OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Have lost five of the last seven games and are 5-7 over the last 12…are 18-28 (.391) over the last 46 games dating back to June 6 after going 12-50 (.194) over the first 62 games…are a season-high tying 48 games under .500 at 30-78…have not been more than 48 games under since finishing the 1979 season 54 under at 54-108…the A’s .278 winning percentage is the lowest in the majors behind the Royals (33-75, .306)…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)…are 7-9-1 over the last 16 series after going 1-16 over the first 17…have been swept 14 times, which matches the most time the A’s have been swept in a season over the last 26 years (also 2016)…have one sweep.
THE TWO-THIRDS MARK: The A’s played their 108th game of the season last night, which is the two-thirds mark of the season…are on pace to go 45-117 and the 117 losses would tie the franchise record set by the 1916 Philadelphia A’s for fourth most in Major League history…the top three are the 1899 Spiders (20-134), 1962 Mets (40-120) and 2003 Tigers (43-119)…the A’s .278 winning percentage is currently ninth lowest by an AL or NL team in modern ML history…have hit 67 batters, which is already the fifth highest total in Athletics history…are on pace to hit 101 batters, which would break the American League record of 95 set by the 2003 Rays…the ML record is 110 by the 2022 Reds…are on pace to set an Athletic record for most home runs allowed (pace: 224, record 220 in 1964) and Oakland records for most runs llowed (pace: 974, record 946 in 1997) and most walks (pace: 687, record 680 in 1993)…the A’s 5.82 ERA is currently the highest in Oakland history (5.48 in 1997) and second highest in Athletics history (6.07 in 1936)…offensively, are on pace to set an Athletics record for most strikeouts (pace: 1494, record 1491 in 2017)…are hitting .223, which is second lowest in Athletics history to the mark of .216 from last year.
OFFENSE: The A’s are hitting .242 (87-for-359) with 43 runs scored over the last 11 games (3.9 runs per game)…overall, rank last in the majors in batting .223), slugging (.360), OPS (.662), runs (390) and extra base hits (266), tied for second in most times shut out (12), third in fewest doubles (146), fifth in most strikeouts (996) and lowest on-base percentage (.302) and seventh in fewest home runs (103)…are tied for the lead in sacrifice hits (23) and tied for sixth in hit by pitches (59).
IN THE PINCH: A’s pinch hitters lead the majors in hits (29), rank fourth in doubles (5) and plate appearances (118), tied for fifth in extra base hits (7) and tied for 10th in home runs (2).
PITCHING: The A’s compiled a 7.02 ERA over their first 49 games through May 22 but have a 4.83 ERA (278 er in 518.0 ip) in 59 games since then…have a 5.82 ERA overall, which is the highest in the majors…also have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.355), the second highest slugging percentage (.459) and OPS (.814) and fourth highest batting average (.268)…lead the majors in most walks (458), hit batters (67) and wild pitches (48), are tied for the fewest shutouts (2), rank third in most home runs (149) and seventh in fewest strikeouts (865)…were charged with their first balk of the season on Sunday and became the last team in the majors to record a balk.
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 2-2 with a 3.92 ERA (9 er in 20.2 ip) over the last four games after going 1-7 with a 5.61 ERA over the previous 20 games…are 11-49 with a 6.11 ERA overall…have the fewest wins in the majors, the second highest ERA and the third most losses…have tossed 7.1 innings or fewer in each game and have the fewest innings pitched (495.0).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has a 3.31 ERA (19 er in 51.2 ip) over the last 13 games but has a 5.51 ERA for the season, which is the highest in the majors…also the has the most losses (29) and the second most innings pitched (454.0)…has 14 saves over the last 45 games after tallying just four over the first 63…is 18-for-36 (50.0%) in save opportunities for the season, which is tied for the second lowest percentage in the majors…is tied for the second fewest saves and tied for the 10th most blown saves (18)…has allowed just 11-of-45 (24.4%) inherited runners to score since the All-Star Break but has allowed 81-of-211 (38.4%) to score overall, which is the fourth highest percentage…has the most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 103-for-125 (82.4%) in stolen base attempts…rank third in the majors in attempts, fourth in steals and sixth in percentage…the stolen bases are the most by an A’s team since 2012 (122)…A’s opponents are79-for-113 (69.9%) in stolen base attempts, which is the second lowest success rate in the majors…the 34 caught stealings are six more than any other team…A’s pitchers have 11 pickoffs, which is third most.
