MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: The Twins completed their six-game homestand with a record of 4-2, sweeping the White Sox in three last weekend, followed by going 1-2 against the Mariners Monday-Wednesday…tonight, the Twins will begin a six-game, seven-day road-trip with three against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium over the weekend…after this series, they will travel to St. Louis for an off-day on Monday, then play the Cardinals for three games at Busch Stadium from Tuesday-Thursday…the Twins have gone 30-24 at home and 24-26 on the road. AOf the Twins’ 58 remaining games, they have an opponent winning percentage of .475, the second-lowest strength of schedule, trailing only the White Sox (.464).
TWINS SLUGGED BY SEATTLE IN FINALE: The Twins lost to the Mariners on Wednesday after- noon by a score of 8-7, losing the three-game series two games to one…Joe Ryan (9-7) was the starter and loser, allowing four runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings pitched, with two walks and seven strikeouts…Josh Winder pitched 4.0 innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits, while throwing 36 pitches…the offense recorded 12 hits but did not draw any walks…Christian Vázquez, playing in his 800th career game, tied his season-high with three hits, including his third home run…Edouard Julien hit his 10th home run of the season and Matt Wallner hit his third and fourth (1st career multi-homer game).
TWINS GET DYLAN, BECAUSE HE SPITS HOT FIRE: On Wednesday afternoon, the Twins acquired right-handed pitcher Dylan Floro from the Marlins in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jorge López…Floro, 32, has gone 3-5, 4.54 ERA (39.2 IP, 20 ER) with seven saves, 11 walks, 41 strikeouts, a 1.49 WHIP and a 9.3 strikeouts-per-9.0 innings ratio in 43 relief appearances for the Marlins this season…the 6-foot-2, 203-pound right-hander was originally selected by Tampa Bay in the 13th round of the 2012 Draft out of Cal State Fullerton and made his major league debut for the Rays on July 7, 2016 vs. Los Angeles-AL…a native of Merced, CA, Floro has gone 24-21, 3.32 ERA (317.0 IP, 117 ER), 32 saves, 99 walks, 290 strikeouts, a 1.30 WHIP and an 8.2 strikeouts-per-9.0 innings ratio in parts of eight major league seasons with Tampa Bay, Chicago-NL, Cincinnati, Los Angeles-NL and Miami…López, 30, has gone 3-2, 5.09 ERA (35.1 IP, 20 ER), 11 walks, 27 strikeouts and a 1.27 WHIP in 37 relief appearances for the Twins this season…he was acquired by the Twins in a trade with Baltimore on August 2, 2022.
TWINS BEEF UP THE ROSTER: Yesterday, the Twins reinstated Byron Buxton from the Paternity List and today, they returned infielder Jorge Polanco from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 10-day Injured List.
Buxton missed the last three games to be with his wife, Lindsey, as the couple had their third child, Baire, on Monday morning in Minneapolis…Buxton has played in 81 games this season, hitting .195 (57-for-292) with 12 doubles, one triple, 17 home runs, 40 RBI, 46 runs scored, a .284 on-base percentage, a .418 slugging percentage and a .702 OPS.
Polanco, who missed the last 41 games with a left hamstring strain, played in seven games on rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, hitting .333 (8-for-24) with one double, one home run, one RBI, four walks, four runs scored and a .948 OPS…in 30 games for the Twins this season, Polanco has hit .250 (30-for-120) with nine doubles, five home runs, 16 RBI, 11 runs scored, seven walks and a .741 OPS.
To make room for Buxton and Polanco on the 26-man roster, the Twins optioned outfielder Trevor Larnach and right-handed pitcher Cole Sands to Triple-A St. Paul.
SUMMER IN THE CITY: The Twins and Royals are playing the 11th of 13 scheduled meetings in 2023…through 10 games, the Twins have gone 9-1 and outscored the Royals 58-25…the Twins have gone 6-1 at Target Field and 3-0 at Kauffman Stadium.
The Twins’ .900 winning percentage vs. KC this season is the best in their history, ahead of their .737 (14-5) winning percentage from both 2002 and 2019.
Twins have scored 5.8 runs-per-game this season vs. the Royals and 6.8 in their last eight.
