TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:
WINS AND LOSSES: Texas beat the A’s last night, 6-1, and club has a 2-0 record to begin this 6-G, 7-day road trip to OAK (2-0 + today) and SF (3 G)…Rangers have won season-best 8 straight (see separate note to the right) after a 3-G losing streak and are undefeated (MLB-best 8-0) in August… have gone 9-5 in last 14 G and 10-7 in last 17 G since a 6-G win streak (7/14-19) out of the break…team is MLB-best 16-7 (.696) in the 2nd “half”, and 16 wins are T2nd in MLB (17-CHC, 16-TEX/BAL/SEA)…TEX is 17-9 in last 26, 18-13 in last 31 G, and 19-15 in last 34 G…team was 12-19 over a 31-G span from 6/7-7/9 to end the 1st “half”, a stretch which came after club reached the 20-over mark for 1st time on 6/6 (40-20)…TEX is 54-35 in last 89 G, 58-40 in last 98 G and 63-42 last 105 G (beg. 4/9).
- At 68-46 (.596), TEX owns the 3rd-best record in the A.L. and 4th-best in MLB (see below)…68 wins also rank 3rd in A.L. and 4th-most in MLB (see below).
- The 68-46 mark tied the best 114-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
.640 Atlanta 71-40 71 ATL
.619 Baltimore 70-43 70 BAL
.600 Tampa Bay 69-46 69 TB
.596 Texas 68-46 68 TEX
WITH A WIN TODAY, Texas would:
- Register the best 115-game record in franchise history at 69-46 (see chart above).
- Extend its win streak to 9 games, which would be only the 8th single-season run of 9+ games in club history.
- Go undefeated in a series for a 3rd straight series, something club has not done since May 10-18, 2017 vs. SD (2), OAK (3), and PHI (3).
- Post a 3-G road win streak for 1st time since going 4-0 from 5/23-27.
STANDINGS: Texas owns a 3.0-game lead in A.L. West over 2nd-place HOU for a 2nd straight day, the 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 before it dropped to 0.5 G for 3 straight days 7/31-8/2…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 94 straight, 101 of 102, and 114 of the last 116 days beg. 4/14.
- TEX has been alone or tied atop the division for 130 of the season’s first 131 days (exception: 4/8).
SERIES STUFF: TEX has secured a 3rd straight series win here in Oakland, this after 3 straight series losses…team had lost 5 straight road series before winning this series at the Coliseum…Rangers have won all games of a series 8 times in ’23, including 4x since the AS break…club is now 5-3-0 in series since break…club is now 5-6-0 in last 11 series and 5-7-1 in last 13 series…is 22-13-2 overall in series this year, going 12-5-2 at home and 10-8-0 on the road.
ON THE ROAD: TEX has won back-to-back road games for the 1st time since 6/21-23 (2-0)…TEX has lost 3 of 5, 7 of 10, 9 of 13, 11 of 16, and 15 of last 24 away games…club is still 28-26 (.519) on the road for the season, 6th-best away record in the A.L…from 5/6-30, TEX went 13-4 on road.
VS. OAKLAND: TEX is 7-2 vs. OAK in ’23, winning 4 in a row and 7 of 8, taking all 3 series…have clinched a 2nd straight season series win (11-8 in ’22) after 5 straight losing seasons.
GREAT EIGHT: Texas has won a season-best 8 straight games, club’s longest win streak in over 6 years, and 2nd-longest in the last 10 years beg. 2014 (10-0, May 9-19, 2017).
- This is just the 18th single-season win streak of 8+ G in Rangers history, and there have been only 7 lasting 9-games-or-longer…the club record is 14 straight wins from 5/12-27/91.
- It is just the 11th win streak of 8+ G in MLB in 2023, longest since the Cubs were 8-0 from 7/21-29 and longest in the A.L. since the Orioles went 8-0 from 7/5-16…Majors’ last win streak longer than 8 G was by Atlanta (9-0, 6/24-7/3).
- This is the 1st time the Rangers have ever won the 1st 8 games of a month.
- Club has reached a season high at 22 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 22 G over .500: 1977, 1996, 1999, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2023.
TO THE MAX: Max Scherzer posted his 2nd quality start and win last night in as many outings for Texas since being acquired in a July 30 trade…the only pitchers with 13+ IP, 4-or-fewer runs allowed, and 15+ SO over their 1st 2 outings with the Washington/Texas franchise: Nolan Ryan (1989) and Max Scherzer (2023)…Scherzer is the only pitcher to win each of those 1st 2 outings.
