LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:
LEADING OFF: Today, the Angels play the fourth (1-2) of six games on a road trip against the Houston Astros (1-2) and Texas Rangers (Aug. 14-16)…Halos went 2-5 on last homestand against the Mariners (0-4) and Giants (2-1)…LAA was 5-4 on last road trip against Detroit (3-0), Toronto (1-2) and Atlanta (1-2).
SANDY STARTING: Today’s starting pitcher, Patrick Sandoval is 2-1 with a 1.86 ERA (29 IP – 6 ER) and 27 strikeouts across his last five starts…He has allowed two-or-fewer runs in all five games.
HOME RUN LEADERS: Angels lead the American League and rank third in the Majors with 177 home runs this season…Only the Braves (227) and Dodgers (186) have homered more.
GETTING BACK TO .500: With a 59-60 record, the Angels are looking to get back to exactly .500 for a 16th time this season (previously: 1-1, 5-5, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-
10, 11-11, 12-12, 14-14, 22-22, 30-30, 45-45, 48-48, 56-56 & 58-58)…Halos low water mark of the season is two games under .500 (four times; last, 58-60).
SILLY STATS: In four starts since being recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on July 19, Chase Silseth has gone 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA (22.2 IP – 4 ER) and 31 strikeouts… On Aug. 6 vs. Seattle, he became the fifth rookie in Angels history with a 12+ strikeout game, joining Jorge Rubio (1966), Tim Fortugno (1992), Shohei Ohtani (2018) and Reid Detmers (2022).
WINS AND LOSSES: Halos have won three of last five contests following a season-high seven game losing streak to begin the month of August…Angels won 10 of previous 13 contests before the losing streak.
HELLO, MY NAME IS…: The Angels 59 players used this season are the most in the Majors…LAA set a franchise record last year with 66 players used.
VS. TEXAS: Angels lead season series 4-3 and are 3-1 at Globe Life Field this year…Halos have won seven of last 10 games vs. Texas, dating back to last season…
Following the current series in Arlington, the clubs will face off in one additional series at Angel Stadium from Sept. 25-27.
SETTING THE TONE: The Angels rank second in the Majors with eight leadoff home runs this season (four by Mickey Moniak and two each from Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo)…Only the Dodgers (10 – all by Mookie Betts) have hit more this year…The eight leadoff homers are tied for the third-most in a season in Halos history (LAA had 10 leadoff HR in 1986 and nine in 2021).
IN A PINCH: On Saturday night, Andrew Velazquez hit his first career pinch-hit home run…It was the Halos third pinch-hit homer of the year, marking the most in a season for the Angels since hitting five in 2018.
IT’S BEEN A WHILE: Friday night at Houston, C.J. Cron hit his first home run in an Angels uniform since Sept. 20, 2017…The 5 years, 325 days between homers are the third-longest span in Halos history: Wally Joyner: 9 years, 216 days (9/1/91- 4/5/01) & Paul Schaal: 5 years, 352 days (5/26/68-5/13/74) (ELIAS).
THE INJURED LIST: Angels currently have 17 players on the injured list and have used the IL a total of 28 times this year for 25 different players…The 17 players
currently on the IL are the most in the Majors.
RECORD SETTING PACE: Shohei Ohtani’s 41 home runs through the first 119 team games of the season are the most in Angels history (the previous record was 39 HR through 119 team games by Ohtani in 2021 and Mike Trout in 2019)…Club record through 120 games was also 39 HR by Ohtani in 2021 and Trout in 2019.
THE MOOSE: In his 37 games since joining the Angels, Mike Moustakas has totaled seven home runs and 24 RBI…In 47 games earlier this year for Colorado, he had four home runs and 17 RBI.
THE CLOSER: Carlos Estévez has converted 25 of 27 save opportunities this season…His save yesterday at Houston was the 50th of his career…Estévez established a franchise record streak of 23 consecutive save conversions to begin the season before his first blown save on Aug. 3 vs. Seattle…The streak was the second-longest save streak at any point in a season in Angels history (Francisco Rodriguez had a 25 game streak in 2008).
DOUBLE DIGITS: After recording his 10th win of the season on Wednesday night vs. San Francisco, Shohei Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have
multiple seasons with 10+ home runs and 10+ pitching wins.
ON REHAB: Logan O’Hoppe, José Marte and Davis Daniel are all currently on rehab assignments with Low-A Inland Empire.
