CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:
TRANSACTIONS
- Today the Reds selected from Louisville the contract of RHP Daniel Duarte (#77)…optioned to Louisville RHP Ricky Karcher…designated for assignment RHP Joel Kuhnel…sent to Louisville on rehabilitation assignments IF/OF Nick Senzel (right knee) and RHP Tony Santillan (left hamstring strain)…returned from a rehabilitation assignment, reinstated from the 10-day injured list and optioned to Louisville OF Henry Ramos (right hip strain).
- When he pitches, Duarte will make his season debut…made 3 apps for the Reds last season but missed 143 games with a right elbow injury.
- Senzel and Santillan will join Joey Votto (left rotator cuff, left biceps surgeries) and OF/1B Wil Myers (kidney stone, left shoulder sprain) already rehabbing with the Bats.
RED HOTS
- The starting time for the Reds’ game on Fri, 6/30 vs SD has been changed to 5:10 p.m. ET (from 7:10) to help alleviate the congestion anticipated from the crowd of approximately 100,000 expected to attend events on the riverfront.
- In last night’s 10-inning, 5-4 win, RHP Ricky Karcher became the only Reds pitcher since 1969, when the save became an official statistic, to record a save in his Major League debut…was the first Reds pitcher to make his debut in a save situation since Dauri Moreta entered the game in the seventh inning on 9/26/21 vs Wsh…is the third pitcher in the Major Leagues this season to record a save in his Major League debut, joining TB’s Braden Bristo (4/13 vs Bos) and Min’s Brent Headrick (4/19 at Bos).
- Reds batters ranks third in the Major Leagues with 66 stolen bases (TB 89, Pit 70), their highest total since 2019 (80sb)…recorded 58 stolen bases all last season…have been successful on 26 of their last 28 attempts.
- Reds batters have 53 HR, third-fewest in the Major Leagues and their lowest total through 67 games since 2001 (51hr)…from 4/18-4/25, this year’s team did not produce a home run in a season-high 8 consecutive games, their longest team homerless streak since 1992.
- Reds baserunners in 58 attempts have scored 57 runs from second base on singles…both lead the Major Leagues.
TONIGHT’S GAME
- Is Game 2 (1-0) of a 3-game series vs Luke Moehle’s Royals and Game 5 (3-1) of a 10-day, 9-game road trip to StL (2-1), KC (1-0) and Hou (off day, 3g).
- Following this road trip the Reds return to Great American Ball Park for a 6-game homestand vs the Rockies (3g) and Braves (3g)…went 3-4 on their most recent homestand (1-3 vs Mil, 2-1 vs LAD).
SERIES NOTES
- The Reds are 15-18 all-time vs KC, including a 2-1 series win at KC in their previous meeting (2021).
- The Reds’ first appearance at Kauffman Stadium, a 3-game sweep here in June 1999, was their first appearance in Kansas City since the Red
Stockings and Cowboys of the American Association met in 1889.
SPACE CITY
- Following this series and Thursday’s off day, the Reds and Astros will meet for the fourth time since Houston joined the American League in 2013.
- The teams will play at Minute Maid Park for the first time since an Astros 2-1 series win there in June 2016.
- Cin and Hou most recently met in 2019 at Great American Ball Park, a Reds 3-game series sweep.
- The Reds went 10-5 in the Astros’ final National League season in 2012 and 41-20 in Hou’s last 4 seasons in the NL.
- Overall, the Reds have won 45 of the last 64 games vs Hou and 17 of the last 20 series.
ONE OF A KIND
- In last night’s 10-inning, 5-4 win, RHP Ricky Karcher became the only Reds pitcher since 1969, when the save became an official statistic, to record a save in his Major League debut…was the first Reds pitcher to make his debut in a save situation since Dauri Moreta entered the game in the seventh inning on 9/26/21 vs Wsh…is the third pitcher in the Major Leagues this season to record a save in his Major League debut, joining TB’s Braden Bristo (4/13 vs Bos) and Min’s Brent Headrick (4/19 at Bos).
