OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: The A’s lost two of three at Texas to start the road trip and have now lost each of the first seven series of the season for the first time in Athletics history (previous: 5 in 1935, 1946 and 1951)…have lost two straight, nine of the last 10 and 15 of the last 17…are 4-18 (.182) overall and have the lowest winning percentage in the majors behind the Royals (5-17, .227)…it is the worst record after 22 games in Athletics history (were 5-17 in 1919, 51 and 65) and is tied for seventh worst by an AL or NL team since 1901…the A’s won the opener this year and spent the first two days of the season in a tie for first in the American League West…were in fourth place after the April 6 off day but have spent each day since then in fifth place…are 10½ games behind first place Texas…the A’s largest deficit in the West before the end of April is 12 games in 2001.
A’S IN APRIL: The A’s are 3-18 (.143) in April and have set an Athletics record for most losses in April (previous: 17 in 1994 and 2001)…there have been just two months of five or more games in Oakland history with a winning percentage under .200: June of 1979 (5-24, .172) and June of 2022 (5-21, .192)… have an 8.32 ERA this April and the highest single-month ERA in Oakland history (min. 5 games) is 6.73 in Sept. of 2015…have allowed 177 runs, which is third most in a month in Oakland history (206 in May, 1997; 188 in Sept., 2015)…have set an Athletics record for hit batters in any month (19) and an Athletics record for home runs allowed in April (40)…the Oakland record for home runs allowed in any month is 48 in Sept. of 2015…have 16 wild pitches, which is one short of the Oakland record for April (17 in 2018)…the A’s have stolen 20 bases in April for the first time since 2013 when they had 25.
OFFENSE: The A’s rank third in the majors in lowest OPS (.649), fourth in fewest runs scored (75), fewest extra base hits (50) and lowest batting average (.223), tied for fourth in fewest doubles (29), fifth in lowest slugging percentage (.348), sixth in lowest on-base percentage (.301) and seventh in fewest home runs (20)…have been hit by a pitch 13 times which is tied for sixth most…have been shut out four times, which is tied for second most (Royals, 5).
PITCHING: The A’s have allowed 53 runs over the last six games (52 er in 52.0 ip, 9.00 ERA) and have 178 for the season, which is the most in the majors and the most by any AL or NL team over the first 22 games of the season since the 1936 St. Louis Browns had 182…the 178 runs are the most by an A’s team over any 22-game stretch since the Philadelphia A’s allowed 179 from April 19-May 15, 1941…have the highest ERA (7.97), opponents OPS (.894), batting average (.290), on-base percentage (.390) and slugging percentage (.504) in the majors…lead the majors in most walks (116), home runs (40) and wild pitches (17), have the second most hit batters (19) and are tied for the second fewest strikeouts (157).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 0-11 with an 8.88 ERA over the first 22 games…the streak of 22 consecutive games without a win from the starting pitcher in the longest single-season streak in Athletics history…it matches the longest overall streak in Athletics history as the 1964 Kansas City A’s finished the season with a 20-game streak without a win for the starting pitcher and then went without a win from the starter in the first two games of 1965…A’s starters have the highest ERA in the majors by more than two earned runs (Red Sox, 6.61) and are the only team without a win from their starting pitchers…have tossed fewer than five innings in 11 of the 22 games and have the fewest innings pitched (100.1).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has a 9.56 ERA (40 er in 37.2 ip) over the last nine games and has allowed 10 or more runs three times over that stretch… had no games with 10 or more runs over the previous three seasons…now have a 6.99 ERA for the season, which is the highest in the majors (Royals, 6.51)…has tossed at least 2.2 innings in every game this year and has 92.2 innings pitched, which is second most to the Red Sox (94.0)…is 2-for-6 (33.3%) in save opportunities…has the lowest save percentage in the majors, is tied with the Cubs for the fewest saves and is tied for fifth in most blown saves (4)…has allowed 21-of-43 (48.8%) inherited runners to score, which is the fifth highest percentage.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS: The A’s have made five errors over the last 16 games after making eight miscues over the first six contests…have 13 errors overall, which are tied for eighth most in the majors…have four outfield assists, which are tied for fifth most…have two passed balls, which are tied for third most…had just three passed balls all last year.
