CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
COMEBACK FALLS SHORT, GUARDS DROP BACK-TO-BACK
Coming off a 3-game weekend sweep at home against Texas, the Cleveland Guardians dropped a second consecutive decision to Kansas City, getting edged, 7-6, by the Royals on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium…Guardians have still won 3 of 5 and 4 of last 7…club is 15-14-4 over last 33 series (-1G below .500/51-52 record in that span since May 26). The Royals jumped out to a 4-0 lead against rookie southpaw LOGAN ALLEN, who shouldered the loss after exiting prior to the 4th inning (3.0IP, 8H, 4R-ER, 2BB, SO, HR, 68 pitches)…MJ Melendez connected for a 2-run shot off Allen in the 1st inning and also delivered the first of 2 RBI-singles in the 3rd, the other by Nick Loftin…Cleveland finally got on the board in the 5th, as STEVEN KWAN (double) and JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (error) both reached ahead of JOSH NAYLOR’s 2-run single…Kansas City then rallied for 3 more runs in a potpourri 5th to take a 7-2 lead… ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ (single) and BO NAYLOR (walk) got aboard in the 6th to set up Kwan’s 2-run triple…Giménez tripled home KOLE CALHOUN (single) in the 7th, while [Bo] Naylor tacked on a leadoff solo homer (9) in the 8th to pull the Guardians to within one run. With 10 games remaining and the Twins ‘Magic Number’ sitting at 3, Cleveland (72-80) sits in 2nd place in AL Central standings, 8.0 games behind 2nd-place Minnesota (80-72) & 1.5 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-9.5G, 70-81)…despite winning 3 of 5 and 4 of last 7, Guardians have dropped 10 of 16, 18 of 32, 29 of 49 & 74 of last 137 overall since starting year 9-6.
HEAVY IS THE HEAD
Following the 7-6 defeat in Tuesday’s contest, the Guardians lost their first series to Kansas City since dropping 2 of 3 at Kauffman Stadium from July 8-10, 2022…Cleveland has not been swept by the Royals since April 12-14, 2019 at Kauffman Stadium… the Guardians are 7-5 against the Royals this season, winning all three of the four series between the clubs…Cleveland has not lost a season series to Kansas City since 2015…during the Terry Francona era, Cleveland is 117-76 against the Royals…overall, the Guardians are 420-364 against the Royals all-time.
AND THEY WERE BROTHERS…
Since returning from the Injured List on September 3, JOSH NAYLOR is hitting .333 (19-for-57) with 3 doubles, 2 home runs and 14 RBI in 15 games…he is the first Cleveland hitter since Travis Hafner in 2004 (.313, 91) to hit at least .300 and have 90+ RBI through their first 111 games played in the season…he’s the 5th different hitter to accomplish the feat since 1999…Manny Ramírez did it twice (1999-2000), Jim Thome (.306, 100) and Juan González (.341, 113) both turned the trick in 2001…Naylor is one of 2 AL hitters and one of 6 MLB hitters with a .305-or-better batting average and 90+ RBI this season joining TEX’s Corey Seager, ChC’s Cody Bellinger, LAD’s Freddie Freeman & Mookie Betts and ATL’s Ronald Acuña Jr. In 22 games since August 19, BO NAYLOR is hitting .338 (22- for-65) with 13 runs scored, 7 doubles, 5 home runs and 12 RBI… during that stretch, he leads all MLB catchers (min. 60PA) in batting average (.338), on-base percentage (.450) and OPS (1.127)…
the last Cleveland catcher to post an OPS of 1.125-or-better over a 22 game span (min 80PA) was Kelly Shoppach from August 19-September 17, 2008 (1.131)…no other Cleveland catcher has accomplished the feat since 1963…he is hitting .389 (7-for-18) with 5 doubles and a home run off breaking balls and .306 (11-for-36) with 3 home runs off fastballs since August 19…was hitting .122 (5-for-41) off breaking balls and .186 (11-for-59) off fastballs before August 19…his home run yesterday came off a fastball.
