PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:
GAME #28 RECAP: The Phillies extended their winning streak to a season-high 4 games with a 6-1 victory over the Astros in Houston … Starter Zack Wheeler (3-1) got the win after going 6.0 scoreless innings with 1 BB and 7 SO … Five different starters drove in a run for the Phils … Nick Castellanos’ solo HR off the train tracks in the 4th inning got the Phillies on the board first … Houston native Kody Clemens belted a 2-run HR … Jake Cave tallied 3 hits … The victory gave the Phillies their 4th straight series victory.
REMEMBER THE FIGHTINS: After starting the year 0-4 and being outscored 37-12 (-25) through their first four games (3/30-4/3), the Phillies have gone 15-9 (.625) with a +22 run differential in their 24 games since (4/4-current) … Philadelphia has won seven of their last eight (since 4/21), eight of their last 10 (since 4/19), 10 of their last 13 (since 4/16) and 11 of their last 15 (since 4/14).
FOR STARTERS: Over their first 13 games (4-9 record) of the season, Phillies starting pitchers went 1-6 with a 4.64 ERA and just 2 quality starts … They had 21 BB to 61 SO with a .264 opp. AVG and a .724 OPS … Over their last 15 games (11-4 record), the starters are 8-4, 3.81 ERA and 9 quality starts … They have recorded 26 BB to 86 SO with a .199 opp. AVG and a .615 OPS … Since the beginning of that 15-game span on April 14, among all NL clubs, Phillies starters have posted the lowest opp. AVG, rank 2nd in IP (85.0) and SO and are 4th in ERA … Only PIT has recorded more quality starts (13) in that span than the Phils.
JUST. SCORE. FOUR.: This season, the Phillies are 12-3 (.800) in 15 games when they score at least four runs … Conversely, they are 3-10 in 13 games when they score three runs or fewer … Dating back to the start of last season, the Phillies are 83-26 (.761) when they score four or more and 19-62 (.235) when they score three or fewer.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Four of the Phillies last seven wins have been one-run decisions and five of the last seven have been decided by two runs or less … Overall this season, Philadelphia’s 5-2 (.714) mark in one-run games is tied for 3rd best in the NL with PIT and T-6th best in MLB … Among NL clubs this year, only MIA (1.000), MIL (.857) have higher winning percentages.
THREE TO GO FOR 400: In Thursday’s 1-0 win over the Mariners, Craig Kimbrel tossed a scoreless 9th inning (2 SO) and picked up his 397th career save … Kimbrel’s 397th career save came in his 721st game – the only two pitchers in MLB history to reach 400 saves in 800 or fewer career games were Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera (400th SV in 697th career G) and Trevor Hoffman (400th SV in 706th career G) … Billy Wagner currently ranks 3rd-fastest in MLB history as he reached his 400th save in his 813th career game.
CAN’T SPELL KIMBREL WITHOUT A K: Over his last seven appearances (since 4/12), Craig Kimbrel has struck out 12 of the 21 batters he has faced (57.1%) with 0 walks … Kimbrel has allowed only 3 hits in that span (all singles) and the Phillies are 6-1 in those 7 games … Kimbrel is currently running a 70.5% first pitch strike rate which would be his highest since a career-best 70.6% rate in 2012 with ATL.
RELIEVER OF THE MONTH??: In Friday’s 3-1 win at Houston, LHP Jose Alvarado worked a perfect 9th inning with 2 SO to earn his 5th straight save … In 12 appearances this month, the Venezuelan native has posted a 0.73 ERA (1 ER, 12.1 IP) with 24 SO and a 0.49 WHIP (6 hits, 0 BB) … Alvarado has recorded 5 SV in 6 chances in April and has limited opponents to a slash line of .140/.140/.256 … Alvarado has never received Reliever of the Month honors in his major league career.
STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO, GOOD LUCK: Dating back to Sept. 13, 2022, Alvarado has made 19 appearances – he has multiple strikeouts in 17 of those 19 games (89%) and has multiple strikeouts with 0 walks in 16 of those 19 (84%) … Alvarado, who has faced 43 batters this season, has 24 strikeouts and 0 walks … Since his last walk on Sept. 21, 2022 vs TOR, Alvarado has faced 62 batters and has struck out 36 of them (58.0% SO rate) with 0 walks.
BULLISH ON THE PEN: Over the last 13 games (since 4/16 at CIN), the Phillies bullpen has totaled 39.2 innings pitched with only 4 ER allowed (0.91 ERA), with 50 strikeouts and six walks (8.33 SO/BB ratio), while averaging 15.2 pitches per inning … During this span they have allowed 1 HR and held the 150 batters they have faced to a .450 OPS … Over their first 15 games of the season (3/30-4/15), the bullpen posted a 7.19 ERA (45 ER, 56.1 IP) with 60 strikeouts to 41 walks (1.46 SO/BB ratio) while averaging 19.7 pitches per inning.