The Twins are 21-6 in their last 27 against KC since April 21, 2022…in fact, the Twins’ 21 wins vs. KC since the start of 2022 are their most wins vs. any opponent in that span.
Since the start of last season, Twins starters have gone 15-4, 2.33 ERA (158.2 IP, 41 ER) with 35 walks, 156 strikeouts and a .196 opponent batting average vs. KC.
Twins have a +59 run differential vs. KC since the start of 2022, outscoring them 143-84.
Carlos Correa is hitting .333 (49-for-147) with seven doubles, seven home runs, 18 RBI, 23 walks, a .424 on-base percentage and a .947 OPS in 39 games against the Royals since ‘19…since 2018, at Kauffman Stadium, he is slashing .324/.386/.486.
Byron Buxton is hitting .333 (35-for-105) with 10 doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBI, 28 runs scored and a 1.034 OPS in his last 26 games against the Royals…in 10 games this season, he is 14-for-37 and slashing .378/.432/.838…in the club’s Opening Series here, Buck went 6-for-13 with a walk.
THAT’S OFFENSIVE: Since the All-Star break, the Twins have gone 9-4, tied with Chicago-NL and Los Angeles-AL for most wins in baseball…below are the offensive numbers and MLB ranks pre-All-Star break vs. post-All-Star break:
AVG R/G H HR BB OBP SLG OPS TB BA/RISP
PRE: .232 (25) 4.2 (24) 708 (22) 115 (8) 297 (16) .309 (25) .400 (20) .709 (22) 1219 (20).242 (25)
POST: .270 (8) 5.9 (5) 123 (4) 24 (2) 53 (4) .351 (7) .511 (3) .862 (3) 233 (2) .294 (8)
CC YOU AT THE TOP: Carlos Correa has led off in 21 of the club’s last 22 games, since June 30… since that date, he has reached safely in 18 of 21 games, hitting .279 (24-for-86) with a .357 on-base percentage and a .752 OPS…below are his numbers prior to June 30 and after that date.
AVG R H 2B HR RBI BB% K% OBP SLG OPS
FIRST 71 .212 25 58 15 11 37 9.6 24.1 .287 .403 .690
LAST 21 .279 13 24 7 1 8 9.2 18.4 .357 .395 .752
KIRILLOFF IS ON: Alex Kirilloff is hitting .309 (25-for-81) with six doubles, one triple, four home runs, 19 RBI, six walks, nine runs scored, a .367 on-base percentage, a .556 slugging percentage and a .922 OPS in his last 22 games, since June 26. AAK has batted in the three hole in seven of the club’s last nine games (Solano and Kepler the other games)…he has a 1.001 OPS and seven extra-base hits in that span.
Kirilloff has 18 RBI this month, tied for fifth most in the AL.
STARTING PITCHER – SONNY GRAY #54
2023: 4-4, 3.15 ERA CAREER: 94-81, 3.53 ERA
Making his 268th career appearance and 259th career start…also his 21st start/appearance this season.
Looking for his first win since April 30 vs. Kansas City…his 14-game winless streak is the longest of his career.
Facing Kansas City for the third time this season…is 2-0, 0.82 ERA (11.0 IP, 1 ER) with five walks and eight strikeouts in his previous two starts…currently owns a nine-game win streak against the Royals.
Acquired by the Twins on March 13, 2022 in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds, along with right-handed pitcher Francis Peguero, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Chase Petty
LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor into the decision despite recording a quality start on July 22 against Chicago-AL at Target Field…pitched 6.0 innings and allowed two runs on seven hits, with one walk and four strikeouts in a 3-2 Twins’ victory, opposite Dylan Cease…worked around a pair of singles to Andrew Benintendi and Eloy Jiménez, and a walk to Yasmani Grandal to complete a scoreless first inning… tossed a 1-2-3 second inning…allowed both runs in the third inning after yielding one-out singles to Tim Anderson and Luis Robert Jr., who then executed a double steal of home and second to get the White Sox on the board; Grandal then singled home Robert Jr. for the second run…relieved by Jordan Balazovic in the seventh inning as the bullpen combined to pitch 3.0 scoreless innings…the Twins completed their 23rd come-from-behind win of the season in the seventh inning via an RBI double by Christian Vázquez and an RBI single from Michael A. Taylor (both off Gregory Santos).
