CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS RETAKE AL CENTRAL LEAD WITH 14-1 VICTORY
The Cleveland Guardians re-claimed AL Central pole position for the first time since April 10, doing so in emphatic fashion with a 14-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium…coming off a 4-2 homestand, the Guardians are 2-0 to begin a 6-game road trip thru Kansas City (2-0, oneto-play) & Chicago-NL (3 games)…with a series victory over KC secured, the Guards are now 6-3-1 over their last 10 series and enter today having won 8 of the club’s last 9 series finales. » The Guardians plated a season-high 14 runs in Wednesday’s cathartic victory behind the strength of 8 extra-base hits, which also matched the club’s single-game high for 2023…Cleveland’s offense smacked a trio of home to build an 8-0 advantage, beginning with JOSÉ RAMÍREZ’s fifth career grand slam (13) off Austin Cox in the 3rd…Ramírez finished the night with a game-high 5 RBI…JOSH BELL greeted reliever Brooks Kriske in the 5th inning with a 464- foot 2-run blast (8) into the RCF fountains, his first with a runner on base this season…Bell finished the contest with 4 RBI, later adding a 2-run double…BO NAYLOR connected for his first career MLB homer in the 6th, an opposite-field 2-run shot off James McArthur (MLB debut), which gave way to a 7-run rally…Naylor added 2 other singles, doubling his hit total entering the contest (3)…AMED ROSARIO drove home a run with his fifth triple of the year, tied for most in the Majors…LOGAN ALLEN held the Royals scoreless in his 12th start of the year, but exited prior to the end of the 4th after logging 98 pitches (3.2IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 5SO)…Kansas City’s lone tally scored in the 7th on Freddy Fermin’s RBI-single.
Cleveland (39-40) sits in 1st place in the AL Central standings, one half-game ahead of 2nd-place Minnesota (40-42)…Guardians have won 7 of 9, 14 of 22 and 17 of last 28, though have also dropped 34 of last 64 overall since starting the year 9-6.
FIREWORKS A WEEK EARLY
Following the Guardians 14-1 victory and Minnesota’s 3-0 loss to Atlanta yesterday, the Guardians sit in first place in the AL Central for the first time since April 10…the club fell as far as 5.5 games back from first place on June 2…since that date, the Guards have gone 14-8 while hitting .284 as a team and owning a 3.45 ERA (77ER/201.0IP).
With a season-high 14 runs yesterday, the club plated its most runs since scoring 17 on April 10, 2022, also at Kansas City…6 players had multiple hits, tying a season-high set on April 3 at Oakland, a 12-11 victory…JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (5 RBI) and JOSH BELL (4 RBI) each had 4-or-more RBI games, becoming the first Cleveland duo since April 10, 2022 when Óscar Mercado (5 RBI) and Owen Miller (4 RBI) to each had 4-or-more RBI against Kansas City…it marked Bell’s first 4-RBI game since June 23, 2021 at Philadelphia while he was with the Nationals…marks Ramírez’s second 5 RBI game this season; he drove in 5 runs with 3 home
runs on June 8 against Boston…he leads all MLB players with five 5+ RBI games since the start of 2022.
Ramírez’s grand slam was Cleveland’s first since STEVEN KWAN launched a grand slam on September 25, 2022 at Texas, helping the club clinch its 11th AL Central title…Bell’s 464-foot home run to right-center last night was the club’s 4th-longest homer in the Statcast Era (since 2015), and the longest since Bradley Zimmer on August 26, 2021 against Texas (465 feet).
HEAVY IS THE HEAD
The Guardians enter Thursday looking to complete their second sweep of the season (Oakland, 6/20-22)…during the Terry Francona era, Cleveland is 112-71 against the Royals, and with a win today, the club will match its most wins against any opponent since 2013 (Chicago-AL, 113-74)…the Guardians have won 4 of their last 5 and 7 of their last 10 contests at Kauffman Stadium… the last time Cleveland swept the Royals on the road was August 31-September 1, 2021…a win today will make it 5 straight victories against Kansas City.
