MLB Preview: St. Louis Cardinals (25-35) at Texas Rangers (38-20)

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:

RECENT REDBIRDS: The St. Louis Cardinals continue a six-game road trip through Pittsburgh and Texas with the first of a three-game series against Texas Rangers in their first visit to Globe Life Field. This past weekend, the Cardinals were swept in a three-game series by the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, dropping the first game 7-5 after leading 5-0, followed by two one-run losses (4-3 & 2-1) for their second three-game road sweep this season and fourth overall (Atlanta, Los Angeles-NL, Los Angeles-AL, Pittsburgh). St. Louis has lost three straight games and four straight road contests.

FLIGHT PATTERN: Entering today, the Cardinals are in last place in the National League Central, 7.5 games behind first place Milwaukee and 1.5 games behind fourth place Cincinnati. St. Louis was a season-low 10.0 games out of first place eight days from April 29-May 6, before closing to 4.0 games back on May 27. St. Louis spent 24 days in last place from April 26-May 19 and 40 days of the 67 days in the cellar on the 2023 Major League schedule.

APRIL SHOWERS…MAY FLOWERS…JUNE…?: The Cardinals began their season 10-19 in March/April and took a five-game losing streak into May before exploding through the rest of the month from a 10-24 record to 25-32 at the end. From May 7-31, the Cardinals had the best record in the National League at 15-8 and nearly set a franchise record for May, hitting 44 home runs, one shy of the 2000 Cardinals who hammered 45.

BAKER SELECTED, THEN CONNECTED: Rookie first baseman Luken Baker has his contract selected from Memphis (AAA) yesterday and then went 2-for-4
against Pittsburgh in his Major League debut. The Texas native joined Jordan Walker as Cardinals to debut this season and record a hit in their first plate appearance. Baker, who played college baseball at nearby Texas Christian University, is the third Cardinals player to make his MLB debut this season with Walker and Guillermo Zuniga.

THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM: Even though this is the Cardinals first time playing at Globe Life Field, they had two opportunities prior to this
week. First, in 2020, they were scheduled to play an exhibition opening up the ballpark at the end of the Spring Training schedule in advance
of Opening Day, but COVID-19 protocols canceled the end of Spring Training on March 13 and the first part of the season. At the end of the
abbreviated 2020 season, the Cardinals would have advanced to the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but
were eliminated by the San Diego Padres, after holding a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Wild Card Series.

WAINO’S WORLD: Tonight’s starting pitcher, 41-year old Adam Wainwright, will be making his first career appearance at Globe Life Field and logging the 35th ballpark of his regular season career (since 2005). After tonight, his only remaining active MLB ballpark to not appear in regular season play is Target Field. Wainwright started the 2014 All-Star Game for the National League at Target FIeld, but has yet to pitch there in the regular season. On ballparks standing during his Major League career in which he never appeared, is the original Yankee Stadium, Globe Life Park or the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. His other notable stadiums include Mexico’s Monterrey Stadium (2019 vs. Reds), RFK Stadium (Nationals), Sun Life Stadium (Marlins), Shea Stadium (Mets), Turner Field (Braves) and Busch Stadium II (MLB debut & only career appearance).

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Following two one-run losses to close out the Pittsburgh series, the Cardinals are 6-13 (.316) on the season in one-run contests. Only the San Diego Padres (3-11, .214) have a worse mark among National League teams. Nine of the Cardinals last 14 games have been decided by one run. The Rangers have played in the 2nd-fewest one-run games (11, 4-7) trailing only Houston (10, 6-4).

RISP-Y BUSINESS: Dating back to the 7th inning on Friday night at Pittsburgh, the Cardinals are 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position, a hard pill to swallow in one-run games. Their last hit with runners in scoring positing was a single by Paul DeJong that only loaded the bases.
The last Cardinal with a run-producing hit was Nolan Gorman in the 3rd inning on Friday, scoring Paul Goldschmidt from second base. The Cardinals currently rank 4th in the National League with a .265 BA w/RISP and connected with a runner in scoring position for 15-straight games (5/3-18) batting .318 during that stretch. The Texas Rangers lead all of MLB with a .336 BA wRISP. Cardinals Injured List member Lars Nootbaar (lower back contusion) leads all of Major League Baseball with a .515 batting average wRISP. Three Rangers follow in the Top 5 in MLB (Jonah Heim, .511; Corey Seager, 464; Marcus Semien, .456).