HEATING UP: Over his last 21 games, Luis Rengifo is batting .310 (26/84) with 12 XBH…He had his season-high seven-game hit streak snapped on Saturday night
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP PATRICK SANDOVAL
6-8, 3.86 ERA
Is 2-1 with a 1.86 ERA (29 IP – 6 ER) and 27 strikeouts in last five starts.
- TODAY’S GAME: Making 21st start of the season and tenth at home…Is in fifth Major League season with Angels…Made third Opening Day roster (also, 2020 & 2022).
- LAST TIME OUT: Took no decision on August 7 vs. Giants after tossing 6.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits with one walk and tying a season high with eight strikeouts.
- SCORING CHANGE: Major League Baseball has made an official scoring change to Game 2 of the Angels doubleheader on July 27 at Detroit…In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Matt Vierling reached on what was originally ruled a single and a throwing error…This has been changed to a straight error on Patrick Sandoval…As a result, the two runs charged to Sandoval in that inning are now unearned.
- VS. TEXAS: In six career games (five starts) vs. Rangers, is 1-2 with a 3.07 ERA (29.1 IP – 10 ER)…Making first start against Texas this season…Last season, went 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA (10.2 IP – 3 ER) in two starts vs. TEX.
- AT GLOBE LIFE FIELD: Today marks third career appearance at Globe Life Field…Is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA (11 IP – 3 ER) in two career starts…Also made one start at Globe Life Park on Aug. 21, 2019 and did not factor in the decision (3.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO).
- GET SETTLED: This season, 14 of 55 (25%) of runs have come in the 1st inning and 19 (35%) in the 3rd inning.
- IN THE ARSENAL: This season, has thrown changeups 26.1% of the time and is holding opponents to a .163 (23/141) average with 47 strikeouts…Throws sliders 29.6% of the time, with opponents batting .263 (36/137) against the pitch.
- LEFT IN THE PARK: Since start of 2022, is second in the Majors (min. 250 IP) with a 0.59 HR/9 innings rate… Has not allowed multiple home runs in a start since July 18, 2021…On August 1, allowed a home run to a left-handed batter (Michael Harris II, ATL) for the first time since Aug. 13, 2021 (Kyle Tucker, HOU).
- GROUND RULES: This year, ranks sixth in the American League (min. 100 IP) with a 50% ground ball rate… Since start of 2022, ranks fourth in A.L. (min. 250 IP) with a 48.5% ground ball rate.
- GOOD NIGHT: This year, has a 3.05 ERA (73.2 IP – 25 ER) in night games, compared with a 5.50 ERA (36 IP – 22 ER) in day games…Last season, was 4-4 with a 2.50 ERA (72 IP – 20 ER) with 75 strikeouts in his 13 night starts, compared with a 2-5 record and 3.29 ERA (76.2 IP – 28 ER) in his 14 day games.
- HOT SUMMER: Pitched to a 1.04 ERA (17.1 IP – 2 ER) and .136 opponent batting average (8/59) with 16 strikeouts in three starts in July…Holds a 3.40 ERA (79.1 IP – 30 ER) and .216 opponent batting average (64/296) with 93 strikeouts in the month of July in his career.
- BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: Earned the win on June 16 at Kansas City after tossing 7.0 scoreless innings…First scoreless start of the season and snapped streak of five straight starts with a losing decision.
- HOME OPENER: Started Angels Home Opener on April 7 vs. Toronto…Tossed 6.0 innings and allowed one earned run…Marked second time starting Angels Home Opener (also, 2020 vs. Seattle).
- WINNING STREAKS: Loss on April 20 at Yankees snapped streak of three straight winning decisions (dating back to last season), which was longest streak of career.
TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
WINS AND LOSSES: Texas lost to the Giants, 3-2, in 10 innings yesterday at Oracle Park, finishing with a 4-2 record on a 7-day, 6-game road trip to OAK (2-1) and SF (2-1)… club has 70 wins, 2 more than team’s 2022 win total (68)… TEX has won 2 of 3 and 10 of its last 12 G, including a season-best 8-G win streak (8/1-8), longest for Texas since going 10-0, 5/9-19/17…Rangers are A.L.-best 10-2 (.833) in August, 2nd-best in MLB to only LAD (12-1, .923)…have gone 11-7 in last 18 G and 12-9 in last 21 G since a 6-G win streak (7/14-19) out of the break…team is 18-9 (.667) in the 2nd “half”, 2nd-best in MLB (LAD is 20-8, .714), and 18 wins are T4th in MLB (20-LAD, 19-BAL/CHC, 18-TEX/HOU/SEA)… TEX is 19-11 in last 30, 20-15 in last 35 G, and 21-17 in last 38 G…team was 12-19 over a 31-G span from 6/7-7/9 to end the 1st “half”…TEX is 56-37 in last 93 G, 60-42 in last 102 G and 65-44 last 109 G (beg. 4/9).