NO GLOOM HERE
Through 24 games in June, the Guards’ offense is hitting .280 while averaging 4.92 runs/game compared to a .233 mark with 3.41 runs/game in May and a .231 clip with 3.81 runs/game in April… in June, the club ranks among AL/MLB teams in batting average (.280, 1st in AL/2nd in MLB), hits (238, 2nd in AL/T3rd in MLB) and OPS (.765, 3rd in AL/7th in MLB)…the club’s 4.92 runs/game this month are its most in a month since averaging 5.33 runs/game in June 2021…the Guards are T1st in the AL with Texas and T2nd in MLB behind Atlanta with 13 double-digit hit games in June.
CLEVELAND SPLITS BY MONTH, 2023
MONTH G AVG H OPS HR R/GM
April 26 .231 203 .669 17 3.81
May 27 .233 206 .641 16 3.41
June 24 .280 238 .765 20 4.92
THE DYNAMIC DUO OF BATMAN AND…ALSO BATMAN?
After last night, JOSÉ RAMÍREZ passed Hal Trotsky (10) for 3rd-most 5+ RBI games in club history, he trails Earl Averill (12) and Manny Ramirez (17)…he has hit safely in 17 of his last 19 games and 18 of 23 games this month…in June, he’s hitting .340 (32-for-94) with 7 home runs, 22 RBI, 21 runs, 14 extra-base hits and only 10 strikeouts…he ranks 3rd in the AL in home runs (7) and OPS (1.065)…Ramírez is the only MLB player with 20+ RBI and 10-or-fewer strikeouts this month…in 2023, he leads primary third basemen in hits (88), total bases (156), batting average (.297) and OPS (.893) and is T1st with WSH’s Jeimer Candelario in extrabase hits (38).
Since May 30, JOSH NAYLOR has hit safely in 21 of 25 games, including multiple hits in 13 of those 21 contests…Naylor (.398, 41-for-99) has the second-best batting average during the stretch, only trailing MIA’s Luis Arraez (.430, 46-for-107)…he has raised his batting average from .235 to .294 over this period…his 14 multi-RBI games this season lead the club ahead of Ramírez (9)…7 of those 14 multi-RBI efforts have come since May 30…among primary first basemen, his 58 RBI ranks 2nd behind ATL’s Matt Olson (62) and his .294 batting average only trails LAD’s Freddie Freeman (.317)… he also leads MLB with 25 RBI in the 7th-inning-or-later ahead of STL’s Nolan Gorman.
Naylor and Ramírez have combined for 109 of Cleveland’s 295 RBI this season, accounting for 36.95% of the Guardians run production…the 36.95% rate is the highest of any MLB combo of 2 teammates for their respective team, ahead of New York-NL’s Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor (31.32%).
TODAY’S STARTER – #57 SHANE BIEBER RHP
BIEBER ON THE ROAD
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-3 4.58 9 9 57.0 62 30 29 11 39
Career 35-14 3.00 71 70 455.2 382 162 152 93 515
BIEBER’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 5-5 3.69 16 16 100.0 96 42 41 27 77
Career 59-31 3.24 129 127 803.0 714 309 289 180 908
TODAY’S START
The 2020 Cy Young winner is scheduled to make his 17th start of the season, tenth on the road, in the finale of this 3-game set with the Kansas City Royals…is starting on 5 days’ rest; is 23-11 with a 2.69 ERA (93ER/311.0IP) in 47 career starts on 5 days’ rest… is 3-3 with a 3.62 ERA (20ER/49.2IP) in 8 starts on 5 days’ best this season.
