HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
No team release available.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Have a season-high nine-game losing streak, which is tied for eighth longest in Oakland history…it is their longest since Aug. 6-15 last year when they also lost nine straight…had a 10-game losing streak last year from May 30-June 10…have also lost 12 of the last 13 games and 17 of the last 19…are 10-43 (.189) overall, which is the second worst record after 53 games by an AL, NL or FL team since 1900…the worst is 9-41 (.180) by the 1904 Senators (had three games called with the score tied…lost games 54- 57)…were swept in a four-game series at Seattle to end the last road trip and have been swept seven times this year…are 1-15-0 in series play…lost each of the first 10 series, won two of three at Kansas City from May 5-7, and have lost each of the last five series.
THE ONE-THIRD MARK: The A’s are scheduled to play their 54th game of the season today, which is the one-third mark of the season…are on pace to lose 131 games, which would be second most in Major League history to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who went 20-134…A’s pitchers are on pace to set Athletics records for highest ERA (6.83), most runs (1137), most home runs (269), most hit batters (116) and fewest saves (12) and Oakland records for most walks (773)…the ML record for most hit batters is 110 by the 2022 Reds and only two teams in modern (since 1900) Major League history have allowed at least 1100 runs (1199, 1930 Phillies; 1103, 1996 Tigers)…the last team with fewer than 16 saves in a full season is the 1980 A’s (13)…the offense is on pace to set an Athletics record for strikeouts (1540)…are on pace to scored 565 runs…had 568 runs last year, which was second lowest in a full season in Oakland history (532 in 1978)…individually, Esteury Ruiz is on pace for 83 stolen bases, which would set an American League record for rookies (66, Kenny Lofton in 1992)…it would be fourth most in Athletics history behind Rickey Henderson’s three 100-steal seasons.
A’s IN MAY: The A’s are 4-20 (.167) in May after going 5-23 (.179) in April…had the worst record in the majors in April and currently have the worst mark in May (Pirates, 6-15/.281)…this is the 16th 20-loss month in Oakland history, the fourth in the last two years…it is the second time since 1954 the A’s have back-to-back 20-loss months…the other time was in May and June last year when they had 21 each month.
OFFENSE: The A’s have scored two runs or fewer in each of the last eight games, which is tied for the second longest streak in Oakland history (May 10-18, 1979)…the longest is nine games from Sept. 10-17, 1978…are batting .181 (45-for-249) with 12 runs scored, eight doubles, one home un and 14 walks over the last eight games…the 12 runs match the fewest by an A’s team over an eight-game span over the last 44 years…overall, have the lowest batting average in the majors (.221) and the third lowest OPS (.657), slugging percentage (.360) and on-base percentage (.297)…rank second in most strikeouts (504), third in fewest runs (185) and doubles (68) and fifth in fewest extra base hits (129)…are tied for the most sacrifice hits (11), tied for fourth in hit by pitches (28)…have been shut out three times in the last 15 games and seven times this year, which is tied with the Mets and Brewers for second most in the majors (Royals, 8)…A’s pinch hitters are tied for the most hits (12) and walks (8) in the majors.
PITCHING: The A’s have compiled a 5.74 ERA (134 er in 210.0 ip) in May after posting a 7.97 ERA in April…have a 6.83 ERA overall, which is the highest in the majors…according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the highest ERA by an AL or NL team since the earned run became an official stat is 6.70 by the 1930 Philadelphia Phillies…also have the highest opponents OPS (.868), batting average (.281), on-base percentage (.375) and slugging percentage (.493) in the majors this year…lead the majors in most home runs (88), walks (253), hit batters (38) and wild pitches (28) and have the fifth fewest strikeouts (399)…have surrendered six grand slams, which are the most in the majors and tied for fifth most in a season in Athletics history (8 in 1993 and 1999, 7 in 1954 and 1997).
STARTING PITCHING: The A’s are scheduled to use an “opener” as the starting pitcher for the second time this year…Pruitt was also the first on Wednesday at Seattle (1.0 ip, 2 h)…A’s starting pitchers are 0-12 with a 5.89 ERA (62 er in 94.2 ip) in the 19 games since recording their only two wins of the season on May 5 and 6 at Kansas City…went 0-16 over the first 32 games and are 2-28 with a 7.14 ERA for the season…the ERA is the highest in the majors and no other team has fewer than eight wins from its starters…have the seventh fewest innings pitched (257.0).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen had a blown save Thursday night, snapping a 17-game streak with no saves or blown saves, which was the longest such streak by an A’s team since the blown save was first tracked in 2004…now has a 19-game streak without a save…the pen is 4-for-14 (28.6%) in save opportunities…has the lowest save percentage and fewest saves in the majors and the 10 blown saves are tied for ninth most…has the highest ERA in the majors (6.43) and the fourth most innings pitched (207.0)…has allowed 42- of-102 (41.2%) inherited runners to score, which is tied for the fifth highest percentage…is tied for the second most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: A’s pitchers had their fifth pickoff of the season Thursday night, which is tied for third most in the majors…opponents are 42-for-59 (71.2%) in stolen base attempts, which is the fifth lowest success rate in the majors…the 17 caught stealings are second most (Rockies, 18) but the A’s have the 10th most stolen bases allowed…offensively, the A’s are 50-for-61 (82.0%) in stolen base attempts…rank third in the majors in stolen bases and attempts and ninth in stolen base percentage.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 0-1 on this six-game homestand against Houston (0-1) and Atlanta (three games)…went 2-5 on the last homestand against Texas (1-3) and Arizona (1-2) and are 5-21 (.192) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors…went 0-7 on the last road trip to Houston (0-3) and Seattle (0-4) and are 5-22 (.185) on the road, which is the worst road record in the majors…have compiled a 5.91 ERA (159 era in 242.0 ip) at home compared to 7.82 on the road.
