OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Have lost each of the last three games by a score of 3-2, which marks the third time in Oakland history the A’s have lost three straight by the exact same score (July 9-14, 2000 and April 28-May 1, 1974)…now have a six-game losing streak, which comes on the heels of a season-high seven-game winning streak…this is the A’s fourth losing streak of six or more games this year (11, May 17-28; 7, April 13-19; 6, April 5-11)…are 7-10 (.412) in June after winning six games in May and five in April…are 19-56 (.253) overall, which is the lowest winning percentage in the majors…it is tied for ninth worst record by an AL, NL or FL team over the first 75 games since 1901 and is the worst since the 2003 Tigers began the season 18-57…were swept by Philadelphia in a three-game series to close out the last homestand and have now been swept 10 times (have swept one series)…are 3-2-1 over the last six series after going 1-16 over the first 17 series.
RUN DIFFERENTIAL: Seven of the A’s last 10 games have been decided by one run and Oakland is 3-4 in those seven one-run games…each of the A’s last two wins, three of the last four and 11 of 19 overall have been by one run… are now 11-15 (.423) in one-run games…rank third in the majors in one-run losses and tied for third in games (26)…however, are 8-41 (.163) in games decided by two or more runs, including 1-14 in games decided by six or more… have a run differential of -9 in June after posting a mark of -78 in May and -118 in April…are -204 for the season, 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).
EXTRA INNINGS: The A’s played their 10th extra inning game of the season last night, which is tied with four other teams, including the Guardians, for the most in the majors…the 10 extra inning games matches the A’s season total from last year…are 4-6 (.400) in extra innings…the losses are tied for the most in the majors and the win is are tied for fifth.
OFFENSE: The A’s have scored three runs or fewer in each of the last seven games and are batting .204 (48-for-235) with 15 runs scored over that span (2.1 runs per game)…rank last in the majors in batting (.222) and have the fewest runs scored (264)…also have the lowest slugging percentage (.352) and OPS (.655) and the fifth lowest on-base percentage (.303)…have 14 extra base hits over the last eight games (10 doubles, four home runs) and rank last in the majors in extra base hits (178)…have the fourth fewest doubles (102) and are tied for the eighth fewest home runs (69)…lead the majors in sacrifice hits (16), are tied for the lead in hit by pitches (44), have the second most strikeouts (703) and are tied for fourth in most times shut out (8).
IN THE PINCH: A’s pinch hitters are 19-for-68 (.279) with three doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and 10 walks…lead the majors in hits, rank third in walks, tied for third in extra base hits (5) and plate appearances (79), tied for fourth in doubles and home runs and tied for seventh in RBI.
PITCHING: The A’s have compiled a 2.90 ERA (39 er in 121.0 ip) over the last 13 games and now have a 3.88 ERA (66 er in 153.0 ip) in June, which is 10th lowest in the majors…that follows a 5.54 ERA in May and 7.97 in April, both of which were the highest in the majors…have a 6.00 ERA for the season, which is the highest in the majors…the last time the A’s ERA was under 6.00 was after the sixth game of the season (5.79 at the conclusion of play on April 5)…also have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.360), the second highest OPS (.826) and slugging percentage (.466) and the third highest batting average (.271)…lead the majors in most walks (330), home runs (111) and hit batters (48), are tied for the most wild pitches (36) and have the fourth fewest strikeouts (576).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 4-3 with a 3.18 ERA (23 er in 65.0 ip) over the last 14 games after going 2-32 with a 7.19 ERA over the first 61 contests…are 6-35 with a 6.44 ERA for the season…the ERA is the highest in the majors (Rockies, 6.35) and the wins are the fewest…the fewest wins from a starting rotation in a full season in Major League history is 21 by the Pirates last year…have tossed seven innings or fewer in each game this year and have the fewest innings pitched (346.2).
