HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: Rookie RHP Hunter Brown (8-7) will make his 22nd start of the season and the first of his career vs. BAL as he takes on O’s RHP Dean Kremer (10-4)…Brown does have 1 career relief app. vs. BAL, hurling a scoreless 7th inning in a dramatic, 11-10, comeback win on 9/24/22 at Oriole Park.
BROTHER BROWN: RHP Hunter Brown has been one of the top rookies in the AL in 2023…he currently leads all AL rookie pitchers in WAR (2.1), strikeouts (130) and innings (117.1) and it T-1st in wins (8)…Brown has registered quality starts in his last 3 outings, going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA (6ER/18.0IP) in that span.
LAST NIGHT’S RECAP: The Astros took the 2nd game of this series in BAL last night, 8-2…RHP Cristian Javier (8-2) earned the win (5.0 IP, 2 ER)…Jose Altuve led the offense, going 3×5 with 3 RBI…Alex Bregman (3×4, 2 RBI) and Kyle Tucker (2-run HR) also contributed.
SWEEPSTAKES: A win today would give the Astros their 7th series sweep of the season and their 1st vs. BAL since taking a 3-game set, 6/21-23 of 2021 at Camden Yards.
CLEAN GETAWAYS: The Astros are 19-7 on ‘Getaway Days’ this season (incl. final gms of road series and homestands). VS. THE O’S: The Astros have enjoyed success at Oriole Park in recent years, winning 7 of their last 9 and 12 of their last 16 games here…since 2016, the Astros are 17-6 at Oriole Park, which is tops in the Majors in that span (min. 10g).
Best Win Pct. at Oriole Park – Since 2016 (min. 10g)
- Astros: 17-6 (.739)
- Red Sox: 42-21 (.667)
- Yankees: 43-27 (.614)
Two current Astros have enjoyed great success at Camden Yards…Jose Altuve’s .400 caree avg. at Camden Yards is tops among active players and his highest at any AL ballpark:
At Camden Yards
Jose Altuve: .400 (48×120), 29 G, 6 2B, 5 HR, 27 RBI, .608 SLG, 1.075 OPS
Yordan Alvarez: .302 (13×43), 12 G, 5 HR, 14 RBI, .651 SLG, 1.077 OPS
GRAND SALAMIS: Kyle Tucker’s grand slam Tues. night was the 9th of the season for the Astros, which is tops in the AL and is two shy of the single-season record of 11, set in 2019… for Tucker, it was his 2nd slam of the season and the 5th of his career…Tucker’s other grand slam this season came on 7/3 at TEX, which was also the last slam by an Astros hitter prior to last night.
THE ULTIMATE SLAM: Kyle Tucker’s 9th-inning grand slam Tues. night, which erased a 6-3 deficit, was the just the Astros third ‘ultimate’ grand slam ever and the first since Brian Bogusevic turned the trick on 8/16/11 vs. the Cubs at Minute Maid Park…Bogusevic’s slam erased a 5-2 deficit in the 9th to give the Astros a 6-5, walkoff win…by definition, an ‘ultimate’ grand slam is one that takes place with a 3-run deficit in the 9th inning or later. Astros Ultimate Grand Slams – All-Time (source: Elias) Aug. 8, 2023 at BAL: Kyle Tucker, 9th inn. off Felix Bautista (7-6 Astros win) Aug. 16, 2011 vs CHC: Brian Bogusevic, 9th inn. off Carlos Marmol (6-5 Astros win) June 15, 1975 at STL: Cliff Johnson, 9th inn. off Mike Garman (8-7 Astros win).
IN THE DAYTIME: The Astros are 23-17 (.575) in day games.
MOVIN ON UP: Last night’s win was the 2,159th of Dusty Baker’s career, moving him into sole possession of 7th place on MLB’s all-time managerial wins list…with the exception of Baker and Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, all managers in the top 10 wins list are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
ROAD WARRIORS: Today is the finale of a 7-game road trip for the Astros…they are 4-2 thus far, going 2-2 at NYY before taking the first 2 games of this 3-game set in BAL..HOU is 35- 24 (.593) on the road this season, which is 2nd-best in the AL.
Best Road Record-AL
- Baltimore: 35-21 (.625)
- Houston: 35-24 (.593)
- Toronto: 34-27 (.557)
ROADWORK VS. THE BEST: The Astros have had success on the road vs. the 4 clubs that currently have 4 of the 5 best records in baseball…on the road in 2023, HOU is a combined 10-2 vs. ATL (3-0), TB (2-1), TEX (3-1) and BAL (2-0).
