OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: The A’s have lost the first three series of the season for the fourth time in Oakland history (1979, 1987, 2001)…lost the first four series in 1987 and 2001…are 2-7 after nine games for the second time over the last 22 years (also 2021)…have not started the year 2-8 since 2010…this is the A’s 56th season in Oakland where they have won 17 American League West titles, four AL Wild Cards, six AL pennants and four World Championships… only the Atlanta Braves (22), New York Yankees (20) and Los Angeles Dodgers (20) have more division titles than the A’s…since the A’s moved to Oakland in 1968, only the Yankees (11), Cardinals (8) and Dodgers (8) have more league championships and only the Yankees have more world championships (7)… have a 4495-4182 (.518) record over the previous 55 seasons in Oakland… only four teams have won more games over that span (New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston, St. Louis)…this is the Athletics franchise 123rd season in the American League…since 1901, the A’s have 17 AL West titles plus 15 AL pennants and nine World Championships…only the Yankees (27) and Cardinals (11) have won more World Championships…the A’s are 9210- 9654 (.488) in their previous 122 seasons…that includes a 3886-4248 record
from 1901-54 in Philadelphia and 829-1224 from 1955-67 in Kansas City.
SHUTOUT: The A’s were shutout 11-0 in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday at Tampa Bay…it marks the first time the A’s have been shutout in consecutive games since Sept. 23-24, 2016…it is the fourth time since 1901 that an American League or National League team was shutout in back-toback games while allowing at least 11 runs in each game (last: Cleveland, June 28-29, 2019 at Baltimore)…have been shutout three times this year, which is tied with the Royals for the most in the majors.
OFFENSE: The A’s were held to one hit yesterday for the first time since May 30, 2018, also at Tampa Bay…extended their streak of consecutive games with at least one hit to 4,938, which is the third longest streak in American League history…have collected just four hits in the last two games and have been held to six hits or fewer in seven of the first nine games…are tied for the fewest runs scored in the majors (27), have the second lowest batting average (.192) and slugging percentage (.320), third lowest OPS (.584) and on-base percentage (.265) and are tied for the fourth fewest extra base hits (21)…are a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen bases attempts and are one of eight teams without a caught stealing.
PITCHING: The A’s allowed 11 runs in each of the final two games at Tampa Bay, which marks the first time they have yielded 11 or more runs in back-to-back games since May 21-23, 2017…have a 7.54 ERA over the first nine games, which is the highest in the majors…have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.382), slugging percentage (.497) and OPS (.879) and the second highest batting average (.283)…has the second fewest strikeouts (61) and fourth most walks (46)…are tied for the second most wild pitches (7) and tied for the third most home runs (17)…the A’s ERA breaks down to 10.04 by the starting pitchers and 4.99 by the bullpen…the starters ERA is more than 2½ earned runs higher than the next closest team (Tigers, 7.49)…the A’s and the Phillies are the only teams without a win by their starting pitchers.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s 0-3 on their first road trip of the season, a seven-game trip to Tampa Bay (0-3) and Baltimore (four games)…went 31-51 (.378) on the road in 2022, which was the third worst road record in the American League…return home following the game Thursday for a six-game homestand against New York-NL (three games) and Chicago-NL (three games)… went 2-4 on the season-opening six-game homestand against Los Angeles AL (1-2) and Cleveland (1-2)…were 29-51 (.362) at home last year, which set an Oakland record for lowest home winning percentage…had the second worst home record in the majors to Washington (26-55, .321).
NIGHT AND DAY: The A’s are 2-2 in night games and 0-5 during the day…are one of three teams in the majors without a win in day games (Dodgers, 0-2; Tigers, 0-5)…are batting .271 (38-for-140) with 22 runs at night, .119 (18-for151) with five runs during the day…have a 5.50 ERA (22 er in 36.0 ip) at night, 9.20 (45 er in 44.0 ip) during the day.
