TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
WINS AND LOSSES: Texas beat the A’s last night, 5-3, and club has a 1-0 record to begin this 6-G, 7-day road trip to OAK (1-0 + 2 G) and SF (3 G)…Rangers have won season-best 7 straight (see separate note to the right) after a 3-G losing streak and are undefeated (MLB-best 7-0) in August… have gone 8-5 in last 13 G and 9-7 in last 16 G since a 6-G win streak (7/14-19) out of the break…team is 15-7 (.682) to start the 2nd “half”, 2nd-best in MLB to BAL (16-7, .696)… TEX is 16-9 in last 25, 17-13 in last 30 G, and 18-15 in last 33 G…team is 27-26 (.509) beg. 6/7, a stretch which came after club reached the 20-over mark for 1st time on 6/6 (40-20)… team’s 53-35 (.602) record since 4/28 is still 2nd-best in A.L. and 4th-best in MLB over that span to ATL, LAD, and BAL… TEX is 57-40 in last 97 G and 62-42 last 104 G (beg. 4/9).
- At 67-46 (.593), TEX owns the 3rd-best record in the A.L. and 4th-best in MLB (see below)…67 wins rank 3rd in A.L. and 4th-most in MLB (see below).
- The 67-46 mark is T2nd-best 113-G start to a season in Washington/Texas franchise history (see chart below).
BEST RECORDS AND MOST WINS IN MLB, 2023
Win Pct. Team W-L Wins Team
.636 Atlanta 70-40 70 ATL/BAL
.625 Baltimore 70-42 68 TB
.596 Tampa Bay 68-46 67 TEX
.593 Texas 67-46 65 LAD
STANDINGS: Texas owns a 3.0-game lead in A.L. West over 2nd-place HOU, gaining a half-game on idle Astros last night…this is Rangers’ largest lead since 7/23 (+3.0 GA)… held leads of 2.0+ G in the division for 63 consecutive days from 5/23-7/24…season-best 6.5-G lead in West after win 6/23 at NYY, which was largest division lead since winning the West by 9.0 G in 2016…TEX has had sole possession of 1st place for 93 straight, 100 of 101, and 113 of the last 115 days beg. 4/14.
- TEX has been alone or tied atop the division for 129 of the season’s first 130 days (exception: 4/8).
SERIES STUFF: TEX has secured back-to-back series wins (both sweeps) after losing 3 straight series…the 3-0 finish vs. MIA over the weekend marked Rangers’ 8th time to win all games of a series in 2023…club is now 4-3-0 in series since break…club is now 4-6-0 in last 10 series and 4-7-1 in last 12 series…TEX is 6-9-1 in last 16 series following a season-best 6-0-0 span from 5/19-6/7…is 21-13-2 overall in series this year, going 12-5-2 at home and 9-8-0 on the road…on the road, team has lost 5 straight, 1-6-0 in last 7 road series.
ON THE ROAD: Last night’s win snapped a 3-G road losing skid, and TEX is seeking to win back-to-back away games for 1st time since 6/21-23…TEX has lost 3 of 4, 7 of 9, 9 of 12, 11 of 15, and 15 of last 23 away games…4-G skid 7/8-23 matched longest road drought in ’23 (also 0-4, 4/24-5/5)… club is still 27-26 (.509) on the road for the season, 6th-best away record in the A.L…from 5/6-30, TEX went 13-4 on road.
- Rangers have 3-or-fewer runs in 9 of last 15 away tilts… club’s .747 road OPS is 4th-highest in A.L., but still over 100 points lower than OPS at home (.859).
VS. OAKLAND: TEX is 6-2 vs. OAK in ’23, winning 3 in a row and 6 of 7, taking both series…has won 19 of 29, and 21 of last 33 dating to 8/13/21…team has a 26-20 edge since start of 2021…TEX needs one more win to secure a season series win for a 2nd straight year (11-8 in 2022), this after not doing so since 2016 (10-9)…TEX dropped season series 5 straight years, 2017-21…are 10-5 at Coliseum since start of 2022.