STARTING OUT: Last night was the 6th time during this 8-G win streak for the Rangers to receive a quality start…the 6 quality starts in August are more than the club’s total for the entire month of July (5), and account for 6 of the staff’s 8 QS since the AS break…Rangers’ MLB-high 6 QS in Aug. have aided in starters’ MLB-best 2.36 ERA (13 ER/49.2 IP) this month.
DIFFERENTIAL UPDATE: The Rangers’ current MLB-best +177 run differential is the 2nd-highest figure at any point in any season in Texas history, trailing only the final day of the 2011 campaign (+178 on 9/28/11).
TODAY IS THE GREATEST: The Rangers’ 30 day game wins in ’23 are tied for most in MLB (also TB/PHI), as club’s 30-16 (.652) record in day tilts is 3rd-best in Majors to ATL/ NYY (both 27-13, .675).
- TEX has won 3 straight and 7 of last 9 day tilts overall, but is 11-11 in road day games in ’23, losing 3 straight, 6 of 7, and 8 of last 11 on road beg. 5/28 after a 7-3 start…Rangers have won both day games here in Oakland in ’23, out-scoring A’s by a 16-3 margin.
ACROSS THE BRIDGE: The Rangers will spend tomorrow’s off day here in the Bay Area and begin a 3-G series against the Giants on Friday night at Oracle Park…it will be the return of former Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who guided the team to 3 World Series titles (2010-12-14)…Bochy is the all-time leader in managerial wins at Oracle Park (589), and also has the all-time MLB lead for wins in San Francisco (607).
- Texas is 14-24 all-time vs. SF, losing 3 of 4 and 7 of 9, going 8-20 since 2000…teams last played in 2021, with TEX going 0-2 in SF and 1-1 at GLF…TEX is 6-19 all-time in San Francisco, 2-3 at Candlestick and 4-16 at Oracle Park…TEX is 1-7-1 in 9 all-time road series vs. SF (lone win: 2-1, 6/8-10/12)…club also dropped WS Games 1 and 2 at Oracle in 2010, the 1st World Series games in franchise history.
SHORTS: Last night’s 8 XBH matched most since the AS break (also 8 XBH, 7/14 vs. CLE), but were most in a road game since 8/24/22 at COL (8)…with 6 doubles last night, TEX leads MLB with 253 doubles in ’23…Rangers’ MLB-high 659 runs are 3rd-most thru 114 G in franchise history (668 in 1996, 662 in 1998), just 48 shy of matching last year’s run total (707)…Marcus Semien has reached safely multiple times in 4 straight and 7 of 8 G to begin August…Semien ranks 4th in the A.L. with a .472 OBP this month.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – #52 Jordan Montgomery, LHP (7-9, 3.40)
TODAY: The 30-year-old left-hander is scheduled to make his 23rd start of the season (2nd with Texas) in today’s series finale at Oakland…was acquired on 7/30 in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, along with RHP Chris Stratton and international bonus pool money, in exchange for LHP John King, INF/OF Tommy Saggese, and RHP T.K. Roby…will pitch today on regular 4 days’ rest after earning the win in his Rangers debut on Fri. vs. MIA (see ‘Last Start’)…has gone 5-3, 2.51 (20 ER/71.2 IP) with 62 SO/20 BB, a .227 opp. BA, and just 6 HR allowed over his last 12 starts beg. 5/28…his 2.51 ERA since 5/28 is 5th-lowest among MLB qualifiers in that span…went 6-9 with a 3.42 ERA (46 ER/121.0 IP) in 21 G/GS for STL this season, posting 108 SO with 35 BB allowed…at time of the trade, ranked among N.L. leaders in quality starts (T7th, 12), ERA (9th, 3.42), HR/9 (10th, 0.89), opp. GIDP per 9 (11th, 0.97), and WHIP (17th, 1.25)… acquired by STL from NYY on 8/2/22 in exchange for outfielder Harrison Bader… the Sumter, S.C. native finished sixth in the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the Topps MLB All-Star Rookie Team after leading the A.L. in starts (29), strikeouts (144), and innings (155.1) that season…selected by the Yankees in the fourth round of the 2014 MLB draft out of the U. of South Carolina, Montgomery owns a 35-32 record with a 3.76 ERA (290 ER/693.1 IP) in 131 G/130 GS across 7 MLB seasons with New York-AL (2017-22), St. Louis (2022-23), and Texas (2023)…his teams are 8-14 in his 22 starts this season.