LAST TIME OUT
He last took the mound on June 23 against the Brewers, suffering his fifth loss of the season…tossed 5.0 innings with 5 hits, 4 runs (earned), 2 walks and 8 strikeouts on 82 pitches…after a William Contreras double, Willy Adames hit an RBI-single to put Milwaukee ahead 1-0 in the 1st…from the 2nd-5th innings, Bieber retired 12 of the 14 hitters he faced, recording 6 of his 8 strikeouts during the 4-inning stretch…in the 4th inning, he struck out the side for the third time this season…however, Bieber’s outing ended with no outs in the 6th after a William Contreras single and Rowdy Tellez double led to an Adames 3-run home run that gave the Brewers a 4-0 advantage…he became the second Cleveland pitcher this season to tally 8-or-more strikeouts in the first 4.0 innings of a start, joining TRISTON MCKENZIE (8SO) on June 4 at Minnesota.
A ROYAL FLUSH
This will be his 14th career start against Kansas City…since 2018, Bieber holds an unblemished 6-0 record against the Royals… he pitched three times against Kansas City last season, going a combined 2-0 with a 1.02 ERA (2ER/17.2IP)…his last start against the Royals came on October 2, 2022 (W, 5.0IP, 7H, 2R/1ER, 1BB, 3SO) in a 7-5 victory…his most recent start at Kauffman Stadium was September 6, 2022 (W, 8.0IP, 4H, 1R/ER, 1BB, 7SO)…since 2018, he ranks among MLB pitchers vs. Kansas City in W% (1.000, T1st, min. 6 dec.), SO/9 (10.65, 1st, min. 190 BF), SO/BB (4.19,, 2nd, min. 190 BF), innings (74.1, 4th), strikeouts (88, 4th), ERA (3.03, 4th, min. 55.0IP) and wins (6, T4th).
This will be his 60th career start against the AL Central, owning a 30-10 record with a 2.85 ERA (119ER/375.1IP)…since 2018, he ranks among MLB pitchers vs. the AL Central in wins (30, 1st), innings (375.1, 2nd), SO (443, 2nd) and P/IP (15.2, 2nd).
CHASING HISTORY
Among pitchers with 49+ road decisions, Bieber currently holds the highest road winning percentage in MLB history…since 1901, he ranks among road pitchers (min. 49 decisions) in SO/BB (5.54, 1st), OBP (.266, 2nd), WHIP (1.04, 4th) and BR/9 (9.56, 4th).
MLB ROAD W% RANKINGS, ALL-TIME (min. 49 decisions)
NAME TEAMS W-L W% YEARS
SHANE BIEBER CLE 35-14 .714 2018-PRES.
Ramiro Mendoza NYY/BOS 42-17 .712 1996-2005
Sam Leever PIT 77-33 .700 1901-1910
Vic Raschi 3 Teams 63-27 .700 1946-1955
Whitey Ford NYY 116-51 .695 1950-1967
Per Elias, Bieber would become the 10th pitcher in MLB history to win 36-or-more of a pitcher’s first 50 career road decisions with a victory…the last pitcher to win 36-or-more of their first 50 road decisions was Kirk Reuter for San Francisco in August 1999…Bob Lemon (36-14) is the only other Cleveland pitcher to win 36-ormore of their first 50 road decisions, doing so in July 1950.
On June 17, Bieber became the 15th pitcher in club history to reach 900 career strikeouts…he reached the 900-strikeout mark in 128 games, the fewest number of games to reach the mark in club history ahead of Corey Kluber (135)…Bieber (908 SO) trails Addie Joss (920) for 14th-most career strikeouts by a Cleveland pitcher
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
BAKER’S DOZEN DEFICIT: The Royals suffered a 14-1 loss last night to the Guardians, marking their largest margin of defeat since April 10, 2022, a 17-3 setback vs. this same team…Austin Cox extended his scoreless streak to 14.1 innings to begin his career, before José Ramírez’s grand slam in the 3rd inning gave Cleveland a 4-0 lead…Josh Bell hit a 2-run HR in the 5th and the rout was on from there, as the Guardians scored 7 runs in the 6th vs. James McArthur, who allowed each of the first seven batters he faced to reach in his Major League debut…Matt Duffy pitched the 9th to become the 15th different position player to pitch in Royals history.