RECENT STROS: The Astros have won 3 straight, 7 of 9, 11 of 16 and 14 of their last 20 games…they are 16-8 (.667) since the All-Star Break, which is T-2nd-best in the Majors.
UP TO THE CHALLENGE: The Astros are 10-5 thus far while in the midst of a month-long stretch of games (7/24-8/24) in which 8 of their 9 scheduled opponents are currently at .500 or better…thus far in this stretch, they have faced TEX (2-1), TB (1-2), CLE (3-0), NYY (2-2) and BAL (2-0)…following today, their remaining opponents in this stretch are LAA, MIA, SEA and BOS.
IN THE CLUB: On Tuesday night, Kyle Tucker homered to become one of 4 players this season to reach 20 HR/20 SB…Tucker, who currently has 21 HR and 24 SB, was also a 20/20 club member in 2022 (30HR/25SB)…other 2023 club members: Ronald Acuna Jr.-26 HR/53 SB; Corbin Carroll-21 HR/36 SB; Bobby Witt, Jr.-20 HR/34 SB).
POST-BREAK PRODUCTION: Kyle Tucker’s 28 RBI in just 24 G since the A.S. Break are tops in the AL…since the Break, he is hitting .326 with 8 HR and 28 RBI (.685 SLG, 1.106 OPS)… Chas McCormick’s 20 RBI since the Break are T-4th in the AL. CLIMBING THE CHARTS: RHP Justin Verlander’s start tomorrow will be the 500th of his career…he ranks 2nd among active pitchers in career starts to KC’s RHP Zack Greinke (536 GS).
Most Career Starts – Active Pitchers
- Zack Greinke-536 3. Max Scherzer – 442
- Justin Verlander-499 4. Clayton Kershaw – 414
TODAY’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP HUNTER BROWN
LAST START – 8/4 AT NYY: allowed 2 runs on 5 hits with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts in 6.0 innings…picked up the win in the Astros 7-3 victory…allowed both runs on solo homers.
ABOUT BROWN: rookie right-hander has pitched out of the Astros rotation this entire season, making 21 starts and pitching 117.1 innings…ranks 2nd on the club in innings, 2nd in strikeouts, 2nd in quality starts (11) and T-2nd in wins.
- has made 3 consecutive quality starts, going 6.0 innings and allowing 2 runs in each outing…the Astros won all 3 of those starts.
- with 117.1 innings pitched, is nearing his career high, which he reached last season…pitched 126.1 regular season innings in 2022 and another 3.2 in the 2022 postseason.
ROOKIE LEADERBOARD: according to WAR produced by STATS, Brown has been the most valuable rookie pitcher in the AL with a 2.1 WAR, besting the Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (1.9)… including rookie position players, he ranks T-4th in WAR, trailing the Orioles IF Gunnar Henderson (3.0), the Rangers IF Josh Jung (2.9) and the Yankees IF Anthony Volpe (2.7).
- aside from WAR, also leads all AL rookie pitchers in innings pitched and strikeouts and ranks T-1st in wins…among AL rookies with 75+ IP, ranks 4th in ERA, 4th in WHIP (1.29) and 4th in opponent average (.255).
- is on track to finish in the top five in AL Rookie of the Year voting…the Astros have had a top five finisher in 4 straight seasons: SS Jeremy Peña (5th in 2022), RHP Luis Garcia (2nd in 2021), RHP Cristian Javier (3rd in 2020) and LF Yordan Alvarez (1st in 2019).
GROUND CONTROL: ranks 2nd among AL pitchers with a 53.8 ground ball percentage, trailing teammate Framber Valdez (55.4%)…Brown’s groundball percentage is also the 5th-best ground ball percentage among MLB starting pitchers.
DIESEL: is averaging 91.3 mph with his slider, which is the hardest slider thrown by all qualified MLB pitchers…it’s immediately harder than the sliders thrown by Sandy Alcantara (89.6) and Shane McClanahan (89.3).
VS. BAL: has one career appearance against the Orioles, which came on Sept. 24, 2022 at BAL… pitched 1.0 scoreless inning, working around 3 hits, in what was his 4th career appearance.
HISTORIC START: his 152 career strikeouts are the 4th-most by an Astros pitcher through their first 28 career outings, trailing RHP Tom Griffin (174), RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (173) and RHP Don Wilson (156).
