OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Have lost three straight and six of the last eight games and are 5-12 (.294) since the All-Star Break, which is tied for the second lowest winning percentage in the majors…are 18-29 (.383) over the last 47 games dating back to June 6 after going 12-50 (.194) over the first 62 contests…are 30-79 (.275) overall, which is the lowest winning percentage in the majors behind the Royals (34-75, .312)…are a season-high 49 games under .500 for the first time since finishing the 1979 season 54 under at 54-108…have lost the first two games of this series and are now 7-10-1 over the last 17 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 not been swept more than 14 times since 1997 when it happened 15 times…have one sweep…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).
OFFENSE: The A’s have scored four runs over the last three games, all on solo home runs…are 17-for-93 (.183) over that span, including 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position…overall, rank last in the majors in batting (.223), slugging (.360), OPS (.662), runs (391) and extra base hits (267), tied for second in most times shut out (12), third in fewest doubles (146), fifth in most strikeouts (1003) and lowest on-base percentage (.302) and seventh in fewest home runs (104)…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 (119), tied for sixth in extra base hits (7) and tied for 10th in home runs (2).
PITCHING: The A’s allowed 10 runs last night and now have 24 games this year with 10 or more runs allowed…those are the most such games by an A’s team since the 1955 Kansas City A’s had 27…hit their 68th batter of the season last night, which is the most in the majors and tied for fourth most in Athletics history (81 in 1911, 72 in 2022, 72 in 1903)…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…compiled a 7.02 ERA over the first 49 games through May 22 but have a 4.93 ERA (288 er in 526.0 ip) in 60 games since then…have a 5.87 ERA overall, which is the highest in the majors…also have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.355), the second highest slugging percentage (.463) and OPS (.818) and fourth highest batting average (.269)…lead the majors in most walks (461) and wild pitches (48), are tied for the fewest shutouts (2), tied for second in most home runs
(153) and rank seventh in fewest strikeouts (870).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers have been charged with the loss in each of the last three games and are now 11-50 with a 6.22 ERA…have the fewest wins in the majors, the highest ERA and the third most losses… the fewest wins from starting pitchers in Major League history is 21 by the Pirates last year…have tossed 7.1 innings or fewer in each game and have the fewest innings pitched in the majors (498.0).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has a 3.33 ERA (21 er in 56.2 ip) over the last 14 games but has a 5.49 ERA for the season, which is the highest in the majors…also the has the most losses (29) and the second most innings pitched (459.0)…the 29 losses are two short of the Oakland record for losses by relievers (31 in 1993 and 2015)…has 14 saves over the last 46 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 second 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 are 79-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 lost 10-1 last night, which marks the 14th time this year they have lost a game by nine or more runs…that matches the most such losses in a season in Athletics history (1935, 1939, 1954)… now have a run differential of -268, which is the lowest in the majors…the lowest in Oakland history is -287 in 1979 and the lowest in Athletics history is -344 in 1915…are 16-22 (.421) in one-run games and 14-59 (.192) 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).
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 walkoff wins, which is tied for fifth most…have 12 wins when tied or trailing after seven innings, which is tied for 10th most.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 2-5 on this eight-game road trip to San Francisco (0-2), Colorado (2-1) and Los Angeles-NL (0-2)…went 2-4 on the last road trip to Detroit (2-1) and Boston (0-3) and are 15-40 (.273) 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 tonight 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 6.67 (340 er in 459.0 ip) on the road.
PLAYER NOTES: The A’s have used 54 players this year, which is tied with the Brewers for second most in the majors (Angels, 57)…employed a franchise record 64 players last year…have used 34 pitchers, 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)…have used 30 relievers, which is an on-going franchise record…have used the injured list 25 times…the only times in Oakland history the A’s used the IL more times for non-Covid reasons were in 2016 (27) and 2018 (26).
THIS AND THAT: The A’s are 4-30 (.118) in the final game of a series…are 8-9 (.471) on Tuesday, 7-10 (.412) on Friday and 15-60 (.200) on all other days of the week…are 24-39 (.381) in night games, 6-40 (.130) during the day…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 last 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 5-12 over that stretch.
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…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…hit .238, which was seventh lowest in the majors but the best by an A’s team in any month since Sept. 2021 (.247).
A’S VS. DODGERS
- The A’s have lost the first two games of this series and have never been swept by the Dodgers in a three-game series.
- Have lost the season series for the third consecutive time after losing two of three in Oakland in 2021 and two of three in Los Angeles in 2020.