The Royals broke up the shutout bid in the 7th on Freddy Fermin’s 2-out RBI single that scored Drew Waters, who recorded his 4th multi-hit effort in his last 6 games, a stretch in which he’s 8-for-22 (.364).
SERIES SPEAKING: Last night’s loss clinched Kansas City’s 12th consecutive winless series—during which they’ve lost 10 sets and split two—which is tied for the 2nd-longest such streak within one season in franchise history, trailing a run of 16 straight winless series from April 15-June 9, 2019…according to Elias, the Royals were also winless in 12 consecutive series from June 26-Aug. 9, 2009…their last series win this season came from May 15-17, when they took 2 of 3 games in San Diego…today the Royals are seeking to avoid what would be their ninth sweep of the season—all in 3 games—after suffering 10 sweeps last year, including seven in 3 games.
The Royals are winless in their last six series vs. Cleveland since the beginning of last season, a stretch in which they’ve lost five consecutive series—including this one—since splitting a 4-game set last April 7-11.
After playing 78 games before their 1st meeting with Cleveland Tuesday night, the Royals and Guardians are now playing 7 games over 13 days, including a 4-game set in Cleveland before the All-Star break.
HALFWAY HOME: Today’s game is the 81st of the season, after which the Royals will have completed half of their 162-game schedule…regardless of today’s outcome, the Royals 22-58 record is already their worst in franchise history through the halfway point, 2.5 games behind their 25-56 start at the 81-game mark in 2018.
THE LONELIEST NUMBER: The Royals have scored exactly 1 run in 3 straight games—all losses—a stretch in which they’re batting .121 (11-for-91) with 2 extra-base hits, 7 walks and 36 strikeouts…they’re 2-for-18 (.111) with runners in scoring position during this stretch, and 1 of their 3 runs scored on an error in Tuesday night’s game.
This marks the first time Kansas City has scored exactly 1 run in 3 straight games since Aug. 20-23, 2019, and it’s 1 game shy of the club record of 4 straight games with 1 run, set from July 13 (Game 1)-15, 1984, and matched on Sept. 25-28, 2004…the 11 hits are their fewest over a 3-game span since April 17-19, 2006 (11).
HEAT WAVE: The game time temperature last night was 96°, the hottest first-pitch temp in the Majors this season, and the warmest game at Kauffman Stadium since last Aug. 13 vs. the Dodgers…the National Weather Service is forecasting a high of 102° today in Kansas City and 100° on Friday…as Ichiro would say about summers in Kansas City, it’ll be hotter than two rats in a wool sock…according to Baseball Reference, there have been only 17 games in Kauffman Stadium history in which the first-pitch temp. was 100° or higher, and the last came on July 31, 2012 vs. Cleveland, an 8-3 Royals win in which the temperature was 100° for the 7:10 p.m. start.
LEADS LOST: The Royals broke a scoreless tie in the 8th inning Tuesday night, but lost that lead on Will Brennan’s 2-run double in the 9th, as they suffered their 29th blown lead loss of the season, which are the most in the Majors ahead of the Athletics (26), White Sox (25) and Cardinals (25)…the Royals have held a lead in 36 of their last 51 games (70.1%) since the start of May, but they’re 15-36 (.294) during that stretch with 21 blown lead losses, including 11 blown lead losses in 24 games this month, during which they’re a Majors-worst 5-19 (.208).
The Royals 29 blown lead losses are 7 shy of their total from all of last season, when they suffered 36 blown lead losses, and are 24 shy of the franchise record of 53, set during their 103-loss 2019 season.
They are 5-21 when scoring in the 1st inning with 11 straight losses since their last such win on May 10.