FOREVER YOUNG
- 1B Spencer Steer was National League Rookie of the Month for May…in August 2022 was acquired from the Twins in the Tyler Mahle trade.
- Rookie SS Matt McLain was National League Player of the Week for 5/22-5/28 and International League Player of the Week for 5/1-5/7…was the Reds’ first-round draft pick in 2021 (17th overall).
- LHP Andrew Abbott on 6/5 vs Mil made his Major League debut after just 41 minor league apps…is the only Reds pitcher since 1893, when the mound was moved to its current distance, to produce in his Major League debut at least 6.0 scoreless innings while allowing fewer than 2 hits…when promoted, he led all minor league pitchers in strikeouts…was the Reds’ second-round draft pick in 2021.
- Abbott threw 6.0 scoreless innings in his Major League debut and win vs Mil and 5.2 scoreless innings in Sat’s win at StL…is the first Reds pitcher to begin his Major League career with at least 11.2 scoreless innings since Amir Garrett in 2017 (2gs, 12ip)…since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893, is the only Reds pitcher to begin his career with consecutive scoreless starts of at least 5.0 innings.
- Elly De La Cruz is the second Major League player since 1900 to produce within his first 3 career apps a single, double, triple, homer and stolen base (Bill Bruton, Milwaukee Braves, 1953)
Tonight’s Pitcher – #55 Brandon Williamson, LHP
- Tonight is making his sixth Major League appearance and start.
- On 5/16 at Col, became only the 10th visiting pitcher to make his Major League debut with a start at Coors Field, the first since Hou’s José Urquidy on 7/2/19.
- Became only the fourth Reds pitcher to make his Major League debut with at least 5.2 innings, 2 hits or fewer allowed and at least 6 strikeouts, joining Tom Carroll (7/7/1974 vs StL, 7ip, 2h, 6k), Mo Sanford (8/9/1991 at SD, 7ip, 2h, 8k) and Johnny Cueto (4/3/2008 vs Ari, 7ip, 1h, 10k).
- Became only the fourth Reds pitcher in the expansion era (since 1961) to retire at least 14 consecutive batters in his Major League debut, joining Wayne Simpson (16, 4/9/1970 at LAD), Rob Bell (16, 4/8/2000 vs Cubs) and Johnny Cueto (15, 4/3/2008 vs Ari).
- In that 3-1 win on 5/16 at Col, allowed a single to Charlie Blackmon, his first career batter faced, but didn’t allow another hit until Ezequiel Tovar’s solo HR in the sixth inning snapped the scoreless tie…Williamson retired 14 consecutive batters leading up to Tovar’s home run.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
SKID SLIDES TO SEVEN: The Royals suffered a 5-4 loss to the Reds in 10.0 innings last night, extending their losing streak to a season-high-tying 7 games, in which they’ve been outscored 46-18 (-28)…the Royals built an early 3-0 lead and Zack Greinke took a 3-1 advantage into the 6th, before the Reds doubled on consecutive pitches to begin the frame, cutting their deficit in half…the game-tying run scored with Jose Cuas on the mound, and the score remained tied at 3-3 until the 9th, when pinch hitter Kevin Newman drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly…down to their final out in the bottom half, Salvador Perez sent the game to extras with his team-leading 14th home run of the season, but the Reds scored again in the 10th, when the automatic runner advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a fielder’s choice, a play that was reviewed and determined that Salvy dropped the throw home…the Royals had runners at second and third with 1 out in the bottom half but failed to drive either in, as they went 1-for-14 in scoring situations and stranded 10 baserunners.
The Royals are 0-3 in extra-inning games this season and 10-15 since the Auto Runner Rule began in 2020.
Last night’s 3-hour, 27-minute game was the Royals longest of the year ahead of May 4 vs. the O’s (3:24).
