 13 games against Arizona.
Friars 8 losses since August 4 are most in Majors
- After getting swept in 2 games @ Seattle and losing 2 of 3 in Arizona in their last roadtrip, they’ve now lost 3 straight series…in their last 3 series since August 4, they’ve gone just 2-8…their 8 losses since August 4 are the most of any team in baseball.
Pads starters lead the National League in ERA, quality starts
- San Diego starters have a National League-best 3.75 ERA and lead the NL in quality starts with 55… their 3.75 ERA ranks 3rd overall in MLB behind the Rays’ 3.74 and Rangers’ 3.68, and their 55 QS are T-4th, trailing just the Astros’ 56, Mariners’ 58, and Twins’ 61.
Statcast says…
- The Padres’ pitching staff have the lowest opponent exit velocity in all of baseball (87.8 mph)…they also have the lowest hard-hit percentage of any staff (35.9%) and have been barrelled up the fewest times (212).
- Fernando Tatis Jr.’s average arm strength of 96.3 mph is the 2nd highest among all MLB outfielders this year, behind just COL Nolan Jones’ 98.3 mph and ahead of Ronald Acuna Jr.’s 96.2 mph.
- Manny Machado’s 11 outs above average lead the team and rank T-5th in the big leagues…the Padres’ overall 27 outs above average rank T-1st in MLB with the Brewers.
Padres play longest homestand of the season
- The Padres’ 11th homestand of the season will also be their longest, playing 10 games in 10 days against the Orioles (3 games), D-Backs (4 games), and Marlins (3 games)…the Padres and Orioles play one another for the 1st time since 2019, and the Friars just last played the D-Backs in Phoenix to conclude their last roadtrip.
STARTING PITCHER – MICHAEL WACHA
Wacha set for 10th career start vs. BAL
32-year-old Michael Wacha takes the mound for his first big league start since July 1 @ CIN in what will be his 10th career start vs. the Orioles…all 10 of those starts have come since 2020, including 3 last season as a member of the Red Sox, when he earned the win in 2 of the outings despite a 5.40 ERA (9 ER, 15.0 IP), 1.27 WHIP and .295 AVG against. While he was away After posting his 9th quality start of the season and third in a row June 19 @ SF, Wacha had his turned skipped in the rotation twice due to shoulder fatigue before improving to 8-2 in his 15th start of the season on July 1 @ CIN…he was then placed on the 15-day IL with right shoulder inflammation on July 4…he threw 2.0 shutout innings for Triple-A El Paso on August 5 before throwing 5.0 simulated innings in Arizona this past Thursday, Aug 10 to complete his rehab assignment.
Happy 10.000
On Mon, July 17, Wacha reached 10.000 years of ML service time…he’s currently 1 of 7 Padres with 10.000+ years of service time, with Xander Bogaerts recently joining the club Aug 6
Wacha’s 6 scoreless starts across 6.0+ T-most in Majors
Despite having made just 2 starts since June 19, Wacha’s 6 scoreless starts of at least 6.0 IP are tied for 2nd-most in the Majors with 4 others, trailing just TOR’s Chris Bassit’s 7…Kevin… the 6 such starts are most in a season for Wacha, ahead of his 5 in 2017 w/ STL.
First time through
Michael Wacha (.184) and Yu Darvish (.186) rank 4th and 5th, respectively, among all qualifying NL starters in opponent AVG the first time thru a batting order…among qualifying NL starters the first time through, Wacha and Darvish trail only Dustin May (.149), Tony Gonsolin (.149) and Matt Koch (.156).
The 2nd-best winning percentage in MLB since ’22
Enters tonight’s start with a 8-2 record and the Padres are 10-5 in his 15 starts…among all pitchers since the beginning of 2022 (min. 35 starts), Wacha’s .826 winning percentage (19-4) is 2nd-best in the Majors behind only Tony Gonsolin (24-5, .828).
Offspeed pitch rate highest of Wacha’s career
Wacha is throwing his change up 32.1% of the time, which is the 7th highest offspeed pitch rate in the Majors (min. 1,250 total pitches thrown), trailing only Logan Webb (39.7 %). Kevin Gausman (38.6%), Kyle Hendricks (37.1%), Alex Cobb (35.7%), Taijuan Walker (34.9%) and Taijuan Walker (33.5%)…it’s the highest offspeed pitch usage of Wacha’s career.