LAST START: Posted a quality start in his Texas debut on Fri. vs. MIA (W, 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R-ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 80 pitches/56 strikes), aiding the Rangers to a 6-2 victory…allowed 2 runs in his first 2.0 frames on an RBI double by Josh Bell (1st inn.) and solo HR by Jon Berti (2nd inn.), but retired each of the last 11 batters he faced…exited after the 6th inning with Texas leading 4-2…Montgomery and Max Scherzer (6.0 IP, 3 R-ER on Thurs. vs. CWS) are the only TEX pitchers in the last 4 seasons (beg. 2020) to notch quality starts in their 1st outing with the club…Montgomery was also the 1st left-handed hurler to pull the trick since Brock Burke in his MLB debut on 8/20/19 vs. LAA-G2 (6.0 IP, 0 R).
VS. OAKLAND: Has posted no record and a 3.80 ERA (10 ER/23.2 IP) in 4 games/starts vs. OAK in his career, and today’s start will be just his 3rd-ever app. at Oakland Coliseum: 6/15/17 at OAK w/ NYY (ND, 5.2 IP, 4 R-ER) and 8/29/21 at OAK w/ NYY (ND, 6.0 IP, 1 R-0 ER)…last faced A’s in start on 6/27/22 vs. OAK w/ NYY (ND, 6.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R-ER, 1 BB, 6 SO), a 9-5 Yankees win in The Bronx… allowed 5 runs allowed came with 2 outs in the 3rd inning.
ON ROAD: Has seen slightly better ERA results in 10 road starts (2-5, 3.34) than in 12 home starts (5-4, 3.45) this season, but his teams are just 2-8 in his away outings in 2023…opponents are batting .236/.297/.398/.695 (51-216) with 6 HR on the road vs. .262/.312/.432/.744 (71-271) with 7 HR at home this season…for his career, has performed far better at home (24-14, 3.51 ERA in 69 G/GS) than on the road (11-18, 4.06 ERA in 62 G/61 GS).
WITH ST. LOUIS: Went 12-12 with a 3.31 ERA (68 ER/184.2 IP) over 32 G/GS with St. Louis after being acquired from the Yankees in a trade on 8/2/22 in exchange for OF Harrison Bader…during his time with STL, led the staff in wins and strikeouts (169), posting easily the lowest ERA among any of the 8 Cardinals with 65+ IP in that span…his 184.2 IP ranked 2nd to only Miles Mikolas (197.1)…St. Louis won 10-of-his-first-13 starts as a Cardinal, but went 5-14 over his last 19.
- STL was shut out in 3 of his 1st 4 losses in 2023, and dropped each of 10 consecutive starts by Montgomery from 4/13-6/3…Montgomery was 0-7 in that span (4/13-6/3), longest losing streak of his career.
- Went 7 consecutive starts (4/13-5/16) with 3-or-fewer runs of support, including 3 starts with no support (4/13, 4/24, 4/29).
- Opened start 7/2 vs. NYY with 5.2 no-hit innings, longest span to open a start in his career.
VS. LEFTIES: Has 2 walks against LH batters in the past 2 seasons, and they each came in his final starts for NYY and STL…issued a walk to Cubs’ Cody Bellinger in the 4th inning of his most recent start with STL on 7/28 vs. CHC…it was his only walk to a left-handed batter in his Cardinals career (32 starts), as he had not issued a free pass to a LHB since 7/31/22 vs. KC (Vinnie Pasquantino in 5th inning), which was his final start as a Yankee.
- LHB have slashed .221/.261/.323/.584 with 11 HR, 19 BB/117 SO in his career. 2023: Opponents are batting .251 (122-487), with a .293 BA from LHB and a .243 BA from RHB…lefties have never batted higher than .250 in any season in his MLB career…has gone 3-0, 2.41 (9 ER/33.2 IP) over 6 starts against A.L. clubs this season…BA by time through the order: 1st (.258), 2nd (.230), 3rd (.273), 4th (0-1)…finished June ranking among N.L. leaders in ERA (7th, 1.71) and opp. BA (12th, .212)…won 3 straight decisions to end June.