- Rangers are in a weeklong stretch in the Bay Area for a 4th time in Interleague era, also 6/4-10/12 (3-4 at OAK/SF), 8/20- 26/18 (2-4 at OAK/SF), and 7/31-8/6/20 (1-5 at SF/OAK).
LUCKY 7: Texas has won a season-best 7 straight games, club’s longest win streak in over 5 years since a 7-0 span from 6/16-23/18…it is the longest active win streak in MLB… there have only been 17 single-season win streaks of 8+ games in Rangers history, just one in the last 10 seasons beg. 2014: 10-G win streak from 5/9-19/17…the club record is 14 straight wins from 5/12-27/91.
- This is just the 2nd time in Rangers history for the club to win the 1st 7 games of a month in any season, the other a season-opening 7-0 run from April 1-9, 1996.
- Club has reached a season high at 21 games above .500 for 1st time since the end of 2016 (95-67)…this is just the 8th season in Texas history for club to reach as many as 21 G over .500: 1977, 1996, 1999, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2023.
TEXAS MLB RANKS IN 7-G WIN STREAK, BEG. AUG. 1
W HR R OPS ERA Opp. BA
7 (1st) 17 (1st) 44 (3rd) .907 (4th) 2.14 (2nd) .198 (4th)
DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK: The Rangers overcame an early 3-run deficit in last night’s win, 3rd time in last 5 games to win after trailing by 3+ runs…the Rangers have trailed in 4 of club’s last 5 victories…last night marked the 8th time in 15 wins since the AS break for Texas to prevail after falling behind by multiple runs (trailed by 4 on 7/14 vs. CLE, by 3 on 7/16 vs. CLE, by 2 on 7/17 vs. TB, by 4 on 7/23 vs. LAD, by 3 on 7/26 at HOU, by 3 on Thurs. vs. CWS, by 5 Sat. vs. MIA, by 3 last night at OAK).
QUALITY WORK: Last night was the 5th time during this 7-G win streak for the Rangers to receive a quality start…the 5 quality starts in August equal the club’s total for the entire month of July (5), and account for 5 of the staff’s 7 QS since the AS break…Rangers’ MLB-high 5 QS in Aug. have aided in starters’ MLB-best 2.53 ERA (12 ER/42.2 IP) this month.
DIFFERENTIAL UPDATE: With 7 straight wins, the Rangers’ run differential has grown to season-high and MLB-best +172, the 3rd-highest run differential at any point in any season in TEX history, trailing only the final 2 days of the 2011 campaign (+176 on 9/27/11; club-record +178 on 9/28/11).
GARV SAUCE: Mitch Garver posted a season-high 3 hits last night with 2 doubles and 2 RBI…Garver in 6 G in August: .455/.500/.818/1.318 (10-22), 2 HR, 2 2B, 6 RBI, 2 BB… Garver’s 10 hits are T3rd-most in the A.L. this month, while his 1.318 OPS ranks 6th in the league.
GET ‘EM ON: There are 12 active streaks in MLB of players reaching safely in at least 13 consecutive games…3 of those 12 streaks belong to Rangers: 16-Adolis García, 15-Marcus Semien, 13-Mitch Garver…they represent 3 of the 5 longest active streaks in the A.L. (also 14 by BAL’s Ryan Mountcastle, 13 by MIN’s Ryan Jeffers).
GET ‘EM OVER: Ezequiel Duran put down a sac bunt in the 8th inning last night ahead of the club’s 2 runs in that frame, which provided the winning margin in the Rangers’ 2-run victory…it was the 1st sac bunt of Duran’s pro career (Majors or Minors)…TEX is 6-2 in games w/ a sac bunt in ’23, only losses being last at-bat defeats on 5/12 at OAK and 7/3 vs. HOU.