THIS AND THAT: The A’s have committed nine errors over the first nine games, which is the most in the majors (Red Sox, 8)…both of the A’s wins have been one-run decisions and Oakland is 2-1 in one-run games…are tied for the fourth most one-run games in the majors…have a run differential of -45, which is the lowest in the majors (Tigers, -35)…are 2-3 when the opponent starts a left-handed pitcher, 0-4 when they start a right-hander…have played two of the seven extra inning games in the majors…are 2-2 in games decided in the last at bat…the A’s average time of game is 2 hours and 38 minutes… have not averaged under 2:43 per game since 1979 when they averaged 2:34
DURING THE SPRING: The A’s went 11-17-3 (.355) this spring, which was the worst record in the Cactus League and third worst in the majors ahead of Pittsburgh (9-18-4) and Miami (7-16-4)…it was the fifth lowest spring winning percentage in Oakland history…went 5-10-3 last spring and have back-to-back losing springs for the first time since 2016-18 when they had three straight…the A’s led majors in on-base percentage (.367), walks (153), hit by pitches (26) and lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.83)…the walks were second most by an A’s team during the spring since 1990, the earliest year spring stats are available (had 154 in 1997)…the hit by pitches were the most since 2009 (28) and the on-base percentage was the best since 2013 (.367)… tied for second in the CL in triples (9), ranked third in stolen bases (40), fourth in OPS (.783) and plate appearances per strikeout (4.45) and tied for fourth in runs (171) and doubles (64)…the stolen bases were the most by an A’s team during the spring since at least 1990, the first year spring stats are available…had the most grounded into double plays in the majors (32)…had the second fewest home runs in the CL (27) and the fifth lowest slugging percentage (.416)…the pitching staff had the highest ERA (6.35), opponents OPS (.849) and on-base percentage (.385) in the majors, the third highest batting average (.283) and fifth highest slugging percentage (.465)…the ERA was the highest by an A’s team during the spring since at least 1990 (previous: 6.22 in 1999)…also led the majors in runs (209), walks (171) and wild pitches (36)…the walks are the most by an A’s team during the spring since at least 1990…tied for the second most home runs allowed in the CL (40)…were one of two teams in the majors without a balk (Cardinals)…the A’s defense had the fourth fewest errors in the CL (23) and tied for fifth in outfield assists (4)…had the most passed balls (7).
ROSTER NOTES: The A’s Opening Day roster featured seven players who returned from last years Opening Day roster, which matched the fewest returning players by an A’s team since Opening Day rosters are first available in 1992 (also 2012)…seven were signed as free agents, which are the most free agents on an A’s Opening Day roster since 1995 when they had eight…of the 26 players on the A’s Opening Day roster, only four played for Oakland in at least each of the previous three seasons: Ramón Laureano (2018-22), Seth Brown (2019-22), James Kaprielian (2020-22) and Tony Kemp (2020-22)… Seth Brown, who was drafted on June 10, 2015 has the longest tenure in the A’s organization…18 of the 26 players were acquired by Oakland since the conclusion of the 2021 season.
THE INJURED LIST: The A’s placed Seth Brown on the injured list today and now have six players on the IL (Blackburn, Piña, Rucinski, Snead, Tarnok)… began the season with five players on the IL after starting the season with three last year…used the IL 31 times last year, which broke the Oakland record of 27 set in 2016 and matched in 2021…however, used the IL nine times for Covid in 2022 and three times in 2021.
A’S VS. ORIOLES
• The A’s won the season series last year 4-3 and are 18-8 (.692) against the Orioles over the previous four years…that includes 10-3 in Oakland and 8-5 in Baltimore.
• The A’s are 1017-953 all-time against the Orioles/Browns/Brewers…the only other of the seven original American League franchises that
the A’s have a winning record against is the Twins/Senators.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-0 0-0
2022 3-1 1-2 4-3
Oakland History: 281-173
at the Coliseum: 143-138
at Camden Yards: 71-61
Athletics History: 1017-953
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Adrián Martínez has tossed at least 2.0 innings in each of his three relief appearances and his 7.1 innings pitched are tied for fifth most in the majors among relievers…teammate Adam Oller leads ML relievers with 9.2 innings
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: JP Sears (0-0, 5.79 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his second start of the season…begins his second season in the majors and is on his second consecutive Opening Day roster…made his Major League debut with the Yankees last year and pitched in relief during his first stint.
LAST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 4-3 win over Cleveland last Tuesday in Oakland…tossed just 4.2 innings and allowed a career-high tying eight hits…logged a career-high 98 pitches…yielded two runs in the second inning, including an Arias solo home run…also allowed a RBI double to Ramirez with two outs in the fifth and was relieved by Jackson with the A’s trailing 3-2… Oakland tied the game in the sixth and won it on a Tony Kemp walk-off single.
