LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
GOOD MORNING BALTIMORE: The Dodgers continued their winning ways, beating the Orioles 10-3 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Tuesday night. With the win, the Dodgers are now 15-7 in their last 22 games and won their fourth straight series as they improved to 55-39 on the season. The Dodgers are now 4-1 on their current trip, outscoring the opposition, 28-10 and not allowing more than four runs in any game in the second half. Despite the win, the Dodgers dropped a half game on the San Francisco Giants in the National League West standings as they finished off a sweep of the Reds, so the Dodgers are now 1.5 games ahead of the Giants in the West. Following the game today, the Dodgers will continue their road trip with a visit to Texas to face the first-place Rangers at Globe Life Field starting on Friday night. The Dodgers have the second-best record in the National League, trailing the Braves by 6.5 games for the top spot in the NL as they are a Major League best 61-32 and the Dodgers have a +94 run differential, which is fourth best in the Majors behind Texas (162), Tampa Bay (149) and Atlanta (145).
HITS DIFFERENT: The offense scored early and often as they recorded their 12th double digit output in the rout of the Orioles. Jason Heyward got the team on the board with a three-run homer in the second inning and Freddie Freeman and Will Smith added RBI hits to push the lead to 5-0. The Dodgers put it away in the seventh with four more runs as they batted around for the second time on the night. Smith paced the offense with four hits while Freeman (three hits) and James Outman (two hits) were the other multi-hit game contributors. Michael Grove was the benefactor as he fired 5.0 innings, allowing one run and striking out four to pick up his second win of the season.
READY FOR IT!: The Dodgers improved to 11-6 in 17 career meetings with the Orioles and are 15-9 in interleague play this season. Over the last 10 seasons, the Dodgers have the highest winning percentage (.621) in interleague play with a 127-77 record, ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays (126-86, .594). the 1: The Dodgers will turn to Julio Urías in the series finale as he looks to improve on his last two starts, in which he has allowed two runs on four hits with 15 strikeouts. Since allowing an RBI double to Nick Gonzales in the second inning of his July 6th start, batters are 1-for-33 with two walks. He has been even more impressive in the second half of the season, posting a 23-2 career record with a 1.75 ERA (46 ER/236.2 IP) and 234 strikeouts in 58 games (38 starts) in the second half. His 1.75 ERA post All-Star break is the best all time with a minimum of 230 inning pitched:
Second Half ERA – MLB ALL TIME (Min. 230 IP)
Julio Urías 1.75
Billy Wagner 2.07
Clayton Kershaw 2.25
BIG BOPPIN’ BETTS: All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts had his hitting streak snapped but he is still hitting .365 (27-for-74) with 10 homers and 22 RBI in his last 20 games. Betts ranks second in the National League in slugging (.587), OPS (.972), home runs (27) and he is tied for second in runs (74) and fourth in RBI (65).
Since May 1, the 2018 American League MVP is hitting .300 (76-for-253) with 23 homers, 54 RBI and 1.036 OPS. During that span, he is second in the Majors in homers, second in runs (58), second in OPS, fifth in RBI and fourth in extra-base hits (39).
Major League Baseball – Homerun Leaders (Since May 1)
Shohei Ohtani, LAA 28
Mookie Betts, LAD 23
Matt Olson, ATL 22
STEADY FREDDIE: Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman went 3-for-4 with a walk last night and extended his on-base streak to 19 games, which is the longest active streak in the Major Leagues, ahead of Josh Naylor (18). He is batting .338 (26-for-77) with three homers and 17 RBI during the streak and he third in the Major Leagues in runs scored (76), trailing Ronald Acuña Jr. (84) and Marcus Semien (77) for the MLB lead. Freeman leads the Major Leagues with 34 doubles, second with 53 extra-base hits, third in batting average (.323) and tied for third total bases (210).
PROVIDING THE POP: The Dodger offense continues to be at the top of the Major Leagues in various categories, including walks (393, 2nd), runs per game (5.55, 3rd), extra-base hits (336, 3rd), home runs (153, 2nd), slugging percentage (.450, 4th) and OPS (.783, 3rd).