FOR OPENERS: The A’s used an “opener” yesterday for the seventh time this year (all since May 24)…openers are 1-2 with a 5.87 ERA (7.2 ip, 12 h, 5 r, 5 er, 9 so) and the “main” pitchers are 2-2 with a 4.19 ERA (34.1 ip, 32 h, 16 r, 16 er, 11 bb, 34 so)…are 2-5 in the seven games…used an opener nine times in 2018 (all in September) and three times in 2019 (none after June 5).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen is 3-3 with six saves, three blown saves and a 2.83 ERA (17 er in 54.0 ip) over the last 13 games…is 10-for-24 (41.7%) in save opportunities for the season…has the lowest save percentage in the majors, is tied with the Cubs and Royals for the fewest saves and is tied for sixth in most blown saves (14)…has a 5.51 ERA, which is the highest in the majors… has 315.1 innings pitched, which is the most…has allowed 55-of-139 (39.6%) inherited runners to score, which is the fourth highest percentage…has the third most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s have 21 stolen bases in June, which is third most in the majors and the most by an A’s team in June since 2010 (23)…are now 75-for-92 (81.5%) for the season and are three stolen bases short of the season total of 78 from last year…rank third in the majors in stolen bases this year, fourth in attempts and ninth in percentage…A’s opponents are 8-for-17 (47.1%) in stolen base attempts over the last 12 games and are 56-for-83 (67.5%) for the season, which is the fourth lowest success rate in the majors…the 27 caught stealings are four more than any other team…A’s pitchers have nine pickoffs, which is second most in the majors (Yankees, 10).
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s had their five-game road winning streak snapped last night, which was their longest road winning streak over the last two seasons…are 0-1 on this six-game road trip to Cleveland (0-1) and Toronto (three games)…went 5-4 on the last road trip to Miami (0-3), Pittsburgh (2-1) and Milwaukee (3-0)…it was the A’s first winning road trip since Sept. 14-19, 2021…are 10-27 (.270) on the road, which is the worst road record in the majors…went 2-5 on the last homestand against Tampa Bay (2-2) and Philadelphia (0-3) and are 9-29 (.237) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors…have compiled a 5.20 ERA at home compared to 6.90 (237 er in 309.0 ip) on the road.
WINNING LATE: The A’s have scored the winning run in their final at bat in 10 of their 19 victories…have five walk-off wins, which is tied for second most in the majors (White Sox, 6)…are 10-52 when tied or trailing after seven innings compared to 9-4 when leading after seven innings…are tied for fifth in the majors in wins when tied or trailing after seven innings but no other team has fewer than 14 wins when leading after seven.
PLAYERS USED: The A’s selected Yacksel Rios from Triple-A Las Vegas yesterday…he would be the 46th player to appear in a game for the A’s this year… the current total of 45 players is tied for fourth most in the majors…employed a franchise record 64 players last year…Rios would be the 30th pitcher and the current total of 29 is second most to the Rays (32)…tied an Athletics record with 34 pitchers last year.
A’S VS. GUARDIANS
- The A’s lost the first meeting in Cleveland last night after losing two of three in Oakland in the second series of the season, April 3-5.
- With one more loss, will lose the season series for the second consecutive season…went 1-6 last year and are 2-9 over the last two seasons.
- Have lost four of the last five in Cleveland after winning eight straight.
- The one win this year snapped a six-game home losing streak against the Guardians, which matched the longest home losing streak against Cleveland in Oakland history (6, June 3, 1994-July 27, 1995).
Year Home Road Totals
2023 1-2 0-1 1-3
2022 0-3 1-3 1-6
Oakland History: 289-253
at the Coliseum: 152-113
at Progressive Field: 52-71
All-Time: 924-1046
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Ryan Noda ranks fifth in the majors in walks (48) and ninth in on-base percentage (.389)…leads Major League rookies in on-base percentage (.389) and walks (48)…Esteury Ruiz leads the majors in stolen bases (37) and is tied for the lead in hit by pitches (12)…leads ML rookies in stolen bases (37) and hit by pitches (12), is tied for third in doubles (18) and ranks fourth in hits (76).
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Paul Blackburn (0-0, 3.48 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Was reinstated from the injured list May 29 and is scheduled to make his fifth 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.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS: Does not have a decision over his first four starts, which is the longest season-opening streak by an A’s starting pitcher since Josh Outman also had a four-game streak in 2009 before winning his fifth start (Outman had two no decisions in relief appearances during his streak)… the longest season-opening streak of consecutive no decisions by a starting pitcher in Athletics history is five by Mike Oquist in 1998 (took the loss in his sixth start).
LAST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay last Thursday in Oakland…struck out a career-high nine batters in 5.2 innings…allowed two runs in the second inning on a RBI single by Paredes and RBI double by Walls, and another run in the fourth on a solo home run by Margot…the A’s came back to tie the game with three runs in the fifth and he was relieved by Lovelady with two outs in the sixth, a runner on first and the scored tied 3-3
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS COME FROM BEHIND, WIN IN EXTRAS
Coming off Monday’s off day, the Cleveland Guardians opened a 6-game homestand with a 10-inning, 3-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night at Progressive Field…Guardians improved to 6-4 in extra-inning contests (3-1 at home)…club is 1-0 to begin a 6-game homestand against Oakland & Milwaukee (3 games each)…Guards are 4-2-1 over their last 7 series.