ANDRÉS THE SWIPER
ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ recorded his 30th stolen base of the season last night, joining Roberto Alomar (1999-2001) and Jason Kipnis (2012-2013) as the only Cleveland second basemen with 30+ steal seasons…Giménez also became the 5th player in Cleveland history to post a 25+ double, 30+ steal campaign by their age-24 season, joining Shoeless Joe Jackson (1911-12), Braggo Roth (1917), Von Hayes (1982) and Grady Sizemore (2007)… with 26 doubles & 20 steals in 2022 and 26 doubles & 30 steals so far this season, Giménez joins Sizemore (3 times, 2005-07) and Jackson (2 times, 1911-12) as the only Cleveland hitters with multiple seasons of 25+ doubles and 20+ stolen bases aged 24-oryounger…entering tonight, Giménez leads all AL fielders with 20 defensive runs saved this year and ranks 2nd in the AL with 36 DRS since 2022, trailing STEVEN KWAN (38). In 17 games played in September, he is hitting .354 (23-for65), slashing .354/.408/.477 with an .859 OPS, 9 RBI and 10 runs scored…among AL hitters this month he ranks 2nd in batting average (.354), T2nd in hits (23) and T2nd in stolen bases (8).
GETTING BACK TO EVEN
At 72-80, Cleveland needs to go 9-1 in their last 10 games to avoid the second losing season under Terry Francona…the club finished 80-82 in 2021, snapping a streak of 8 straight winning seasons for Cleveland and 16 straight winning seasons for Tito, the 3rd-longest streak for a manager in MLB history…since 2013, Cleveland has played 18 total games out of Postseason contention…Francona’s 917 wins as a Cleveland manager are the most in club history…since 2013, Cleveland (917-751, .550) has the 3rd-best win percentage in MLB, trailing New York-AL (934-735, .560) and Los Angeles-NL (1,024-645, .614).
TODAY’S STARTER – #27 LUCAS GIOLITO RHP
GIOLITO ON THE ROAD
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 3-9 5.97 16 16 86.0 92 61 57 38 96
Career 34-24 4.06 87 87 500.2 448 242 226 191 525
GIOLITO’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 8-13 4.59 30 30 170.2 151 96 87 61 189
Career 61-60 4.37 177 175 1000.0 868 517 486 373 1062
TODAY’S START
The 6-6, 245-pound right-hander is scheduled to make his fourth start for Cleveland, second at Progressive Field, in the finale of this 3-game set with the Kansas City Royals…Giolito has made 30 starts this season, 21 with the Chicago White Sox, 6 with the Los Angeles Angels and 3 with the Guardians…owns an 8-13 record with a 4.59 ERA (87ER/170.2IP) this season. Giolito was a first-round pick (16th overall) by the Washington Nationals in the 2012 MLB Draft…was later traded to ChicagoAL in a trade that sent Adam Eaton to Washington…is making this start on 4 days’ rest; is 3-7 with a 4.48 ERA (41ER/82.1IP) in 14 starts this season on 4 days’ rest…is 29-26 with a 3.99 ERA (204ER/460.1IP) in 77 career starts on 4 days’ rest.
LAST TIME OUT
Giolito last toed the rubber on Friday at home against the Texas Rangers in a 12-3 Cleveland victory…he snapped a career-long streak of 5 straight losses and earned his first win since August 8 vs. San Francisco, his 8th win of the season overall, after working 7.0 shutout innings, allowing 2 hits with a walk and a season-high 12 strikeouts on 100 pitches…he allowed his lone walk of the game to the game’s leadoff batter, Marcus Semien, before striking out 6 of the next 9 hitters he faced in the 1st-3rd innings…Evan Carter hit a double in the 3rd, but was thrown out trying to stretch a double in to a triple…following a 1-2-3 4th and a groundout to start the 5th, Giolito struck out 5 straight batters in the 5th-6th innings…following a Corey Seager double to start the 7th, he retired each of the next 3 Rangers hitters, including his 12th strikeout of the game that concluded his stellar outing…pitched 7.0+ innings in consecutive starts for the first time since matching the feat on May 30-June 5, 2021…also has struck out 9+ hitters in consecutive games for the second time this year (June 23-28).