SHORTS: Rangers’ 67 wins are one shy of matching team’s 2022 total (68)…tonight is Max Scherzer’s 1st road start with Texas…last night was Aroldis Chapman’s 9th outing this season with 1.0 IP and 3 SO, 2nd-most in MLB in ’23 (BAL’s Felix Bautista – 13 G)…no other MLB reliever has more than 6 such outings…last night was the Rangers’ 1st homerless road win since 5/27 at BAL, snapping 7-G skid in such games…batters have no HR in 4 straight on road…last night was just 2nd game in ’23 with one-or-zero hits in 11+ AB w/ RISP, and Texas has won both games (also 5/24 at PIT)…TEX is 11-1 in Corey Seager’s 12 G since the AS break, only loss on 7/21 vs. LAD, game in which he injured his thumb after hitting a HR and double…last night was 1st time TEX has played for crowd of less than 28,000 in 2nd “half”
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #31 Max Scherzer, RHP (10-4, 4.04)
TONIGHT: The 3-time Cy Young Award winner (2013, 2016-17) and 8-time AllStar will make his 2nd start as a member of TEX tonight in the 2nd game of this 3 G set in OAK…was acquired from the Mets, along with cash considerations, in exchange for INF/OF Luisangel Acuña on 7/30, and was added to TEX’s active roster last Tuesday… earned the win and posted a quality start in his TEX debut on Thurs. vs. CWS (W, 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R-ER, 2 BB, 9 SO, 105 pitches/70 strikes)…9 SO were 1 shy of matching his season high (10 on 6/7 at ATL w/ NYM) (see ‘Last Start’)…has gone 10-4 with a 4.04 ERA (51 ER/113.2 IP), 130 SO/32 BB, and a .242 opp. BA in 20 games/starts with the Rangers and Mets in 2023… ranked among N.L. leaders in SO/9 (8th, 10.11), BR/9 (8th, 10.95), SO/BB ratio (9th, 4.03), WHIP (9th, 1.19), and wins (T9th) at the time of the trade…23 HR allowed this season are T9th-most in MLB and the T4th-highest total of his 16-year MLB career (31-2016, 29-2011, 27-2015)…at 39 years, 7 days old, became the eldest pitcher to start a game for TEX since Bartolo Colon on 9/5/18 vs. LAA (45 years, 104 days)…Scherzer is MLB’s active leader in career strikeouts (3,323), ranking 12th on the all-time list as one of only 19 pitchers to reach 3,000+ K’s in MLB history…also ranks among active ML leaders in win pct. (2nd, .666), wins (3rd, 211), ERA (3rd, 3.15)…originally drafted by Arizona in the 1st round (11th overall) of the 2006 MLB draft out of the University of Missouri…owns a 211-106 record and 3.15 ERA (978 ER/2795.2 IP) in 450 games/441 starts across 16 Major League seasons with Arizona (2008-09), Detroit (2010-14), Washington (2015-2021), Los Angeles-NL (2021), New York-NL (2022-23), and Texas (2023)…TEX/ NYM have gone 13-7 in his 20 starts this season (1-0 w/ TEX and 12-7 w/ NYM).
LAST START: Earned the win and posted a quality start in his TEX debut on Thurs. vs. CWS (W, 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R-ER, 2 BB, 9 SO, 105 pitches/70 strikes)…9 SO were 1 shy of matching his season high (10 on 6/7 at ATL w/ NYM), and the most by any pitcher in his TEX debut since Jamie Moyer on 4/8/89 vs. TOR (13 SO)…it was his 10th QS of ’23 and 285th of his career, now tied with Luis Tiant for 52nd-most in ML history…generated 21 swing-and-miss strikes (Statcast), his 2nd-highest whiff total of the season (22 on 6/1 vs. PHI w/ NYM)…allowed all 3 R as part of a 3-H, 2-BB 1st inning in which he threw 37 pitches, his most in any single inning in ’23…recovered to hold CWS scoreless over his final 5.0 frames, as he went on to retire 13 of the last 14 batters that he faced.