ONE-RUN GAMES AND THE REST: The A’s are 16-22 (.421) in one-run games and 14-58 (.194) in games decided by two or more runs…16 of the A’s 30 wins are by one run…are tied for the most one-run losses in the majors and rank third in games (38)…have a run differential of -259, which is the lowest in the majors.
WINNING LATE: The A’s have scored the winning run in their final at bat in 13 of their 30 victories (43.3%)…are 6-6 (.500) in extra inning games and the six wins matches the A’s total from last year…rank eighth in the majors in extra inning games (12), tied for eighth in wins and ninth in losses…have six walk-off wins, which is tied for fourth most…have 12 wins when tied or trailing after seven innings, which is tied for 10th most.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 2-4 on this eight-game road trip to San Francisco (0-2), Colorado (2-1) and Los Angeles-NL (0-1)…went 2-4 on the last road trip to Detroit (2-1) and Boston (0-3) and are 15-39 (.278) on the road, which is the second worst road record in the majors ahead of the Royals (14-39, .264)…return home following the game tomorrow for a five-game homestand against San Francisco (two games) and Texas (three games) that begins on Saturday…went 3-7 on the last homestand against Minnesota (0- 3), Boston (2-1) and Houston (1-3) and are 15-39 (.278) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors…have compiled a 5.13 ERA at home compared to 6.59 (330 er in 451.0 ip) on the road.
A’s IN JULY: The A’s went 8-15 (.348) in July…finished with a losing record for the sixth consecutive full month and 10th time in the last 11 months…had their only full month with a winning record last year in July (14-12)…the .348 winning percentage was fifth lowest in the majors this July and seventh lowest in July in Oakland history…had the worst record in the majors in April and May and the eighth worst in June…had a run differential of -18 in July after posting marks of -118 in April, -78 in May and -42 in June…compiled a 4.90 ERA, which was eighth highest in the majors and the highest by an A’s team in July since 2009 (5.17)…hit .238, which was seventh lowest in the majors but the best by an A’s team in any month since Sept. 2021 (.247)…had seven triples, which tied for third most in the majors and matched the most by an A’s team in July over the last 45 years (2012).
THIS AND THAT: Yesterday, Kirby Snead became the 54th player to appear in a game for the A’s this year, which is tied with the Brewers for second most in the majors (Angels, 56)…employed a franchise record 64 players last year… Snead became the 34th pitcher, which ties the Athletics record (2018, 2022) and is tied with the Reds for third most in the majors this year (Dodgers and Rays, 35)…Snead is the A’s 30th reliever, which is an on-going franchise record…the A’s are in a 12-day stretch from July 24 to Aug. 4 where they will have four days off…are 5-9 (.385) following an off day and the 14 games are tied for sixth fewest in the majors…the three-game series against the Rockies over the weekend marked the only time over a 27-day stretch from July 14 to Aug. 9 that the A’s left the state of California…are 5-11 over that stretch.
A’S VS. DODGERS
- The A’s have lost two of three in each of their previous two season series with the Dodgers, dropping two of three in Oakland in 2021 and two of three in Los Angeles in 2020.
- Have lost five of the last seven games to the Dodgers but have a 23-17 (.575) record overall, which is the best record by any team against the Dodgers (Yankees, 10-9, .526).
