OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: The A’s dropped the first two games of this three-game set against Miami…won two of three from Atlanta to close out the last homestand…it was just the second series win of the season (May 5-7 at Kansas City) and Oakland is now 2-17-0 in series play…won on Monday and Tuesday, marking the second time the A’s have won back-to-back games this year (May 5-6 at Kansas City)…have lost 22 of the last 26 games and are 12-48 (.200) overall…snapped an 11-game losing streak on Monday, which tied for fourth longest in Oakland history…snapped a six-series losing streak on Tuesday… have been swept eight times.
A’s IN MAY: The A’s went 6-23 (.207) in May after going 5-23 (.179) in April… both records were the worst in the majors…set an Athletics record for losses in May after setting a Major League record for losses in April…the 23 losses this May matched the A’s total from April this year for second most in any month in Oakland history (24 in June, 1979)…it 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 had back-to-back 20-loss months…the other time was in May and June last year when they had 21 each month…the May winning percentage was second lowest in May in Athletics history (4-17, .190 in 1919) and fourth lowest in any month of 10 or more games in Oakland history…compiled a 5.54 ERA in May after posting a 7.97 ERA in April, both of which were the highest in the majors…surrendered 49 home runs, which is second most in May in Athletics history (57 in 1964) and second most in any month in Oakland history (50 in April, 2023)…batted .208, which was the lowest mark in the majors and second lowest for any month in Athletics history (.207 in Aug. 1906)…struck out 264 times, which is the most in May in Athletics history and fourth most for any month…scored 87 runs in May, which was second fewest in the majors and third fewest in May in Oakland history…it was the fewest since 1978 (79)…stole 25 bases, which tied for fifth most in the majors and was the most by an A’s team in the month of May since 1992 when they had 39.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s continue a nine-game road trip to Miami (0-2), Pittsburgh (three games) and Milwaukee (three games) today…it is the first of two three-city road trips this year…went 0-7 on the last road trip to Houston (0-3) and Seattle (0-4)…it was the eighth time in Oakland history the A’s went winless on a road trip of seven or more games, the first time since Aug. 11-17, 2015 when they went 0-7 against Toronto (0-3) and Baltimore (0-4)…now have a 13-game road losing streak, which is tied for third longest road in Oakland history…are 5-24 (.172) on the road, which is the worst road record in the majors…went 2-4 on the last homestand against Houston (0-3) and Atlanta (2-1) and are 7-24 (.226) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors.
OFFENSE: The A’s have scored two runs or fewer in 13 of their last 15 games and are batting .182 (85-for-467) with 28 runs scored over that span (1.87 runs per game)…have scored 201 runs for the season (3.35 per game), which is the fewest in the majors…have the lowest batting average in the majors (.218), the lowest OPS (.647), lowest slugging percentage (.349) and third lowest on-base percentage (.298)…rank second in fewest extra base hits (141), fourth in fewest doubles (78) and fourth in most strikeouts (561)…are tied for the second most sacrifice hits (12) and hit by pitches (35)…have been shut out eight times, which is tied for the most in the majors (Royals, 8)…A’s pinch hitters lead the majors in hits (14) and are tied for the lead in walks (9), and are third in plate appearances (62).
PITCHING: The A’s have a 6.70 ERA, 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 (.861), batting average (.279), on-base percentage (.370) and slugging percentage (.492) in the majors this year… lead the majors in most walks (272), home runs (100) and hit batters (42), have the second most wild pitches (31) and have the fifth fewest strikeouts (451)…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: A’s starting pitchers are 0-16 with a 6.14 ERA (78 er in 114.1 ip) in the 26 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 2-32 with a 7.16 ERA for the season…the ERA is the highest in the majors and no other team has fewer than eight wins from its starters…the fewest wins from a starting rotation in a full season in Major League history is 21 by the Pirates last year…the A’s also have the fewest innings pitched this year (276.2).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen is 0-for-1 in save opportunities over the last 26 games…the streak of 26 consecutive games without a save is the longest by an A’s team over the last 19 years (25, April 19-May 17, 2019)…the last 26-game streak lasted from April 9-May 6, 1994…the A’s last save was on May 6 at Kansas City…the pen is 4-for-14 (28.6%) in save opportunities for the season…has the lowest save percentage and fewest saves in the majors and the 10 blown saves are tied for 10th most…has the highest ERA in the majors (6.20) and the second most innings pitched (248.1)…has allowed 45-of-108 (41.7%) inherited runners to score, which is the third highest percentage in the majors…has the fifth most inherited runners and are 10 behind the lead (STL, 118).
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 55-for-69 (79.7%) in stolen base attempts…rank fourth in the majors in stolen bases and attempts…opponents are 44-for-62 (71.0%), which is the fifth lowest success rate in the majors…the 18 caught stealings are second most in the majors, one short of the Rockies…A’s pitchers are tied for second in the majors in pickoffs (6).
WINNING LATE: The A’s have scored the winning run in their final at bat in eight of their 12 wins…have won via the walkoff five times, which is tied with the Yankees for the most in the majors…have six wins when tied after seven innings, three when trailing after seven innings and three when leading after seven innings…are tied for the second most wins in the majors when tied after seven innings and are tied for eighth in wins when trailing after seven innings…however, no other team has fewer than 13 wins when leading after seven innings…are 3-4 (.429) in extra inning games…are tied for third in the majors in extra inning losses and tied for seventh in extra-innings wins and games (7).