- Have lost six of the last eight games but have a 23-18 (.561) 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 7-13 (.350) at Dodger Stadium.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-2 0-2
2021 1-2 0-0 1-2
Oakland History: 23-18
at the Coliseum: 16-5
at Dodger Stadium: 7-13
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Tony Kemp is batting .302 (38-for-126) with a .373 on-base percentage (12 bb, 3 hbp, 1 sf) over his last 37 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: JP Sears (2-7, 4.09 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his team-leading 22nd start of the season…is the only A’s pitcher to spend the entire season in the starting rotation…snapped a career-high tying four-game losing streak in his last start… is 2-4 with a 3.40 ERA (30 er in 79.1 ip) over his last 14 starts after going 0-3 with a 5.54 ERA over his first seven starts through May 8.
RANKINGS: Ranks 11th in the majors in fewest walks per nine innings (1.93), 12th in opponents batting average (.223), 15th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.24) and 17th in on-base percentage (.282)…has allowed six home runs in his last three starts and 25 for the season, which is tied for second most…has the most hit batters (12).
DECISIONS: Has 12 no decisions, which is fifth most in the majors among starters…it is tied for second most by an A’s starting pitcher over the last 19 years…Mike Fiers had 14 in 2019…the Oakland record for no decisions by a starting pitcher is 15 by Ron Darling in 1993…has left with the lead and was in position to win in four of his no decisions.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Has a .206 (73-for-355) opponents batting average and .689 OPS against right-handed hitters compared to .300 (24-for-80) with an .852 OPS against left-handers…his opponents average against righties is fifth lowest in the majors…has allowed three home runs to left-handed hitters over his last three starts after yielding just two over the first 35 games of his career…has a .235 (40-for-170) opponents batting average the first time through the order, .225 (39-for-173) the second time and .196 (18-for-92) the third time…opponents are 1-for-40 with 21 strikeouts on an 0-2 count.
INTERLEAGUE PLAY: Is 2-1 with a 2.94 ERA (11 er in 33.2 ip) in six interleague starts compared to 0-6 with a 4.55 ERA (42 er in 83.0 ip) in 15 starts against American League competition…his last win against an AL team was on Sept. 20, 2022 against Seattle.
THIS AND THAT: Has 116.2 innings pitched, which is 1.0 inning short of his most as a professional (117.2 last year)…has walked two batters or fewer in 18 of his 21 starts, including seven starts with no walks and eight with one…has allowed five hits or fewer 16 times…16 of the 25 home runs he has allowed are solo shots…has a 6.00 ERA (14 er in 21.0 ip) in the first inning, a 2.71 ERA (19 er in 63.0 ip) in innings 2-4 and a 5.51 ERA (20 er in 32.2 ip) from the fifth inning on…has issued nine of his 25 walks in the first inning.
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…then allowed six hits or fewer in each of his next 18 starts through July 16, which was the third longest such streak by a starting pitcher in Oakland history… fell two short of the record of 20 by Trevor Cahill (May 5-Aug. 14, 2010) and Tim Conroy (June 23, 1978-Aug. 31, 1983)…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 four times he left with the lead and was in position to get the win only to have the bullpen blow the save (May 25 at Seattle, July 9 at Boston, July 16 vs. Minnesota)…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…then lost each of his next three starts and went 0-4 with a 4.25 ERA and .690 opponents OPS over his next seven starts from June 16 to July 21… had tossed six innings or fewer in each of the first 24 starts of his career before logging 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…tossed a career-high 7.1 scoreless innings, scattered five hits, and did not walk a batter on July 4 at Detroit but had a no decision in the As 1-0, 10-inning win…matched his career highs in hits (8) and home runs (3) in a 6-4 loss to Houston on July 21.
LAST START: He snapped his career-high tying four-game losing streak in the A’s 8-5 win at Colorado last Friday…had a 5-0 lead when he allowed his only run on a leadoff home run by Grichuk in the fourth inning…was relieved by Austin Pruitt to start the sixth with a 7-1 lead.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
THE BROOMS ARE OUT: The Dodgers won their second straight game over the Athletics last night in a 10-1 laugher. Tonight, the club goes for their first-ever three-game sweep over the A’s and tries to close out the nine-game homestand (4-4) on a high note. Los Angeles clinched its 21st series win last night, but have struggled in the final game of a series this year, going 15-19 (.441) thus far. The Dodgers are 10-2 vs. the American League West this season. Following tonight’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 tomorrow 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 33-20 (.623), just behind Atlanta (37-20, .649).