ROYAL KING
Giolito has made 22 career starts against the Royals, owning an 11-5 record with a 3.54 ERA (51ER/129.2IP)…took on Kansas City twice previously this season during his tenure with the White Sox, earning wins on May 9 at Kansas City (W, 6.0IP, 5H, 2R/ER, 2BB, 9SO) and May 20 vs. the Royals (6.0IP, 6H, R/ER, BB, 4SO)… has worked 5.0-or-more innings in 20 of his 22 career outings against the club and has allowed 3-or-fewer earned runs in 18 of 22 starts…he has struck out 7-or-more hitters in each of his last 3 starts at Kauffman Stadium since 2020…his 132 strikeouts, 11 wins, 22 starts and 129.2 innings pitched against the Royals since 2017 lead all MLB pitchers during that span. Today will be his 8th start against the AL Central this season, sporting a 2-3 record with a 4.42 ERA (18ER/36.2IP)…4 of his 7 previous outings against the division have gone for quality starts… owns an 30-26 record with a 3.82 ERA (194ER/457.1IP) with 42 quality starts in 79 career outings against the AL Central.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
GROUP EFFORT: The Royals held off Cleveland’s late rally to earn a 7-6 win at Kauffman Stadium last night, clinching their third consecutive series win and a winning record on this homestand…the offense pounded out 13 hits, including a team-high 3 by Maikel Garcia and multi-hit efforts by MJ Melendez, Edward Olivares and Nick Loftin…Melendez put Kansas City on the board with a 2-run HR in the 1st inning off his longtime friend, Logan Allen, his 1st of 3 runs last night…Tyler Cropley was the starting catcher in his Major League debut and picked up his 1st RBI on a sacrifice fly in the 5th and his 1st hit in the 8th…opener Steven Cruz (1.2 IP) and bulk pitcher Alec Marsh (4.1 IP) combined for 6.0 innings and 4 runs (3 ER) allowed, and James McArthur continued his impressive month of September when he entered a two-on, no-out jam in the 8th in a 1-run game, and struck out the next three batters to set up Collin Snider for his 1st career save in the 9th.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: Tyler Cropley made his Major League debut last night, going 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly at the plate, while catching all 9.0 innings behind it…he became the ninth different player to make his Majors debut with the Royals this season and the third this month, following Nick Loftin on Sept. 1 and Logan Porter on Sept. 12…he’s the 56th different player to appear in a game with the Royals this season, which marks the 2nd-highest single-season total in franchise history, two shy of the club record set in 2004 (58). Pitchers Jonathan Bowlan and Anthony Veneziano (vuh-neez-ee-ah-no) were added to the roster yesterday but did not appear in last night’s game…when they debut, they would be the 10th and 11th players to make their Majors debut with Kansas City this season, and would be the 57th and 58th different players to appear in a game, the last of which would match the club record of 58 set in 2004. Bowlan and Veneziano would be the 35th and 36th different pitchers used by the Royals in 2023, which would extend their single-season franchise record that is already two more than last year’s total of 32. Bowlan, Kansas City’s 2nd-round pick in the 2018 Draft, would be the ninth player selected in 2018 to debut with the Royals, and would follow Brady Singer (1st round), Jackson Kowar (1st), Daniel Lynch IV (1st), Kris Bubic (1st), Kyle Isbel (3rd), Austin Cox (5th), Jonathan Heasley (13th) and Nate Eaton (21st).
SCORING CHANGES: Major League Baseball yesterday announced a pair of scoring changes to Sunday’s game vs. Houston…in the 6th inning, Nelson Velázquez reached on what was originally ruled a fielder’s choice and an error on third baseman Alex Bregman…this has since been changed to a base hit off Framber Valdez. In the 9th inning of that same game, Jake Meyers reached on what was scored a triple, but has been changed to a three-base error on MJ Melendez, removing a hit and earned run from Brad Keller’s line.
SERIES SPEAKING: Last night’s win clinched Kansas City’s third consecutive series victory, their longest such series win streak in more than two years, since July 20-29, 2021, when they swept a 2-game series in Milwaukee, swept the Tigers in 3 games in Kansas City and took 3 of 4 from the White Sox at home…this also marks their first series win vs. Cleveland since July 8-10 of last season, snapping a run of five straight series losses. Including this set vs. Cleveland, the Royals have won the 1st 2 games of a series six times this season, and they’re 2-3 in potential series-sweep clinching games…they lost on April 9 in San Francisco, Sept. 6 vs. the White Sox and on Sunday vs. Houston…they completed the sweep in back-to-back series vs. the Twins from July 28-30 and the Mets from Aug. 1-3…the Royals today are seeking their first sweep of the Guardians in four years, since they outscored them 20-9 (+11) in 3 games here in KC from April 12-14, 2019.