ON THE BASES: The A’s have been successful in 21-of-23 (87.5%) stolen base attempts, which is tied for the sixth best percentage in the majors…are tied for sixth in steals and tied for seventh in attempts…A’s opponents have been successful in just 3 of their last 7 attempts (42.9%) and are 23-for-30 (76.7%) for the season…the seven caught stealings are third most in the majors but the 23 stolen bases are tied for third most.
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 1-2 on the second road trip of the season, a seven-game trip to Texas (1-2) and Los Angeles-AL (four games)…went 1-6 on their first road trip to Tampa Bay (0-3) and Baltimore (1-3) and are 2-8 (.200) on the road, which is the second worst record in the majors (Reds, 1-9/.100)…return home following the game Thursday for a six-game homestand against Cincinnati (three games) and Seattle (three games)…went 0-6 on the last homestand against New York-NL (0-3) and Chicago-NL (0-3)…had no winless homestands of six or more games in the first 54 years in Oakland but now have two in the last two years (0-6 from April 29-May 4, 2022 against Cleveland and Tampa Bay)…have a season-high seven-game home losing streak and are now 2-10 (.167) in the Coliseum, which is the second lowest home winning percentage in the majors (Royals, 1-12/.077).
NIGHT AND DAY: The A’s are 4-8 in night games and 0-10 during the day… are the only team in the majors without a win in day games…the 10-game
losing streak in day games is tied for second longest in Oakland history… the longest is a 13-game streak from July 17-Aug. 21, 1977…are batting .270 (111-for-411) with 54 runs in 12 night games (4.5 runs per game), .161 (51-for-316) with 21 runs in 10 day games (2.1 runs per game)…have the fifth best night batting average in the majors and the lowest day batting average.
RUN DIFFERENTIAL: The A’s have a run differential of -103, which is the lowest by an AL, NL or FL team to start a season since 1901 (previous: -79 by the 1951 St. Louis Browns)…it is the lowest by an A’s team over any 22-game stretch…have lost six games by 10 or more runs, which matches the A’s combined total from the previous four seasons and is the most since 2008 when they had eight such games…three of the A’s four wins have been by one run and Oakland is 3-4 (.429) in one-run decisions…are tied for seventh in the majors in one-run losses, tied for ninth in one-run games (7) and tied for 10th in one-run wins.
THE INJURED LIST: The A’s placed Adrián Martínez on the injured list today and have now used the IL 11 times this year, including eight times by pitchers…the 11 IL placements are tied with the Braves for fourth most in the majors (Dodgers, Mets and Yankees 12 each)…have added six players to the IL since the start of the season after beginning the year with five players on the IL…used the IL 31 times last year, which broke the Oakland record of 27 set in 2016 and matched in 2021.
A’S VS. ANGELS
• The A’s have scored three runs in three games against the Angels this year and are 16-for-90 (.178)…scored one run or fewer in eight of the 19 games last year and tallied 47 runs (2.47 per game) while batting .188 with eight home runs…the batting average was second lowest in Oakland history against the Angels (.187 in 2006), the runs were the fewest since 1981 (46) and the home runs were the fewest since 1983 (6).
• Lost the season series last year for the first time since 2018.
• The 12 losses in 2022 match the most in Oakland history against the Angels (2009, 16, 17).
Year Home Road Totals
2023 1-2 0-0 1-2
2022 4-6 3-6 7-12
Oakland History: 479-404
at the Coliseum: 252-192
at Angel Stadium: 227-212
All-Time: 528-481
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Jordan Diaz was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas last Wednesday and has hit safely in each of his four games (4-for-11, .364)…Tony Kemp has 51 sliding, diving or jumping catches since the start of last season according to Sports Info Solutions…no other player in the majors has more than 40… Esteury Ruiz leads American League rookies in doubles (5), ranks second in on-base percentage (.357), hits (21) and stolen bases (5), tied for third in extra base hits (5) and fourth in batting (.280) and RBI (9).