Gray extend his career-long winless streak to 14 starts, last earning a victory on April 30 vs. Kansas City; is tied with Dick Stigman (August 21, 1964-August 15, 1965-2) and Eddie Guardado (August 19, 1993-June 12, 1995) for the third-longest winless streak by a starter in Twins history (1961-), behind only Roger Erickson (17; September 19, 1978-August 15, 1979) and Liam Hendriks (17; September 6, 2011-September 13, 2012).
TWO STARTS AGO: Took his second-consecutive loss on July 17 against Seattle at T-Mobile Park…pitched 5.2 innings and allowed five runs on five hits, with a season-high-tying four walks and five strikeouts in a 7-6 Twins’ defeat, opposite Logan Gilbert…recorded a 1-2-3 first, third and fourth innings…allowed three runs in the fourth inning (an RBI single by José Caballero, a bases-loaded walk to Julio Rodríguez and a two-run single to Jarred Kelenic)…allowed Cal Raleigh to score on a wild pitch after walking Mike Ford in the sixth inning…replaced by Oliver Ortega in the sixth inning, who pitched 1.1 innings and allowed a two-run home run to Eugenio Suárez in the seventh inning…Jorge López later tossed a 1-2-3 ninth.
Issued his fourth bases-loaded walk of the season (also, Myles Straw on May 6 at Cleveland, Colton Cowser and Ramón Urías on May 8 vs. Baltimore)…previously had never allowed more than one bases-loaded walk in a season.
AGAINST KANSAS CITY: Gray is facing the Royals for the third time this season, going 2-0, 0.82 ERA (11.0 IP, 1 ER) with five walks and eight strikeouts in his two previous starts…facing Kansas City for the 13th time in his career, going 9-2, 1.54 ERA (76.0 IP, 13 ER) with 17 walk and 67 strikeouts in his 12 prior starts…last faced the Royals on April 30 at Target Field, when he earned the 8-4 Twins’ win after pitching 6.0 innings and allowing one run on five hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts; has not earned a win since…his lone blemish was an RBI groundout by outfielder Edward Olivares…relieved by Emilio Pagán in the seventh inning; Pagán allowed an unearned run after Jackie Bradley Jr. scored on an error by Jorge Polanco…Brock Stewart pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning…Josh Winder entered in the ninth inning and yielded a two-run double to Vinnie Pasquantino.
Currently owns a nine-game win streak against the Royals, with a 0.96 ERA (56.0 IP, 6 ER) with 13 walks and 53 strikeouts in that span…is the only pitcher in AL/NL history to go 9-0 in a nine-start span against the Royals.
Owns the lowest ERA, opponent batting average (.205) and opponent OPS (.494) against the Royals since 2014 (min. 10 GS).
Tonight is his eighth start of the season against the American League Central, going 3-1, 2.63 ERA (37.2 IP, 11 ER) with 15 walks and 28 strikeouts in his prior seven starts…is 9-3, 2.85 ERA (94.2 IP, 30 ER) with 27 walks and 88 strikeouts in 18 starts against the AL Central since joining the Twins.
ON THE ROAD: Gray is making his 10th road start of the season; is 1-2, 3.35 ERA (48.1 IP, 18 ER) with 25 walks and 43 strikeouts in his nine prior road outings…is 5-5, 3.50 ERA (100.1 IP, 39 ER) with 36 walks and 82 strikeouts in 20 road starts since becoming a Twin.
Is 3-1, 2.45 ERA (33.0 IP, 9 ER) with 11 walks and 20 strikeouts in five career starts at Kauff- man Stadium…owns the fifth-lowest ERA at Kauffman Stadium since 2014 (min. 5 GS), trailing Triston McKenzie (1.42), Mike Clevinger (1.89), Mike Montgomery (2.05) and Chris Sale (2.43).
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
ROSTER MOVE: The Royals announced today that Nick Pratto has been placed on the 10-day Injured List retroactive to July 27 with a left groin strain…in a corresponding move, infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor has been recalled from Triple-A Omaha…this will mark his third stint with the Royals this year…in 8 games since he was last optioned to Omaha on July 18, he went 10-for-25 (.400) with 12 walks for a .579 on-base percentage.
