OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: The A’s have dropped the series with the Red Sox after winning two of three at Detroit and taking two of three from Chicago (AL)…have won back-to-back series just two times this year (June 5-11 at Pittsburgh and Milwaukee)…are now 5-6-1 over the last 12 series after going 1-16 over the first 17…have swept one series but have been swept 11 times…have won four of the last eight games, five of the last 10 and are 13-26 over the last 29 games dating back to June 6…however, are 25-66 (.275) overall, which is the worst record in the majors behind the Royals (25-66, .278)…the last two Major League teams to finish with a winning percentage under .290 are the 2003 Tigers (43-119, .265) and 1962 Mets (40-120, .250).
BEFORE THE BREAK: The A’s are 25-66 (.253) with one game to go before the All-Star Break…have clinched at least the second lowest winning percentage before the break in Athletics history…the 1979 Oakland A’s were 25-69 (.266) …currently trail first place Texas by 27½ games…trailed Houston by 28 games at the break last year, which were the A’s most games back at the break since 1979 (30½)…have a 6.07 ERA…the highest pre-break ERA in Oakland history is 5.67 in 1997 and the highest in Athletics history is 6.29 in 1936…have set an Athletics record for most home runs allowed before the break (128, previous 114 in 1997) and have issued 393 walks, which is third most in Oakland history (412 in 1979, 405 in 1994)…are hitting .220 and the only time in Athletics history the A’s hit under .225 before the break was last year (.211)… have 89 stolen bases, which is eighth most in Oakland history before the break (7th is 94 in 1974) and is the most since 1984 (97).
OFFENSE: The A’s were shut out for the 10th time Thursday, which is tied for third most in the majors (Royals and Tigers, 11)…were held scoreless 14 times last year…over the last eight games, the A’s have four games with 10 or more hits and two games with four hits or fewer…are batting .245 (67-for-274) with 40 runs scored over that span (5.0 runs per game)…overall, the A’s rank last in the majors in batting (.220), slugging (.352), OPS (.650), runs scored (326) and extra base hits (215)…have the second fewest doubles (119), have the third lowest on-base percentage (.298), the fifth most strikeouts (836) and are tied for the seventh fewest home runs (84)…lead the majors in sacrifice hits (18) and are fourth in hit by pitches (49).
IN THE PINCH: A’s pinch hitters are 24-for-87 (.276) with three doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI and 10 walks…lead the majors in hits, rank third in plate appearances (98), tied for fifth in doubles, tied for sixth in walks, tied for ninth in extra base hits (5), RBI and home runs.
PITCHING: The A’s had a 7.43 ERA over the first 38 games through May 10 but have a 5.10 ERA (266 er in 469.0 ip) in 53 games since then…have a 6.07 ERA overall, which is the highest in the majors…have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.360), the second highest OPS (.828) and slugging percentage (.467) and the third highest batting average (.274)…lead the majors in most walks (393) and hit batters (58), are tied for the second most and wild pitches (42), rank second in most home runs (128) and have the seventh fewest strikeouts (719).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 2-12 with a 5.42 ERA (61 er in 101.1 ip) over the last 22 games after going 4-0 with a 2.60 ERA over the previous eight contests…are 8-44 with a 6.38 ERA for the season…the ERA is second highest in the majors (Rockies, 6.55) and the wins are the fewest… have tossed 7.1 innings or fewer in each game this year and are tied for the second fewest innings pitched (417.2).
FOR OPENERS: Sam Long served as an “opener” Friday night, marking the 10th time the A’s have used one this year (all since May 24)…openers are 0-4 with a 7.30 ERA (12.1 ip, 19 h, 10 r, 10 er, 12 so) and the “main” pitchers are 3-2 with a 4.74 ERA (49.1 ip, 46 h, 26 r, 26 er, 19 bb, 52 so)…are 3-7 in the nine 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 has the highest ERA in the majors (5.73), the second most losses (22) and the second most innings pitched (383.1)…is 4-for-4 in save opportunities over the last 14 games but is 14-for-29 (48.3%) for the season, which is the second lowest percentage in the majors…has the third fewest saves and is tied for the 10th most blown saves (15)…has allowed 70-of-165 (42.4%) inherited runners to score, which is the second highest percentage…has the fourth most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts over the last nine games and are 89-for-107 (83.2%) for the season…rank fourth in the majors in steals, attempts and percentage…the 89 stolen bases are the most by an A’s team since 2012 (122)…A’s opponents are 66-for-98 (67.3%) in stolen base attempts, which is the lowest success rate in the majors…the 32 caught stealings are eight more than any other team…A’s pitchers have 11 pickoffs, which is tied for third most (Yankees, 13; Royals 12).