HBD, BRIAN!: Royals first-year Pitching Coach Brian Sweeney is celebrating his 49th birthday today, and shares this date of birth with former Royals pitcher Darrell May, who turns 51 today…others celebrating birthdays today include actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (37) and actors Chris Evans (42) and Tim Allen (70).
WALK THIS WAY: Zack Greinke did not issue a walk in 5.0-plus innings last night and has faced 52 batters since he last walked Nolan Arenado on May 30 in St. Louis…last night was Zack’s 5th start of the season in which he recorded at least 5.0 innings and did not walk a batter, matching Framber Valdez, George Kirby, Anthony DeSclafani and Patrick Corbin for the Major League lead…it was the Royals 13th such start this season, breaking a tie with the Dodgers, Mariners and Giants for the most in the Majors…Greinke has walked only 9 of the 292 batters he’s faced in 14 starts (71.2 IP) this season for a 3.1 BB% and 1.1 BB/9, both of which would be career highs for the 20-year veteran, and rank 2nd in the Majors to Seattle’s Kirby (2.0 BB%, 1.1 BB/9).
LEADS LOST: The Royals led 3-0 last night before losing 5-4 in 10 innings, marking their 23rd blown lead loss of the season, keeping pace with St. Louis for the most in the Majors…the Royals have held a lead in 26 of their last 37 games (70.3%) since the start of May, but they’re 11-26 during that stretch with 15 blown lead losses, including 4 blown lead losses during their current 7-game losing streak…the Royals are nearly two-thirds of the way to matching their 36 blown lead losses from last season, and the club record is 53 such losses, set in 2019.
SALVY SPLASHES: Salvador Perez sent the game into extra innings last night with a 2-out, game-tying home run in the 9th inning, his 9th career go-ahead or tying HR in the 9th or later, matching Alex Gordon for 2nd most in Royals history, trailing only George Brett (14)…Salvy has now homered in the last 2 games, the 36th time in his career he’s gone deep in consecutive games, also 2nd most in Royals history behind Brett (38 times).
Major League Baseball yesterday announced the first balloting update for the 2023 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard…Salvy ranks 3rd among American League catchers in All-Star voting with 312,615 votes, trailing leader Adley Rutschman (460,496) of the Orioles and Jonah Heim (320,028) of the Rangers…the top two players at each position will advance to Phase 2, and Perez and Heim are in the closest race to advance to the second phase, with fewer than 8,000 votes between them…Phase 1 voting concludes at 11:00 a.m. CT on Thursday, June 22, and fans can vote for Salvy until then exclusively online and via mobile devices at MLB.com/vote, at royals.com, the MLB App and the MLB Ballpark App.
Perez, a seven-time All-Star, leads qualified catchers (min. 70% of games at the position) with 14 HR, which rank tied for 7th among all AL players, along with Mike Trout and Bo Bichette…Salvy leads AL catchers in hits (65), extra-base hits (28), slugging (.513) and OPS (.822) and his 37 RBI rank 2nd to Heim (46).
Salvy leads the Royals in hits, home runs and RBI, and is one of four players in the Majors who lead their team in all three categories, according to Elias, along with Shohei Ohtani, Bichette and Ryan McMahon…Perez is attempting to become just the fourth player in Royals history to lead the team in hits, HR and RBI, and would join Amos Otis in 1971, Carlos Beltrán in 2002 and Billy Butler in 2012.
WHAT A RELIEF!: Taylor Clarke worked around 2 hits and a walk in the 7th last night to extend his scoreless streak to 16.0 innings over 15 appearances, a stretch in which opponents are batting .200 (11-for-55)…it’s the longest scoreless streak of his career, is tied with Bobby Miller for the longest active streak in the Majors and is the longest by a Royal since Brady Singer’s 18.2-inning scoreless streak from April 10-May 28 of last season.
