TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
WINS AND LOSSES: Texas lost the series opener against Cincinnati yesterday, 6-7, and today continue a brief 3 G series at Great American Ball Park…it is the 1st walk-off loss by TEX this season, and club is now 1-1 in such games after a win in 10 innings on 4/11 vs. KC…Rangers have won 6 of 8, 7 of 10, and 10 of last 14 G for a 14-8 (.636) record, 3rdbest in the A.L. to only TB (19-3, .864) and BAL (15-7, .682), T4th-best in MLB…Rangers’ 14 wins are T2nd-most in A.L. and 6th in MLB…have now lost consecutive series openers to teams that have owned at least a 6 G losing streak (4/21 vs. OAK, 7 G losing streak and yesterday at CIN, 6 G losing streak)…have an 11-8 record last 19 G since club’s 3-0 start
to the season.
• Team currently sits 6 games above .500…Texas has been .500-or-better following every game in 2023…the current 14-8 record ranks as T4th-best 22-G start in club history and is the best 24-G start since 2014 (also 14-8)…TEX recorded its 14th win in 2022 on May 15.
RANGERS’ BEST 22-G RECORDS
W-L Opp. Manager
17-5 1989
16-6 2012
15-7 1976, 1998, 2013
14-8 1996, 2011, 2014, 2023
STANDINGS: The Rangers have maintained a 2.5 game lead in the division over the last 4 days, keeping sole possession of 1st place in the A.L. West for an 11th straight day and 16th day overall in 2023…own a 2.5-game division lead over HOU, the team’s largest lead this late into a season (April 21-or-later) since 10/2/16 (+9.0 GA), the last day of team’s division-winning campaign in 2016…TEX has been alone or tied atop the division for 25 of the season’s first 26 days, including 9 straight to begin the year…from 2017-22, the Rangers had one day in which it held, or was tied for, 1st place in the West (1-0 on 7/24/20, tied for division lead).
SERIES STUFF: TEX dropped to a 4-4 record in series openers this season…have now lost consecutive series openers to teams that have owned a 6+ G losing streak (4/21 vs. OAK, 7 G losing streak and yesterday at CIN, 6 G losing streak)…Rangers have won 3 straight series for just 2nd time since the start of 2021 (also 3-0-0, 4/29-5/9/21 vs. BOS/at MIN/vs. SEA)…TEX is seeking to win 4 straight series for 1st time since taking 5 in a row from 6/15-7/1/18…team has gone undefeated in 2 series: 3-0, 3/30-4/2 vs. PHI; and 3-0, 4/17-19 at KC…the latter marked Rangers’ 1st undefeated road series of 3+ games since 9/5-8/19 at BAL (4-0)…TEX is 5-2-0 overall in series this year, going 3-1 at home 2-1 on the road.
HAVE SCHEDULE, WILL TRAVEL: The Rangers are now 2-2 in road series openers…club is 6-5 (.546) on the road this season, tied for best away win pct. in the A.L. West w/ HOU, also 6-4…have won 6 of last 8 away games after an 0-2 start…Rangers are scheduled to play 12 of their next 18 games on the road from tonight thru 5/14.
VS. CINCINNATI: Texas continues their lone series of the season against Cincinnati tonight after dropping last night’s game (0-1 record)…TEX has gone 4-3 in Interleague games this season, including 1-3 on the road (4/7-9 at CHC, yesterday at CIN)…TEX is an even 10-10 all-time vs. CIN, going 5-7 in Cincy, all games at GABP…TEX is 4-1-1 all-time in series vs. CIN, including 2-1-1 in 4 series at GABP…Rangers are 2-0-1 in last 3 series in Cincy…TEX has won 6 of 8 on the road.
FOREVER JUNG: Josh Jung recorded his 2nd-career multi-HR game last night (also 9/27/2022 at SEA)…also the 1st time that he has hit HR’s in consecutive at-bats…after his 3rd inning 2-R HR, each 9 of the last 10 HR hit by TEX batters have come with men on base.
HAPPINESS STARTS WITH H(OMERS): Robbie Grossman, who extended his hitting streak to a season-high 6 games with an RBI-single in the fourth inning last night, blasted a 3-R HR in the 2nd inn. Sun. vs. OAK for TEX’s 7th HR of 3-or-4 runs over its last 7 G, as TEX has at least one such HR in 6 of 7 contests during that span…12 of the Rangers’ 29 HR this season have gone for 3-or-4 runs, easily the most in MLB…6 different Rangers have accounted for those 12 HR: 3-Heim, 2-Garver/García/Grossman/Semien; 1-Jung… TEX is already just 8 HR shy of matching club’s 2022 total for HR of 3+ R (20).