WINNING LATE: The A’s have scored the winning run in their final at bat in seven of their 10 wins…have five wins when tied after seven innings, three when trailing after seven innings and two when leading after seven inning… are tied for the second most wins in the majors when tied after seven innings and are tied for seventh in wins when trailing after seven innings… however, no other team has fewer than 12 wins when leading after seven innings…are 3-4 (.429) in extra inning games…are tied for second in the majors in extra inning games (7) and losses and tied for sixth in wins…have four walk-off wins, which is tied for the most in the majors.
RUN DIFFERENTIAL: Seven of the A’s 10 wins have been by one run and Oakland is 7-10 (.412) in one-run games…are tied for fourth in the majors in one-run losses and tied for seventh in games (17)…however, have lost eight games by nine or more runs, which matches the most such losses by an A’s team over the last 27 years (also 2008 and 2022)…have a run differential of -187, which is the lowest in the majors…the lowest by an AL or NL team since 1901 is -349 by the 1932 Boston Red Sox.
THIS AND THAT: The A’s are 9-23 (.281) in night games and 1-20 (.048) during the day…are batting .183 (122-for-667) with 50 runs scored during the day (2.4 runs per game)…A’s outfielders have 11 assists, which is tied for second most in the majors (Royals, 12)…the A’s have committed 34 errors, which is also tied for second most (Giants, 38)…have employed 43 players, which is the most (Rockies, Brewers and Mets, 41)…28 of the 43 have been pitchers, which is also the most (Rays, 26)…have used 12 rookies and seven players have made their Major League debuts…have used the injured list 15 times, including 11 times for pitchers…currently have eight players on the IL, including seven pitchers…have an average time of game of 2:46, which is the longest in the majors…however, have not averaged under 2:53 per game since 2010 (2:43).
A’S VS. ASTROS
- The A’s are 0-4 to start the season series after losing the season series last year for the seventh time in the last eight years.
- Are now 59-88 (.401) against Houston dating back to 2015 after winning each of their first four season series against the Astros (31-13,
.705). - Have lost 10 of the last 11 games, including nine of the last 10 at Minute Maid Park…have won four of the last six in Oakland.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-1 0-3 0-4
2022 4-5 3-7 7-12
Oakland History: 90-101
at the Coliseum: 50-47
at Minute Maid Park: 40-54
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Ryan Noda is tied for ninth in the majors in walks (32)…leads Major League rookies in on-base percentage (.394) and walks…Esteury Ruiz leads ML rookies in hits (57), stolen bases (27) and hit by pitches (11), is tied for second in doubles (13), ranks sixth in RBI (22), seventh in batting (.274), tied for seventh in extra base hits (15) and ninth in runs (23) and on-base percentage (.336)…the 27 steals are the most by an Athletic since Coco Crisp had 39 in 2012
TODAY’S MAIN PITCHER: Hogan Harris (0-0, 162.00 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas today for his second stint with the A’s this year…is scheduled to make the second appearance of his career…was recalled for the first time on April 14, made his Major League debut that day in relief against the Mets (0.1 ip, 1 h, 6 r, 6 er, 5 bb, 0 so) and was optioned back to Las Vegas the next day…is 0-1 with a 3.77 ERA and .699 opponents OPS in eight starts with the Aviators.
MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT: Made his Major League debut earlier this year on April 14 against New York (NL)…entered the game to start the fifth inning
with the A’s trailing 6-3…retired the first batter he faced (Vogelbach ground out) but his next seven batters were BB, BB, BB, HBP, BB, 2B, BB…walked five batters in 0.1 innings to become the sixth AL, NL or FL pitcher since 1901 to walk five or more his debut while pitching less than an inning (last: Justin Dunn, Sept. 12, 2019 for Seattle)…allowed six runs, which matched the most by A’s pitcher in debut of fewer than one inning (Sam Gray, April 19, 1924 at Boston; James York, Sept. 12, 1919 vs. CWS).