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Ken Waldichuk (0-2, 7.65 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his fifth start of the season…tossed 5.0 scoreless innings in his last start and has allowed three runs on 10 hits in 12.1 innings over his last two starts (2.19 ERA) after yielding 14 runs on 17 hits in 8.2 innings over his first two starts (14.54 ERA)…begins his second season in the majors and is on his first Opening Day roster…made his Major League debut with Oakland last September.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Left-handed hitters have just 12 at bats against him and are 2-for-12 (.167)…right-handers are batting .347 (25-for-72)…his career splits are .146 (6-for-41) against lefties, .305 (53-for-174) against righties…has allowed a .400 (20-for-50) batting average with the bases empty compared to .206 (7-for-34) with runners on base…opponents are 4-for-20 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
THIS AND THAT: Has not allowed a home run in his last two starts (11.1 ip) after yielding three in his first start and four in his second start…the seven home runs are tied for third most in majors…the seven home runs in back-to-back starts match the most in Oakland history by a pitcher over a two-game stretch…Mike Fiers (Sept. 3-9, 2019) is the only other one to do it over the last 25 years…has allowed 17 runs, 12 of which have scored on home runs.
FIRST START: He was the losing pitcher in the A’s 6-0 loss to Los Angeles (AL) in April 2 in Oakland…allowed six runs on a career-high nine hits in 5.2 innings and all of the runs which scored on three home runs…O’Hoppe hit a three-run home run in the fourth and Trout and Ohtani hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth, with Trout’s being a two-run shot…the O’Hoppe home run snapped a career-high 14.0-inning scoreless streak dating back to last year.
SECOND START: He lost his second consecutive start in the A’s 9-5 loss at Tampa Bay on April 7…allowed a career-high eight runs and a career-high four home runs in 3.0 innings…surrendered a grand slam to Paredes in the second and solo home runs to Ramirez in the second and Margot and Bethancourt in the third.
THIRD START: He had a no decision in the A’s 8-4 win at Baltimore on April 12…the A’s scored three times in the first and he allowed two runs in the second…then blanked the Orioles on two hits and walk over the next four innings…had a 4-2 lead when he was relieved by Familia with one out and a runner on first in the seventh inning…Familia allowed the baserunner to score plus one run of his own for the blown save…the A’s came back with three in the eighth and one in the ninth for the win.
LAST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 4-0 loss to Chicago (NL) last Tuesday in Oakland…tossed 5.0 scoreless innings, scattering five hits and three walks…stranded at least one baserunner each inning and a total eight in his five innings of work…was relieved by Moll to start the sixth with the score tied 0-0…the bullpen allowed four runs in the eighth and Stroman and three Cubs relievers combined to shut out the A’s on two hits and five walks.
LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:
LEADING OFF: Today, the Angels play the fourth (2-1) of seven games on a homestand against the Kansas City Royals (2-1) and Oakland Athletics (April 24-27)… Halos went 2-5 on last road trip against the Boston Red Sox (1-3) and New York Yankees (1-2)…LAA was 3-3 on opening homestand of the year vs. Toronto (1-2) and Washington (2-1).
VS. OAKLAND: Halos lead the 2023 season series 2-1 after winning the opening series of the regular season at the Coliseum…The teams will meet a total of 13 times this season…Last year, LAA won season series 12-7.
MOST CAREER HOME RUNS VS. OAKLAND ATHLETICS
(since A’s moved to Oakland in 1968)
T1. Rafael Palmeiro – 43
T1. Alex Rodriguez – 43
- Mike Trout – 42
T3. Adrian Beltre – 41 - Dwight Evans – 39
WINS AND LOSSES: With an 11-11 record, Halos are back at the .500 mark for a seventh time this season (also, 1-1, 5-5, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10)…Halos have held leads in 19 of 22 games played this year and have scored first in 14 of the 22 games.
EVERYTHING IS BASICALLY FINE: José Suarez is set to make his fourth start of the season tonight…Last season, he made two starts against the A’s and went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA (12 IP – 0 ER)…He enters tonight’s game with a streak of 16.2 consecutive innings vs. Oakland without allowing an earned run. NET-OW: Zack Neto became the first player in Major League history to be hit by five pitches within his first seven career games…The previous record of four was held by Ed Fitzpatrick (1915 Boston Braves) and Kevin Frandsen (2006 San Francisco Giants)…Neto also was the first player in Angels history to be hit a pitch in four consecutive games (April 18-21).