PAIR OF JACKS: Yesterday, Andrew Knizner homered for the Cardinals lone run and has homered in consecutive games played (5/28 at CLE & 6/4 at PIT) for the second time this season (5/14 at BOS & 5/15 vs. MIL). Knizner joins rookie Francisco Alvarez (NYM), Jonah Heim (TEX), Sean Murphy (ATL) and Salvador Perez (KC) as catchers with pairs of consecutive game home runs this season.

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP ADAM WAINWRIGHT (2-1, 6.15)
TONIGHT’S GAME

• Makes his 6th start of the season & 463rd career appearance (396th career start).
• Wainwright’s 22 career interleague wins rank T-16th all-time in MLB history (T-5th among active pitchers) and 2nd-most by a NL pitcher (Clayton Kershaw, 27-6).
• Has departed with the lead in four of his five starts.
• Today is Wainwright’s 396th career start, ranking 3rd all-time among Cardinals pitchers Bob Gibson (482) & Bob Forsch (401). Waino’s 396 career starts, all with St. Louis, rank 14th-most, exclusively with one organization in MLB history, while Gibson (482) ranks 6th. Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators leads at 666.
• Is three wins shy of 200 career, 13 wins from 210 (T-2nd all-time Cardinals history with Jesse Haines), and six starts away from reaching 400 career.
• At age 41, Waino is one of four active players age 40+ with Rich Hill (43), Nelson Cruz (42) and Miguel Cabrera (40).
• Missed the first 33 games of the season due to a groin injury he suffered while working out during the WBC Finals. Made two injury rehab starts for Springfield (AA) and one for Memphis (AAA).

LAST TIME OUT

• Made a Memorial Day afternoon start against Kansas City and took the loss allowing three runs on nine hits as the Cardinals lost to the Royals 7-0.

DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
5/29 KC L 7-0 L-1 5.0 9 3 3 2 6 0 105-67
2023

• Earned career win No. 197 against the Reds at Great American Ball Park (5/23), allowing five runs on eight hits. Departed with 7-5 lead with runners on first and second and two outs.
• Earned 196th career on 5/18 vs. LAD. Gave him 107 career home wins with the Cardinals, T-2nd most in Cardinals history with Jesse Haines. Held a 9-2 lead when he departed and Cardinals held on for 16-8 win as the Redbirds blasted seven homers.
• Became the 21st pitcher in MLB history with 300.0 or more career innings in Interleague play in his start at Boston (5/14). Passed Jesse Haines (39) for 2nd place all-time among Cardinals with 40 starts over the age of 40. Trails only Grover Cleveland Alexander (80). Allowed back-to-back home runs for only the 9th time in his career.
• Made season debut vs. DET (5/6) and took a no-decision the Cardinals lost in 10 innings

TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:

WINS AND LOSSES: Texas beat the Mariners yesterday, 12-3, as club has a 3-0 record to open this 6-day, 6-G homestand vs. SEA (3-0) and STL (3 G)…team has won 3 straight, 5 of 6, 9 of 11, 12 of 15, 17 of 23, and 20 of last 27 games… TEX is an MLB-best 24-9 (.727) in last 33 G beg. 4/28…most wins in any 33-G span for TEX since 5/29-7/2/16 (also 24- 9)…TEX is 30-14 in last 44 G and 34-16 in last 50 G beg. 4/9.

• At 38-20 (.655), TEX owns the 2nd-best record in MLB to only TB (42-19, see chart below)…club’s 38 wins rank 2nd in A.L. and MLB (42-TB).
• The 38-20 start is the Rangers’ best 58-G start to a season in WSH/TEX franchise history.
• TEX is a season-high 18 G above .500 for the 1st time since the end of 2016 (95-67)…this is the earliest date ever for TEX to be 18-over (prev. 6/17 in 2016)…this is just the 11th season in Rangers history to reach 18-over.