- Are 16-5 (.762) in the Coliseum and 7-12 (.368) at Dodger Stadium.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-1 0-1
2021 1-2 0-0 1-2
Oakland History: 23-17
at the Coliseum: 16-5
at Dodger Stadium: 7-12
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Zack Gelof has homered three times in his last four games and now has four home runs over the first 15 games of his career…that matches the most home runs in Athletics history by a player over the first 15 games of his career (Campaneris, Céspedes, Klimchock, Lesher, Murphy, Steinbach)… Tony Kemp is batting .301 (37-for-123) with a .374 on-base percentage (12 bb, 3 hbp, 1 sf) over his last 36 games dating back to June 15, after hitting .146 with a .244 on-base percentage over his first 51 contests…Trevor May has converted each of his 10 save opportunities over his last 16 games.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Hogan Harris (2-5, 6.07 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his 13th appearance of the season and his career…has made five starts and seven relief appearances, the last six of which have come in a game started by an opener…this is his second stint with the A’s this year…was recalled for the first time on April 14, made his Major League debut that day in relief against the Mets and was optioned back to Las Vegas the next day…returned to Oakland on May 27 and has remained with the A’s since then.
FIVE-GAME LOSING STREAK: Is 0-5 with a 6.88 ERA (26 er in 34.0 ip), .281 (38- for-135) opponents batting average and .842 OPS over his last seven games, including four starts…went 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA, .184 opponents average an .501 OPS over his first four games following his May 27 promotion.
STARTING AND RELIEVING: Is 1-4 with a 6.00 ERA (18 er in 27.0 ip), .276 (29- for-105) opponents batting average and .794 OPS in his five starts, 1-1 with a 6.14 ERA (20 er in 29.1 ip), .222 (24-for-108) average and .698 OPS in seven relief appearances…has tossed at least four innings in five of his seven relief appearances…logged 0.1 innings of relief in his Major League debut, which was a traditional relief appearance…his other six relief appearances came in games started by an opener (Pruitt on May 27 vs. Houston and July 15 vs. Minnesota; Fujinami on June 2 at Miami, June 13 vs. Tampa Bay and June 24 at Toronto; Tarnok on July 26 at San Francisco).
OPPONENTS BATTING: Has allowed 20 of his 22 extra base hits to righthanded hitters (has surrendered one double and one home run to a lefty)… as a starter, has allowed a .195 (8-for-41) opponents batting average the first time through the order, .263 (10-for-38) the second time and .423 (11- for-26) after that…opponents are batting .385 (15-for-39) with runners in scoring position…they are 8-for-16 (.500) with a double and two home runs when putting the first pitch in play.
HOME AND AWAY: Is 1-3 with a 5.35 ERA (20 er in 33.2 ip) and .678 opponents OPS in seven games at home compared to 1-2 with a 7.15 ERA (18 er in 22.2 ip) and .840 OPS in five games on the road.
THIS AND THAT: Walked one batter in his last start and has walked one batter or fewer in six of his 12 appearances, including no walks four times… has allowed five hits or fewer in nine of his 12 games…has allowed 19 runs over innings one through four (36.2 ip, 4.66 ERA) and 20 runs in the fifth and sixth inning (19 er in 17.2 ip, 9.68 ERA)…has not allowed a run after the sixth (2.0 ip).
MAJORS AND MINORS: Went 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA and 1.040 opponents OPS over his first five games this year at the Major League and Minor League level (four with Las Vegas, one with Oakland)…the went 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA and .517 OPS over his next eight games from May 4 to June 13 (four with Las Vegas, four with Oakland)…is 0-4 with a 6.88 ERA (26 er in 34.0 ip) and .842 OPS in seven games since then (all with Oakland).
