OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
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BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: Baltimore rallied with two runs in the seventh inning to tie the game but surrendered four runs in the final two innings and fell to Oakland, 8-4, last night…Jorge Mateo recorded his team-leading fourth multi-hit game of the season while Adley Rutschman tied the game in the seventh with a two-out single for the O’s.
AGAINST OAKLAND: The O’s and A’s are meeting 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.
LOOKING AHEAD: The Orioles will travel to Chicago to face the White Sox for three games tomorrow through Sunday, then have a scheduled off day before traveling to Washington, D.C. for two games against the Nationals from April 18-19.
BIG TIME RUTSCH: Adley Rutschman has tallied a hit in six consecutive games since April 7, the longest streak by an O’s batter this season, while slashing .526/.654/.895 (10-for-19) with one double, two home runs, six runs scored, four RBI, and seven walks during that stretch…He’s also reached base safely in nine straight games with a .513 on-base percentage since April 3.
Entering today’s games, Rutschman ranks among AL leaders in average (4th, .391), hits (T-4th, 18), on-base percentage (5th, .491), OPS (6th, 1.100), and total bases (T-9th, 28).
Homered in back-to-back games (4/9-10) for the first time in his career.
Rutschman is batting .412/.524/.588 (7-for-17) against lefties this season after slashing .173/.287/.265 (17-for-98) against southpaws in his rookie year.
Last night marked his first game-tying hit in the seventh inning or later of the season, knocking in Cedric Mullins with a two-out single in the seventh.
MOUNT UP: On Tuesday, Ryan Mountcastle became the third player in Orioles history with nine RBI in a game, tying Jim Gentile (5/9/61 at MIN) and Eddie Murray (8/26/85 at CAL) for the team record…Mountcastle is the first Oriole and third player to do so at Oriole Park, joining New York-AL’s Danny Tartabull (9/8/92) and Kansas City’s Mike Moustakas (9/12/15).
His grand slam in the seventh inning was the second of his career (5/22/21 at WSH) and the first by an O’s batter this season; the blast traveled 456 feet, the farthest home run by an Oriole this season and the farthest of his career.
He has seven career multi-homer games and two against the A’s (9/3/22).
His nine barrels this season are tied for third in MLB, per Statcast; his 20 batted balls of 95+ mph are tied for eighth-most.
HAYS OF OUR LIVES: Austin Hays batted leadoff on Tuesday for the first time this season and finished 4-for-5 with a double, a homer, a career-high four runs scored, and two RBI…He is only the second Oriole since 2015 to score four runs in a game, along with Ryan Mountcastle on May 30, 2022 at Boston…Hays homered in back-to-back games on Monday and Tuesday for the third time in his career and for the first time since April 24-26, 2022. Three of Hays’ four hardest-hit balls and six of 11 in 2023 have come in this series, including his leadoff double on Tuesday which was 110.2 mph, per Statcast; the double was the second-hardest hit ball of his career, trailing only a 110.3 mph home run on May 14, 2021. Tuesday marked his second game this year with at least four hits, joining a five-hit effort on April 1 at Boston; he and Adley Rutschman are two of the three MLB players with two games of at least four hits this season (MIA’s Luis Arráez) and the duo have accounted for four of the 18 4+ hit games in MLB this season.
NEED FOR SPEED: Baltimore’s 17 stolen bases are tied for second in MLB with Arizona and behind only Cleveland (19 SB)…Their 17 stolen bases through their first 12 games of the season are the most in O’s history (since 1954) to open a campaign…The O’s have only been caught stealing once for a 94.4 percent success rate…Jorge Mateo has swiped six of those, tied for the MLB lead with Cleveland’s Myles Straw and Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr., while Cedric Mullins is tied for fourth in MLB with five steals…They are the only pair of teammates with at least five stolen bases apiece and their 11 combined stolen bases are more than 22 MLB teams have this season.
ROSTER MOVES: The O’s selected the contract of Ryan O’Hearn from Triple-A Norfolk prior to today’s game…O’Hearn was slashing .300/.349/.725 (12-for-40) with three doubles, a triple, four homers, 11 runs, 11 RBI, and three walks in nine games with the Tides…In a corresponding move, Anthony Bemboom was designated for assignment.
RISING TIDE: O’s minor league teams are 16-9 to start the season, the third-most collective wins and third-best winning percentage (.640) among MLB affiliates… 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 – #19 COLE IRVIN LHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his third start of the season today against the A’s…Originally selected by the Phillies in the fifth round of
the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Oregon.
LAST TIME OUT: Dealt the loss in his second Orioles start on April 8 vs New York-AL…Allowed three runs on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts in 4.2 innings…Threw 101 pitches, 65 strikes.
FAMILIAR FACES: Making his first career start against his former team after spending the 2021-22 seasons in Oakland…Acquired by the Orioles from the Athletics along with RHP Kyle Virbitsky in exchange for SS Darell Hernaiz on January 26, 2023… Made his third straight Opening Day roster in 2022 and led the A’s in wins (9), starts (30), innings pitched (181.0), and strikeouts (128); set career highs in strikeouts and innings pitched while tying his career high with 15 quality starts (2021)…Posted career-lows in ERA (3.98), opponent batting average (.251), on-base percentage (.293), slugging percentage (.416), and OPS (.709)…Allowed two earned runs or fewer in 17 of his 30 starts…Struck out a career-high 11 batters on August 24 vs. Miami.
AGAINST THE AL WEST: Making his 35th career start against the AL West…Owns a 9-19 record with a 4.26 ERA (91 ER/192.1 IP) and 121 strikeouts to 40 walks through his first 34 appearances…Went 5-7 with a 3.13 ERA (32 ER/92.0 IP) and 57 strikeouts to 15 walks in 15 starts against the division in 2022 while with the A’s.
HOME SWEET HOME: Owned a 5-5 record with a 3.07 ERA (36 ER/105.2 IP) and 78 strikeouts against 22 walks in 17 home starts in 2022, compared to a 4-8 record with a 5.26 ERA (44 ER/75.1 IP) and 50 strikeouts to 14 walks in 13 road starts…Of his career-high-tying 15 quality starts last season, 11 came at home…Has gone 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA (4 ER/10.0 IP) and 11 strikeouts to five walks in two career starts at Oriole Park.
DAYMAN, FIGHTER OF THE NIGHTMAN: Went 4-7 with a 3.44 ERA (33 ER/86.1 IP) and 57 strikeouts to 17 walks in 14 day starts last year, including eight quality starts, compared to 5-6 with a 4.47 ERA (47 ER/94.2 IP) and 71 strikeouts to 19 walks in 16 night starts, including seven quality starts.
STARTING STRONG: Irvin has allowed four earned runs in 8.0 innings of work in the first four innings this year, compared to five earned runs in 0.2 innings in the fifth…Opposing batters are hitting .286 (4-for-14) against him the first time through the lineup, .250 (4-for-16) the second time, and .667 (4-for-6) the third time.
HIT IT IF YOU CAN: Irvin relied on his four-seam fastball more than any other pitch in 2022, throwing it 36.1 percent of the time…Opposing batters slashed .222/.263/.387 (51-for-230) against his primary pitch, meaning that he recorded more strikeouts (69) by way of the heater than hits allowed (51)…Irvin induced 121 swings and misses on 941 fastballs for a 12.8 percent swing-and-miss rate.