WINNING LATE: The A’s have scored the winning run in their final at bat in 13 of their 25 victories (52.0%)…had their sixth extra inning win of the season Tuesday night, which matches their total from last year…are 6-6 (.500) in extra inning games…are tied for third in the majors in extra inning games (12), tied for fourth in losses and rank fifth in wins…have six walk-off wins, which is tied for second most in the majors…have 12 wins when tied or trailing after seven innings, which is fifth most.
ONE-RUN GAMES AND THE REST: Of the A’s last 27 games, 13 have been decided by one run and Oakland is 7-6 in those games…six of the A’s last eight wins and 15 of 25 overall have been by one run…are 15-17 (.469) in one-run games…rank third in the majors in one-run games (32) and losses and tied for sixth in wins…however, are 10-48 (.169) in games decided by two or more runs, including 2-19 in games decided by six runs or more…have a run differential of -247, which is the lowest in the majors.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 2-3 on this six-game road trip to Detroit (2- 1) and Boston (0-2), which takes them into the All-Star Break…went 1-5 on the last road trip to Cleveland (0-3) and Toronto (1-2) and are 13-34 (.277) on the road, which is the second worst road record in the majors (Royals, 12-34/.261)…begin post All-Star Break play with their first of two 10-game homestands…will face Minnesota (three games), Boston (three games) and Houston (four games)…went 3-3 on the last homestand against New York-AL (1-2) and Chicago-AL (2-1) and are 12-32 (.273) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors…have compiled a 5.29 ERA at home compared to 6.87 (300 er in 393.0 ip) on the road.
PLAYERS USED: The A’s recalled Angel Felipe and selected Cody Thomas Friday…the A’s currently have used 49 players, which is fourth most in the majors…employed a franchise record 64 players last year…have used 31 pitchers, which is tied for third most…tied an Athletics record with 34 pitchers last year…Friday night, Sam Long became the 14th pitcher to start a game for the A’s this year, tied for second most in the majors…used 12 starting pitchers last year…14 of the 49 players are rookies after using an Oakland-record 34 rookies last year…eight have made their Major League debuts…had 23 do that last year.
A’S VS. RED SOX
- The A’s have lost two of the last three season series and four of the last seven.
- Are 17-29 (.370) against the Red Sox dating back to 2015, which includes 11-12 in Oakland and 6-17 in Boston.
- Went 0-3 in Oakland last year marking just the third time the A’s went winless in the season series in the Coliseum (were also 0-3 in 2002 and 2004).
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-2 0-2
2022 0-3 1-2 1-5
Oakland History: 251-310
at the Coliseum: 151-128
at Fenway Park (since 1968): 99-181
All-Time: 893-1091
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Tony Kemp is 21-for-68 (.309) with six walks and a hit by pitch over his last 20 games, dating back to June 15…Shea Langeliers is batting .228 (44-for193) with nine home runs and 28 RBI against right-handed pitchers.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: JP Sears (1-6, 4.09 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his team-leading 18th start of the season…is the only A’s pitcher to spend the entire season in the starting rotation…has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his last eight starts, including one run three times and no runs once…is 1-3 with a 3.13 ERA (16 er in 46.0 ip) and .199 (33-for-166) opponents batting average over that span after going 0-3 with a 4.99 ERA and .246 opponents average over his first nine starts.
DON’T WALK: Has walked two batters or fewer in 15 of his 17 starts, including six starts with no walks and six with one…has issued just 20 walks in 94.2 innings and his average of 1.90 walks per nine innings is 12th lowest in the majors…has struck out 89 and his strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.45 is 15th best.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Has a .208 (60-for-288) opponents batting average and .705 OPS against right-handed hitters compared to .292 (19-for-65) with a .747 OPS against left-handers…has allowed 30 of his 33 extra base hits to righties…has yielded 47 of his 53 career extra base hits to righties, including 25 of his 27 home runs…has a .254 (35-for-138) opponents batting average the first time through the order, .218 (31-for-142) the second time and .178 (13-for-73) the third time…opponents are 1-for-37 with 21 strikeouts on an 0-2 count.
DIVISIONS AND LEAGUES: Is 0-3 with an 8.16 ERA (13 er in 14.1 ip) in three starts against American League East teams…is 0-5 with a 4.50 ERA (33 er in 66.0 ip) in 12 starts against AL competition compared to 1-1 with a 3.14 ERA (10 er in 28.2 ip) in five interleague starts.