- At 70-48 (.593), TEX owns the 2nd-best record in the A.L. and 4th-best in MLB (see below)…70 wins rank 3rd in A.L. and are 5th-most in MLB (see below).
- The 70-48 mark is the best 118-G start to a season in Washington/Texas franchise history (see chart below).
STANDINGS: Texas owns a 2.5-game lead in A.L. West over 2nd-place HOU for a 4th straight day, this after lead had dropped to 2.0 G on Wednesday…held leads of 2.0+ G in the division for 63 consecutive days from 5/23-7/24 before it dropped to 0.5 G for 3 straight days 7/31-8/2…season-best 6.5-G lead in West after win 6/23 at NYY, which was largest division lead since winning the West by 9.0 G in 2016…TEX has had sole possession of 1st place for 99 straight, 106 of 107, and 119 of the last 121 days beg. 4/14.
- TEX has been alone or tied atop the division for 135 of the season’s first 136 days (exception: 4/8).
SERIES STUFF: After securing a series win in San Francisco last weekend (2-1), the Rangers have won 4 straight series, T2nd-best streak in ’23 (6, 5/19-6/7; and 4, 4/10-23)…club is 6-3-0 in series since break…club is 6-6-0 in last 12 series…is now 23-13-2 overall in series this year, going 12-5-2 at home and 11-8-0 on the road…team has won 2 straight and is 5-1-0 in series at home since the All-Star break…all 5 series wins at Globe Life Field since the break have been sweeps.
AT HOME: TEX is an MLB-best 40-20 (.667) at home…the record is tied for TEX’s best 60-G start at home in team history (see chart)…club has won 7 straight, MLB-best 3-2 (.867) in 2nd “half”, and owns a 18-7 mark in Arlington beg. 6/17… tied for longest active home win streak in MLB (also LAD) and 2nd-longest ever at GLF (8-0, 5/19-6/6/23)…has won 21 of 33, 26 of 38, 30 of 45, and 35 of last 53 at home (beg. 4/11).
VS. ANGELS: TEX is 3-4 vs. LAA in ’23, losing 3 of last 4 G… TEX has won season series vs. Halos in 3 of last 4 years… TEX is 3-7 in last 10 G vs. LAA, but has won 9 of 18 and 12 of last 22 G vs. Halos…Rangers are 16-14 vs. LAA all-time at GLF, winning 6 of last 10 after a 5-10 span.
ROSTER MOVES: The Texas Rangers today announced that OF Travis Jankowski has been reinstated from the MLB Paternity Leave List…to make room for Jankowski on the
club’s active roster, INF Jonathan Ornelas has been optioned to Round Rock (AAA).
MAD MAX: Max Scherzer is expected to make his 22nd start of the season (3rd as a Ranger) in tonight’s homestand opener…he is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA (4 ER/13.0 IP) and 15 SO/4 BB in 2 starts with Texas since being acquired via trade from NYM on 7/30…he and Nolan Ryan (1989) are the only pitchers with 13+ IP, 4-or-fewer runs allowed, and 15+ SO over their first 2 outings with the WSH/TEX franchise…Scherzer is MLB’s active career leader in strikeouts (3,329), ranking 12th on the all-time strikeouts list…he is just 13 K’s from tying Hall of Famer Phil Niekro (3,342) for 11th-most all-time.
GREAT DANE: Dane Dunning turned in one of the most dominant performances of his career in yesterday’s loss at San Francisco, producing a career-high 12 strikeouts over 7.0 innings (ND, 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R-ER, 0 BB, 12 SO, 1 HR, 106 pitches/76 strikes)…he became just the 8th pitcher (11th instance) in WSH/TEX franchise history to post 12+ SO and zero walks in a game, joining Jon Gray on 6/7 vs. STL (9.0 IP, 0 BB, 12 SO) as the 2nd Ranger to pull the trick in 2023.
- Over his 3 starts in August, Dunning has gone 1-0 with a 2.18 ERA (5 ER/20.2 IP), 29 SO/4 BB, and a .197 opp. BA…his 29 strikeouts this month lead all MLB pitchers, and are the most by any Texas hurler over a single-season 3-game span since Lance Lynn from 9/17-29/19 (30 SO).
