TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:
ON TO THE NEXT — Despite yesterday’s 9-2 loss vs. Cleveland, Tampa Bay claimed a series victory after taking the first two games of the series…RHP Zach Eflin fell to 12-7 after working 3.0 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits and one walk with three strikeouts…DH Harold Ramírez (2-for-3, RBI) and 1B Yandy Díaz (1-for-3, RBI) were responsible for driving in each of Tampa Bay’s runs.
It marked the second-largest home loss of the season, trailing only a 20-1 defeat vs. Toronto on 5/23.
SS Osleivis Basabe (1-for-3, 2B, R) made his MLB debut and doubled on the first pitch he saw…Curtis Mead also accomplished the feat this season, recording a single on the first pitch he saw in his debut on 8/4 at Detroit…it marks the second time in Rays history that two players have recorded their first career hits on the first pitch they faced in the majors within the same season — Andy Sonnanstine (6/10/07 at FLA) and Jason Hammel (6/18/07 at AZ) both turned the trick in 2007 (Elias).
RAY MATTER — The Rays are 9-6 in their last 15 games following an MLB-worst 5-15 (.250) stretch from 7/1-26…they are 3.0 games behind first-place Baltimore in the AL East after spending 113 consecutive days atop the division from 3/30-7/21.
The Rays will face a rookie starting pitcher tonight for the fifth consecutive game, matching the longest stretch in franchise history (6/25-30, 2006 and 9/22-25, 2008).
The Rays have won six consecutive series openers, their longest streak since winning 11 straight from 4/21-5/26…their 26-12 (.684) record in series-opening games is tied with the Braves (26-12) for second best in MLB behind the Dodgers (27-11/.711).
The Rays, who led the majors with 109 games played from March through July, have six off days in August (four remaining), more than any other major league club…Milwaukee is next closest with five scheduled off days.
MAN ON A MISSION — RHP Tyler Glasnow is 3-1 with a 1.65 ERA (32.2IP, 6ER) and 40 strikeouts against seven walks across his last five starts…this includes working 7.0 innings in each of his last three starts, going 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA (21.1IP, 4ER).
The three consecutive starts of 7.0 innings matches a career high (also 5/26-6/8, 2021).
He has struck out 7+ batters in eight straight starts dating back to 6/25, registering 70 strikeouts across 47.2 innings (13.22 SO/9.0IP)…it is the longest such active run in the majors…he is one of three pitchers to accomplish the feat this season, joining ATL Spencer Strider (2x, 13GS and 8GS) and SD Blake Snell (9GS).
If Glasnow records eight strikeouts tonight, he will take sole possession of eighth place on the Rays all-time strikeout list, surpassing Matt Garza (467SO), Ryan
Yarbrough (467 SO) and Jeremy Hellickson (463 SO).
DYNAMITE DÍAZ — Yandy Díaz has hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games dating back to 7/30, slashing .389/.450/.593 (21-for-54) with five doubles, 2 HR, 9 RBI and 11 runs scored.
He ranks among AL batters in batting average (1st, .323), OPS (2nd, .403), OPS (2nd, .915), slugging percentage (6th, .512), runs (7th, 71) and hits (9th, 125).
In his last eight Interleague games since 7/6, he is batting .484 (15-for-31) with two doubles, one HR and 7 RBI…his .336 (41-for-122) Interleague batting average ranks fourth in the majors (min. 110AB) behind MIA Luis Arraez (.362), LAD Freddie Freeman (.350) and CWS Luis Robert Jr. (.345).
His 15 games with 3+ hits lead the AL and are tied with Freeman for third-most in the majors, trailing ATL Ronald Acuña Jr. and Arraez (17 each).
He has homered in two of three games against San Francisco, each coming in 2019.
RANDY GETS ROLLING — Randy Arozarena has hit safely in each of his last seven games dating back to 8/6, batting .296 (8-for-27) with two doubles, 4 RBI and three steals while drawing two walks against three strikeouts.
The seven-game run is his third-longest hitting streak of the season behind a 10- game stretch from 3/30-4/10 and a nine-game streak from 4/28-5/8.
In 13 games leading into his current hitting streak from 7/20-8/5, he hit .085 (4- for-47) with one HR, 3 RBI and six walks against 17 strikeouts.