VS. OAKLAND / A.L. WEST: Owns a 3-1 record with a 4.29 ERA (20 ER/42.0 IP) in 8 career games/starts vs. OAK, including a 2-0 record with a 1.88 ERA against them in 3 postseason games/2 starts (once in the 2012 ALDS and twice in the 2013 ALDS, all w/ DET)…faced the A’s once last season as a member of the Mets, notching the win on 9/25 at the Coliseum after allowing 1 R-ER on 4 H (1 HR) in 6.0 IP, along with 7 SO…owns a 2-1 record with a 4.30 ERA (14 ER/29.1 IP) in 5 G/3 GS against OAK at the Oakland Coliseum, allowing a HR in 4 of those 5 G…has struck out at least 7 batters in 4 of 5 G…his career splits vs. OAK batters at the Coliseum: .257/.317/.496/.813 (29-for-113).
- Scherzer is 19-6, 3.07 (81 ER/237.1 IP) in his career against A.L. West opp., facing them once this season and securing the win (his 6th of ’23 at that point): 8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R-ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 8 SO at HOU on 6/19.
ON THE ROAD: Scherzer has seen tougher times in 12 starts on the road (6-4, 5.16 ERA) this season than in 8 home starts at Citi Field/Globe Life Field (4-0, 2.47 ERA)…has gone 111-57, 3.20 ERA (505 ER/1422.0 IP) in 231 G/226 GS in his career on the road…with 4 SO tonight, Scherzer would reach 1,700 strikeouts on the road for his career (his 1,696 strikeouts on the road rank 1st among active MLB pitchers, 7th all-time)…Scherzer is just 1 of 2 active MLB pitchers to record 111-or-more wins on the road (122-Justin Verlander)…with a win tonight, Scherzer would tie Pedro Martínez for 45th all-time in career road wins with 112
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Lost their 81st game of the season last night and with one more loss will clinch a losing record for the second consecutive season (went 60-102 last year)…have not had back-to-back losing seasons since 2015-17 when they had three straight…have lost five of the last seven games and are 7-14 (.333) since the All-Star Break, which is the third lowest winning percentage in the majors…are 20-31 (.392) over the last 51 games dating back to June 6 after going 12-50 (.194) over the first 62 contests…are 32-81 (.283) overall, which is the lowest winning percentage in the majors behind the Royals (36-78, .316)…the last two Major League teams to finish with a winning percentage under .290 are the 2003 Tigers (43-119, .265) and 1962 Mets (40-120, .250)…swept a two-game series from San Francisco over the weekend for their second series sweep of the season (June 9-11 at Milwaukee)…have been swept 15 times, which are the most times the A’s have been swept in a season since 1997 (also 15)…are 8-11-1 over the last 19 series after going 1-16 over the first 17.
AGAINST THE WEST: The A’s are 5-27 (.156) against American League West teams, which is the lowest intra-division winning percentage in the majors… the lowest mark in Oakland history is .306 (11-25) in 1997 and the lowest mark by any team against its own division is .224 (17-59) by the Nationals last year… are batting .198 (203-for-1023) with 85 runs scored (2.7 runs per game) against teams from the West and have allowed 194 runs for a run differential of -109 (-3.4 per game).
OFFENSE: The A’s are batting .209 (45-for-215) with 19 runs scored over the last seven games (2.7 runs per game)…overall, rank last in the majors in batting (.223), slugging (.362), OPS (.664), runs (406) and extra base hits (281), tied for second in most times shut out (12), third in fewest doubles (154), fourth in lowest on-base percentage (.302), tied for sixth in fewest home runs (109) and seventh in most strikeouts (1037)…lead the majors in sacrifice hits (24) and rank seventh in hit by pitches (59).
IN THE PINCH: The A’s used four pinch hitters last night for the fifth time this year…A’s pinch hitters lead the majors in hits (31), rank second in plate appearances (130), fourth in doubles (5), tied for fifth in walks (12) and tied for seventh in extra base hits (7).