The Royals announced yesterday that Brad Keller has been returned from his rehab assignment at Triple-A Omaha…he hasn’t pitched in the Majors since May 15 due to a right shoulder impingement.
TRIP TRACKER: The Royals suffered an 8-3 loss vs. the Guardians on Wednesday to complete their trip to New York and Cleveland with a 1-5 record…the Royals out-hit the Guardians, 12-9, but went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 baserunners…the Royals were outscored 34-20 (-14) on the trip as they allowed at least 5 runs in 5 of the 6 games, but scored 4 runs or fewer in all but 2 games…Wednesday’s loss dropped the Royals to 46 games under .500 for the first time since the end of the 2018 season (58-104).
DINGER PARTY: After being held homerless in their 4-game series vs. the Tigers last week at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals hit 10 home runs in 6 games on the road trip, including a season-high-tying 4 home runs last Sunday in the Bronx…in fact, 14 of the 20 runs scored on the last trip (70.0%) came via home runs, which is a sharp increase from the norm…for the season, Kansas City has scored 123 of its 383 runs via home runs (32.1%), which is the 3rd-lowest rate in the Majors, ahead of Cleveland (28.3%) and Washington (31.7%).
Royals catchers have hit 20 homers this season, which rank 2nd in the Majors behind only Atlanta (26). OFF BEAT: The Royals begin a 6-game homestand tonight at Kauffman Stadium following yesterday’s off day, their first since the All-Star break…the Royals are 0-12 following an off day this season and have been outscored 64-28 (-36)…this includes being swept in a doubleheader on July 15 vs. the Rays…the Royals have been shut out in 4 of their 12 games following an off day, and have been held to 2 runs or fewer in 9 of the 12 games.
Yesterday’s off day snapped a run of 13 straight days with a game since the All-Star break…the Royals have eight off days remaining over the last 66 days of the season, including another break on Monday.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Bobby Witt Jr. ranks 2nd among all Major League players this season with 11 Outs Above Average, a range-based metric of fielding skill that accounts for the number of plays made and the difficulty of them…Witt Jr. trails only Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco (13), marking a significant improvement from his rookie season in 2022, when Bobby was graded at -11 Outs Above Average at the shortstop position.
Maikel Garcia, who made his season debut on May 2, ranks tied for 6th in with 9 Outs Above Average.
Kyle Isbel has played in only 49 games this season after missing more than seven weeks from May 5-June 27 with a strained hamstring, but ranks tied for 4th among center fielders with 7 Defensive Runs Saved.
WHO’S ON FIRST?: Salvador Perez, Kansas City’s Captain and five-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner behind the plate, is making his 5th career start at first base tonight and 1st since Aug. 2, 2020 vs. the White Sox…he also made 2 starts at first base in 2018 and 1 start in 2013…in his previous 4 starts at the position, Salvy is 7-for-18 with 2 home runs…on April 12 of this season at Texas, Perez started Kansas City’s 10-1 win behind the plate, but moved to first base for the final 2.0 innings and fielded a 1-3 putout on the first batter in the 8th.
HOME: The Royals begin a 6-game homestand tonight with the 1st of 3 games vs. the Twins, who are visiting Kauffman Stadium for the first time since the season-opening series…the Royals are just 15-36 (.294) at home this season, but they’re 4-5 here in 9 games this month and have outscored opponents 41-38 (+3)…including tonight, the Royals have 30 home games remaining and 12 of their next 19 games will be played in Kansas City.
The Royals went 2-5 on their most recent stay vs. Tampa Bay (1-2) and Detroit (1-3) out of the All-Star break, and were held homerless in the series vs. Detroit to mark their first 4-game series without a home run in 11 years, since July 26-29, 2012 at Seattle, where they were outscored 21-11 and swept in 4 games.
TWINS TIES: The Royals are welcoming the Twins to Kauffman Stadium tonight for the first time since the season-opening series from March 30-April 2, when the Twins swept the Royals in 3 games…this weekend marks the final meeting between these two teams, who will once again open the regular season against each other here at Kauffman Stadium in 2024…the Royals are 1-9 vs. the Twins this season, have been outscored 58-25 (-33) with 3 shutout defeats, and have already lost the season series for the second straight year (7-12 in 2022).