With the outcome decided in extras, AARON CIVALE did not factor into the decision despite pitching deep into the 7th inning of a quality start (6.2IP, 5H, 2R-ER, 3BB, 6SO, HR, 100 pitches)… Oakland manufacted one run against Civale in the 3rd inning following a pair of singles that set up Ryan Noda’s RBI-groundout,
while Tony Kemp (2) added a solo homer in the 7th inning to give the A’s a 2-0 lead…Cleveland rallied for a pair of tallies in the bottom half of the 7th, beginning with a MYLES STRAW leadoff double…the Guardians then capitalized on a 2-out RBI-single from AMED ROSARIO, following by an RBI-double from JOSÉ RAMÍREZ…after both squads were held scoreless in the 8th and 9th frames, ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ delivered the game-winner with a bases-loaded single – his second career walk-off plate appearance.
Cleveland (34-38) sits in 2nd place in AL Central standings, just 1.0 game behind 1st-place Minnesota (36-38) & 3.0 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-4.0G, 31-41)…Guardians have won 9 of 15 and 12 of last 21, though have also dropped 32 of last 57 overall since starting the year 9-6.
FINDING THE GROOVE
The Guardians were 22-28 through their first 50 games, ranking in the bottom 5 of MLB in most offensive categories…in the 22 games since, Cleveland is 12-10 and has improved its offense significantly compared to its first 50 contests, increasing its batting average by .63 points and BABIP by .69 points, scoring 1.4 more runs per game and leading MLB in hits (see table below).
CLE FIRST 50G VS. LAST 22G MLB RANK COMPARISON
CATEGORY FIRST 50G LAST 22G
Hits 370 (30th) 229 (1st)
BABIP .267 (30th) .336 (1st)
Singles 252 (25th) 153 (1st)
Batting Average .225 (28th) .288 (2nd)
Doubles 78 (24th) 55 (3rd)
OBP .297 (29th) .338 (6th)
OPS .636 (30th) .767 (8th)
Extra-Base Hits 118 (30th) 76 (9th)
Runs/Game 3.46 (30th) 4.86 (T9th)
Runs 173 (30th) 107 (T10th)
RELYING ON THE ROOKIES
During the 2023 season, the Athletics and Guardians have relied on rookie arms in both their starting rotation and bullpen…both the A’s and the Guards have 5 rookie qualifiers with 25.0+ innings pitched this season, no other MLB team has more than 3…39.5% of Oakland’s innings pitched this season (261.1IP/662.0IP) and 35.1% of Cleveland’s innings pitched this season (226.2IP/646.0IP) have come from rookie qualifiers, the two highest rates in MLB…with GAVIN WILLIAMS making his MLB debut today, the Guards will tie Oakland and two others with 8 rookie qualified pitchers used this season, trailing only Cincinnati (9) for the league lead…Cleveland’s 11 wins from rookie qualifiers lead MLB this season and their 32 combined starts from rookie qualifiers entering today trail Oakland (39) for most in MLB…the Guards possess the youngest average age of pitchers (26.2) among MLB clubs this season, ahead of Miami (27.2).
TOUGH AS NAYLS
Since May 30, JOSH NAYLOR has been one of the most effective hitters in baseball (see table), hitting safely in 15 of his last 18 games with multiple hits in 10 of those 15 contests…over this stretch, his .405 (30-for-74) batting average trails only MIA’s Luis Arraez (.449) and his 21 RBI are T3rd behind TEX’s Corey Seager (22) and LAA’s Shohei Ohtani (25)…since May 30, he is driving in a run every 3.52 at-bats, 3rd in MLB…he has 9 strikeouts in 81 plate appearances since May 30, a rate of 9.00 PA/SO which ranks T7th in MLB…his 53 RBI lead all MLB primary first basemen and rank T6th among all MLB hitters…has 24 RBI in the 7th-inningor-later in 2023, T1st in MLB with STL’s Nolan Gorman.
THE 2-3-4 PUNCH
Since June 6, AMED ROSARIO (.396, 7th), JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (.389, 10th) and JOSH NAYLOR (.375, T13th) are all batting above .375, making Cleveland the only MLB team with 3+ players batting .375-or-better (min. 42PA) in the last 2 weeks…all three players rank T5th in MLB with 21 hits in the last 2 weeks…Naylor and Rosario rank T3rd in MLB with 17 singles during the stretch.