PITCHING: The A’s have not allowed a home run in each of the last three games, which marks the first time this year they have gone more than two consecutive games without surrendering a home run…have yielded 154 home runs for the season, which is fifth most in the majors…are on pace to allow 221 home runs, which would break the Athletics record of 220 set in 1964 by the Kansas City A’s…have compiled a 7.02 ERA over the first 49 games through May 22 but have a 4.91 ERA (306 er in 561.0 ip) in 64 games since then…have a 5.82 ERA overall, which is the highest in the majors…also have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.355), the second highest slugging percentage (.459) and OPS (.814) and fourth highest batting average (.268)…lead the majors with 70 hit batters, which is the fourth highest total in Athletics history (81 in 1911, 72 in 2022, 72 in 1903)…are on pace to hit 100 batters, which would break the American League record of 95 set by the 2003 Rays…the ML record is 110 by the 2022 Reds…also lead the majors in most walks (482), are tied for the lead in most wild pitches (48) and fewest shutouts (2) and rank sixth in fewest strikeouts (909).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 0-4 with a 5.85 ERA (21 er in 32.1 ip) over the last six games and 11-51 with a 6.09 ERA overall…have the fewest wins in the majors, the second highest ERA and are the third most losses…the fewest wins from starting pitchers in Major League history is 21 by the Pirates last year…have tossed 7.1 innings or fewer in each game and have the fewest innings pitched in the majors (518.1).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has two wins, a loss, a save and two blown saves over the last three games…has 15 saves over the last 50 games after tallying just four over the first 63…is 19-for-39 (48.7%) in save opportunities for the season, which is the second lowest percentage in the majors…has the second fewest saves and is tied for the eighth most blown saves (20)…has the highest ERA in the majors (5.53), the most losses (30) and the second most innings pitched (473.2)…the 30 losses are one short of the Oakland record for losses by relievers (31 in 1993 and 2015)…has allowed 85-of-218 (39.0%) inherited runners to score, which is the third highest percentage…has the second most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 105-for-127 (82.7%) in stolen base attempts…rank fifth in the majors in steals and attempts and seventh in percentage…the stolen bases are the most by an A’s team since 2012 (122)…A’s opponents are 79-for113 (69.9%) in stolen base attempts, which is the second lowest success rate in the majors…the 34 caught stealings are the most in the majors…A’s pitchers have 11 pickoffs, which is third most.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS: The A’s have committed at least one error in each of the last four games (five errors total) and now have 70 errors for the season, which is fourth most in the majors…are tied for second in fewest double plays (79), tied for eighth in outfield assists (19) and tied for ninth in most passed balls (7).
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 2-1 on this five-game homestand against San Francisco (2-0) and Texas (0-1)…went 3-7 on the last homestand against Minnesota (0-3), Boston (2-1) and Houston (1-3) and are 17-40 (.298) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors…leave following the game tomorrow for a six-game road trip to Washington (three games) and St. Louis (three games) that starts on Friday…went 2-6 on the last road trip to San Francisco (0-2), Colorado (2-1) and Los Angeles-NL (0-3) and are 15-41 (.268) on the road, which is the second worst road record in the majors to the Royals (15-42, .263)…have compiled a 5.04 ERA (294 er in 525.0 ip) at home compared to 6.71 on the road.
ONE-RUN GAMES AND THE REST: The A’s are 17-22 (.436) in one-run games and 15-61 (.197) in games decided by two or more runs…17 of the A’s 32 wins (53.1%) are by one run…have the second most one-run losses in the majors, rank third in games (39) and tied for ninth in wins…have a run differential of -273, which is the lowest in the majors…the lowest in Oakland history is -287 in 1979 and the lowest in Athletics history is -344 in 1915.
WINNING LATE: The A’s have scored the winning run in their final at bat in 14 of their 32 victories (43.8%)…are 6-6 (.500) in extra inning games and the six wins matches the A’s total from last year…are tied for eighth in the majors in extra inning games (12) and wins and tied for ninth in losses…have six walk-off wins, which is tied for fifth most.