YOU AGAIN: Today the Phillies and Astros will conclude their series, a rematch of the 2022 World Series which ended 176 days ago … This marks only the second time that a World Series rematch occurred in April of the following year (other: Kansas City Royals vs New York Mets in 2016) … The most recent World Series regular season rematch, regardless of month, was in July of 2019 – Boston Red Sox vs Los Angeles Dodgers.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – BAILEY FALTER • LHP #70
2023: 0-4, 4.50 ERA Career: 8-9, 4.39
LAST START: 4/25 vs SEA: L, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 3 HR… The Phillies fell to the Seattle Mariners, 5-3, at CBP in South Philly … Nick Castellanos had 2 hits to raise his OBP for the year to .382 … Yunior Marte and Andrew Vasquez made scoreless appearances in relief.
TONIGHT’S START:
• Walk it Out: With another 0 BB start his last time out, Falter has now not issued a free pass in 9 of his last 13 starts since 8/26/22, walking 8 total batters in that span (his second such span in an overlapping stretch of starts) … There have only been 2 other Phillies lefties ever to issue 8 or fewer walks in a 13-start span: Cliff Lee (15x over 3 unique stretches of starts 2009-11, 2012-13 and 2013-14) and HOFer Jim Kaat (2x in 1 overlapping stretch of starts, 1976-77) … Lee (9/6/13-5/7/14) was the last Phillie of any handedness to do it at all … Since 8/26/22, he has a 3.0 % walk rate which leads all ML pitchers with at least 200 batters faced … Falter has walked 20 career batters in 22 career starts, including 1 or 0 in 16 of those 22 … He has a 4.5% career walk rate in his 22 starts
• Homer or Bust: Falter, who has allowed just 9 hits, 3 BB and struck out 10 in his consecutive quality starts, has not allowed a run aside from via home run those 2 games … He set down 14 straight after a 3-run 1st inning homer on 4/18 at CWS, and began his start on 4/25 vs SEA with 4.0 scoreless IP before allowing 2-run homers in the 5th and 6th (only 3 of 4 runs were ER)
• Mark of Consistency: Since 7/29/22, Falter has a 3.53 ERA (31 ER, 79.0 IP), 1.09 WHIP (11 BB, 75 H) … Removing his 6 ER in 3.2 IP on 9/24 vs ATL, he has a 2.99 ERA (25 ER, 75.1 IP) and 1.01 WHIP in that span
• Gimme a Minute (Maid): Falter has made one career appearance at Minute Maid Park and against HOU, tossing 1.0 scoreless IP on the final day of the 2022 regular season
• vs AL West: 0-3, 3.72 ERA (8 ER, 19.1 IP) in 5 games (4 starts) … Counting tonight, Falter will have made 4 of his last 7 starts against AL West teams, a number surpassed by only 4 Phillies (Nola, Burnett, Hamels, Myers) in their entire respective Phillies careers
• vs Interleague: 1-4, 3.38 ERA (11 ER, 29.1 IP) in 8 games (5 starts)
ROAD:
• 2023: 0-3, 5.29 ERA (10 ER, 17.0 IP) in 3 starts
• Career: 5-4, 4.10 ERA (39 ER, 85.2 IP) in 25 games (13 starts)
2023 SEASON:
• Tossed a career-high 7.0 IP on 4/18 at CWS
• Walked 4 batters in a span of 10 starts, 8/26/22-4/8/23, becoming the 5th different Phillie since at least 1901 to walk 4 or fewer in a 10-start span
• Made his second career and consecutive Opening Day roster
HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Astros and Phillies will conclude a three-game series tonight in Houston in what is a rematch of the 2022 World Series, won by Houston in six games…RHP José Urquidy, who made one 3.0-inning scoreless appearance in the 2022 World Series, will get tonight’s start opposite LHP Bailey Falter, who did not pitch in the 2022 Fall Classic.
FALL STARS: The Astros were led in the 2022 World Series by LHP Framber Valdez (2gs, 2-0, 1.46 ERA), RHP Bryan Abreu (4g, 0ER/5IP) and RHP Ryan Pressly (5g, 0ER/5.2IP), who all were dominant in their outings…at the plate, the club was led by SS Jeremy Peña (.400, 10×25), the series MVP, and \postseason stalwart 2B Jose Altuve (.308, 8×26).
ABOUT THE MVP: SS Jeremy Peña won the 2022 World Series MVP after leading the club in hits in the series, while hitting safely in all six games at a .400 clip (10×25)…he had game-winning RBI in Game 2 and Game 5, including a three-hit performance in Game 5…by winning the MVP, Peña became the third rookie (first rookie position player) to win World Series MVP, following the Marlins Livan Hernandez in 1997 and the Dodgers Larry Sherry in 1959.
ABOUT URQUIDY: RHP José Urquidy is making his sixth start of the year in what is his fifth Major League season…Urquidy had a solid 2022 campaign in which he set many career highs, including wins (13), starts (28), innings (164.1) and strikeouts (134)…he also had a solid showing this Spring Training at the WBC, pitching twice for Team Mexico, including a 2.1-inning appearance (1ER) in Mexico’s semifinal game vs. Japan.