LOWE’S HOME IMPROVEMENT — Josh Lowe has hit safely in each of his last six games since 8/6, batting .348 (8-for-23) with one double, one triple, 2 RBI and two stolen bases… the six-game hitting streak is tied for the second-longest run of his career (3x, last: 6/22-30) behind an 11-game run from 7/24/22-4/4/23.
Lowe has been successful on 24 of his 26 stolen base attempts (92.3%)…min. 25 stolen base attempts, his 92.3 stolen base pct. is tied with AZ Corbin Carroll for the
second-best mark in the majors behind MIL Christian Yelich (25-for-27, 92.6%).
He is batting .306 (30-for-98) with six doubles, one triple, 5 HR, 19 RBI and 11 steals in 29 Interleague games this season.
Min. 30 AB, his .436 (17-for-39) batting average with runners in scoring position and two outs ranks third in MLB behind MIA Luis Arraez (.500) and TEX Jonah Heim (.487)…in limited action last season, he hit .188 (3-for-16) in such situations.
HITTIN’ HAROLD — Harold Ramírez is batting .389 (14-for-36) over his last 13 games, with all 14 hits being singles…he hit .182 (6-for-33) with one double in his previous 13 games from 7/1-7/25.
Ramírez is 8-for-13 (.615) as a pinch-hitter this year, the highest mark in the majors (min. 10AB), ahead of OAK Aledmys Diaz and BAL Ryan McKenna (both .500).
INTERLEAGUE INTEL — The Rays are 20-18 (.526) in Interleague play this season…Tampa Bay began the season 15-7 (.682) against NL opponents but has gone 5-11 (.313) since.
BATS GET GOING — Tampa Bay has recorded 12+ hits in five of its last 13 games dating back to 7/30 while scoring 5+ runs in seven of the 13 contests.
In 11 games this month, the Rays are batting .321 (25-for-78) with runners in scoring position, the highest mark in the AL and third in MLB behind Atlanta (.358) and Los Angeles-NL (.341)…the Rays hit .197 with runners in scoring position in July (24G), the third-lowest mark in the majors, ahead of San Francisco (.180) and New York-AL (.193).
BRILLIANCE ON THE BASEPATHS — The Rays 129 stolen bases are second-most in the majors behind Cincinnati (134SB)…Tampa Bay is the only club in the majors to have three players with 20+ steals, ahead of Arizona, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Seattle with two players each.
BAY AREA BATTLE — Tampa Bay and San Francisco open a three-game series tonight at Oracle Park…the clubs last met in 2019, with the Rays taking two of three from the Giants from 4/5-7 in San Francisco.
San Francisco leads the all-time series, 8-7, including a 3-3 mark at Oracle Park.
It marks Tampa Bay’s third trip to San Francisco in club history, following three-game sets from 6/18-20, 2002 and 4/5-7, 2019
TONIGHT’S STARTER: RHP TYLER GLASNOW (5-3, 3.15)
TONIGHT’S START — The righty makes his 13th start of the season and sixth on the road in the opener of the Rays six-game West Coast road trip tonight at Oracle Park…marks his first outing since 7/31 at Yankee Stadium after being scratched from his scheduled start on 8/6 vs. Detroit due to back spasms…his 1.67 ERA (27.0IP, 5ER) since the All-Star break is third lowest in the majors (min. 25.0IP)…his 460 strikeouts are 12th most in Rays history; needs eight more punchouts to jump to ninth on that list.
LAST TIME OUT — Worked 7.0 innings of one-run ball in the Rays 5-1 win at Yankee Stadium on 7/31 (7.0IP, 3H, 1ER, 2BB, 8SO, HR)…permitted a solo homer to Jake Bauers in the second inning, but retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced…has earned the win in back-to-back starts for the second time this season (also 6/9-14)…improved to 3-1 with a 1.65 ERA (32.2IP, 6ER) over his last five starts.
AGAINST THE GIANTS — Over two career appearances (1GS) opposite San Francisco, Glasnow has struck out nine over 8.0 scoreless frames, holding Giants hitters to a .167 (5-for-30) average while posting a 0.88 WHIP…made his lone career start against San Francisco on 4/5/19 at Oracle Park, tossing 6.0 scoreless frames in the Giants 2019 home opener (6.0IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 6SO).
He has posted a 6.18 ERA (27.2IP, 19ER) in 12 career outings (3GS) against NL West opponents, his highest mark against any division.