CAREER: Drafted in 4th round by the Yankees in 2014 out of the University of South Carolina…finished 6th in 2017 AL Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the Topps MLB All-Star Rookie Team…led A.L. rookies in starts (29), strikeouts (144) and innings pitched (155.1) his rookie season.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: Lost their 82nd game of the season last night to clinch a losing record for the second consecutive season (went 60-102 last year)…it marks the first time the A’s have had back-to-back losing seasons since 2015- 17 when they had three straight…have lost the first two games of this series and have been swept 15 times this year, which are the most times the A’s have been swept in a season since 1997 (also 15)…the only time in Oakland history the A’s have been swept more than 15 times was in 1978 (17)…have lost six of the last eight games and are 7-15 (.318) since the All-Star Break, which is the third lowest winning percentage in the majors…are 20-32 (.385) over the last 52 games dating back to June 6 after going 12-50 (.194) over the first 62 contests…are a season-high tying 50 games under .500 at 32-82 (.281)…have not been more than 50 games under .500 since finishing the 1979 season 54 under at 54-108…have the lowest winning percentage in the majors behind the Royals (37-78, .322)…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)…including this series, are 8-11-1 over the last 20 series after going 1-16 over the first 17.
AGAINST THE WEST: The A’s are 5-28 (.152) 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 .196 (206-for-1053) with 86 runs scored (2.6 runs per game) against teams from the West and have allowed 200 runs for a run differential of -114 (-3.5 per game).
OFFENSE: The A’s are batting .196 (48-for-245) with 20 runs scored over the last eight games (2.5 runs per game)…overall, rank last in the majors in batting (.222), slugging (.361), OPS (.662), runs (407) and extra base hits (282), tied for second in most times shut out (12), third in fewest doubles (154), fourth in lowest on-base percentage (.301), sixth in fewest home runs (110) and eighth in most strikeouts (1044)…lead the majors in sacrifice hits (24) and rank seventh in hit by pitches (59).
IN THE PINCH: A’s pinch hitters lead the majors in hits (31), rank second in plate appearances (131), fourth in doubles (5) and tied for seventh in walks (12) and extra base hits (7).
PITCHING: The A’s compiled a 7.02 ERA over the first 49 games through May 22 but have a 4.93 ERA (312 er in 570.0 ip) in 65 games since then…have a 5.83 ERA overall, which is the highest in the majors…also have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.356), the second highest slugging percentage (.460) and OPS (.816) 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)…also lead the majors in most walks (486), are tied for the lead in most wild pitches (48) and fewest shutouts (2), rank fifth in most home runs (155) and sixth in fewest strikeouts (920).
STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 0-5 with a 6.19 ERA (25 er in 36.1 ip) over the last seven games and 11-52 with a 6.12 ERA overall…have the fewest wins in the majors, the highest ERA and are tied for the second 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 are tied with the Giants for the fewest innings pitched in the majors (522.1).
FOR OPENERS: The A’s are scheduled to use an opener today for the 14th time this year (last on July 25)…openers are 0-4 with a 7.94 ERA (17.0 ip, 25 h, 15 r, 15 er, 3 bb, 20 so) and the main pitchers are 3-3 with a 4.84 ERA (61.1 ip, 55 h, 34 r, 33 er, 25 bb, 66 so)…are 3-10 over the first 13 games…used an opener nine times in 2018 (all in September) and three times in 2019 (none after June 5).
THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has two wins, a loss, a save and two blown saves over the last four games…has 15 saves over the last 51 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 (5.51), the most losses (30) and the second most innings pitched (478.2)…the 30 losses are one short of the Oakland record for losses by relievers (31 in 1993 and 2015)…has allowed 85-of-221 (38.5%) inherited runners to score, which is the fifth highest percentage…has the second most inherited runners.
ON THE BASES: The A’s are 106-for-128 (82.8%) 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- for-113 (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 tied for third most.
DEFENSIVE DOINGS: The A’s have committed five errors in the last five games and have 70 for the season, which is tied for fourth most in the majors…are tied for second in fewest double plays (80), tied for eighth in outfield assists (19) and tied for ninth in most passed balls (7).