SEARS’ CAREER STARTS VS. BALTIMORE
Career: 2-0, 1.50 ERA in three games, including two starts
Date Site Score Dec ERA IP H R ER BB SO HR #PIT
May 25, 2022 May 25, 2022 Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium 2-0 W 5.0 3 0 0 2 5 0 84
Sept. 2, 2022 Sept. 2, 2022 Camden Yards Camden Yards 2-5 – 6.0 6 2 2 1 5 0 81
Career Totals (3 games, 2 starts) Career Totals (3 games, 2 starts) 2-0 1.50 12.0 11 2 2 4 11 0
Coliseum (0 games, 0 starts) Coliseum (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Camden Yards (2 games, 1 start) Camden Yards (2 games, 1 start) 1-0 2.57 7.0 8 2 2 2 6 0
2022 Totals (3 games, 2 starts) 2022 Totals (3 games, 2 starts) 2-0 1.50 12.0 11 2 2 4 11 0
• Picked up his first Major League win in relief at Baltimore on April 16 when he relieved Taillon with two outs in the fifth and the Yankees leading 4-2 (1.0 ip, 2 h, 1 bb, 1 so).
• His first Major League start came against the Orioles on May 25 and he combined with four relievers on a five-hit shutout in the Yankees 2-0 win.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Combined for a .256 opponents batting average, which broke down to .254 (54-for-213) with a .723 OPS against right-handed
hitters compared to .265 (13-for-49) with a .684 OPS against left-handers… yielded 17 of his 20 extra base hits to righties, including all eight of his home runs…opponents hit .256 with the bases empty, .255 with runners on…allowed a .226 average with runners in scoring position.
STARTING AND RELIEVING: Was 5-3 with a 4.27 ERA and .776 opponents OPS in his 11 starts compared to 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA and .501 OPS in six relief appearances…surrendered seven of his eight home runs as a starter…stranded both of his inherited runners in relief and first batters faced were 0-for-5 with a walk.
THIS AND THAT: Was 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA and .585 opponents OPS in eight games against AL West teams, 2-3 with a 5.81 ERA and .858 OPS in nine games against all other teams…had a 1.64 ERA in the first inning…allowed 10 of his 31 runs in the second inning for a 6.75 ERA…had a 3.64 ERA from the third inning on…combined for a 4-3 record and a 4.25 ERA in 10 games in the Coliseum and Yankee Stadium…was 2-0 with a 3.25 ERA in seven games on the road…allowed three hits or fewer in 10 of his 17 appearances and two runs or fewer 13 times.
BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
WHAT’S NEXT: The O’s continue their season-opening, seven-game homestand with four games against the A’s beginning tonight through Thursday…Baltimore opened the homestand by winning the Home Opener, 7-6, on Friday against the Yankees before falling 4-1 on Saturday and 5-3 yesterday.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Orioles will travel to Chicago to face the White Sox for three games from April 14-16, then have a scheduled off day before traveling to Washington, D.C. for two games against the Nationals from April 18-19.
AGAINST OAKLAND: The O’s and A’s meet for their first series of the year…Baltimore will play seven games against Oakland this season…The Orioles will travel to RingCentral Coliseum on August 18-20…The O’s went 3-4 against the A’s in 2022, dropping three of four games in Oakland from April 18-21 before taking two of three at Oriole Park from September 2-4.
LEFT-CLICK: Oakland is scheduled to start left-handers in the first three games in this series…Baltimore is 1-2 so far this season in games started by a lefty opponent while slashing .282/.371/.526 (22-for-78) with four doubles, five homers, 16 RBI, and 10 walks against left-handed pitching…Last year, the O’s were 27-23 when a lefty started against them and batted .224/.297/.366 against left-handers.
AD SPACE: Among AL leaders, Adley Rutschman ranks fourth with a .389 batting average (see chart at right), seventh with a .476 on-base percentage, and tied for seventh with 14 hits…He finished 4-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored yesterday against New York-AL, his second game with at least four hits this season, joining Opening Day on March 30 at Boston (5-for-5, HR, R, RBI, BB)…Rutschman is the first Oriole in team history (since 1954) with multiple 4+ hit games in a team’s first nine games of a season and the first MLB player to accomplish the feat since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2015.
His home run yesterday registered an exit velocity of 108.3 mph, the hardest-hit home run of his career, per Statcast.
YOUNG GUNN: Gunnar Henderson leads AL rookies with eight walks, which is tied for third among all AL hitters (see chart at right)…He is the sixth O’s player since 2000 with at least eight walks through his first eight games of a season and the first since Nick Markakis in 2010.
MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle leads the AL and is tied for the MLB lead among first basemen with Chicago-NL’s Eric Hosmer with two Defensive Runs Saved, per Sports Info Solutions…Mountcastle compiled three DRS last season after having -6 DRS (-5 in LF, -1 at 1B) in 2021.
NEED FOR SPEED: Baltimore’s 15 stolen bases are tied for the AL lead with Cleveland and tied for second in MLB behind Arizona’s 17…The O’s have only been caught stealing once for a 93.8 percent success rate…Jorge Mateo is tied for second in MLB with five steals while Cedric Mullins is tied for seventh with four thefts…The nine combined stolen bases between the two are more than 22 MLB teams have this season while 10 teams have three-or-fewer steals this year.