ADOLIS GARCÍA, COME ON DOWN: Following his achievements last week (4/17-23), MLB announced that Adolis García was named A.L. Player of the Week yesterday afternoon…this is the second time García has won the weekly award, as he also took the honors for April 19-25, 2021…with that award, he becomes just the second Texas rookie ever to earn the weekly honor, joining outfielder Oddibe McDowell for July 22-28, 1985…since the start of 2019, García is the only Texas player to win the weekly award multiple times… he is the first Texas player overall to win the honor since first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from August 22-28, 2022.
Here is his resumé from last week:
• García batted .400/.458/.1.100/1.558 (8-20) in his 5 games last week with 4 HR, 2 2B, 14 RBI, and 8 R…his 14 RBI led all MLB players for the week, and he led the A.L. with 4 HR, 6 XBH, and 22 total bases.
• García’s 8 R were T2nd-most in the A.L., trailing only teammate Marcus Semien.
• On Sat. vs. OAK, García went 5-for-5 with 3 HR, 2 2B, 8 RBI, 5 R, 16 total bases, 5 XBH, and a HBP…became just the 2nd player in MLB history to have 5 XBH and 8 RBI in a single contest, joining the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton in his 4-homer game on 5/8/12 at BAL.
• He is just the 3rd player in the modern era (since 1901) with at least 3 HR, 8 RBI, 5 R, and 16 total bases in one game, joining Brooklyn’s Gil Hodges on 8/31/50 and Washington’s Anthony Rendon on 4/30/17.
• García’s 5 XBH matched the MLB record, and he matched TEX club marks with 5 R and 6 times on base.
• García is batting .250 with an .853 OPS figure for the season, posting 7 HR, 28 RBI, and 18 R…his 28 RBI lead MLB, and he also ranks among A.L. season leaders in HR (2nd, 7) and R (T2nd, 19).
LEADING OFF WITH A BANG: After going 1-for-5 with an RBI yesterday, Marcus Semien is batting .405 (15-for-37) in his last 10 G…also has 4 XHB (1 2B, 3 HR), 14 RBI, 9 BB, 13 R and 2 SB during the recent stretch.
• He ranks T1st in MLB w/ 21 R scored and 5th in A.L. w/ 21 RBI…he is the first player in Washington/Texas franchise history with 20+ RBI and 20+ R in his first 20 G of a season.
• When leading off an inning, Semien owns a .303 BA (10- for-33) with 1 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 7 BB and a .940 OPS.
THAT’S QUALITY!: After Nathan Eovaldi’s quality start last night, Rangers starters are on a 3 G streak of tossing quality starts (also deGrom on Sun. vs. OAK and Heaney on Sat. vs. OAK)…starters have lasted at least 5.1 IP in their last 6 starts and have not allowed more than 3 ER in any of those starts… tonight’s starter, Martín Pérez, is searching for his 1st quality start of the season despite lasting 5.0-or-more innings and giving up 3 ER-or-less in all 4 starts this year…deGrom leads the team with 3 QS, followed by Eovaldi with 2, and Gray/Heaney each own 1 this campaign.
SHORTS: Leody Taveras went 1-for-3 with a 2B, RBI, R and has now reached base safely in 5 straight games…Ezequiel Duran went 3-for-4 with a R and extended his hitting streak to 6 games (also recorded his 3rd career 3-hit game)…with his 7 SO last night, Nathan Eovaldi now has struck out 6+ batters in 4 of his last 5 starts… Martín Pérez is 1 win from T11thall-time with Dick Bosman for wins by a TEX pitcher (59 W).
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #54 Martín Pérez, RHP (3-1, 3.38)
TODAY: The 32-year-old left-hander is scheduled to make his 5th start/appearance of the season in tonight’s 2nd game of the series in Cincinnati… after his last start at KC on Wed. (W, 5.2 IP, 8 H, 3R-ER, HR, 3 SO), he is the only TEX pitcher with 5.0+ IP and 3-or-fewer ER allowed in each of 1st 4 starts to open 2023…has 5.0+ IP in 34 consecutive starts dating to 2022, 4th-longest streak in Rangers history (see below)…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)…has a 58-58 record with a 4.26 ERA over 177 games/164 starts in his Rangers career, ranking among club’s all-time leaders in starts (7th, 164), wins (12th, 58), and strikeouts (12th, 650)…since 2016, his first full campaign after returning from ‘Tommy John’ surgery, has the 2nd-most starts (179) and 3rd-most innings (994.2) 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…also missed time in 2018 after suffering a broken right (non-throwing) elbow.