- started his career 5-0 through his first 12 games (7 starts), a streak which spanned from Sept. 5, 2022 to April 26, 2023…per Elias, was 1st Astros pitcher to win their first 5 decisions since RHP Josh James won his first 7 decisions from 2018-19.
STRIKEOUT KING: from May 14-May 31, he recorded 8+ K’s in 4 consecutive starts…the last Astros rookie to strike out 8+ batters in 4 consecutive starts was RHP Roy Oswalt, who did so in 6 straight games from Aug. 14-Sept. 9 in 2001.
SOLID STREAK: made back-to-back starts on April 9 and April 15 in which he recorded at least 7.0 IP without allowing an ER…the last Astros pitcher to do so was LHP Scott Kazmir, who made 2 such starts in a row in 2015 (July 24-July 30, 2015).
BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Orioles fell to the Astros last night, 8-2, in the second game of the three-game set, marking their first series loss since July 24-26 at Philadelphia (1-2) and their first at home since July 17-19 vs. Los Angeles-NL (1-2).
Jacob Webb made his first appearance for the Orioles and struck out the side in the sixth inning; marked the first time an Orioles reliever struck out all three batters he faced in an inning during his team debut since Al Reyes in the eighth inning on July 25, 1999 vs. Los Angeles-AL.
Austin Hays blasted a two-run homer in the fourth inning, his 10th on the year and first since July 9 at Minnesota.
Adley Rutschman tripled to lead off the bottom of the first, his first three-bagger since his first career hit in his MLB debut on May 21, 2022 vs. Tampa Bay; marked Baltimore’s first leadoff triple since Cedric Mullins did so on July 29, 2021 at Detroit.
JACK OF ALL TRADES: Jack Flaherty has struck out eight batters in each of his first two starts for Baltimore…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, surpassing Tom Phoebus (1966), Craig Lefferts (1992), and Jimmy Haynes (1995) with 15 each through their first two outings with the team.
NO DOUBTER: Ryan Mountcastle slugged a 472-foot, two-run blast in the first inning Tuesday night to put the O’s on the board…Marked the longest home run hit by an Orioles player at Oriole Park in the Statcast era (since 2015), surpassing a 465-foot shot by Manny Machado on June 2, 2017 vs. Boston…It is the second-longest Statcast-era home run at Oriole Park 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 Mountcastle’s career with a sixth-inning, solo blast off Jordan Montgomery on September 16, 2021 vs. New York-AL.
SWEEPLESS IN BALTIMORE: The Orioles are looking to avoid being swept in today’s three-game series finale against the Astros…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)…The O’s have gone 75 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).
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won seven of their last 10 games, eight of 12, 21 of 30, and 22 of 33…At 70-44 (.614), the Orioles have the best record in the AL and second-best in MLB (see box at right)…The Braves (72-40, .643) are the only other team with at least 70 wins and a .600 winning percentage this season…The Birds are 132-93 (.587) 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 2.0-game lead over the Rays in the AL East.
The Orioles have two winning streaks of at least seven games this year; Atlanta (4x), San Francisco (2x), and Tampa Bay (2x) are the only other teams with multiple win streaks of at least seven games this season.
MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle owns a season-long 11-game hitting streak since July 28, the longest by an O’s batter this season…Entering today’s games, it is tied for the third-longest active streak in the AL and fourth-longest active streak in MLB…His last longer streak was his career-long 13-gamer from July 28 to August 21, 2021…Mountcastle also owns a season-long 16-game on-base streak since July 21, one shy of his career high of 17 games from July 28 to August 26, 2021…It is the third-longest active on-base streak in the AL and sixth-longest in MLB…He is slashing .412/.468/.647 (28-for-68) with seven doubles, three homers, 14 runs scored, 12 RBI, nine walks, and one stolen base in 23 games while tallying a hit in 18 of his 19 starts since returning from the Injured List on July 9.
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… According to the Elias Sports Bureau, 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.
TOP GUNN: Gunnar Henderson paces AL rookies in bWAR and triples and ranks among the top in a variety of statistical categories (see box at right).
FEELS GOOD TO BE HOME: The Orioles wrap up their current six-game, seven-day homestand today…The Birds opened the stand with a three-game sweep of the Mets over the weekend before dropping the first two games to the Astros…Baltimore is 35-23 (.603) at Oriole Park this season, the third-best home winning percentage in the AL and fifth-best in MLB…The O’s have gone 80-59 (.576) at Oriole Park since the start of last season, the fourth-best home record in the AL and eighth-best in MLB during that time.