BEST RECORDS IN MLB, 2023
Win Pct. Team W-L
.689 Tampa Bay 42-19
.655 Texas 38-20
.627 Baltimore 37-22

WITH A WIN TONIGHT the Rangers would:

• Reach the best 58-G record in WSH/TEX franchise history, climb to season-best 19 G above .500 for 1st time since the end of 2016 season, and reach 19-over at earliest point in a season in franchise history (by date or games).
• Match season-best 4-game win streak for the 4th time in 2023 (last 4-0 from 5/23-27).
• Extend current home winning streak to 7 straight G (beg. 5/19), which would be club’s longest-ever at Globe Life Field (prev. 6-0 from 5/15-31/22) and longest overall since an 8-G run from 5/10-18/17 at Globe Life Park.

SERIES STUFF: Club’s 3-G sweep of SEA last weekend was 4th time to win all games of a series in 2023 (last 3-0, 5/19- 21 vs. COL)…Texas has won a season-high 5 consecutive series, longest such span since going 5-0-0 from 6/15-7/1/18 vs. COL/at KC/at MIN/vs. SD/vs. CWS…club is now 10-1-1 in last 12 series and 13-2-1 in last 16…team is 14-4-1 overall in series this year, going 6-2-1 at home and 8-2-0 on the road… TEX is now 5-1-1 in last 7 series at GLF.

AT HOME: Rangers are 19-8 (.704) at home, 2nd-best home record in A.L. and MLB (TB-.813, 26-6)…has won 6 straight, 7 of 8, 11 of 14, 16 of last 22 at GLF beg. 4/5…TEX has a 105-114 all-time record at Globe Life Field (2020-23), but are 25-15 last 40 G here (beg. 9/11/22)…TEX leads MLB in R (193) and R/G (7.15) at home in 2023.

VS. ST. LOUIS: Rangers host Cardinals for 3 G this week, 1st meetings since 5/17-19/19 at GLPIA (2-1)…St. Louis is one of 7 clubs that has never played a regular season game at Globe Life Field (also CHC, CIN, MIA, MIL, NYM, PIT)… TEX leads the all-time reg. season series with STL, 9-3, but has gone just 3-3 vs. Cardinals in Arlington.

BEST TEAM IN BALL: After yesterday’s 12-3 victory over the Mariners, Texas has now outscored its opponents 376- 224 (+152) in 2023…it is the highest run differential in MLB this season (2nd is TB at +122), and the 2nd-highest over any 58-game span in Senators/Rangers franchise history (+155 from 9/1/11-5/11/12)…additionally, it is the 6th-largest run differential in the first 58 G of a season by any team in baseball’s Modern Era (beg. 1901), as the last squad to outscore its opponents by such a wide margin over a campaign’s first 58 G was the 1939 New York Yankees (+169):

HIGHEST TEAM RUN DIFFERENTIAL OVER
SEASON’S FIRST 58 GAMES, MODERN ERA (beg. 1901)
per Stathead
Year Team Run Diff.
1912 New York Giants +174
1902 Pittsburgh Pirates +174
1929 Philadelphia Athletics +171
1939 New York Yankees +169
1936 New York Yankees +153
2023 Texas Rangers +152

MEANS OF (RUN) PRODUCTION: With yesterday’s 12-run output, the Rangers have now scored an MLB-high 376 runs this season…that marks the most runs scored thru 58 games in WSH/TEX franchise history, and most by any ML club over first 58 G of a campaign since 2001 Colorado (also 376 R).