LIKE ROYALTY: Earned his 3rd win of the season in his last outing on Wed. at KC (5.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R-ER, HR, 3 SO)…stranded 1-out singles in the 2nd and 5th and back-to-back 2-out singles in the 4th, but yielded a solo home run to Bobby Witt Jr. with 2 outs in the 3rd…he allowed 3 hits to the five batters he faced in the 6th, including an RBI single by Matt Duffy, before exiting in favor of Jonathan Hernández, who stranded the inherited runner…he yielded a season-high-tying 8 H, but held KC to 1-for-3 in scoring situations…improved to 4-0 in 7 career starts at Kauffman Stadium, and has won 5 consecutive starts vs. the Royals dating back to 2021.
VS. CINCINNATI: Has only faced Cincinnati once in his career, logging a QS of 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 BB and 3 SO in a 4-0 vs. CIN in Arlington on 6/28/13… tonight will mark his 1st-career start in Cincinnati/Great American Ball Park… has given up at least 1 H to all 3 Reds batters that are on their active roster (2 H-Maile, 1 H-Casali/Myers).
I GOT FIVE ON IT: Has logged at least 5.0 IP in each of his last 34 starts (beg. 4/23/22), the longest such streak ever by a Texas left-hander and 4th-longest in club history overall: 56-Yu Darvish (2012-14), 41-Lance Lynn (2019-20), 37-Nolan Ryan (1989-90), 34-Pérez (2022-23)…it is the longest active streak of 5.0+ IP to a 34-start run…has gone 15-7, 2.79 ERA (65 ER/209.2 IP) during the streak.
2023: Owns a chase rate 32.5 % on the season, which ranks in the 79th percentile in MLB (Stathead)…has faced just 21 LH batters in his 4 starts, with those hitters going 7-for-21 w/ one XBH, 1 BB, 5 SO…1st 2 GS were vs. N.L. opponents…earned win in season debut 4/2 vs. PHI, completing Rangers’ 3-G sweep, as he allowed just 3 batted balls with exit velo. of 95.0+ mph (Statcast)…has tossed at least 85 pitches in all 4 starts this season…ranks 1st in W (3), 3rd on team in IP (21.1), and 4th in SO (19)…his 8 total earned runs allowed are the fewest by any TEX starter this year. KING OF THE ROAD: Took loss in 1st road start of ‘23 (4/8 at CHC), but has bounced back with consecutive wins on the road (Wed. at KC, 4/14 at HOU) to notch his 2nd and 3rd wins of the year…saw slightly better results in 16 road starts (7-4, 2.86 ERA) than in 16 starts in Arlington (5-4, 2.92 ERA) last season…ranked among A.L. road leaders in quality starts (T4th, 12), ERA (6th), and wins (T11th)…opened the 2022 campaign with club-record 25.0 consecutive scoreless innings on the road…Rangers went 10-0 in Pérez’s first 10 away outings last season, tied for the longest season-opening road undefeated streak by a starting pitcher in WSH/TEX franchise history (also 10, A.J. Griffin from 4/8-8/9/16)…Pérez’s career ERA splits are nearly identical on the road (4.40) vs. at home (4.43), though his home win pct. (.532, 41-36) is significantly higher than his road mark (.468, 37-42).
CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:
RED HOTS
• RHP Luis Cessa today is celebrating his 31st birthday.
• In the last 12 games beginning 4/13, the Reds’ bullpen has posted an ERA of 2.17 (49.2ip, 40h, 12er, 17bb, 52k, .214baa), including an ERA of 1.76 in the last 8 games beginning 4/17 (30.2ip, 21h, 6er, 12bb, 32k, .189baa).
• The bullpen’s 2.17 ERA beginning 4/13 is the best in the National League in that span and fourth-best in the majors (Bal 1.30, Hou 1.31, Det 1.40). • Haven’t allowed a home run since Tue vs TB…the 6-game homerless streak (20.1ip) is the bullpen’s longest of the season.