NO MERCY: The Dodgers jumped on the A’s early and often, scoring three in the first, four in the second and one in the third on their way to a 10-1 victory Wednesday night. Mookie Betts made the most of his 3.0 innings played, collecting two hits and drilling his team-leading 29th home run of the season. Betts is seeking his fourth 30+ homer season. Freddie Freeman had three hits, including his Major League leading 37th and 38th doubles of the campaign, while Amed Rosario hit his first homer as a Dodger. In all, the Dodgers had a season high nine extra-base hits on the evening, including Miguel Rojas’ first home run since July 2022. On the mound, Tony Gonsolin won his sixth game of the season (5.0 IP, 1 R) and Yency Almonte went a season-high 2.0 innings (0 R, 3 K). Since the All-Star break, Dodger relievers lead the Major Leagues in ERA (2.49), opponents’ batting average (.189) and opponents’ OPS (.592).
STEADY FREDDIE: Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI last night and is slashing .491/.554/.842 with a 1.396 OPS in his last 14 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 93 runs scored, four behind Ronald Acuña Jr. (97). He also leads the Majors with 38 doubles, is second with 61 extra-base hits and ranks second with a .338 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 left-handed pitching. Freeman owns a .967 OPS vs. righties and a 1.080 mark vs. lefties. The others are Ronald Acuña Jr. (1.007/.978) and Shohei Ohtani (1.147/.917). Earlier today, the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) announced that Freeman is the Dodgers’ preliminary winner of the 2023 Heart and Hustle Award, an esteemed award that honors active players who demonstrate a passion for the game of baseball and best embody the values, spirit and traditions of the game. One player from each Major League team is chosen by the committees based on their passion, desire and work ethic demonstrated both on and off the field. As the season draws to a close, all alumni and active players will vote to select the final winner from the 30 team winners. The overall winner will be announced mid-November on MLB Network.
BIG BOPPIN’ BETTS: All-Star Mookie Betts went 2-for-3 with a homer, a double and two runs scored last night before giving way to Jason Heyward after just 3.0 innings. Betts is slashing .367/.484/.806 with 10 homers, 23 RBI, 28 runs scored and 24 walks in his last 26 games. Betts ranks third in the NL in home runs with 29 while ranking fourth in slugging (.579), fourth in OPS (.963), third in runs (85) and fifth in walks (65). Betts is slashing .316/.411/.668 at Dodger Stadium this year, to go along with a 1.079 OPS at home. According to SportRadar, in the history of Dodger Stadium, that’s mark would be the best all-time in a season, ahead of the current leaders: Mike Piazza, 1997 – 1.066 and Gary Sheffield, 2000 – 1.061. Since May 1, the 2018 American League MVP is hitting .298 (87-for-292) with 25 homers, 59 RBI and a 1.027 OPS. During that span, he ranks third in the Majors in homers and runs (68) and OPS, is tied for eighth in RBI and ranks fourth in extra-base hits (46).
VS. OAKLAND: The Dodgers are 18-23 all-time vs. the Athletics, but have a record of 13-7 vs. the A’s at Dodger Stadium. This series marks Oakland’s first games vs. the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium since 2020. Los Angeles has won five of their last six 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 20-13 (.606) in Interleague play this year and over the last 10 seasons, the Dodgers have the highest winning percentage (.620) in Interleague play with a 132-81 record, ahead of the Boston Red Sox (131-89, .595). Oakland’s .561 winning percentage vs. the Dodgers is the best in the Majors since Interleague play began in 1997.
TONIGHT’S STARTER vs. ATHLETICS: LHP JULIO URĺAS (7-6, 4.98 ERA in 15 GS)
2023 NOTES:
- In his last start on July 25 against the Blue Jays, he fired six innings, giving up eight hits, three runs and two walks while striking out five…did not factor in
the decision - Over 14 starts, the southpaw owns a 7-6 record with a 5.02 ERA (42 ER/75.1 IP) with 72 strikeouts and 17 walks…has given up 15 homers and has produced a 1.17 WHIP
- Pitched a season-high seven innings, striking out a season-best 10 batters on May 2 against the Phillies
- He is 5-1 with a 2.15 ERA (9 ER/37.2 IP) and 40 strikeouts in six starts at home this season
- In his start against the Rockies on April 4, he hurled six innings of shut-out baseball, tabbing his 600TH career strikeout against Kris Bryant
- Tossed six innings on Opening Day against the Diamondbacks, giving up four hits and two earned runs while sitting down six…was his first Opening Day nod of his career
VS. ATHLETICS:
- Will face Oakland for the second time in his career
- In his only start against the club on September 23, 2020, he spun 6.0 innings, allowing two hits, one run and two walks against five strikeouts…did not factor in the decision