• Yesterday was Texas’ MLB-leading 16th game with 10+ R this season, tied with the 1936 New York Yankees (also 16) for the most such games by any team over the first 58 G of a season in the Modern Era (beg. 1901).
• TEX plated a total of 30 R in last weekend’s 3-game series vs. SEA, the 3rd time this season in which TEX has scored 30+ R in a 3-G series (also 31 R, 5/19-21 vs. COL; 30 R, 5/5- 7 at LAA)…it is already a club record for most 3-G series w/ 30+ R in a single season (prev. 2, 3x, last in 2009).
• The Rangers have scored an MLB-best 193 R at home in ’23, the 2nd-highest R total thru 27 home G in franchise history (202-1998)…the last ML team with as many as 193 R in its first 27 home G of a season was 2001 Colorado (219).
• TEX has scored 10+ R in 4 of its last 5 G at home dating back to 5/20, the first time in club history to score double-digit runs 4+ times over a 5-G span in Arlington…the 54 total runs in that span are the team’s most over any 5-G stretch at home since 4/17-22/96 (59 R) at Globe Life Park.

SIMMY SZN: Marcus Semien roped a leadoff double to left field in the 1st inn. of yesterday’s win to extend his career best and MLB-high 23-G hit streak…it is the T5th-longest hit streak in club history, and tied for the longest by a Ranger in the last 13 years (also 23 G by Adolis García, 8/3/27/22).

• Semien slashed .327/.364/.574/.938 (33-101) w/ 4 HR, 2 3B, 9 2B, 19 RBI, 25 R, and 6 BB/13 SO over the course of the streak (beg. 5/10), ranking among MLB leaders in that time in R (1st), H (3rd), XBH (T3rd), 2B (4th), and TB (4th).

STAY WINNING: Nathan Eovaldi produced a quality start yesterday (6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 SO) to extend his 7-start winning streak, T2nd-longest win streak by a starter in MLB this season (8-TB’s Shane McClanahan, 3/30-5/24), and T10th-longest in WSH/TEX franchise history (last 9-0 by Martín Pérez, 5/10-7/29/22)…he owns the longest active scoreless streak in MLB (17.0 IP), and has gone 6-0, 0.68 ERA (4 ER/52.2 IP), and 46 SO/9 BB over his last 7 GS (beg. 4/29)…Eovaldi and Gaylord Perry (6-1, 0.44 ERA from 7/18- 8/16/75) are the only 2 starting pitchers in franchise history to post 6+ wins and a sub-0.70 ERA over a 7-start span.

SHORTS: RHP Spencer Howard is expected to be activated from the 60-day Injured List prior to tonight’s game…a corresponding move will be announced at that time…Happy Birthday to Rangers LHP Andrew Heaney, who turns 32 today…4 of the top 5 A.L. leaders in runs scored in ’23 are Rangers (54-Semien, 47-García, 43-Lowe, 42-Jung/Judge)…yesterday was win no. 2041 in the managerial career of Bruce Bochy, passing Walter Alston for 10th place on the all-time list.

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #54 Martín Pérez, LHP
(6-1, 4.43)

TONIGHT: The 32-year-old left-hander is scheduled to make his 12th start of the season in tonight’s series opener vs. STL…is coming off his 2nd-shortest start of the year on Tues. at DET (ND, 4.2 IP, 6 R-ER), an outing which spiked his overall ERA over a half-run from 3.83 to season-high 4.43…had earned wins with ultra-quality starts in his previous 2 outings before Tuesday, 5/19 vs. COL and 5/24 at PIT…is unbeaten (5-0) in his last 9 starts, as his 6 wins in 2023 are T2nd among Rangers and T8th-most in A.L… opponents are batting .301/.352/.476/.827 w/ 10 HR, 20 BB, 44 SO in 61.0 IP in 2023…the .301 opp. BA is highest of any MLB qualifier…has already allowed 10 HR (1.48 HR/9) this season after permitting just 11 HR (0.50 HR/9) in all of 2022…made 2 starts for Venezuela in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, posting no record and a 9.82 ERA (4 ER/3.2 IP)…after returning to the Rangers on a one-year free agent deal for 2022, he elected to stay with Texas in 2023 on a one-year deal after accepting the club’s qualifying offer in November…spent the first 11 seasons of his professional career with the Rangers (2008-18), and has been with the organization for 12 of his 15 years as a pro…left the club for 3 years for brief stints with Minnesota (2019) and Boston (2020-21)…since 2016, his first full campaign after returning from ‘Tommy John’ surgery, has the 2nd-most starts (186) and 2nd-most innings pitched (1067.2) of any pitcher in the American League…saw two seasons cut short in 2014-15 following ‘Tommy John’ ligament reconstruction surgery on his left elbow on 5/19/14…Texas has gone 8-3 in his 11 starts this season.