SALVY SPLASHES: Salvador Perez returned to the lineup last night after having an eye procedure on Monday to clear up his blurry vision…he’s still sitting on 499 career extra-base hits, which is tied with Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney for 6th most in franchise history…with his next extra-base hit, Salvy will become one of six Royals to record 500, and will join Hall of Famer George Brett (1,119), Hal McRae (681), Frank White (625), Amos Otis (623) and Alex Gordon (573)…he’ll become one of 27 active players with 500 extra-base hits, a list that’s headed by Miguel Cabrera (1,141), who has 290 more than Nelson Cruz (851), the next closest player…Salvy’s 499 extra-base hits rank 21st all-time among primary catchers (min. 75% games played at the position), 5 shy of Jason Kendall (504) for 20th…that list is headed by Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez (934).
ROYALS ON THE MEND: The Royals have had 16 players spend time on the IL, including 12 players currently on it, six of whom were on the Opening Day roster…Kansas City’s 12 current injuries include eight pitchers—five of which have made at least 1 start—and two position players who were in the starting lineup on Opening Day.
Left hander Angel Zerpa had his rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A Omaha yesterday and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in 4.1 innings last night with 5 strikeouts…Zerpa, who was placed on the 60-day IL on March 15 with left shoulder tendinopathy, has a 2.19 ERA (3 ER in 12.1 IP) in 4 rehab starts. Ê Brad Keller began his rehab assignment last night at Triple-A Omaha, where he was charged with 2 runs on 4 walks and retired just one of the five batters he faced on 20 pitches…Keller was placed on the 15- day Injured List on May 19 with a right shoulder impingement, and last pitched for the Royals on May 15.
Left hander Amir Garrett was the third Royals pitcher to appear on a rehab assignment last night with Triple-A Omaha…he was charged with 3 runs on 2 hits and 1 walk in the 7th inning in his 2nd rehab appearance…Garrett has been on the Injured List since June 2 with left elbow valgus extension overload.
Ryan Yarbrough is expected to start with Triple-A Omaha tonight vs. Iowa, as he makes his 3rd appearance and 2nd with the Storm Chasers on his current rehab assignment…Yarbs is recovering from skull fractures suffered on a comebacker on May 7.
Outfielder Diego Hernandez went 2-for-4 with a triple Tuesday night while playing all 9.0 innings in center field in the Arizona Complex League… he’s 10-for-20 in 5 rehab games, and has been on the 60-day IL since March 30 after he suffered a dislocated right shoulder early in Spring Training.
Josh Taylor, who has been out since May 28 with a shoulder impingement, had surgery yesterday to repair a herniated disk in his lumbar spine.
Vinnie Pasquantino had successful surgery last week to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and is expected to miss the rest of the year.
AFTERNOON DELIGHT: Today’s 1:10 p.m. CT start marks the 1st of 2 day games on this homestand, including the finale on Sunday vs. the Dodgers at 1:10 p.m. CT…today is the Royals 35th day game and they’re scheduled for 64, which would tie for the 2nd most in club history, trailing last year (69).
The Royals are 11-23 in day games and have been outscored 174-123 (-51), but are 8-10 in their last 18 matinees after starting the season 3-13.
TODAY’S STARTERS: RHP ZACK GREINKE (1-8, 5.31)
ZACK GREINKE is making his 17th start of the season and 531st of his career today vs. the Guardians, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Eddie Plank (1901-17) for 35th place on the all-time starts list…it’s his 36th career appearance (31st start) vs. the Guardians.
Greinke, now in his 20th season in the Majors, is a six-time All-Star, a six-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner and was named the American League Cy Young Award winner in 2009 with the Royals.
LAST START: Greinke suffered his 8th loss of the year in Kansas City’s 11-3 defeat to the Rays last Friday night at Tropicana Field, in which he allowed a season- high-tying 7 runs on 9 hits and 1 walk in 4.2 innings, with 3 strikeouts…he failed to record a clean frame, and surrendered a 1-0 lead on Jose Siri’s 3-run HR in the 2nd…Siri added his 4th RBI on a single in the 4th, and the game got out of hand in the 5th, when with one on and 2 outs, five straight Rays reached, including back-to-back singles off Greinke, who left a pair of inherited runners to Jose Cuas, who allowed them both to score.
