SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:

Padres win series in Toronto but fall short of a sweep

• The day after they shut out Toronto 2-0, San Diego was shut out yesterday against the Blue Jays 4-0…Blake Snell issued a career-high-tying 7 walks (also on June 19, 2018 @ HOU, w/TB), the most by a Padre pitcher since Eric Lauer’s 7 on June 8, 2018 @ MIA…over the last 10 seasons since 2013, there have been just 19 instances of a pitcher allowing 1 or 0 earned runs while walking at least 7…Snell joined Wade Miley and Tyler Chatwood as the only 3 pitchers since ’13 to do so twice.
• With his run allowed in the 2nd, Snell also snapped his consecutive scoreless streak at a career-high 22.0 innings.
• Xander Bogaerts went 3-for-4, collecting his 1,500th hit with his 3rd knock in the 6th…San Diego batters went 0-for-7 with RISP and went without an extra-base hit.

Friars look to win consecutive series

• San Diego’s road series win over the Blue Jays was the 1st time San Diego won an away series since they took 2 of 3 from the Rockies in Denver from June 6-11…in failing to win yesterday, they still have yet to sweep any team on the road this season (their sole sweep in a series of at least 3 games was from July 3-5 vs. the Angels in San Diego).

Soto reaches walk No. 600

• Yesterday @ Toronto, Juan Soto drew 2 walks, reaching the 600-walk milestone…it was his Major League-leading 92nd walk overall and his 23rd multi-walk game this season…he became the 20th active big leaguer to reach the 600-walk mark, and he did so in the fewest plate appearances in Major League history (3,096 PA), surpassing Jack Crooks’ pace (from 1889-1898).

Lugo finally faces the Tigers

• 33-year-old Seth Lugo gets the rock for his 14th start of the season, his 7th on the road and the first start/app of his career vs. the Tigers…after tonight, he will have faced 29 of the 30 MLB teams, leaving his former club, the Mets, as the lone team he is yet to face.
• Lugo has the highest ground ball rate among Padres starters this year at 46.9%.

Macho Macho Manny

• Manny Machado leads the Majors in the month of July in home runs (9), RBI (21), and SLG (.780)….he has 5 homers over his last 8 games and 7 HR across his last 11…in Game 1 of the double header against the Phillies on Saturday, he hit his 300th career homer, becoming the 11th active player to reach the 300-HR plateau.

Friars look for their 1st series win ever in Detroit

• The Padres have gone just 1-5 on the road in their existence against the Tigers, and their lone win was on July 26, 2022 last year.

Padres starters lead the National League in quality outings (45), lead MLB in ERA in July

• San Diego starters lead the National League in quality starts (45) and rank T-4th most in MLB with the Astros, trailing just the Blue Jays (47), Twins (48), and Mariners (49).
• The San Diego rotation’s 2.00 ERA in the month of July is the best in baseball, but the Tigers’ staff has led MLB this month in WHIP (0.94).

STARTING PITCHER – SETH LUGO #67
Lugo faces DET for first time, leaving Mets as only team yet to pitch against 33-year-old Seth Lugo takes the mound for his 14th start of the season, his 7th on the road and the first start/app of his career vs. DET…after tonight, he will have faced 29 of the 30 MLB teams, leaving his former club, the Mets as the lone team he is yet to face.

Tagged with season-high-tying 5 ER last Sun @ PHI
Lugo started Game 4 of the 4-game set last Sun @ PHI and allowed a season-high-tying 5 ER (also: May 16 vs. KC) in SD’s eventual 7-6 defeat in 12 innings…it was just the 2nd game he’s allowed 2 HR this season (also April 27 @ CHC)…it was his 34th appearance vs. PHI, 2nd-most against any club, trailing only his 39 vs. WSH, and the 6 starts tie WSH for the most he’s made against any club.

Limiting the free passes
Lugo has walked 2-or-fewer in 12 of his 13 starts in ’23, including 5 starts with 0 free passes (4/2 vs. COL, 4/27 @ CHC, 6/25 vs. WSH, June 30 @ CIN & July 16 @ PHI)…the 5 starts with 0 walks allowed over 5.0+ IP is T-3rd most among all NL pitchers this season…he ranks in the 95th percentile in BB%, and his 4.5 BB% is the lowest in his career, ahead of his 5.1 % in 2019.

Pitch counts
Among all qualifying pitchers from Opening Day through May 3, which were 6 starts for Lugo, his 98.3 pitches per game were T-5th most in the Majors with Zack Wheeler…in his 7 outings since May 10 @ MIN, he’s averaged 80.1 pitches thrown, including averaging 95.0 per game across his last 3 starts.

Inside the curve
Just like in 2022 (99th percentile), Lugo ranks in 1 of the 2 top percentiles in curveball spin rate (100th), averaging 3,248 rpm, but opponents are hitting .313 against it compared to the .159 clip against it last season…he is averaging 61.2 inches of vertical drop on his curve – which is the 5th-highest vertical drop – and an average of 7.9 inches and 15% more drop – of all ML curveballs.