Glasnow is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA (17.0IP, 5ER) in three Interleague starts this season and has gone 4-1 with a 2.12 ERA (59.1IP, 14ER) and a 0.76 WHIP in 10 Interleague starts since his Rays debut on 8/1/18, marking the second-lowest WHIP by any AL pitcher against NL opponents in that span (min. 50.0IP), behind HOU Justin Verlander (0.69)…his 2.12 ERA ranks fourth under the same parameters.
GLAS IS BACK — Since allowing a season-high six runs on 6/20 vs. Baltimore, Glasnow has recorded a 2.08 ERA (43.1IP, 10ER) over his last seven starts dating back to 6/25 vs. Kansas City, holding opponents to a .190/.237/.304 (30-for-158) line…it marks his best ERA over any seven-start span since 4/1-5/3, 2021 (2.06)…he paces the AL during that timeframe (min. 40.0IP) in strikeouts (T1st, 70) and opp. OPS (.540) while ranking third in ERA.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE — Glasnow was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for July after going 3-2 with a 2.11 ERA (38.1IP, 9ER), 0.89 WHIP and 51 strikeouts against eight walks…he led the AL in strikeouts during July and ranked among league leaders (min. 30.0IP) in ERA (3rd), WHIP (3rd) and opponent batting average (4th, .203).
It marked the second Pitcher of the Month award of Glasnow’s career — he also was tabbed for the honor in April 2019…he became the first Rays pitcher to win the award since Drew Rasmussen in August 2022…he joins Blake Snell (Aug./Sept. 2018) as the only Rays to win multiple Pitcher of the Month awards.
LUCKY NUMBER 7 — Glasnow has tossed 7.0+ innings in three consecutive starts, matching the longest streak of his career (also 5/26-6/8, 2021), going 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA (21.0IP, 4ER) and 0.71 WHIP in those outings…other than Glasnow, no Rays pitcher has turned the trick since Charlie Morton (3GS) from 5/30-6/10, 2019…the last Rays pitcher to string together a longer such streak was Blake Snell (4GS) from 6/19-7/7, 2018.
Glasnow has thrown fewer than 100 pitches in each of his last three outings…the only longer streak of 7.0+ inning starts on 100 or fewer pitches in Rays history belongs to David Price (6GS: 7/2-29, 2013).
STRIKEOUT ARTIST — Glasnow paces the AL in strikeout rate (34.0%) since making his season debut on 5/28 (min. 250BF)…his 96 strikeouts are fourth most through a Rays pitcher’s first 12 starts of a season, trailing only himself in 2021 (106SO), Shane McClanahan in 2022 (98SO) and Chris Archer in 2015 (97SO)…he has struck out 6+ batters in each of his 12 starts, the longest season-opening streak in Rays history…including his final start of 2022, he has 6+ SO in 13 straight starts, tying Shane McClanahan (5/11- 7/26, 2022) for the second-longest overall streak in club history behind Glasnow’s own 17-start streak from 8/13/20-5/14/21.
Glasnow has a 46.5 pct. whiff rate on his breaking pitches (slider/ curveball), the highest mark in the AL (min. 250 pitches swung at), ahead of BAL Kyle Gibson (46.4%).
Fanned Luis Arraez on 7/25 vs. Miami for his 600th career strikeout…per Elias, he became the 15th fastest pitcher in MLB history to reach the 600 strikeout mark by innings (467.1IP).
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: SF continues its six-game homestand tonight after going 1-2 vs. Texas over the weekend…the Giants have lost six of their last eight games dating to August 5…SF snapped a four-game losing streak with yesterday’s walk-off win.
ROSTER MOVES: OF Wade Meckler (#53) and IF Johan Camargo (#10) were selected from Triple-A Sacramento… to make room on the 40-man roster, RHP Anthony DeSclafani was transferred to the 60-day IL and OF Luis González was designated for assignment…to make room on the 25-man roster, IF Mark Mathias and OF Luis Matos were optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
WADE’S WORLD, PARTY TIME, EXCELLENT: OF Wade Meckler joins the active roster and is seeking his Major League debut…the 23-year-old has torn through the Giants minor league system, slashing .379/.463/.522 with five home runs, 15 doubles, 46 RBI, 39 walks and just 43 strikeouts in 69 games between High-A Eugene (20 games), Double-A Richmond (39 games) and Triple-A (10 games)…his .379 average and .463 OBP were the best among qualified full-season minor leaguers…the Anaheim-native was drafted in the 8th round of the 2022 Draft out of Oregon State.