CINCINNATI STORIES: The Royals continue this 6-game homestand tonight with the 2nd of 3 games vs. the Reds, who are visiting Kauffman Stadium for the first time since 2021…the Royals are 18-15 (.545) all-time vs. the Reds, but are 7-9 vs. them here in Kansas City, and have lost 7 of their last 12 games vs. the Reds overall dating back to 2018, after going 9-1 from 2009-15…the Royals last won a series over the Reds with a 2-game sweep in 2018, and in three completed sets since, they have lost one and split two, but a loss tonight would mark their fourth straight winless set vs. the Reds.
Royals Hall of Famers Cookie Rojas, Hal McRae and Jeff Montgomery all played for the Reds before coming to Kansas City…Monty, who is in his 14th season contributing to Royals broadcasts on Bally Sports Kansas City, was selected by the Reds in the 9th round of the 1983 Draft and played his first of 13 big league seasons for Cincinnati in 1987…prior to the 1988 season, he was traded to Kansas City and he spent the remaining 12 seasons of his career in a Royals uniform from 1988-99, while becoming the club’s all-time leader in saves (304) and earning three All-Star selections.
Nick Kenney, who is in his 14th season with the Royals and second as the club’s Director of Medical Administration, was an Assistant Athletic Trainer with the Reds from 2003-04…Kenney’s last season with Cincinnati was the first there for Steve Stewart, who spent four seasons with the Reds from 2004-07, including three on radio and one on TV, before coming to Kansas City, where he has remained on radio since 2008.
ROYALS ON THE MEND: Kyle Isbel, who has missed the last six weeks with a strained left hamstring, is beginning a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha tonight…right hander Josh Staumont is expected to throw a side session tomorrow as he works his way back from a neck strain that has sidelined him since last Wednesday…right hander Brad Keller, who was placed on the 15-day Injured List on May 19, is expected to throw a side on Thursday…left handers Josh Taylor and Ryan Yarbrough are expected to throw live BPs tomorrow in Arizona…Taylor was placed on the Injured List on May 28 with a left shoulder impingement, and Yarbrough, who is on the 60-day Injured List, has been out with facial fractures since taking a line drive off the head on May 7…former Reds pitcher Amir Garrett is expected to throw a bullpen today as he works his way back from a valgus extension overload.
The Royals currently have a season-high 11 players on the Injured List, including six who were on the Opening Day roster.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP BRANDON WILLIAMSON (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
JORDAN LYLES is making his 14th start of the season and 335th appearance (228th start) of his career tonight vs. the Reds…he was originally selected by Houston in the 1st round (38th overall) of the 2008 Draft out of Hartsville High School (S.C.), and signed a two-year contract with the Royals on Dec. 28, 2022. 10 = 100: Lyles took his 10th loss of the season in Kansas City’s 6-1 defeat to the Marlins last Wednesday night at loanDepot Park in Miami, in which he allowed 5 runs on 6 hits (1 HR) and 1 walk with 2 strikeouts across 7.0 innings plus two batters… after 2.0 scoreless frames, Lyles made hung an 0-1 changeup that Jesús Sánchez deposited onto the grass up against the center field batter’s eye, plating 3 runs with 2 outs…Jordan retired 13 of his next 14 batters through the 7th, but allowed backto-back singles to begin the 8th and exited in favor of Jose Cuas, who surrendered a bases-clearing double to Bryan De La Cruz, adding 2 more runs to Lyles’ final line.
With the defeat, he reached an unfortunate milestone in his 100th career loss.
Lyles has allowed at least 1 home run in 10 of his 13 starts this season and his 18 HR in 73.2 innings (2.2 HR/9) are tied for the Major League lead with Toronto’s Yusei Kikuchi, and he’s allowed multiple homers in 7 of his 13 starts.
SEEKING SUPPORT: Jordan has received 26 runs of support in his 73.2 innings this season for a 3.18 run support average, which is the 6th lowest among qualified pitchers…the Royals offense has supported Lyles with 2 runs or fewer in 10 of his 13 starts, including each of the last 4…that lack of support is part of why Lyles has a Majors-most 10 losses, and his 13 winless starts are tied for the 2nd most to begin a season in Royals history, tied with José Lima in 2005 and Darrell May in 2003, trailing only Vida Blue in 1983 (14)…the Royals are 0-13 in games started by Lyles this year.