2023 DAY-BY-DAY: Was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on April 14 and made his Major League debut that day against New York (NL)…entered the game to start the fifth inning with the A’s trailing 6-3…retired the first batter he faced (Vogelbach ground out) but his next seven batters were BB, BB, BB, HBP, BB, 2B, BB…walked a career-high five batters in 0.1 innings to become the sixth AL, NL or FL pitcher since 1901 to walk five or more his debut while pitching less than an inning (last: Justin Dunn, Sept. 12, 2019 for Seattle)…allowed six runs, which matched the most by A’s pitcher in a debut of fewer than one inning (Sam Gray, April 19, 1924 at Boston; James York, Sept. 12, 1919 vs. CWS)…was optioned back to the Aviators the next day…was recalled for a second time on May 27 and pitched in relief of opener Adam Pruitt that day against Houston…entered the game to start the second inning and tossed 5.0 scoreless innings…allowed just one hit and one walk…walked the second batter he faced (Maldonado) but then retired 12 straight before Bregman singled with one out in the sixth…struck out Kyle Tucker in the fourth inning for his first career strikeout…picked up his first win in his first start on June 7 at Pittsburgh, a 9-5 A’s win…allowed three runs in 5.0 innings…pitched in relief of Fujinami again on June 13 and picked up his second consecutive win in the A’s 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay…allowed just one run in a career-high 7.0 innings…it tied for the sixth longest outing by a reliever in Oakland history and was the longest since Reggie Harris logged 7.0 innings on Aug. 14, 1990 against Boston…was charged with the first loss of his career in the A’s 3-2 loss to Philadelphia on June 18 in Oakland…struck out a career-high seven batters in 6.0 innings…allowed a career-high nine hits and surrendered two home runs in a game for the first time in his career in a 10-4 loss to New York (AL) on June 29…allowed a career-high seven runs in 4.2 innings in a 9-0 loss at Detroit on July 6…it was his shortest outing as a starter…logged a career-high 105 pitches…went 0-3 with an 8.00 ERA and .809 OPS in four games, including two starts, in July.
LAST APPEARANCE: He pitched in relief of opener Freddy Tarnok a week ago today at San Francisco and was the losing pitcher in the A’s 8-3 loss…Tarnok allowed three runs in 2.2 innings and Harris retired the first seven batters he faced…the score was tied at 3-3 when he allowed a two-run home run to Slater in the sixth for the loss.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
WIN THE SERIES: The Dodgers got back to their winning ways last night, beating the Oakland A’s in the first game of a three game series, 7-3, and winning the Dodger debut of newly acquired starter Lance Lynn. A win tonight would improve the Dodgers’ record in their 35 series to 21-13-1 as the nine-game homestand (3-4) draws to
close. Last night, the Dodgers improved their record against the American League West to 9-2 in 2023 while also moving to 24-11 (.686) in the first game of a series this year. Following tomorrow night’s 7:10 p.m. series finale with Oakland, the Boys in Blue will head south to San Diego and begin a four-game wrap-around series with the Padres on Friday night, before playing a two-game set at Chase Field next week vs. Arizona (Aug. 8-9). The Dodgers hold a 2.5-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the National League West and have held a share of first place every day since the All-Star break. The Dodgers have the second-best home record in the NL at 32-20 (.615), just behind Atlanta (36-20, .643). Los Angeles is the only team in baseball boasting three players with 25 or more home runs (Mookie Betts-28, Max Muncy-27 and J.D. Martinez-25). In fact, no other team in baseball has more than one player with 25 or more homers.
TRAVELYNN MAN: The Dodgers downed Oakland last night thanks in large part to a stellar Dodger debut from new hurler Lance Lynn, who posted a quality start, allowing three runs on five hits in 7.0 innings while striking out seven. All three of Oakland’s runs came on solo homers, but Lynn was able to navigate around them and became the first Dodger to go 7.0 innings in a game since Clayton Kershaw did so back on June 20 at the Angels. Offensively, Kiké Hernández delivered the big blow, ripping a three-run double in the fourth frame that gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. Elsewhere, the 1-2 punch of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman struck again, as Betts had two hits, including his team-best 28th homer of the season and Freeman collected his fourth four-hit game of the season (4-for-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B).