ANOTHER NEW RECORD FOR SHOHEI: Shohei Ohtani has held opponents to an .092 (8/87) average this season…According to ELIAS, it’s the lowest batting average in a pitcher’s first five games of a season (min. 20 IP) since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893.
OHTANI EXPRESS: Shohei Ohtani has a franchise record streak of 12 consecutive pitching starts allowing two-or-fewer runs (Nolan Ryan held the previous record with a nine game streak across the 1972-73 seasons)…Ohtani’s 12-game streak is also the longest active streak in the Majors.
LEAGUE LEADER: Shohei Ohtani leads the Majors in ERA (0.64) and opponent batting average (.092), ranks fifth in strikeouts (38) and seventh in WHIP (0.82). SPICY TIME: José Quijada leads the Angels staff with four saves this season…He worked 1.0 scoreless inning in each of his first eight appearances of the year before suffering first blown save and loss Saturday night vs. Kansas City.
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK: Yesterday vs. Kansas City, Taylor Ward, Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani connected for back-to-back-to-back home runs in the 6th inning… It was the Angels first time hitting three straight homers since June 8, 2019 vs. Seattle (La Stella, Trout, Ohtani in the 4th inning).
RECENT TRANSACTIONS: Friday, the Angels selected the contracts of C Chad Wallach and RHP Austin Warren…In corresponding moves, RHP Jimmy Herget was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake, C Logan O’Hoppe (left shoulder inflammation) was been placed on the 10-day IL and RHP Justin Garza was designated for assignment.
ALL OVER THE INFIELD: Gio Urshela is one of three players in the Majors to appear at all four infield positions this season…He has totaled nine games at third base, six games at shortstop, six games at first base and one game at second base…Oakland’s Aledmys Diaz and Cleveland’s Gabriel Arias are the only other players to play all four infield positions this year.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP JOSÉ SUAREZ
0-1, 9.26 ERA
Has not allowed an earned run in last 16.2 innings pitched vs. Oakland
• TODAY’S GAME: Making fourth start of the season and second at home…Is in fifth Major League season with Angels…Made Opening Day roster for second consecutive season.
• LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor in decision in last start on Tuesday at New York (A.L.) after tossing 3.1 innings and allowing two earned runs on three hits with six walks and one strikeout…The six walks are a career high…Began outing with 3.0 scoreless frames and exited game with Angels leading 4-0 in the 4th inning, but two bequeathed runners would ultimately score.
• VS. OAKLAND: In seven career games (four starts) against the A’s, is 3-2 with a 2.38 ERA (34 IP – 9 ER) and 29 strikeouts…Last year, was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA (12 IP – 0 ER) in two starts vs. Oakland…Enters tonight’s game with an active 16.2 inning streak vs. Oakland without allowing an earned run.
• AT ANGEL STADIUM: In 31 career games (26 starts) at The Big A, is 6-12 with a 5.30 ERA (142.2 IP – 84 ER)… This year is 0-0 with a 9.00 ERA (4 IP – 4 ER) after first home start on April 10 vs. Washington…Last year, was 5-4 with a 5.19 ERA (58.2 IP – 27 ER) in 11 home games (10 starts)…Began career with 12 consecutive winless starts at Angel Stadium, (which was most all-time to begin a career in ballpark history), before earning CG victory Sept. 4, 2021 vs. Texas.
• FIRST TIME THROUGH: This season, opponents are batting .292 (7/24) the first time through the order…After the first time through, opponents are batting .452 (14/31).
• CHASING PERFECTION: Carried a perfect game through 5.1 innings in home start on Aug. 16, 2022 vs. Seattle, before allowing four consecutive singles and exiting the game.
• AVOID THE TOP: Last season, hitters in the top three spots in the opposing batting order hit .319 (51/160), while batters in the 4-9 spots batted .198 (52/263).
• GOOD NIGHT: Last season, made 13 appearances (12 starts) in night games and went 6-4 with a 2.96 ERA (67 IP – 22 ER), compared with a 2-4 record and 5.57 ERA (42 IP – 26 ER) in day games.