He’s seeking his 1st win since his final start of 2022, a 2-1 victory last Sept. 30 at the Yankees with the O’s…his 10 straight losing decisions since are a career high.
THE ROLLER COASTER: Lyles has begun his Royals career with an 0-10 record through 13 starts, setting a career-worst losing streak…in those starts, a troubling trend has emerged, as his struggles have come in the beginning and end of his outings, while he’s been largely dominant in the middle innings…through his first 15 pitches, he has allowed opponents to hit .370 (17-for-46) with 6 home runs, and from pitches 61 and up, opponents are batting .270 (27-for-100) with 9 doubles, 9 home runs and a triple…the good has come between pitches 16-60, when he has held opponents to a .184 average (26-for-141) with only 10 extra-base hits and 27 strikeouts.
His opponents’ OPS of 1.281 from pitches 1-15 is the highest in Major League Baseball (min. 10 starts), as are his 11 extra-base hits allowed, ahead of Colorado’s Austin Gomber (10) and Pittsburgh’s Rich Hill (8).
PLEADING THE 5TH: He has thrown at least 5.0 innings in 11 of his 13 starts as a Royal, and in those 11 starts, he’s allowed 27 earned runs through the 5th for a 4.42 ERA… but from the 6th inning on, he’s allowed 15 earned runs in 12.1 innings (10.95 ERA).
READY FROM THE JUMP: Despite ranking tied for 26th in the American League in 1st-pitch strikes (60.9%), opponents have swung at 33.8% of Lyles’ 1st pitches, which is the 12th-highest rate in the American League…in 0-0 counts, opponents are slashing .370/.354/.761 (17-for-46) with 9 extra-base hits for a 1.115 OPS, which is his 3rd highest in any count, trailing 3-0 counts (2.800 OPS) and 3-1 counts (1.473 OPS).
ON STRIKE: Lyles has walked 25 in 73.2 innings for a 7.9 BB%, which would be his highest mark since 2020 (8.6%), and is higher than his career mark of 7.7%…he’s improved with age, as his BB% of 7.2% since the start of 2021 ranks 3rd in the AL (min. 400.0 IP), behind José Berríos (6.2%) & Gerrit Cole (6.4%).
WORKHORSE: The Royals are the eighth club Lyles has pitched for during his 13-year big league career that has included stops with Houston (2011-13), Colorado (2014-17), San Diego (2017-18), Milwaukee (2018-19), Pittsburgh (2019), Texas (2020-21), Baltimore (2022) and Kansas City (2023)…since the start of 2021, his 432.2 innings rank 3rd among American League pitchers behind Gerrit Cole (467.2 IP) and José Berríos (441.1 IP).
He was one of only four American League pitchers to record at least 175.0 innings from 2021-2022, along with Cole, Cole Irvin and Robbie Ray.
Across his 13 seasons and 334 Major League appearances, he has only been placed on the Injured List on five occasions: June 10-29, 2019 (left hamstring tightness), March 28-April 4, 2019 (right side discomfort), June 24-July 29, 2018 (right elbow inflammation), June 1-end of season, 2015 (sprained left big toe) and June 5-Aug. 6, 2014 (fractured left hand).
SEEIN’ RED: In 17 career outings (10 starts) vs. Cincinnati, Jordan is 5-2 with a 4.24 ERA (30 ER in 63.2 IP) and his teams are 7-3 in his 10 starts…he last started against the Reds on Sept. 25, 2019 with Milwaukee, and earned the win in a 9-2 victory in which he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits in 5.0 innings.
Jordan earned his 1st Major League win in his 12th career appearance vs. the Reds on Aug. 3, 2011 at Minute Maid Park…Lyles out-dueled two-time All-Star Dontrelle Willis in the win, as Lyles spun 7.0 innings of 3-run ball against Willis’ 6.0 frames of 2-run ball in an Astros 5-4 triumph.