Interleague
In his 38 career Interleague appearance (10 starts), Lugo has gone 7-6 with a 3.78 ERA and .235 AVG against…has made 3 Interleague starts so far this season (May 10 @ CIN, May 16 vs. KC & July 5 vs. LAA), going 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA and .255 AVG against.

DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:

TIGERS BLANK ROYALS TO CLINCH SERIES: The Tigers posted their eighth shutout of the season yesterday, blanking the Royals 3-0 to win three out of four games in the series. Michael Lorenzen started for Detroit and was dominant, scattering three hits in 7.0 scoreless innings with one walk and three strikeouts. Tyler Holton worked a perfect eighth and Jason Foley threw a shutout ninth for his fourth save. Offensively, Andy Ibáñez had a pair of hits and drove in a run, while Eric Haase added a hit and a RBI. Riley Greene, Nick Maton and Zach McKinstry each contributed a hit and Spencer Torkelson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

BE LIKE MIKE: Michael Lorenzen continued his excellent stretch of pitching yesterday against the Royals, working 7.0 shutout innings with three hits allowed, one walk and three strikeouts. With yesterday’s outing, Lorenzen extended his scoreless innings streak to 21.2, which is the longest of his career and the longest active streak in the Majors.

HOLTON PUTTING UP ZEROS: Tyler Holton pitched a scoreless eighth inning out of the bullpen yesterday. Since June 4, Holton has not allowed an earned run in 15 of his last 17 outings, posting a 0.81 ERA (22.1IP/2ER) and 25 strikeouts. For the season, he ranks fifth among American League relievers (min. 30.0 innings) with a 1.81 ERA and ninth with a 0.97 WHIP.

GREENE MACHINE: Riley Greene was on base twice in Thursday’s series finale at Kansas City, going 1×3 with a walk. Greene has hit safely in 31 of his last 39 games, over which he is batting .347/.422/.510 with 10 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 14 RBI. Among American League players with at least 250 plate appearances this
season, Greene ranks eighth in batting average (.300), while he is 10th in on-base percentage (.371).

TIGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH FOUR SELECTIONS FROM MLB DRAFT: The Tigers announced that they have agreed to terms with four of their picks from the 2023 MLB Draft. The list of signed players includes: SS Kevin McGonigle (Competitive Balance A round), LHP Paul Wilson (third round), C Brady Cerkownyk (15th round) and RHP Johnathan Rogers (20th round). With today’s signings, the Tigers have now signed 19 of their 21 selections from the 2023 MLB Draft.

AT COMERICA PARK: The Tigers tonight begin a seven-game homestand, which includes three games vs. San Diego (July 21-23), one game vs. San Francisco (July 24) and three games vs. Los Angeles (AL) (July 25-27). Detroit is 20-25 at Comerica Park this season. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .241/.311/.374 at home, while the pitching staff has a 4.50 ERA (414.0IP/207ER).

TIGERS AND PADRES: The Tigers and Padres begin their only series of the season tonight. The two teams met last season at Comerica Park with the Tigers winning two-of-three games. Detroit holds an 11-7 advantage in the all-time series against San Diego, including a 5-1 edge at Comerica Park.

INTERLEAGUE ACTION: The Tigers continue their interleague schedule tonight against the Padres. Detroit is 14-14 against National League foes this season, including a 4-4 record against NL West teams. The Tigers have finished with a winning record against NL opponents in each of the last two seasons.

TIGERS ON THE IL:

• LHP Tyler Alexander (left lat/shoulder strain, 60-day IL on July 4, retroactive to July 3)
• LHP Matthew Boyd (left elbow sprain, 60-day IL on June 27)
• OF Austin Meadows (anxiety, 60-day IL on April 8, retroactive to April 7)
• RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
• RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
• RHP Spencer Turnbull (neck discomfort, 60-day IL on May 12, retroactive to May 7)
• RHP Will Vest (right lower leg strain, 15-day IL on June 27)

TONIGHT’S TIGERS STARTING PITCHER

45 Reese Olson • 1-3, 3.96 ERA (38.2IP/17ER)

• Olson will make the 10th appearance and seventh start of his Major League career tonight in the series opener vs. San Diego.
• Took the loss in his last start on Sunday at Seattle, allowing two runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
• Will be making his first career appearance against the Padres tonight… in five career outings, including three starts, at Comerica Park, he has a 1-1 record with a 4.57 ERA (21.2IP/11ER) and 24 strikeouts.
• Earned his first big league win on June 24 vs. Minnesota, allowing one run on four hits with a walk and nine strikeouts in 5.1 innings… became the 11th Tigers pitcher since 1901 to strike out nine-or-more batters in one of his first five Major League games (last, Tyler Alexander, July 27, 2019 at Seattle).
• Made his Major League debut on June 2 at Chicago (AL), allowing two runs on two hits with one walk and six strikeouts in 5.0 innings… carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning until allowing a single to Romy Gonzalez…according to the Elias Sports Bureau, he became the first Tigers pitcher to throw at least 5.0 no-hit innings in his debut since Bill Slayback pitched 7.0 hitless innings on June 26, 1972 vs. New York (AL).
• Has started 10 games for Triple A Toledo this season, posting a 2-3 record with a 6.38 ERA (36.2IP/26ER) and 47 strikeouts.