PLAYER NOTES: The A’s have used 54 players, which is tied for third most in the majors…employed a franchise record 64 players last year…have used 34 pitchers, which ties the Athletics record (2018, 2022) and is fourth most in the majors this year…have used 30 relievers, which is an on-going franchise record…16 different pitchers have started a game, which ties the Oakland record set in 1983… have used the injured list 25 times…the only times in Oakland history the A’s used the IL more times for non-Covid reasons were in 2016 (27) and 2018 (26).
THIS AND THAT: The A’s are in a 27-day stretch that began July 14 and concludes tomorrow where the A’s left the state of California just once (July 28-30 at Colorado)…are 7-14 over that stretch…are 24-41 (.369) in night games, 8-40 (.168) during the day…are 8-9 (.471) on Tuesday, 7-10 (.412) on Friday and 16-63 (.203) on all other days of the week…are 5-31 (.139) in the final game of a series…have used an opener 13 times and are 3-10 in those games…have an average time of game of 2:44, which is sixth longest in the majors…however, have not averaged under 2:53 per game since 2010 (2:44).
A’S VS. RANGERS
- The A’s are 2-6 against the Rangers and with one more loss, will lose the season series for the second consecutive season (went 8-11 last year).
- Have not lost back-to-back season series since 2010-11.
- Are 10-17 (.370) over the last two years but are 64-49 (.566) against Texas dating back to 2017…are 35-21 (.625) in Oakland and 29-28 (.509) in Arlington dating back to 2017.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 1-4 1-2 2-6
2022 4-6 4-5 8-11
Oakland History: 405-402
at the Coliseum: 213-190
at Globe Life Field: 14-15
Athletics History: 502-483
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Zack Gelof doubled last night and has at least one extra base hit in 12 of his 20 career games…his 12 extra base hits are fourth most in Athletics history by a player over the first 20 games of his career (Mitchell Page 15, Daric Barton and Craig Paquette 13)…Tony Kemp is batting .297 (38-for128) with a .374 on-base percentage (14 bb, 3 hbp, 2 sf) over his last 40 games dating back to June 15, after hitting .146 with a .244 on-base percentage over his first 51 contests.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: JP Sears (2-8, 4.07 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his team-leading 23rd start of the season…is the only A’s pitcher to spend the entire season in the starting rotation…is 2-5 with a 3.42 ERA (32 er in 84.1 ip) over his last 15 starts after going 0-3 with a 5.54 ERA over his first seven starts through May 8.
RANKINGS: Ranks ninth in the majors in fewest walks per nine innings (2.07), 14th in opponents batting average (.226) and 18th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.96)…has allowed six home runs in his last four starts and 25 for the season, which is tied for third most.
HIT BATTERS: Hit two batters in his last start to break the Oakland single-season record for most hit batters in a season…has hit six batters in his last five starts and has 14 for the season, which tops the record of 13 previously held by by Barry Zito (2001, 05, 06) and Chris Bassitt (2019)…has the most hit batters by an A’s pitcher since Harry Byrd plunked 14 batters in 1953… the last time an A’s pitcher hit more than 14 batters in a season was in 1911 when Cy Morgan had 21 and Jack Coombs had 16…leads the majors in hit batters this year.
DECISIONS: Has 12 no decisions, which is tied for fifth most in the majors among starters…it is tied for second most by an A’s starting pitcher over the last 19 years…Mike Fiers had 14 in 2019…the Oakland record for no decisions by a starting pitcher is 15 by Ron Darling in 1993…has left with the lead and was in position to win in four of his no decisions.
OPPONENTS BATTING: Has a .207 (77-for-372) opponents batting average and .691 OPS against right-handed hitters compared to .313 (26-for-83) with a .913 OPS against left-handers…his opponents average against righties is eighth lowest in the majors…has allowed three home runs to left-handed hitters over his last four starts after yielding just two over the first 35 games of his career…has a .243 (43-for-177) opponents batting average the first time through the order, .223 (40-for-179) the second time and .202 (20-for-99) the third time…opponents are 1-for-40 with 21 strikeouts on an 0-2 count…has allowed a .429 (18-for-42) batting average to the seven hitter in the order but all other spots are .237 or lower.