GLOBE TROTTERS: The Rangers own the best home record in MLB this season at 40-20 (.667), and have won 7 straight and 13 of 15 G here at Globe Life Field since the AllStar break…marks just the 14th time in club history for Texas to record 13+ wins over a 15-G span in Arlington, last done from 9/1/11-4/10/12 (13-2)…TEX leads MLB in R (372), OBP (.354), TB (1031), and XBH (240) at home, while ranking 2nd in BA (.286), SLG (.505), OPS (.859), and H (577).
CHAPPY DAYS: Aroldis Chapman has struck out 29 of 57 (50.9%) batters faced across 14 G/14.0 IP for Texas since being acquired via trade with Kansas City on July 1…his 1,127 career relief strikeouts are 3rd-most among active pitchers to Craig Kimbrel (1,167) and Kenley Jansen (1,154), and rank 13th on MLB’s all-time relief K’s list…Chapman needs just 6 more strikeouts to tie Trevor Hoffman (1,133) for 12th place on the all-time leaderboard, and 8 more K’s to match Mariano Rivera (1,135) for 11th-most all-time.
2ND-‘HALF’ SIMMY: Marcus Semien reached base 3 times yesterday via 2 singles and a walk, and is now batting .320/.403/.563/.966 (33-103) with 7 HR, 3B, 2 2B, 16 RBI, 24 R, and 14 BB/11 SO over 27 G since the All-Star break…he ranks among the A.L.’s 2nd-‘half’ leaders in R (2nd, 24), times on base (4th, 48), H (T6th), TB (T7th, 58), and HR (T8th).
- Semien’s team-high 40 multi-hit G in ’23 rank 3rd in the A.L. to TOR’s Bo Bichette (42) and BOS’ Masataka Yoshida (41).
TOUGH ON LEFT: Texas has gone 22-11 (.667) when facing a left-handed starting pitcher this season, good for the 3rd-best record vs. LHS in MLB behind only ATL (15-7, .682) and BAL (26-13, higher .667)…club has slashed .284/.355/.470/.825 (311-1095) with 39 HR against lefty starters in 2023, the 2nd-highest team OPS vs. LHS in MLB (.892-ATL).
SHORTS: Texas has won 3 of last 4 G vs. A.L. West opponents, and is 19-14 (.576) against the division this season…the Rangers rank 2nd in A.L./5th in MLB in Outs Above Average this season (Statcast): 27-SD, 26-KC/MIL, 22-ARI, 18-TEX…Texas has recorded at least one XBH in 77 consecutive games (beg. 5/16), 4th-longest such streak in WSH/ TEX franchise history and 2nd-longest active XBH streak in MLB (80-HOU).
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #31 Max Scherzer, RHP (11-4, 3.88)
TONIGHT: The 3-time Cy Young Award winner (2013, 2016-17) and 8-time AllStar will make his 3rd start as a member of the Rangers in tonight’s homestand opener against the Angels…was acquired from the Mets, along with cash considerations, in exchange for INF/OF Luisangel Acuña on 7/30…has 2 starts w/ Texas: 2-0, 2.77 (4 ER/13.0 IP), 4 BB/15 SO, .208 opp. BA (10-48)…over last 3 starts w/ NYM and TEX, is 3-0, 2.25 (5 ER/20.0 IP) to drop season ERA from 4.20 to 3.88…will pitch on extra 5 days’ rest after earning win on Tues. at OAK (7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER)…the 39-year-old is the oldest pitcher to start a game for Texas since Bartolo Colon on 9/5/18 vs. LAA (45 years, 104 days)…Scherzer is MLB’s active leader in career strikeouts (3,329), ranking 12th on the all-time list as one of only 19 pitchers to reach 3,000+ K’s in MLB history…also ranks among active ML leaders in win pct. (2nd, .667), wins (3rd, 212), ERA (3rd, 3.14)…originally selected by Arizona in the 1st round (11th overall) of the 2006 MLB draft out of the University of Missouri…has spent 16 Major League seasons with ARI (2008-09), DET (2010-14), WAS (2015-2021), LAD (2021), NYM (2022-23), and TEX (2023)…TEX/NYM have gone 14-7 in his 21 starts this season (2-0 w/ TEX and 12-7 w/ NYM).