0-100, REAL QUICK: Meckler is the first member of the Giants 2022 draft class to reach the Major Leagues and just the fourth player from last year’s draft called up by any team…the other three have all been called up by the Angels (RHP Ben Joyce, RHP Víctor Mederos and IF Zach Neto).
PAT CALLED GAME: C Patrick Bailey lifted the Giants to their sixth walk-off win of the year with his first career walk-off homer yesterday…in doing so he became the youngest Giant (24 years, 76 days old) to hit a walk-off home run since a 22-year-old Pablo Sandoval did so against Washington on May 12, 2009 (Elias).
CATCH THE WAVE: Bailey joined fellow C/OF Blake Sabol in hitting a walk-off homer for SF this season (Sabol’s came on April 25 vs. STL)…it marks the first time in MLB history two rookie catchers hit walk-off home runs in a single season (ESPN Stats) and the third time in franchise history two rookies hit walk-off homers the same year, joining Mike Yastrzemski and Jaylin Davis in 2019 and Hal Luby and Buddy Kerr in 1944 (Sarah Langs).
HE’S HEATING UP?: OF Michael Conforto’s 15th home run yesterday matched teammates IF J.D. Davis and IF Wilmer Flores for the team lead…with his homers on Saturday and Sunday, Conforto has now homered in consecutive games for the first time since the first two games in Minnesota on May 22- 23…his recent homers come after a span of two homers in 55 games from May 26-August 11.
OH, HELLO: The Giants welcome the AL East’s Tampa Bay Rays to Oracle Park for the first time since Tampa Bay won two of three games during SF’s 2019 home-opening series…the visiting team has won the opening game in all five series between the two franchises dating back to their first matchup in 2002.
AGAINST THE BEST…: SF is tied for the third-best record in MLB versus teams that are currently .500 or better at 35-29 (.547)… this is the second of the six straight series’ the Giants are facing an opponent above .500…SF’s remaining opponents have a combined win percentage of .523 (fourth-hardest in MLB).
AL BARRAGE: Today marks the Giants’ fourth-straight Interleague series and the sixth in their last seven series… including SF’s make-up game against Detroit on July 24, seven of the Giants last eight opponents have been American League foes…SF is 2-6 in its last eight Interleague games and 17-23 vs. the American League overall…conversely, the Giants are 46-32 (.590) versus the NL this season…after this series against the Giants have one more Interleague series against Cleveland from Sept. 11-13 at Oracle Park.
IT’S A RISP…: The Giants only hit out of their 11 chances with runners in scoring position yesterday was C Patrick Bailey’s walk-off home run…SF finished the Texas series 2-for-26 (.077) with RISP…since July 1, SF’s .192 average (50×261) with RISP is the lowest in MLB after having MLB’s third-highest average (.288) from the start of the season through the end of June… despite the recent struggles, the Giants still hold onto the 11thbest average with RISP this season (.262).
WALK HARD: RHP Ryan Walker will open for the ninth time this season tonight…SF has gone 7-1 in the eight games Walker has opened with the lone loss coming last Wednesday at the Angels…Walker allowed one hit and struck out the side in his 1.0 inning…six of Walker’s eight starts this season have come at Oracle Park, where he has a 3.27 ERA (4er, 11.0ip) with 13 strikeouts as an opener…the Giants are 15-8 when using an opener plus a bulk innings/featured pitcher this season.
LATE NIGHT RUNS: According to Stats, LLC, the Giants have a +42 (193-151) run differential in the 7th inning and beyond this season, tied for the third-best in MLB…Tampa Bay is right behind the Giants at +41 (185-144) in the 7th inning and beyond this year so this series could feature a lot of late scoring…if you break it down to just extra innings, the Giants +15 run differential in extras is best in MLB.
MLB, Best Run Differential in Innings 7+ — 2023 (Stats, LLC)
Los Angeles Dodgers +51
Toronto Blue Jays +43
Atlanta Braves +42
San Francisco +42 (193-151)
Tampa Bay +41 (185-144)
SHUT IT DOWN: The Giants have had success in throwing up a zero after their offense has put up runs in the previous half inning…SF has only allowed a run 69 times in the half inning immediately following its offense scoring a run, third-fewest in the Majors.