THIS AND THAT: Tossed 7.1 scoreless innings in his last start on Tuesday at Detroit but had a no decision in the A’s 1-0 win in 10 innings…it was his 10th no decision of the season, which is tied for fourth most in the majors among starters…has allowed at least one home run in 13 of his 17 starts and has 19 home runs overall, which is seventh most in the majors…12 of the 19 home runs are solo shots…has a 6.35 ERA (12 er in 17.0 ip) in the first inning, a 2.82 ERA (16 er in 51.0 ip) in innings 2-4 and a 5.06 ERA (15 er in 26.2 ip) from the fifth inning on.
2023 DAY-BY-DAY: Allowed a career-high tying eight hits in his first start on April 4 against Cleveland but had a no decision in the A’s 4-3 win…struck out a career-high 11 batters in 6.0 innings on April 21 at Texas but had a no decision in the A’s 5-4 win…finished April with an 0-2 record, a 6.23 ERA and .846 opponents OPS in five starts…then went 0-1 with a 2.94 ERA and .669 opponents OPS in six starts in May…tossed 6.0 scoreless innings on May 3 against Seattle but had a no decision in the A’s 7-2 10-inning loss…left with a 2-0 lead but the pen allowed one run in the seventh and one in the ninth for the blown save…it was the first of two times he left with the lead and was in position to get the win only to have the bullpen blow the save (also May 25 at Seattle)…surrendered a career-high tying three home runs in a 7-2 loss at New York (AL) on May 8…that extended his losing streak to a career-high four games dating back to Sept. 25, 2022…posted a 5.55 ERA and .782 opponents OPS over that stretch, which spanned nine games, including eight starts… had a no decision in an 11-3 loss to Texas on May 14 to start a stretch of five consecutive no decisions from May 14 to June 5…compiled a 2.33 ERA and .609 opponents OPS during the streak, which fell one short of the Oakland record for consecutive starts without a decision…had career highs in walks (5) and pitches (112) in a no decision at Pittsburgh on June 5…snapped his career-high four-game losing streak in the A’s 8-6 win at Milwaukee on June 11…it was his first win since Sept. 20, 2022 against Seattle…had tossed six innings or fewer in each of the first 24 starts of his career before tossing 7.0 innings in back-to-back starts on June 16 vs. Philadelphia and June 22 at Cleveland, both losses…surrendered a career-high tying three home runs to the Phillies…retired the final 10 batters he faced against the Phillies and the first 11 against the Guardians for a streak of 21 consecutive batters retired… allowed a career-high seven runs in a season-low 4.0 innings in an 11-0 loss to New York (AL) on June 28…Domingo German tossed a perfect game for the Yankees.
LAST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 1-0, 10-inning win at Detroit on Tuesday…tossed a career-high 7.1 scoreless innings, scattered five hits, and did not walk a batter…retired the side in the order in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh…was relieved by Erceg after allowing a one-out single to Short in the eighth.
BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:
STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox have won each of their last 4 games and 7 of their last 8 games. They own the AL’s best record since June 30 (7-1) and June 14 (14-8)…At 47-43 (.522), Boston entered today with MLB’s 15th-best record.
HANG TEN: The Red Sox have recorded at least 10 hits in a season-high 7 consecutive games, their longest streak since 2019 (7 games, 7/25-8/1). They are the only team this season to record 10+ hits in as many as 7 consecutive games. Boston hasn’t recorded 10+ hits in 8 consecutive games since May 2008 (11 games, 5/2-12).
Yesterday was the Sox’ 39th game with 10+ hits, tied with ATL for 2nd most in MLB (TEX-49).
I GOT FIVE ON IT: Boston has scored 27 runs in the last 3 games, following a season-long streak of 6 consecutive home games with fewer than 5 runs scored (13 total runs). The Red Sox are 38-6 (.864) this season when they score 5+ runs, the 2nd-best record in the AL (4th in MLB).
KEEP ‘EM COMING: The Red Sox scored in each of the first 6 innings of yesterday’s game (3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1). 6 innings with a run scored tied their most in any game this season (also 6/16 vs. NYY, 5/2 vs. TOR, 4/2 vs. BAL). It was their 1st time scoring in each of a game’s first 6 innings since 9/22/21 vs. NYM.
BIG MAPLE: Yesterday’s starter James Paxton allowed 2 runs in 6.0 innings…Since the start of June, he’s 4-0 with a 1.95 ERA and .182 opponent AVG (8 ER/37.0 IP, 24-for-132). He was voted the AL Pitcher of the Month for June, his 2nd career Pitcher of the Month Award (also July 2017).