RUN DIFFERENTIAL: The A’s are 8-10 (.444) in one-run games…are tied for seventh in the majors in one-run losses and tied for eighth in games (18)…are 4-38 (.095) in games decided by two or more runs and 0-14 in games decided by six or more runs…have a run differential of -210, which is the lowest in the majors…had a run differential of -202 all last year, which was second lowest in Oakland history (-287 in 1979).
THIS AND THAT: The A’s are 11-24 (.314) in night games, 1-24 (.040) in day games…have employed 45 players, which is the most in the majors (Brewers, 43)…have used 29 pitchers, which is also the most (Rays, 28)…are tied for seventh in the majors in most errors (35) and are tied for first in outfield assists (12).
A’S VS. MARLINS
- The A’s and Marlins are meeting in Miami for the first time since 2017 when Oakland was swept in a two-game series from June 13-14.
- The A’s lost the season series last year after dropping two of three in Oakland.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-1 0-2
2022 1-2 0-0 1-2
Oakland History: 9-12
at the Coliseum: 5-6
at Loandepot Park: 3-4
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Ryan Noda leads Major League rookies in on-base percentage (.396) and walks (36), ranks fifth in OPS (.840), is tied for seventh in runs (28), tied for seventh in doubles (11), sixth in slugging (.444), eighth in extra base hits (18), tied for eighth in home runs (6) and tied for 10th in RBI (19)…Esteury Ruiz leads ML rookies in stolen bases (28), hit by pitches (12), and hits (62), is tied for third in doubles (14), ranks fifth in batting (.267), tied for sixth in RBI (24), sixth in on-base percentage (.331) and is ninth in extra base hits (16).
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Paul Blackburn (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Was reinstated from the injured list Monday and is scheduled to make his second start of the season…began the year on the 15-day IL with a right middle fingernail avulsion…made three rehab starts with Single-A Stockton and Triple-A Las Vegas from April 7-16 before his rehab assignment was halted…resumed on May 14 and made three more starts with the Aviators…had no decisions, a 7.50 ERA and 1.012 OPS in six rehab starts overall.
LAST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 7-2 win over Atlanta last Monday in Oakland…it was his first Major League appearance since a start n Aug. 4, 2022 at Los Angeles (AL)…allowed a RBI single to Murphy in the first but that was the only run he would allow in four innings of work…was relieved by Erceg to start the fifth with the A’s trailing 1-0 but Oakland scored four times in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead.
BLACKBURN’S 2023 STARTS
Date Opponent Opponent Score Dec ERA IP H R ER BB SO HR #PIT
May 29 Atlanta Atlanta 7-2 – 2.25 4.0 4 1 1 2 6 0 81
HOME AND AWAY: Was 6-1 with a 2.12 ERA and .611 OPS in 13 starts on the road compared to 1-5 with an 8.31 ERA and .975 OPS in eight starts at
home…had the highest home ERA in Oakland history among pitchers with 30 or more innings at home…the previous high was 7.46 by Mark Redman in 76.0 innings in 2004…using the same minimum, he had the highest home ERA in the majors in 2022…his road ERA was fourth lowest in the AL among pitchers with at least 70.0 road innings…yielded nine home runs in 39.0 innings in Oakland, six in 72.1 innings on the road…is now 9-8 with a 3.90 ERA and .736 OPS in 28 career games on the road, 4-9 with a 6.53 ERA and .846 OPS in 24 games at home.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Had a .255 opponents batting average, which broke down to .250 (52-for-208) with a .739 OPS against right-handed hitters compared to .260 (21-for-223) with a .764 OPS against left-handers…allowed a .302 average with runners on base, but that dropped to .242 with runners in scoring position…had a .328 career opponents average with RISP entering the season…had a .297 opponents batting average and .880 OPS against the opponents’ one through four hitters, a .216 average and .631 OPS against the five through nine hitters…his career splits are .305 with a .865 OPS against 1-4, .258 with a .709 OPS against 5-9…had a .238 opponents average the first time through the order, .254 the second time and .293 after that… held the opposition to a .134 batting average with two strikes.
MONTH-BY-MONTH: His win total decreased and his loss total increased in each of his four full months as he went 3-0 in April, 2-1 in May, 1-2 in June and 0-3 in July…his ERA increased each of those months (1.35 in April, 2.62 in May, 5.13 in June, 7.36 in July) and his OPS nearly did the same (.459 in April, .669 in May, .872 in June, .829 in July)…went 1-0 with a 7.20 ERA and 1.223 OPS in one start in August.
DIVISIONS AND LEAGUES: Went 3-1 with a 3.74 ERA in seven starts against AL East teams and is now 3-2 with a 3.36 ERA in 12 career starts against the East…was 2-5 with a 6.62 ERA in 10 career starts against AL West competition and is now 4-10 with a 7.45 ERA in 22 career games against divisional foes…tossed 5.0 scoreless innings for the win in his only interleague start and is now 2-1 with a 3.41 ERA and .599 OPS in six career starts against the National League.
THIS AND THAT: Compiled a 6.43 ERA in the first inning, a 2.86 ERA from innings 2-4 and a 9.92 ERA in the fifth inning…did not allow a run after the fifth inning (11.0 ip)…the A’s were 10-11 (.476) in his starting assignments… left with the lead in five of his eight no decisions only to have the bullpen blow the save…compiled a 1.53 ERA in those five starts…had seven scoreless outings and allowed one run or fewer in 10 of his 21 starts…walked two batters or fewer 19 times…did not commit an error and his 21 total chances tied for fifth most among American League pitchers with no errors…had two pickoffs, which tied for fourth in the AL.
MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:
No team release available.