STARTING WITH A BANG: The O’s opened the 2023 season by hitting multiple home runs in each of their first five games, tied for the third-longest streak to start a season by a team since at least 1901 and tied with the 1994 Orioles for the longest streak in club history; the O’s were the only MLB team to start the 2023 campaign with five consecutive multi-homer games…Marked the fifth time in club history that the Orioles homered in each of their first five games to start a season, and first since 2012 (also 5).
RISING TIDE: O’s affiliates are 13-4 to start the season, the most collective wins and winning percentage (.765) among MLB organizations…The Orioles are ranked as the No. 1 farm system by MLB Pipeline…Marks the fourth consecutive time between the preseason and midseason lists that the O’s are in the top spot…Since Pipeline began ranking systems in 2015, only one other organization has claimed the top spot four times in a row, and that was the Padres (2018 pre/mid, 2019 pre/mid)…Baltimore is also ranked as the No. 1 farm system by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, as well as in Baseball America’s preseason rankings for the first time since the publication began their Organizational Talent Rankings in 1984.
STARTING PITCHER – #48 KYLE GIBSON RHP
QUICK HITS: Slated to make his third start of the 2023 campaign tonight against Oakland…In 269 career appearances (263 GS), Gibson owns a 91-91 record with a 4.52 ERA (761 ER/1516.0 IP)..The O’s signed Gibson to a one-year contract on December 5, 2022…He has also spent time with the Twins, Phillies, and Rangers across 10 Major League seasons.
LAST TIME OUT: Earned his second straight win to start the season on April 4 at Texas, allowing two runs on six hits (2 HR) with fi ve strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work against his former team…Marked his fi rst win against the Rangers since the club traded him to Philadelphia, along with RHP Hans Crouse and RHP Ian Kennedy, in exchange for RHP Spencer Howard, RHP Josh Gessner, and RHP Kevin Gowdy on July 30, 2021…Also marked the second time Gibson won each of his fi rst two starts to begin a season; also won a career-high three straight starts to begin the 2014 season…Became the fi rst O’s pitcher to record a quality start this season.
AGAINST OAKLAND: Making his 11th career start against the Athletics…Owns a 5-3 record with a 4.05 ERA (27 ER/60.0 IP) in his first 10 career starts against the A’s…With the Phillies, he earned the win in his last start against Oakland on April 9, 2022, allowing two hits with 10 strikeouts in 7.0 shutout innings at Citizens Bank Park…Has logged six quality starts against the Athletics.
AGAINST THE AL WEST: Making his 60th career start against the AL West…Made three starts against the division in 2022, going 1-1 with a 4.32 ERA (8 ER/16.2 IP) and 17 strikeouts to just two walks…Owns a 19-17 record with a 3.91 ERA (149 ER/343.1 IP) and 32 quality starts through his first 59 career outings against the AL West…Earned the win in his last outing against the division on April 4 at
Texas.
RETURN TO THE CHARM CITY: Gibson’s home debut as an Oriole will be his seventh career start at Oriole Park…Earned the win in each of his last three starts in the Charm City, pitching to a 4.24 ERA (8 ER/17.0 IP) with 17 strikeouts to nine walks in those games…Owns a 3-1 record with a 4.13 ERA (15 ER/32.2 IP) in six career starts at Baltimore…With the Twins, he earned the win in his last start at OPACY on April 21, 2019, surrendering two runs on fi ve hits with six punchouts in 6.0 innings.
2022 HIGHLIGHTS: Went 10-8 with a 5.05 ERA (94 ER/167.2 IP) in 31 starts with the Phillies, the fifth time in his career making at least 30 starts in a season… Made his Phillies debut on April 9 vs. Oakland (W, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 10 K)…Made his 250th career start on July 27 vs. Atlanta…Retired the first 18 batters he faced on August 5 vs. Washington over 8.0 innings, the longest perfect game bid of his career…Struck out 11 batters on August 16 at Cincinnati, his second double-digit strikeout game of the season, the most in his career…Gibson’s final nine starts averaged 10.37 K/9… Had a career-best 3.00 K/BB ratio (144 K/48 BB).
POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE: Appeared on his fifth career Postseason roster in 2022 with the Phillies and made his World Series debut in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park, working 1.0 scoreless inning out of the bullpen with one hit and one strikeout in Philadelphia’s 7-0 loss to the Houston Astros…In two relief appearances during the 2022 Postseason, he worked 2.1 scoreless innings,