TONIGHT’S GIVEAWAY: Prior to tonight’s game, 10,000 fans that are 21 and over will receive a set of four Astros World Series Champions Coasters, presented by Sire Spirits. ABOUT LAST NIGHT: For the third straight game, the Astros were limited to just one run in a 6-1 loss to the Phillies…SS Jeremy Peña accounted for the Astros only run, which came on a solo shot in the 8th…RHP Cristian Javier (3ER/5.2IP) started for Houston and was handed the loss, his first of 2023.
RECENT ‘STROS: The Astros have won six of their last nine games and are 11-7 in their last 18 contests, which have all come against clubs with records above .500…additionally, prior to this series, the Astros had won their last three series against teams considered to be among the best in baseball, the Blue Jays (2-1), Braves (3-0) and Rays (2-1).
VS. THE BEST: This series is the Astros seventh consecutive against an opponent with a current record of .500 or above (the Astros are 11-9 in this span)…in 2022, the Astros were an AL-best 42-27 (.609) vs. opponents that were .500 or better and were 35-20 (.636) in the regular season vs. opponents that qualified for the playoffs…additionally in 2022, Houston ended up with an 11-2 (.846) mark in the 2022 postseason (3-0 vs. SEA, 4-0 vs. NYY, 4-2 vs. PHI).
TRAFFIC:LF Yordan Alvarez has opened his season by reaching base safely in all 21 of his games…Alvarez’s streak ties as the longest on-base streak in the AL this season, along with streaks posted by 1B Vinnie Pasquantino and 3B Eugenio Suárez.
PEÑA POWER: SS Jeremy Peña has homered in back-to-back games and in three of the Astros last five contests…he also has a hit in six of his last seven games, batting .357 (10×28) with a double, three home runs, four RBI, one stolen base and a 1.093 OPS during that span.
STREAK SNAPPED: On Friday night, 2B Mauricio Dubón had his 20-game hitting streak snapped…his hit streak is still the longest in the Majors this season and ranks as the longest in franchise history before May 1…it was also the longest streak by an Astro since OF Hunter Pence posted a 23-game streak in 2011…Dubón went 29×85 (.341) during the streak with just seven strikeouts…he has made all 23 of his starts at second base this season while filling in for the injured 2B Jose Altuve.
MAKING A CASE: RHP Hunter Brown has made a strong case to be the American League’s Rookie of the Month after going 3-0 with a 2.37 ERA (8ER/30.1IP), a .206 opponent average and 32 strikeouts in five starts this season…Brown is trying to become the first Astros pitcher to win Rookie of the Month since RHP Collin McHugh in September of 2014.
ON THE SIDELINES: The Astros have a pair of outfielders rehabbing with minor league affiliates:
• LF Michael Brantley, on the IL while recovering from right shoulder surgery, is currently on an injury rehab assignment with Triple A Sugar Land…so far, he’s gone 2×11 with three walks and two RBI in four starts (3 in LF, 1 at DH) for the Space Cowboys…he started back-to-back
games on Thursday (LF) and Friday (DH) prior to an off day yesterday.
• OF Chas McCormick, on the IL with lower back tightness, began an injury rehab assignment with Double A Corpus Christi yesterday…he went 0x2 with a walk and a stolen base in a start in CF
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP JOSÉ URQUIDY
LAST START – 4/24 at TB: had a tough outing, allowed 6 runs on 7 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts in 2.2 innings…his runs were a career-high, last recorded on Sept. 17. 2022 at OAK.
EXIT VELOCITY: per Baseball Savant, has held opponent’s to an 85.3 mph exit average velocity, placing him in the 90th percentile for opponent’s exit velocity…is the lowest average exit velocity amongst Astros starters, with Luis Garcia the next-closest (86.7 mph).
SPIN CYCLE: is averaging a spin rate of 2693 rpm with his curveball, which is the highest mark of his career…set his previous career high of 2628 in 2022.
AGAINST THE PHILLIES: is scheduled to make his 3rd career appearance (1st career start) against the Phillies.
• made both of his previous appearances in the 2022 with one coming in Game 3 of the World Series, where he tossed 3.0 scoreless innings with 1 hit and 4 strikeouts..
• for his career, he’s recorded a 3.60 ERA (2ER/5IP) with 5 strikeouts and a .167 opponent batting average.
WITH THE ‘STROS: was originally signed by the Astros as an international free agent from Mexico on March 2, 2015…made his MLB debut on July 2, 2019 with a start at Colorado…since his debut, he ranks 6th amongst AL pitchers (min. 325 IP) by averaging 2.00 walks per 9 IP.
• is on 11 Mexican-born players to appear in a game with the Astros…his 364.1 IP in his career is the most of any Mexican-born pitcher in Astros history, directly ahead of RHP Aurelio Lopez, who pitched 116.0 innings for the Astros in the 1986-87 seasons…his 25 career wins are 2nd-most of any active Mexican-born player in MLB, trailing only Dodgers LHP Julio Urías (52).