TODAY’S STARTER at ORIOLES: LHP JULIO URĺAS (7-5, 4.35 ERA in 13 GS)
2023 NOTES:
- In his last start on July 14 against the Mets, he spun six scoreless innings, giving up one hit and one walk while striking out seven in the win
- Over 11 starts, the southpaw owns a 7-5 record with a 4.35 ERA (34 ER/70.1 IP) with 70 strikeouts and 15 walks…has given up 14 homers and has produced a 1.11 WHIP
- Pitched a season-high seven innings, striking out a season-best 10 batters on May 2 against the Phillies
- He is 5-1 with a 2.15 ERA (9 ER/37.2 IP) and 40 strikeouts in six starts at home this season
- In his start against the Rockies on April 4, he hurled six innings of shut-out baseball, tabbing his 600TH career strikeout against Kris Bryant
- Tossed six innings on Opening Day against the Diamondbacks, giving up four hits and two earned runs while sitting down six…was his first Opening Day nod of his career
VS. ORIOLES:
- Will make his third appearance and second start against Baltimore… is 0-0 with a 10.38 ERA (5 ER/4.1 IP) with five strikeouts against the O’s
- Last pitched against the club on September 12, 2019, tossing one shutout relief inning and striking out two
BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The O’s fell to the Dodgers, 10-3, in the middle game of the three-game set…Have dropped four of the six series the two teams have played since they first met in the regular season in 2002…Fell to 13-12 in Interleague play this season… Committed four errors, the team’s most in a game since June 15, 2021 at Cleveland (also 4).
Cole Irvin tossed a career-high 4.0 innings of relief and was charged with two runs on four hits with three walks, a hit batter, and four strikeouts.
Mike Baumann struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning, the first time he has fanned all three hitters in a frame in his career.
NO SWEEP TILL BROOKLYN: The Orioles are looking to avoid being swept for the first time since a three-game set in Detroit from May 13-15, 2022, a streak of 69 consecutive series, not including the current set against Los Angeles-NL…The Orioles are the only team in MLB that has not been swept this year.
WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won eight of their last 10 games and nine of their last 13…Had a season-best eight-game winning streak from July 5-16, Baltimore’s longest since a 10-gamer from July 3-13, 2022…They outscored their opponents, 60- 20, during the streak for a +40 run differential; according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Orioles won eight straight games with a run differential of at least +40 within one season was in from August 24-31, 1983 (+45)…At 57-37 (.606), the Orioles have the second-best record in the AL and third-best in MLB and are one of only three teams with a .600 winning percentage (see box at right)…The Birds are 119-86 (.580) since the beginning of June 2022, the second-best record in the AL and fourth-best in MLB during that time.
The Orioles have two winning streaks of at least seven games this year; Atlanta (4x) and Tampa Bay (2x) are the only other teams with multiple win streaks of at least seven games this season.
On Friday, the O’s moved to 20 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2014 season (96-66) and for the first time before August since 1997.
Entering play today, the O’s are 1.0 game back of the Rays (60-38) for first place in the AL East and lead the AL Wild Card by 5.5 games ahead of Toronto (53-42) and 6.5 games ahead of Houston (52-43).
HOME COOKING: The Orioles wrap up a six-game homestand today…The Birds completed a three-game sweep of the Marlins over the weekend before dropping the first two games against the Dodgers…The O’s are 29-20 (.592) at Oriole Park this season and have the third-best home record in the AL and seventh-best in MLB…The Birds have won four of six games at Camden Yards after dropping four in a row from June 27 to July 1.
AGAINST THE DODGERS: The Orioles and Dodgers are meeting for the only time in the regular season this week…Before this series, the teams had not since September 10-12, 2019 with the Dodgers taking two-of-three…The current series marks the fourth between the two teams at Oriole Park.
The teams did not meet in the regular season until 2002, but the O’s swept the Dodgers in four games to win the 1966 Fall Classic, their first World Series title.
At the age of 20, Jim Palmer beat Sandy Koufax in Game 2 to become the youngest pitcher to ever throw a shutout in the World Series.
Frank Robinson, who also won the Triple Crown in 1966, was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Orioles hit the road for a seven-game road trip tomorrow with the first of four games in Tampa Bay through Sunday…The Birds will then travel to Philadelphia for three games from July 24-27…Baltimore has a scheduled off day on Thursday, July 27, before hosting the Yankees for three games from July 28-30.
The Orioles have a season-long five-game road winning streak, the first time they’ve won five straight games away from Oriole Park since July 25 to August 13, 2020.