MOVING PARTS: Yesterday, the Dodgers added one more piece to their Major League roster before the trade deadline, acquiring left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for minor league infielders Devin Mann and Derlin Figueroa. Yarbrough, 31, made 14 appearances (seven starts) for the Royals, posting a 4-5 record with a 4.24 ERA (24 ER/51.0 IP). He has been in the Majors parts of six seasons with Tampa Bay (2018-2022) and Kansas City (2023) and he is a combined 44-36 with a 4.32 ERA (303 ER/630.2 IP) and 496 strikeouts against 140 walks. In his career, left-handed batters are hitting .223 (127-for-570) with a .655 OPS. Yarbrough was originally drafted by the Mariners in the fourth round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft.
STEADY FREDDIE: Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman went 4-for-5 with a double, RBI and two runs scored last night and is slashing .472/.541/.811 with a 1.352 OPS in his last 13 games since July 17. Freeman was the first player in Dodger history with at least 20 homers and 35 doubles before the end of July and he ranks second in the Major Leagues with 91 runs scored, six behind Ronald Acuña Jr. (97). He also leads the Majors with 36 doubles, is second with 59 extra-base hits and ranks third with a .334 average. Freeman’s career best in runs scored is 120, established in 2021. According to SportRadar, Freeman is one of three players in baseball this season to post an OPS of .900 or higher vs. both right and lefthanded pitching. Freeman owns a .967 OPS vs. righties and a 1.052 mark vs. lefties. The others are Ronald Acuña Jr. (1.007/.979) and Shohei Ohtani (1.147/.917).
BIG BOPPIN’ BETTS: All-Star Mookie Betts went 2-for-5 with a homer, a double and two runs scored last night in his return to the lineup after missing two games with right ankle soreness. Betts is slashing .358/.479/.768 with nine homers, 22 RBI, 26 runs scored and 24 walks in his last 25 games. Betts ranks third in the NL in home runs with 28 while ranking fourth in slugging (.568), fourth in OPS (.951), third in runs (83) and fifth in walks (65). Betts is slashing .310/.407/.647 at Dodger Stadium this year, to go along with a 1.054 OPS at home. According to SportRadar, in the history of Dodger Stadium, just two players have had a higher OPS in a season than Betts’ mark in 2023: Mike Piazza, 1997 – 1.066 and Gary Sheffield, 2000 – 1.061. Since May 1, the 2018 American League MVP is hitting .294 (85-for-289) with 24 homers, 58 RBI and a 1.010 OPS. During that span, he is tied for third in the Majors in homers, ranks third in runs (66), fourth in OPS, tied for eighth in RBI and tied for fourth in extra-base hits (44).
VS. OAKLAND: The Dodgers are 17-23 all-time vs. the Athletics, but have a record of 12-7 vs. the A’s at Dodger Stadium. Last night marked Oakland’s first game vs. the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium since 2020. Los Angeles has won four of their last five against the Athletics and haven’t lost a series with Oakland since getting swept in a two-game set from Aug. 18-19, 2015. Los Angeles is 19-13 (.594) in Interleague play this year and over the last 10 seasons, the Dodgers have the highest winning percentage (.618) in Interleague play with a 131-81 record, ahead of the Boston Red Sox (131-89, .595). Oakland’s .575 winning percentage vs. the Dodgers is the best in the Majors since Interleague play began in 1997.
TONIGHT’S STARTER vs. ATHLETICS: RHP TONY GONSOLIN (5-4, 4.25 ERA in 16 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:
- In his last start against the Blue Jays on July 26, he hurled 5.0 innings, giving up seven hits, five runs, one homer and three walks while punching out five in the loss…tossed a career high 109 pitches
- 2022 All-Star got his first win of the season on May 14th against San Diego after firing five scoreless innings and giving up two hits, one walk, and six strikeouts
- In his rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on April 20th, he hurled three innings, allowing one hit, two earned runs, two walks while sitting down seven
- Made one Spring Training start, tossing 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on three hits, while walking two and striking out two
- Gonsolin is 31-10 in his career and is tied for the second fewest decisions all-time among pitchers to reach 30 victories. In addition, his 27-6 (.818) record as a starter is the best in the modern era through 60 games started.
VS. ATHLETICS:
- Will face Oakland for the first time in his career