WHAT A RELIEF!: Kansas City’s bullpen has been responsible for each of the team’s last 7 wins, a stretch that dates back to Jackson Kowar’s 1st career victory on Sept. 5 vs. the White Sox…even more recently, Royals relievers have accounted for all 6 wins and 2 losses over the last 8 games—5 of which have required a save—a stretch in which they’ve combined for a 3.65 ERA (15 ER in 37.0 IP) and .209 opponents’ average (28-for-134). James McArthur’s stellar stretch continued last night, when he entered with runners at the corners and no outs in a 1-run game in the 8th, and struck out three straight batters to escape the jam…in 8 outings this month, he’s recorded 10.2 scoreless innings and has retired 31 of 32 batters, allowing only a double to Andrew Vaughn on Sept. 6…he’s retired each of his last 22 batters since, 11 shy of the franchise record for consecutive batters retired set by Steve Busby, who retired the last 24 batters he faced during his no-hitter on June 19, 1974 at Milwaukee, and retired the first nine batters of his next start on June 24. Since allowing 7 runs in 1.0 inning in his Majors debut vs. these Guardians on June 28, McArthur has pitched to a 2.70 ERA (5 ER in 16.2 IP) and .182 opponents’ average (10-for-55) with 1 walk and 15 strikeouts. Jackson Kowar had a 6.17 ERA (8 ER in 11.2 IP) in 8 appearances over his first three stints with the Royals this season, but 10 of his 12 outings since his Aug. 17 recall have been scoreless, a stretch in which he’s 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA (6 ER in 14.0 IP)…in his last 8 appearances, he owns a 1.93 ERA (2 ER in 9.1 IP).
HOME STRETCH: The Royals will complete their penultimate homestand of the season today with the last of 3 games vs. the Guardians…the Royals have won 5 of their last 6 games overall and are 4-1 on this homestand, already clinching their second winning stay of the season, following their perfect 6-0 homestand vs. the Twins and Mets from July 28-Aug. 3, which was their longest unbeaten homestand in seven years. Counting today, the Royals have 10 games left this season, including 4 at home and a 6-game trip to Houston and Detroit…they will end the year with a 3-game home set from Sept. 29-Oct. 1 vs. the Yankees. The Royals are 28-31 in their last 59 home games after starting 2-16, are 17-16 at home since the All-Star break, and have outscored their opponents 182-168 (+14)…during their last 33 home games since the break, they lead the Majors with a .285 batting average and lead the American League with 5.5 runs per game. Despite ranking tied for 28th in MLB with 30 home wins, Kansas City’s 8 walk-off wins are tied for 5th most in the Majors behind the Twins (10), Reds (10), Marlins (9) and Rays (9) and are its most since 2017 (8).
BOBBY BASEBALL: Bobby Witt Jr. went 1-for-5 last night and is batting .351 (13-for-37) in his last 10 games, a stretch in which he has 5 walks and only 1 strikeout…he has 9 stolen bases in his last 9 games and 48 for the season, which ranks tied for 3rd in the Majors with Corbin Carroll, trailing Ronald Acuña Jr. (67) and Esteury Ruiz (61)…Bobby’s 48 steals are the most by a Royal since Tom Goodwin had 66 in 1996, and his 78 career steals are the most by any player through two seasons since Ichiro Suzuki had 87 in his first two years from 2001-02. His 167 hits rank 3rd in the American League, trailing only Julio Rodríguez (175) and Marcus Semien (174). Witt Jr. remains 1 HR shy of becoming the first Royals player to record 30 HR and 30 steals in a season. Bobby is 1 HR and 2 seals shy of becoming the fourth player in Major League history with at least 30 HR and 50 steals in a season, and would join Eric Davis (1987), Barry Bonds (1990) and Acuña Jr. (2023).
TODAY’S STARTERS: RHP LUCAS GIOLITO (8-13, 4.59) vs. RHP ZACK GREINKE (1-15, 5.39) ZACK GREINKE is making his 539th career start today, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Red Ruffing for 33rd on the all-time starts list…it’s also his 220th start with the Royals, breaking a tie with Larry Gura for the 6th most in franchise history…this marks his 33rd career start (38th appearance) vs. Cleveland and 3rd this season. The 39-year-old Greinke, now in his 20th season in the Majors, is a six-time AllStar, a six-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner in 2009 with the Royals and a two-time ERA leader. Greinke enters today’s start with 1,089 strikeouts with the Royals, which are 4 shy of matching Bret Saberhagen (1,093) for 4th place in franchise history.