THIS AND THAT: Is scheduled to start on four days rest today…is 0-3 with a 4.72 ERA (21 er in 40.0 ip) in seven starts on four days rest compared to 2-5 with a 3.62 ERA (31 er in 77.0 ip) in 14 starts on five days rest or more… has 121.2 innings pitched, which are his most as a professional (117.2 last year)…has walked two batters or fewer in 18 of his 22 starts, including seven starts with no walks and eight with one…has allowed five hits or fewer 16 times…16 of the 25 home runs he has allowed are solo shots…has issued 10 of his 28 walks in the first inning.
2023 DAY-BY-DAY: Allowed a career-high tying eight hits in his first start on April 4 against Cleveland but had a no decision in the A’s 4-3 win…then allowed six hits or fewer in each of his next 18 starts through July 16, which was the third longest such streak by a starting pitcher in Oakland history… fell two short of the record of 20 by Trevor Cahill (May 5-Aug. 14, 2010) and Tim Conroy (June 23, 1978-Aug. 31, 1983)…struck out a career-high 11 batters in 6.0 innings on April 21 at Texas but had a no decision in the A’s 5-4 win…finished April with an 0-2 record, a 6.23 ERA and .846 opponents OPS in five starts…then went 0-1 with a 2.94 ERA and .669 opponents OPS in six starts in May…tossed 6.0 scoreless innings on May 3 against Seattle but had a no decision in the A’s 7-2 10-inning loss…left with a 2-0 lead but the pen allowed one run in the seventh and one in the ninth for the blown save…it was the first of four times he left with the lead and was in position to get the win only to have the bullpen blow the save (May 25 at Seattle, July 9 at Boston, July 16 vs. Minnesota)…surrendered a career-high tying three home runs in a 7-2 loss at New York (AL) on May 8…that extended his losing streak to a career-high four games dating back to Sept. 25, 2022…posted a 5.55 ERA and .782 opponents OPS over that stretch, which spanned nine games, including eight starts…had a no decision in an 11-3 loss to Texas on May 14 to start a stretch of five consecutive no decisions from May 14 to June 5… compiled a 2.33 ERA and .609 opponents OPS during the streak, which fell one short of the Oakland record for consecutive starts without a decision… had career highs in walks (5) and pitches (112) in a no decision at Pittsburgh on June 5…snapped his career-high four-game losing streak in the A’s 8-6 win at Milwaukee on June 11…it was his first win since Sept. 20, 2022 against Seattle…then lost each of his next three starts and went 0-4 with a 4.25 ERA and .690 opponents OPS over his next seven starts from June 16 to July 21… had tossed six innings or fewer in each of the first 24 starts of his career before logging 7.0 innings in back-to-back starts on June 16 vs. Philadelphia and June 22 at Cleveland, both losses…surrendered a career-high tying three home runs to the Phillies…retired the final 10 batters he faced against the Phillies and the first 11 against the Guardians for a streak of 21 consecutive batters retired…allowed a career-high seven runs in a season-low 4.0 innings in an 11-0 loss to New York (AL) on June 28…Domingo German tossed a perfect game for the Yankees…tossed a career-high 7.1 scoreless innings, scattered five hits, and did not walk a batter on July 4 at Detroit but had a no decision in the As 1-0, 10-inning win…matched his career highs in hits (8) and home runs (3) in a 6-4 loss to Houston on July 21…snapped his career-high tying four-game losing streak in the A’s 8-5 win at Colorado on July 28.
LAST START: He was the losing pitcher in the A’s 8-2 loss at Los Angeles (NL) last Thursday…allowed RBI doubles to Rojas in the second and third innings but those were the only runs he would allow in five innings of work…Urias tossed 5.0 scoreless innings for the Dodgers and Sears was relieved by Erceg to start the sixth with the A’s trailing 2-1.