SERIES BUSINESS: BOS has won its 3rd consecutive series to improve to 16-11-2 this season, including 9-6-0 at home. The Red Sox are 5-3-1 in their last 9 series, beginning 6/9. The Sox have won 3 of their last 4 home series, beginning 6/16-18 vs. NYY. The Sox are 12-3-1 in series when they win Game 1. Boston is looking to complete its 5th sweep of the season, 3rd at home (home: 5/1-4 vs. TOR, 6/16-18 vs. NYY; away: 4/6-9 at DET, 6/20-7/2 at TOR).
SOX & A’S: The Red Sox will play the Athletics in 6 of their 9 games from 7/7-19, playing a 3-game series at Fenway Park this weekend and a 3-game set in Oakland from 7/17-19. The Sox have won 8 of their last 9 games vs. OAK, dating back to 7/4/21, outscoring the A’s 57-16 in that span.
BEST WESTERN: The Red Sox are 9-6 against AL West teams this season and 34-14 since the beginning of 2022, the best record of any AL team over the last 2 seasons.
The Sox have won their 4 home series against AL West teams and lost their only road series (home: 3-1 vs. LAA, 2-1 vs. SEA, 2-1 vs. TEX, 2-0 vs. OAK; away: 0-3 at LAA).
SLUGGING SOX: In 7 July games, the Red Sox lead MLB with a .328 AVG and .380 OBP, while leading the AL with with an .870 OPS (83-for-253, 22 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 19 BB).
The Sox recorded 8 XBH yesterday…They hit 2 HR, snapping a season-long 4-game homerless streak.
RISPY BUSINESS: The Red Sox went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position yesterday…They’re 23-for-57 (.404) with ISP in their last 5 games. Overall with RISP, BOS ranks 2nd in MLB in OBP (.362), 3rd in AVG (.284), and 5th in SO% (19.2).
HOME COOKING: The Red Sox are 4-1 so far on their 6-game homestand to complete the 1st half (2-1 vs. TEX, 2-0 vs. OAK). The Red Sox have recorded at least 8 hits in 13 of their last 14 home games, batting .297 with a .352 OBP in that span (143-for-481, 37 2B, 4 3B, 8 HR, 38 BB). The Sox have recorded at least 8 hits in 37 of their 47 home games, most in MLB (2nd: MIA-34).
PITCHING IN: In their last 9 games, Red Sox pitchers have posted a 3.22 ERA (29 ER/81.0 IP)…During that span, Red Sox starting pitchers (including openers) are 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA and .213 opponent AVG (12 ER/41.2 IP, 32-for-150).
RUNNIN’ RED SOX: The Red Sox rank 3rd in the AL and 8th in MLB in SB% (82.2%, 60-for-73)…In 2022, they ranked 22nd in MLB with a 72.2 SB% (52-for-72).
IT’S GO TIME: The Red Sox are 2-0 so far in their stretch of 12-straight games against teams that currently own a sub- .500 record (3-game series vs. OAK, at CHC, at OAK, vs. NYM). 8 of their next 11 series, through 8/17, are against teams that entered today with record of .500 or lower.
HELP IS ON THE WAY: Three Red Sox players are on rehab assignments: Richard Bleier, Pablo Reyes, and John Schreiber. Bleier retired 5 of his 6 batters faced over 1.2 scoreless innings yesterday for Triple-A Worcester (1.2 IP, H, 2 SO). Reyes has played in 4 games for the WooSox, making 3 starts at second base and going 4-for-14 (2 HR, 4 RBI). Schreiber retired 2 of his 3 batters faced on Friday for Worcester (0.2 IP, BB, 16 pitches, 9 strikes).
TODAY’S STARTER: 67 TAYLER SCOTT – RHP
W-L ERA G GS IP ER HR BB SO WHIP AVG
2023 0-0 7.71 7 0 7.0 6 0 5 8 1.57 .231
CAREER 0-1 10.44 28 2 35.1 41 7 22 35 2.21 .357
Is making his 3rd career start (also 6/17/19 vs. KC and 6/20/19 vs. BAL; both with SEA). Made his Red Sox debut on Tuesday vs. TEX…Tossed a scoreless 9th inning (BB) after being recalled from Triple-A prior to the game. Each of his last 2 outings has been scoreless (1.2 IP, H, 2 BB, SO). Tossed 2.0 scoreless innings in relief in his lone outing vs. OAK on 6/15/19 with SEA. Was acquired on 6/22 from LAD in exchange for cash considerations. Is 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA (4 ER/22.2 IP) and 27 SO in 21 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City (19 games) and Worcester (2 games) this season.