ALL-TIMER: Three pitchers in MLB history have 200+ wins, 3000+ SO, and a WHIP figure below 1.10: Walter Johnson, Pedro Martinez, and Max Scherzer… some other notes on Scherzer’s career below: -Strikeouts: Scherzer is MLB’s active career leader in strikeouts (3,329), ranking 12th on the all-time strikeouts list as one of only 19 players to reach 3,000+ career K’s in MLB history…needs 13 SO to match Phil Niekro (3342) for 11th all-time… is only the 5th member of the esteemed “3,000 Strikeout Club” to appear for Texas, joining Nolan Ryan (1989-93), Bert Blyleven (1976-77), Gaylord Perry (1975-77, 1980), and Fergie Jenkins (1974-75, 1978-81)…has recorded 9 seasons of 200+ strikeouts, which ranks 5th all-time behind Nolan Ryan (15), Randy Johnson (13), Roger Clemens (12), and Tom Seaver (10)…recorded his 111th career double-digit strikeout game on 6/7/23 at ATL, moving ahead of Hall of Famer Pedro Martínez for 3rd place all-time (215-Ryan, 212-Johnson, 111-Scherzer). -The Wild Card Era: Among pitchers with 1500.0 IP in the Wild Card Era (since 1995), Scherzer ranks 2nd in SO (3329) to only Randy Johnson (3545), 4th in WHIP (1.08), 5th in opp. BA (.221) and 6th in ERA (3.14).
LAST START: Earned win in Rangers’ 6-1 victory on Tues. at OAK (7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R-ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 89 pitches/58 strikes), allowing only a solo HR to JJ Bleday and extending the Texas win streak to 8 straight to begin August…Tuesday was his 11th QS of ’23, and 286th of his career, breaking a tie w/ Luis Tiant for sole possession of 52nd place in ML history.
TEXAS: Has gone 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA (4 ER/13.0 IP), 4 BB/15 SO, .208 opp. BA (10-48) over his 1st 2 starts w/ TEX…joins Nolan Ryan (1989) as the only pitchers with 13+ IP, 4-or-fewer runs allowed, and 15+ SO over their 1st 2 outings with the Washington/Texas franchise (only Scherzer won both starts)…joins Jon Gray (2) and Andrew Heaney (2) as Rangers w/ multiple wins in August…earned win in TEX debut on 8/3 vs. CWS (6.0 IP, 3 R-ER), as 9 SO in that game were most in a TEX debut since Jamie Moyer on 4/8/89 vs. TOR (13 SO)…held Sox scoreless over final 5 frames, retiring 13 of final 14 BF.
NEW YORK-NL: Went 9-4 with a 4.01 ERA (48 ER/107.2 IP), 121 SO/30 BB, and a .240 opp. BA over 19 G/GS with the Mets this season, ranking among N.L. leaders in SO/9 (8th, 10.11), BR/9 (8th, 10.95), SO/BB ratio (9th, 4.03), WHIP (9th, 1.19), and wins (T9th)…earned win in final start w/ Mets on 7/28 vs. WAS… Scherzer in his 2 seasons in NY: 20-9, 3.02 in 42 G/GS w/ 294 SO in 253.0 IP.
VS. LOS ANGELES-AL: Has not faced the Angels since 2014 while with DET…is 4-1, 2.45 (11 ER/40.1 IP) in 6 G/GS vs. LAA in his career…last 5 starts vs. LAA (all from 2012-14): 4-0, 2.00 (8 ER/36.0 IP), 9 BB/47 SO, 5 QS….earned win in most recent outing on 7/24/14 at LAA (7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R-ER), a 6-4 Tigers win, with Joe Nathan recording the save and Ian Kinsler at 2nd base for DET.
2023: Opponents have batted .236/.292/.427/.719 (108-457) against Scherzer this season, including opp. BA’s of .232 (54-233) vs. RHB and .241 (54-224) vs. LHB…has allowed at least one HR in 14 of 21 GS and 2+ HR in 6 GS, as 1.79 HR/9 figure is 3rd-highest among MLB qualifiers…opp. BA by time thru the order: 1st (.218, 37-170), 2nd (.218, 37-170), 3rd (.289, 33-114), and 4th+ (1-3)…his 70.0% 1st-pitch strike pct. is 2nd-highest among MLB qualifiers to only MIN’s Pablo Lopez (70.6%), and would be his highest mark since 2019 (70.4%)…start on 7/16 vs. LAD (W, 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R) was 7th career outing with 7.0+ IP and one-or-zero hits allowed…logged season-high 8.0 IP on 6/19 at HOU (W, 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R-ER)…recorded his 111th career double-digit strikeout game on 6/7 at ATL, moving ahead of Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez for 3rd place all-time…in his TEX debut on 8/3 vs. CWS, generated 21 swing-and-miss strikes (Statcast), his 2nd-highest whiff total of the season (22 on 6/1 vs. PHI w/ NYM).