• Reds batters haven’t homered in 7 games, their longest homerless streak since 4/21-4/27, 2014 (7g)…haven’t gone more than 7 games without a home run since 1992, when Reds batters produced homerless streaks of 8 games (7/4-7/11) and 9 games (4/15-4/25)…the Reds last homered in the second inning on 4/17 vs TB (Kevin Newman off Jalen Beeks).
• The Reds have played 18 consecutive days since their last days off (5-13), rainouts on 4/5 vs Cubs and on 4/6 in the Phillies’ home opener…barring unplayable weather tonight and tomorrow afternoon, this series will complete their streak of 20 games on 20 straight days.
• Last night’s dramatic 7-6 walkoff win snapped the Reds’ season-high 6-game losing streak.
TONIGHT’S GAME
• Is Game 2 (1-0) of a brief 3-game homestand, all vs Will Nadal’s Rangers.
• The Reds are coming off a winless 4-game road trip to PNC Park, their first 4-game series sweep loss in Pittsburgh since April 2019.
• Following tomorrow afternoon’s game the Reds hit the road again to face the Athletics (3g) and Padres (3g) in the first of their 3 trips to the West Coast.
SERIES NOTES
• The Redlegs are 10-10 all-time vs the Rangers, including 7-5 at Great American Ball Park and 1-0 this season.
• The Reds and Rangers are meeting for the eighth time overall and for the first time since 2019, also here at GABP.
• The Reds haven’t played in Arlington since 2016.
• The Reds have played only 1 other interleague series this season, a 1-2 series loss vs the Rays last week at Great American Ball Park.
• Before the interleague scheduled expanded this season, from 1997-2022 the Redlegs went 188-247 vs the American League, at .432 the lowest interleague winning percentage of any Major League team…in 2022 the Reds went 12-8 vs AL teams (0-2 vs Cle, 2-0 at Cle, 1-2 at Tor, 1-1 at Bos, 3-0 vs TB, 2-1 at NYY, 2-1 vs Bal, 1-1 vs Bos)…last season’s was their first winning record vs the American League since 2013 (11-9)…in the 8 seasons between the 2013 & 2022 season series wins, the Reds went 61-99 vs AL teams (.381).
ATHLETICS UP NEXT…
• Following this series vs the Rangers and Thu’s off day in the Bay Area, beginning Fri night the Reds and Athletics will meet for their ninth series during the regular season and for the first time since 2019, also at Oakland Coliseum.
• The Reds are 9-13 during the regular season vs the Athletics, 5-9 at Oakland Coliseum.
• In 2013, Oak became the last current Major League team to visit Great American Ball Park…the Athletics last played in the Queen City in 2016.
• The Reds and Athletics met twice in the World Series…Oak won in 7 games in 1972, while Cin capped its wire-to-wire season with a 4-game sweep in 1990.
…FOLLOWED BY THE PADRES
• The Padres won all 6 games in 2022 and 12 of the 13 games over the previous 2 seasons.
• Since the rivalry began in 1969, in 2022 the Padres produced the first season series sweep by either team.
• Beginning in 2013 the Reds are 8-21 at Petco Park and lost their last 8 games there dating back to a 4-2 win on 4/20/19.
• The Padres swept the last 2 series in San Diego (3-0, 4-0), including their first ever 4-game series sweep vs the Reds (6/17-6/20, 2021).
Tonight’s Pitcher – #34 Luke Weaver, RHP
• Tonight is making his second appearance of the season…will be his second career appearance and start vs the Rangers.
• In Thu’s 4-3 loss at Pit, came off the 15-day injured list to make his 2023 season and Reds debuts…in the first inning allowed all 4 runs on 3 hits, including 2-out, back-to-back home runs by Connor Joe (3-run) and Jack Suwinski (solo)…in his last 5.0 innings faced only 16 batters and retired his last 10 batters…Joe’s 3-run HR snapped Weaver’s career-high 29.0-inning homerless streak (24g) dating back to his only start of 2022 (6/18/22 vs Min, Gary Sánchez).
• On 3/8, left his third spring training appearance with right forearm tightness…didn’t pitch in another “A” game for the Reds.
• On Opening Day went on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow flexor strain, snapping his 5-season streak on an active Opening Day roster (Cardinals 2018, Diamondbacks 2019-2022).
• On 4/9 and 4/14 made 2 rehabilitation apps with Louisville (0-0, 3.00, 9ip, 3h, 3er, 4bb, 9k, 1hr, 0.78whip, .107baa).
• On 1/13/23 was signed to a 1-year contract through the 2023 season.