Baltimore has the second-best road record in MLB at 28-17 (.622).
AY, TONE: Anthony Santander went 1-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and a walk last night to extend his on-base streak to 15 games, the longest active stretch by an Oriole, tied for the second-longest active streak in the AL (see box at right), and tied for the third-longest active streak in MLB…It is the second-longest on-base streak by an O’s batter this season, behind an 18-game streak by Adam Frazier from May 6-25, and the fourth-longest of Santander’s career; his career-long on-base streak is 19 games from September 26, 2021 to April 27, 2022…During his current streak, Santander is slashing .321/.438/.585 (17-for-53) with five doubles, three home runs, nine runs scored, seven RBI, and nine walks.
He has two multi-homer games this year and his 12 career multi-homer games are tied for ninth-most in O’s history (since 1954).
He heads MLB switch hitters with 50 home runs since the start of last season.
SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED: The Orioles on Monday announced that they
have signed their first two selections of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft: center
fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. (Round 1, No. 17 overall) from Vanderbilt University (TN)
and outfielder Mac Horvath (Round 2, No. 53 overall) from the University of North
Carolina…Overall, the Orioles have signed two selections from the 2023 Draft…The
deadline for teams to sign their draft picks is Tuesday, July 25, at 5 p.m. ET.
ROSTER MOVES: The Orioles today recalled right-handed pitcher Logan Gillaspie from
the Triple-A Norfolk…In a corresponding move, outfielder Cedric Mullins was placed
on the 10-day Injured List with a right adductor groin strain, retroactive to July 16
STARTING PITCHER – #64 DEAN KREMER RHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 20th start of the season, 11th at home, and first career start against the Dodgers today…Made a career-high 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-or-more 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: Earned his 10th win of the season in his last start on July 14 vs. Miami, allowing one run on a season-low two hits with two walks, a hit batter, and eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings…Marked his second consecutive quality start, third in his last four outings, and ninth on the year…Also marked his ninth victory in night games, the most in MLB this season…Induced 16 swings and misses, the second-most in a game in his career behind the 18 he recorded in his last start on July 5 at New York-AL…His 10 wins are tied for third in the AL and for sixth in MLB…Threw 97 pitches, 60 strikes.
CAREER AGAINST THE DODGERS/NL WEST: Making his first career start against the Dodgers and second against the NL West…Earned the win in his only start against the division on June 2 at San Francisco, his 50th career start…Allowed two runs on five hits (1 HR) with two walks and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings… Marked his fifth quality start of the season…Threw 100 pitches, 61 strikes.
INTERLEAGUE WARRIOR: Making his 10th career Interleague start; has gone 7-2 with a 3.58 ERA (20 ER/50.1 IP) and five quality starts in his nine career outings against the National League…Won five straight Interleague starts from August 5, 2022 to June 2, 2023…Allowed a season-low two hits in his last such start on July 14 vs. Miami.
ENJOYING THE NIGHT LIFE: Owns a 9-2 record with a 4.14 ERA (31 ER/67.1 IP) and seven quality starts in 12 night assignments this season…His nine victories after dark are the most in MLB entering today’s game…The Orioles own a 9-3 edge in his night starts, including wins in six straight from April 18 to June 2.
HOME SWEET HOME: Making his 11th home start of the 2023 campaign tonight… Has pitched to a 5-2 record with a 5.07 ERA (31 ER/55.0 IP) through his first nine outings at Oriole Park this season.
GET A WHIFF OF THIS: Kremer collected a career-high 18 swings and misses on July 5 at New York-AL and has induced 34 whiffs in his last two starts, the most in a two-game span in his career…His 100 strikeouts this season are also a career high, surpassing his total from 2022 (87)…Has recorded 35 punchouts in his last five outings since June 18, his most in a five-game span in his career.
‘KREM’ OF THE CROP: Kremer has pitched to an 8-3 record with a 3.75 ERA (31 ER/74.1 IP) and eight quality starts in his last 13 assignments since May 5…Has completed at least 5.0 innings in 12 of those games and has allowed three earned runs-or-fewer in 11 of his last 13 outings…Tied a career high with three straight wins from May 5-21 (also: 6/12-7/9/22)…Completed 7.0 innings on June 24 vs. Seattle and July 5 at New York-AL…Tossed a career-high 10 strikeouts on July 5 at New York-AL.