HOME AND AWAY: The A’s are 2-2 on this five-game homestand against San Francisco (2-0) and Texas (0-2) and with a win today would have their first winning homestand of the season…went 3-7 on the last homestand against Minnesota (0-3), Boston (2-1) and Houston (1-3) and are 17-41 (.293) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors…leave following the game today 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 worst road record in the majors…have compiled a 5.06 ERA (300 er in 534.0 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 15-62 (.195) in games decided by two or more runs…17 of the A’s 32 wins (53.1%) are by one run…are tied for 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 -278, 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 walkoff wins, which is tied for fifth most.
THIS AND THAT: Today concludes a 27-day stretch that began July 14 where the A’s left the state of California just once (July 28-30 at Colorado)…are 7-15 over that span…the A’s are 5-31 (.139) in the final game of a series…are 24-42 (.364) in night games, 8-40 (.168) during the day…are 8-10 (.444) on Tuesday, 7-10 (.412) on Friday and 16-63 (.203) on all other days of the week…have set an Athletics record for most relievers in a season (30), tied the record for most pitchers (34) and tied the Oakland record for most starting pitchers (16).
A’S VS. RANGERS
- The A’s have lost the season series for the second consecutive season as the are 2-7 with four games remaining…this is the first time they have lost back-to-back season series to the Rangers since 2010-11.
- Are 1-5 in Oakland and with a loss today, which match their worst home record against the Rangers (1-6 in 1979).
- Are 10-18 (.357) over the last two years but are 64-50 (.561) against Texas dating back to 2017…are 35-22 (.614) in Oakland and 29-28 (.509) in Arlington dating back to 2017.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 1-5 1-2 2-7
2022 4-6 4-5 8-11
Oakland History: 405-403
at the Coliseum: 213-191
at Globe Life Field: 14-15
Athletics History: 502-484
TODAY’S TIDBITS
Zack Gelof has 12 extra base hits, which are tied for fourth most in Athletics history by a player over the first 21 games of his career (Mitchell Page
15, Daric Barton and Craig Paquette 13, Sam Chapman 12)…Tony Kemp is batting .288 (38-for-132) with a .364 on-base percentage (14 bb, 3 hbp, 2 sf) over his last 41 games dating back to June 15, after hitting .146 with a .244 on-base percentage over his first 51 contests.
TODAY’S MAIN PITCHER: Freddy Tarnok (0-1, 6.75 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Began the season on the injured list with a strained right shoulder and missed the first two months of the season before starting a rehab assignment on June 9…made one start with the A’s affiliate in the Arizona Complex League and five with Triple-A Las Vegas before he was reinstated from the IL and optioned to Las Vegas July 8…was recalled by Oakland on July 15 and has pitched in four games, including one start as an opener on July 26 at San Francisco, .
INNINGS AND PITCHES: Has tossed at least 2.1 innings in each of his four appearances with a high of 3.0 on July 20 against Houston…has thrown 49 or more pitches all four outings with a high of 63 and an average of 54.5… averaged 65.8 pitches per game with Las Vegas with a high of 95.
THIS AND THAT: Opponents are 9-for-40 (.225) but he has walked nine batters in 10.2 innings for a .367 on-base percentage…has allowed at least one home run in each of his four games for a .600 slugging percentage…has yielded all four of his home runs to right-handers…has allowed a .273 (6-for22) batting average and three of his four home runs with the bases empty, .167 (3-for-18) with runners on…opponents are 1-for-11 (.091) with runners in scoring position.
2023 OAKLAND DAY-BY-DAY: Was recalled from Las Vegas on July 14 and made his A’s debut the next day in relief in the A’s 10-7 loss to Minnesota… entered the game in the sixth inning with a runner on first, no outs and the A’s trailing 7-6…got a double play and a strikeout to end the inning and the A’s scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game…he then allowed a solo home run to Farmer in the seventh and walked Buxton with the bases loaded in the eighth and took the loss…tossed a career-high 3.0 innings and allowed just one run in the A’s 3-1 loss to Houston July 21…made his first start as an opener for Harris in an 8-3 A’s loss on July 26 at San Francisco… tossed 2.2 innings and allowed three runs but the A’s scored three times in the fourth to get him off the hook.
LAST APPEARANCE: He tossed 2.1 innings of relief in the A’s 7-3 loss at Los Angeles (NL) on Aug. 1…entered the game to start the fifth inning with the A’s trailing 4-0…allowed a double and two walks but no runs in the fifth and sixth…yielded a leadoff home run to Betts in the seventh and was relieved by Long with one out and runners on first and second…Long allowed one of the runs to score.