Salvador Perez is a career .296 hitter in 168 games vs. the Twins and ranks 2nd among active players vs. them in hits (189) and home runs (32), trailing only Miguel Cabrera (265 hits, 46 HR) in both categories… Salvy’s 109 RBI vs. the Twins are tied with José Abreu for 2nd among actives behind Cabrera’s 167 RBI.
BLOWN LEADS: The Royals have suffered a Major League-most 35 blown lead losses this season, ahead of the White Sox (34), Athletics (32) and Cardinals (32)…the Royals 35 blown lead losses are only 1 shy of their total from all of last season, when they suffered 36 blown lead losses, and are 18 shy of the franchise record of 53, set during their 103-loss 2019 campaign…they have held a lead in 49 of their last 75 games (65.3%) since the beginning of May, but they’re 22-53 (.293) during that stretch with 27 blown lead losses.
RISPY BUSINESS: In Wednesday’s 8-3 loss in Cleveland, the Royals went 11-for-26 (.423) without runners in scoring position and 1-for-12 (.083) with runners in scoring position while stranding 12 baserunners…for the season, the Royals rank 28th in the Majors with a .232 average in scoring situations, and they have not recorded multiple hits with runners in scoring position in the same game since July 18 vs. Detroit, when they went 7-for-10 in scoring situations en route to an 11-10 win…in 8 games since, the Royals are 7-for-55 (.127) in scoring situations and have lost 7 of those 8 games.
Maikel Garcia has shined in scoring situations, in which he’s batting .333 (19-for-57), including going 7-for-17 (.412) with 9 RBI with RISP this month.
Freddy Fermin is batting .326 (14-for-43) with 5 extra-base hits in scoring situations this year…since the start of June, Fermin is 12-for-27 (.444) with runners in scoring position, which is the 3rd-best mark in the Majors (min. 25 at-bats), trailing only Luis Arraez (.571) and Corey Seager (.471).
ARMS RACE: The Royals have not recorded an outfield assist in 13 games since the All-Star break, but still lead the Majors with 22 outfield assists, which are 2 more than Detroit and Colorado (20 each)…the Royals 22 outfield assists match their total from all of last year, as they attempt to lead the Majors for the first time since 2011 and 2012, when they had 51 in both seasons, which were the most by any team since Cleveland had 51 in 1993.
Nine different Royals have recorded an outfield assist this season, led by MJ Melendez, whose 6 outfield assists are tied for 6th most in the AL.
TRIPLE THREAT: The Royals have recorded 25 triples this season, which are tied with the Diamondbacks for the Major League lead, and are 4 more than Cleveland (21) for the American League lead…the Royals are attempting to lead the Majors in triples for the second straight season, after pacing the league with 38 in 2022…that was the first time they led the Majors in triples since 2009 (51), but the Royals 2,227 triples since their inception in 1969 are by far the most in the Majors, 138 more than the Pirates (2,089) and 291 more than the Tigers (1,936), the next closest American League team.
A Majors-most 11 different Royals have a triple, a group led by Bobby Witt Jr., whose 6 triples are 1 behind Shohei Ohtani and Ketel Marte (7 each) for the Majors lead…Witt Jr.’s 12 career triples are tied with Brian McRae for the most by a Royal through his first two big league seasons.
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP BRADY SINGER (6-8, 5.55)
BRADY SINGER is making his team-high 21st start of the season and 84th of his career tonight vs. Minnesota…it’s his 11th career start vs. the Twins and 2nd this season… Singer is in his fourth season in the Majors and was selected by Kansas City in the 1st round (18th overall) of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Florida.
BROADWAY SINGER: Singer did not figure into the decision of Kansas City’s 5-2 loss last Saturday at Yankee Stadium, in which he allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits and 1 walk in 6.0 innings, with a season-high 9 strikeouts…he allowed an RBI single to Giancarlo Stanton in the 1st and a sac. fly to Gleyber Torres in the 3rd, which began a run in which Singer retired eight straight batters, including 5 straight strikeouts…he exited with the game tied at 2-2, before three Royals relievers allowed 3 runs over 2.0 innings.