LAST START: Is coming off his 2nd-shortest start of the year on Tues. at DET (ND, 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R-ER, 4 BB, 3 SO, 2 HR, 87 pitches/53 strikes)… permitted runs in 2nd-3rd-4th-5th innings…matched a season high with 4 BB, and permitted multiple HR for just 3rd time in 11 starts…Rangers still produced enough runs to win, 10-6, and Grant Anderson provided a boost in relief in his ML debut.

VS. ST. LOUIS: Is 1-0, 4.38 (6 ER/12.1 IP) in 2 G/GS career vs. STL, both in his 1st stint with Texas, as he pitched in each of the Rangers’ 2 all-time regular season series in St. Louis (6/22/13 and 6/19/16)…earned win n 6/22/13 at STL (7.0 IP, 2 R-ER) and took ND in Rangers’ win on 6/19/16 at STL (5.1 IP, 4 R-ER) as Rangers were able to sweep both of those series in Missouri.

• Pérez over his last 9 Interleague starts beg. 5/4/22: 6-1, 1.59 (10 ER/56.2 IP)…Pérez in 4 career Interleague starts at GLF: 3-1, 2.38 (6 ER/22.2 IP).

FOREVER RANGER: Has a 61-58 record with a 4.29 ERA over 184 games/171 starts in his Rangers career, ranking among club’s all-time leaders in starts (7th), innings (7th, 1018.2), wins (10th), and strikeouts (12th, 675)…his 61 wins are the 3rd-most ever by a Texas left-hander, trailing only Kenny Rogers (133) and Derek Holland (62)…Pérez and Rogers (1909.0 IP) are the only LHP in TEX history to log 1000.0+ IP with the club.

• Since returning to Texas prior to the start of the 2022 campaign, Pérez has gone 18-9, 3.25 ERA (93 ER/257.1 IP) in 43 G/GS…ranks among qualified A.L. pitchers over that span in innings (4th), quality starts (T4th, 27), ground ball pct. (5th, 49.1%), starts (T5th), HR/9 (6th, 0.73), and wins (T6th).

GLOBE LIFE FIELD / AT HOME: Has won all 3 starts at home in ’23: 3-0, 1.93 (4 ER/18.2 IP)…has quality starts in 2 straight at home…over his last 17 starts in this park beg. 4/28/22, has gone 8-2 with a 2.45 ERA (28 ER/103.0 IP) with 13 quality starts…is 8-5, 2.70 (35 ER/116.2 IP) in 20 career games/ starts at Globe Life Field, and ranks among all-time leaders at this park in wins (T2nd, 8), starts (3rd, 20), and strikeouts (3rd, 114). 2023: Opponents have batted .301/.352/.476/.827 (74-246) with 22 extra-base hits (10 HR, 3B, 11 2B), incl. opp. BA’s of .359 (14-39) vs. LHB and .290 (60-207) vs. RHB…3.59 pitches per batter faced is lowest mark in A.L./2nd-lowest among ML qualifiers (3.56-MIA’s Sandy Alcantara)…TEX has scored 6+ runs in of 9 of Pérez’s 11 starts, as his 9.74 run support average (RSA) ranks highest among qualified ML pitchers (2nd is TB’s Shane McClanahan (7.36 RSA)…opp. BA by time thru the order: 1st (.230, 20-87), 2nd (.341, 31-91), 3rd (.348, 23-66), 4th (0-2)…Jonah Heim has caught all 11 of Pérez’s starts…in win 5/24 at PIT, recorded season-high 15 ground balls, 2 of which resulted in GIDP’s…held Buccos scoreless over final 5.0 frames.