Since June 6, Ramírez ranks among MLB hitters in PA/SO (2nd, 14.75), home runs (T3rd, 5), SLG (4th, .778 SLG) total bases (4th, 42), RBI (T5th, 13), OPS (6th, 1.202), XBH (10, T7th) and runs (T8th, 12)…he has hit safely in 11 of 12 games with multiple hits in 7 of those contests, including a trio of 3-hit efforts…with 710 career RBI, he is one RBI away from passing Carlos Santana (710) for 14th-most in club history…he is 2 hits from passing Larry Doby (1,234) for 17th-most in franchise history.
THE GUARDIAC KIDS
The Guardians lead MLB with 31 one-run games out of their first 72 outings this season, owning a 14-17 record in such contests… only the 2018 Seattle Mariners (33, 23-10) have more one-run games through the first 72 contests of a season since 2016… Cleveland’s 31 one-run contests are tied for 4th-most in club history through the first 72 games of a season, the most since 2005 (31, 12-19)…Cleveland’s 10 extra-inning contests are tied with the A’s and 3 others for most in MLB this season…the Guards 6 extra-inning wins rank T2nd, trailing Detroit (7).
TONIGHT’S STARTER – 63 GAVIN WILLIAMS RHP
WILLIAMS AT HOME, MiLB
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-0 2.62 7 7 34.1 21 10 10 11 48
Career 2-3 2.40 18 18 82.3 54 24 22 29 106
WILLIAMS’ MiLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 4-2 2.39 12 12 60.1 35 17 16 24 81
Career 9-6 2.10 37 37 175.1 104 45 41 64 230
TONIGHT’S START
The 6-5, 250-pound 23-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his Major League debut on Wednesday in the second contest of this 3-game set with the Oakland A Athletics…Williams is the organization’s #1 prospect, MLB’s #5 pitching prospect and the #17 prospect overall (MLB.com)…he was selected in the first round, #23 overall, out of East Carolina University by Cleveland in the 2021 MLB Draft…is the 7th rookie to make their Major League debut for the Guardians this season.
Through 12 starts in the Minors this season (3 at AA Akron and 9 at AAA Columbus), he is 4-2 with a 2.39 ERA (16ER/601.IP) while striking out 84 and walking 21…opposing batters are hitting .170 (35-for-206) against him…has yet to allow 3-or-more earned runs in any of his outings this season.
LAST TIME OUT
Shouldered his second loss of the 2023 season in a 6-1 defeat at Omaha on June 14 (5.0IP, 3H, 3R/2ER, 2HR, 3BB, 5SO)…gave up a solo home run to lead off the game to put Columbus in a 1-0 hole…worked through the 2nd and 3rd frames without allowing a run…allowed his second solo home run of the day with one out in 4th inning…his final run was unearned after the hitter reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a throwing error, reached third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly… the 2 home runs marked a season-high…he owns a 4.50 ERA (7ER/14.0IP) in his 3 starts in June compared to a combined 1.75 ERA (9ER/46.1IP) through his prior 9 starts between AA Akron and AAA Columbus.
ROAD TO THE SHOW
2023: Opened up the season at AA Akron and was lights out in his 3 starts…over 14.1 innings he allowed just one earned run (0.63 ERA) on 6 hits with 20 strikeouts against 3 walks…was promoted to AAA Columbus following his start on April 20…has made 9 starts at Columbus, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.93 ERA (15ER/46.0IP) with 61 punchouts and 21 walks…opposing hitters sported a .186 average (29-for-186)…at the time of his promotion to the bigs, among AAA pitchers (min 45.0IP) he was 2nd in SO/9 (11.93) 4th in WHIP (1.09) and 5th in ERA (2.93)…he has not allowed opposing batters to hit above .190 at any level in his career…over his Minor League career he owns an 11.81 SO/9 and 3.59 SO/BB.
DAY N’ NITE
In 22 career night game starts he has yet to suffer a loss, going 5-0 while boasting a 1.70 ERA (20ER/105.2IP) with 146 strikeouts against 32 walks, and a 4.56 SO/BB ratio…in 2023, he’s 2-0 with a 2.10 ERA (8ER/34.1IP) in 7 night games…he is 4-6 with a 2.71 ERA (21ER/69.2IP) in 15 career day game starts and 2-2 with a
2.77 ERA (8ER/26.0IP) in day games this season.