I’M STILL STANDING: Following a breakout season in 2022, Brady has struggled through ups and downs this year, as he’s been charged with at least 4 earned runs in half of his 20 starts, something that happened in only 5 of his 24 starts last season…the Royals, predictably, are 2-8 in games that he allows at least 4 earned runs…but on the flip side, he’s held opponents to 2 earned runs or fewer in his other 10 starts, in which the Royals are 6-4…after going 2-4 with an 8.82 ERA (33 ER in 33.2 IP) and 7 home runs allowed in his 1st 7 starts of the season, Singer is 4-4 with a 4.08 ERA (34 ER in 75.0 IP) with only 5 home runs allowed in his last 13 starts.
WALK THIS WAY: Brady has pitched at least 5.0 innings without issuing a walk in 14 of his 44 starts since last year (31.8%), which are tied for the 3rd most in the Majors during that time, trailing only Aaron Nola (16) and Corey Kluber (15)…but on the flip side, Singer has issued multiple walks in 12 of his 20 starts this season, which are 4 more than his total of multi-walk starts from all of last season, when he made 24 starts…he’s walked 36 batters in 108.2 innings this year for a 3.0 BB/9, 1 more than his walk total in 153.1 innings last season (35), when he had a career-best 2.1 BB/9.
CALL ME MAYBE: In 44 starts since his recall on May 17 of last year, Brady has induced a called strike on 822 of 4,189 pitches (19.6%), 3rd most in the Majors behind Logan Webb (873) and Aaron Nola (825)…his rate of 19.6% called strikes since May 17, 2022 leads the Majors (min. 3,000 pitches), ahead of Alex Cobb (17.7%)…since his 2020 debut season, Singer’s called-strike rate of 20.5% ranks 2nd in the Majors (min. 5,000 pitches), trailing only Adam Wainwright (20.7%).
CAN’T TOUCH THIS: Singer has recorded 432 strikeouts in 454.2 innings since his 2020 debut for an 8.6 K/9, which is the best rate in Royals history among pitchers who’ve started at least 70 games, ahead of Ian Kennedy (8.4), Jakob Junis (8.1) and Danny Duffy (8.1)…his 432 strikeouts are the 3rd most by a Royals pitcher through 86 career appearances, trailing only Royals of Famer Steve Busby (437) and Yordano Ventura (434)…Busby also has the club record for strikeouts through 87 outings (441).
DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’: Singer has had success in his career following a Royals loss, and he’ll attempt to be the stopper again today after Kansas City’s 8-3 defeat on Wednesday…in 53 career outings following a Royals loss, Singer is 18-14 with a 3.91 ERA (123 ER in 283.0 IP), and 5 of his 6 wins this season have followed a Royals loss.
SONG OF THE SOUTH(PAWS): Opponents have stacked their lineups with lefthanded batters this season vs. Singer, who is mostly a two-pitch pitcher, as his sinker and slider account for 94% of his pitches thrown…of the 479 batters Singer has faced, 283 of them (59.1%) have been left handers, which is the highest rate in the Majors (min. 400 BF), ahead of Michael Lorenzen (57.9%) and Cristian Javier (56.5%).
EVIL TWIN: In 10 career starts vs. the Twins, Brady is 2-6 with a 6.15 ERA (31 ER in 45.1 IP)…more than 25% of the earned runs he’s allowed vs. Minnesota came in his most recent start on April 30 at Target Field, where he was charged with 8 runs in 2.2 innings…his last win over the Twins came on May 28, 2022 in Minneapolis, where he allowed 3 runs on 6 hits in 5.2 innings with 8 strikeouts en route to a 7-3 victory.
TAKE ME HOME: Singer is 4-4 with a 4.66 ERA (34 ER in 65.2 IP) in 12 starts at Kauffman Stadium this season…his ERA is more than 2 points lower at home than it is on the road, where he’s 2-4 with a 6.91 ERA (33 ER in 43.0 IP)…he’s held opponents to 2 runs or fewer in 7 of his 12 home starts, including 4 of the last 5, a stretch in which he’s 3-1 with a 2.19 ERA (9 ER in 37.0 IP)…in his most recent start on July 16 vs. Tampa Bay, Singer earned an 8-4 win and held the Rays scoreless through the 7th, before allowing 4 runs on 2 home runs in the 8th…the homers by Isaac Paredes and Francisco Mejía snapped his season-high 27.0-inning homerless streak.