The Royals are 3-13 in Greinke’s 16 starts this year, including 8 straight losses.
WALKING ON WATER: Zack’s pinpoint control has been on full display this season, his 20th in the Majors…the 39-year-old has issued only 11 walks to the 338 batters he’s faced through 16 starts (81.1 IP) for a 1.2 BB/9 and 3.3 BB%, both of which rank 2nd in the Majors behind George Kirby…after issuing a season-high 2 walks in 3.2 innings on April 27 at Minnesota, he’s issued only 5 walks to 203 batters over his last 10 starts (50.1 IP), a stretch in which the only players to coax a free pass out of him have been Gavin Sheets, Riley Greene, Nolan Arenado, Mike Trout and Randy Arozarena.
Greinke has had 13 starts this season in which he has issued 1 walk or fewer over at least 5.0 innings, 1 more than Seattle’s Kirby for the most in the Majors.
Zack’s 10 straight starts with 1 walk or fewer is the longest such streak of his career and the 2nd longest in Royals history, 1 game shy of Jason Vargas, who issued 1 walk or fewer in 11 straight starts from May 26, 2015-April 24, 2017, a two-year stretch that was interrupted by injury…Greinke’s 10-start streak is the 2nd-longest run in the Majors in 2023, trailing Kirby’s active streak of 15 starts.
Greinke’s 6.75 K/9 rate is the 8th lowest among 69 qualified pitchers this season, but thanks to his 1.2 BB/9, his K/BB ratio of 5.5 ranks as the 5th highest in the Majors behind Kirby (11.3), Joe Ryan (7.0), Braxton Garrett (6.1) and Zach Eflin (6.1)…Zack’s current K/BB ratio of 5.5 would shatter the single-season franchise record he set during his 2009 Cy Young-winning season (4.8).
JUNE SWOON: After recording a 2.30 ERA (8 ER in 31.1 IP) with 3 HR allowed in 6 May starts, Greinke has yielded a 9.00 ERA (19 ER in 19.0 IP) and 5 HR in 4 starts this month…June has historically been his worst month in terms of ERA, as his 3.87 mark is his highest in any month (excluding March), but his 42 wins in June are his most, ahead of his 41 wins in both August and September…it was about this time last year—on June 24, 2022—when Zack returned from a month-long stint on the IL and from that point on, he posted a 2.85 ERA (27 ER in 85.1 IP) over his final 16 starts.
TIMES TABLES: Zack has been very good through his first time through opponent lineups this season, holding them to a .231 average (31-for-134) with only 5 extra-base hits…but on the second and third time through, opponents are batting .285 (39-for-137) and .373 (19-for-51), respectively…along those same lines, Greinke has held opponents to a .246 average (57-for-232) through 60 pitches, but when he gets above 60 pitches, opponents are batting .356 (32-for-90).
SEEKING SUPPORT: The Royals offense has scored just 27 runs in Greinke’s 81.1 innings this season for a 2.99 run support average, which is the lowest mark among
all qualified pitchers…the Royals have supported Zack with 1 or 0 runs in 9 of his 16 starts, and have supported him with a total of 9 runs over his last 7 starts (34.2 IP).
VS. CLEVELAND: in 35 career appearances (30 starts) vs. Cleveland, Zack is 12-9 with a 3.41 ERA (69 ER in 182.0 IP), and has not lost to the Guardians in 13 years, since Sept. 25, 2010 during his first stint with Kansas City…he’s 4-0 in his last 8 starts vs. Cleveland with a 2.37 ERA (13 ER in 49.1 IP) and his teams have won all 8 of those games…Zack held Cleveland to 1 earned run or fewer in all 4 starts against them last season—during which he had a 1.19 ERA (3 ER in 22.2 IP)—and he hasn’t allowed a HR to the Guardians in his last 24.0 innings vs. them since Franmil Reyes took him deep on July 19, 2021.