AGAINST HOUSTON: The Orioles and Astros are meeting for the first of two series between the teams this season…The Birds will travel to Houston for three games from September 18- 20…The O’s went 4-3 against the Astros last year, including three shutouts.
O THE PLACES YOU’LL GO: The Orioles hit the road tomorrow for a nine-game, 10-day road trip, with three games each in Seattle (August 11-13), San Diego (August 14-16), and Oakland (August 18-20)…The O’s have a scheduled off day on Thursday, August 17, as well on Monday, August 21, before the beginning of the next homestand…The 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).
PRIME TIME: The Orioles have been selected to appear on FOX on Thursday, September 14, against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park…The game has been moved from 6:35 p.m. to 7:15 p.m…The Orioles have also been selected to appear on Apple TV+ on Friday, September 15, as they take on the Rays at 7:05 p.m. at Oriole Park.
ROSTER MOVES: The Orioles today recalled right-handed pitcher Joey Krehbiel from Triple-A Norfolk and placed left-handed pitcher Danny Coulombe on the 15-day Injured List with left biceps tendonitis, retroactive to August 9.
STARTING PITCHER – #64 DEAN LKREMER RHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 24th start of the season, 14th at home, and third career start against the Astros this afternoon…Set a career high with 22 appearances (21 GS) in 2022, 11 appearances at home (10 GS), and 11 on the road…Owned an 8-7 record with a 3.23 ERA (45 ER/125.1 IP) and 87 strikeouts…Made six starts of 5.0-ormore scoreless innings, tied for seventh-most in the AL…Acquired by the Orioles along with INF Breyvic Valera, OF Yusniel Diaz, RHP Zach Pop, and INF Rylan Bannon in exchange for INF Manny Machado on July 18, 2018…Originally selected by the Dodgers in the 14th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of UNLV.
LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor in the decision in his last outing on August 4 vs. New York-NL…Surrendered two runs on two hits with a season-high-tying four walks (also: 7/19 vs. LAD) and four strikeouts in 5.1 innings…The two hits tied his season low (also: 7/14 vs. MIA)…Left with two runners on, who were stranded…Marked his fourth consecutive start with no decision…Threw 87 pitches, 53 strikes.
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM: Is slated to make his third career start against the Astros…Tossed his first career shutout and complete game in his last outing against Houston on September 23, 2022 at Oriole Park, allowing four hits and two walks with six strikeouts in a career-high 9.0 innings…Was one of 16 players in MLB to throw a shutout in 2022 and one of two O’s pitchers to work a complete game (Jordan Lyles, 9/21 vs. DET)…Threw 106 pitches, 70 strikes…Owns a 2-0 record with a 0.54 ERA (1 ER/16.2 IP) and a 0.60 WHIP in two career starts against the Astros.
WILD WEST: Is scheduled to make his 14th career start against the AL West…Has pitched to a 4-1 record with a 3.18 ERA (27 ER/76.1 IP), a 1.02 WHIP, and 59 strikeouts through his first 13 career assignments against the division…Did not factor into the decision in his last outing against the AL West on June 24 vs. Seattle…Surrendered three run on five hits (career-high-tying 3 HR, also: 9/11/21 vs. TOR [G1]) with one walk and five punchouts in 7.0 innings…Threw 87 pitches, 60 strikes.
CUTTING DOWN: Kremer has recorded 29 strikeouts via his cutter this season, tied for the sixth-most in MLB entering today’s game…Opposing hitters are slashing .240/.308/.488 (29-for-121) against his secondary pitch…In 2022, Kremer punched out 27 batters with his cutter, while opponents slashed .259/.292/.356 (45-for-174).
HOME SWEET HOME: Making his 14th home start of the campaign today…Sports a 5-2 record with a 5.35 ERA (41 ER/69.0 IP) and five quality starts through his 13 assignments at Oriole Park this season…The O’s own a 10-3 record in his home starts this season, including wins in four straight and six of his last seven since June 13.
SWEET VICTORY: Kremer’s 10 wins this season are second-most on the team (Gibson, 11) and are a career high, surpassing his eight victories in 2022…Entering play today, his 10 wins are tied for sixth in the AL and tied for 11th in MLB…The Orioles own a 17-6 edge in his 23 assignments this season, including victories in six in a row and in nine of his last 10 starts since June 13.