THE LAST TIME: Zack did not factor into the decision of a 4-2 win vs. Houston last Friday night at Kauffman Stadium, in which he allowed 3 hits and 1 walk over 2.0 scoreless innings, with 1 strikeout…he stranded a 1-out single in the 1st and stranded the bases loaded in the 2nd before exiting in a scoreless tie to mark his shortest start in seven years, since Aug. 14, 2016 with Arizona, when he went 1.2 innings.
SPLITS: Zack has held right-handed batters to a .256 average (72-for-281) and .692 OPS this season, but left-handed batters are hitting .326 (76-for-233) with a .935 OPS…left handers have accounted for only 45.2% of the 542 batters he’s faced, but they’ve had 30 of the 49 (61.2%) extra-base hits he’s allowed, including 14 homers.
TIMES TABLES: Greinke has been his best during the first time through opponent lineups this season, holding them to a .263 average (59-for-224) with only 12 extra-base hits…but on the second and third time through, opponents are batting .276 (61- for-221) and .412 (28-for-68), respectively, with a total of 37 extra-base hits…along those same lines, he has held opponents to a .265 average (104-for-393) through 60
pitches, but when he gets above 60 pitches, opponents are batting .364 (44-for-121). He has not completed 5.0 innings in any of his last 6 outings (3 starts), after he went at least 5.0 innings in 17 of his 1st 21 outings (all starts) to begin the year.
SEEKING SUPPORT: The Royals offense has scored just 38 runs in Greinke’s 128.2 innings this season for a 2.66 run support average, which is the lowest in the Majors (min. 100.0 IP)…the Royals have supported Zack with 1 or 0 runs in 17 of his 27 appearances this season (63.0%), including 15 of his 24 starts…the offense has supported him with a total of 20 runs over his last 18 outings (82.0 IP) since mid May. Thanks in part to the lack of run support, Zack is 0-11 with a 5.44 ERA (56 ER in 92.2 IP) in his last 20 outings (17 starts) since his last win on May 3 vs. Baltimore.
WALKING ON WATER: Greinke has maintained his pinpoint control even in his 20th season in the Majors…the 39-year-old has issued only 20 walks to the 542 batters he’s faced through 27 appearances (128.2 IP) this season for a 3.7 BB% and 1.4 BB/9, both of which rank 4th in the Majors among pitchers who have at least 100.0 innings. He has allowed 25 home runs, which are 5 more than the number of walks he’s issued (20)…he and George Kirby are the only pitchers in the Majors this season (min. 100.0 IP) with more HR allowed than walks…no pitcher in Royals history has allowed more HR than walks over a single season (min. 100.0 IP).
VS. CLEVELAND: Greinke is 12-10 with a 3.50 ERA (75 ER in 193. IP) in 37 career appearances (32 starts) vs. Cleveland, and has completed at least 5.0 innings in each of his last 10 starts vs. the Guardians…the last time he fell shy of 5.0 innings vs. them was on Sept. 25, 2010—13 years ago—when he was charged with 7 runs in 3.2 innings…in the 10 starts since, he’s 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA (19 ER in 60.1 IP) while allowing 2 runs in 7 of the 10 outings, and his teams have won 9 of those 10 games. Zack’s career-best 15-strikeout game came against Cleveland on Aug. 25, 2009 here in Kansas City, which stood as the franchise record until Danny Duffy recorded 16 strikeouts on Aug. 1, 2016 at Tropicana Field…Greinke’s 15-strikeout game remains the most by a Royal in Kauffman Stadium history, and trails only Roger Clemens’ 16-strikeout game here on May 9, 1988.
CROWN VISION: Since returning to the Royals in 2022, Greinke is 5-8 at home despite a 2.81 ERA (42 ER in 134.1 IP) and has held opponents to 2 earned runs or fewer in 20 of 26 appearances (76.9%), but has been supported with 1 run or fewer in exactly half of those outings (13), including each of the last 6…he’s only 1-6 despite a 3.69 ERA (28 ER in 68.1 IP) in 14 outings at Kauffman Stadium this season.
