TORONTO BLUE JAYS NOTES:
THE LATEST: The Blue Jays completed their 7th sweep of the season on Sunday, rolling past the Red Sox by a 13-1 final…Improved to 21-15 in series Finales…Recorded 44 hits over the weekend in Beantown, tied for their 5th most in a single three-game series in team history. Toronto has won nine of its last 14 games, 18 of its last 28, and is 37-25 over its last 62 contests…Its .597 win% over that span (since May 26) is tied with Baltimore for the highest mark in the AL (T-3rd in MLB)…Is currently holding the 3rd Wild Card spot, 1.0 game back of Houston (64-49) for the 2nd spot, and 2.5 games up on Seattle.
BABE SCHNEIDER: Davis Schneider batted in the three-hole in just his 3rd career MLB game on Sunday, going 4-for-5 with a home run, four RBI, and a hit-by-pitch…As a big leaguer, the 24-year-old has gone 9-for-13 (.692) with two home runs and five RBI for a .733 OBP…Became the 3rd player in MLB history to record at least nine hits through his first three big league games (Nap Lajoie – 10H in 1901 & Coaker Triplett – 9H in 1938), and the only player ever with at least nine hits and
two home runs over that span.
THE CAPTAIN IS ON BOARD: Brandon Belt was aboard safely four times yesterday, reaching on a bunt single in the 3rd, doubling in the 7th, and drawing a pair of walks…Went 2-for-4 with a trio of runs scored, his 15th multi-hit effort of the year and his 4th in his last five games. Over his last 60 contests, the nacogdoches, TX, native has batted .284 (55-for-194) with 17 doubles, nine homers, 24 RBI, and 42 walks (.410 OBP)…His 4.46 pitches/PA this season tops all AL batters (min. 200 PA), behind only Patrick Wisdom (4.52) for the highest in the Majors.
FEELING GEORGE-OUS: George Springer doubled in each of his first two plate appearances on Sunday before plating a run with a sacrifice fly in the 5th…Finished the game 2-for-5 for his 31st multi-hit effort of the season…Marked his 3rd game this season with multiple doubles, also doing so twice against the Twins on May 26 at Target Field and June 9 at Rogers Centre. Since snapping a career-long 0-for-35 hitless streak on Aug. 2 vs. BAL, has gone 8-for-17 (.471) with three doubles, three RBI, and four walks.
STAT CHAPMAN: Matt Chapman opened the scoring on Sunday with a two-run double in the 3rd inning…Also drove in a run with a single in the 5th, finishing the day 2-for-4 with three RBI…Marked his 25th multi-hit game of the season. The third baseman ranks 3rd in MLB with a 58.5 hardhit percentage (1st: Aaron Judge – 63.4, 2nd: Matt Olson – 58.6), 7th in average exit velocity (93.7 MPH), and 14th in hard-hit balls (161)…Leads the AL with 35 doubles, trailing only Freddie Freeman (40) for the MLB lead…Has 51 extra-base hits, 4th most among AL hitters, while his 54 walks are T-8th most.
KEVIN!!: Kevin Kiermaier singled home a run in each of the 3rd and 5th innings, going 2-for-4 on the day with a run scored, his 19th multi-hit effort of the year…Left the game in the 6th inning with a laceration on his elbow that required eight stitches after making a catch at the wall in centerfield…Over his last 24 games, has batted .302 (19-for-63) with two doubles, a homer, and nine RBI (.738 OPS).
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Blue Jays are on a seven-game, seven-day road trip (3-0 so far)…Own a 33-26 road record this season for a .559 win%, 3rd best in the AL…Have won 13 of their last 17 road games, the best road record in the Majors since June 20th (.765)…After this four-game set in Cleveland, will head home for a five-game homestand against the Cubs (58-54) and Phillies (61-51). Blue Jays hitters lead all MLB clubs with a .267 road AVG, while ranking 2nd in the AL in road OBP (.335), 2nd in road OPS (.771), and 3rd in road SLG (.436)…The pitching staff ranks 7th in the AL in road ERA (4.14), 10th in road WHIP (1.33), and 13th in road opponents’ AVG (.258).
HOUNDING INNINGS: Chris Bassitt earned his team-leading 11th win of the season yesterday, tossing 7.0 frames of one-run ball (7H, 3BB, 6K)…Completed at least 6.0 frames for the 16th time, trailing only Gerrit Cole (18) for the most in the AL…His 139.2 innings pitched for the year are 3rd most among AL pitchers (7th in MLB), while his 15 quality starts are tied for 3rd with teammate Kevin Gausman. The 34-year old lowered his season ERA to 3.87… Is on pace to author his 6th straight sub-4.00 ERA season, and do so for the 8th time in his nine-year career.
PITCHING IN: Toronto pitchers have combined for a 3.80 ERA this season, 3rd among AL teams (4th in MLB)…Are 2nd in MLB with 1,072 strikeouts (MIN – 1,077)…Rank 8th in the AL in opponents’ average (.243) and 7th in WHIP (1.27)…The rotation has 53 quality starts, T-3rd most in MLB.
HITTING IT: With their 16 hits on Sunday, Toronto’s offence has put up at least 14 hits in three consecutive games for the 4th time in franchise history (last: 3G from April 24-26, 2004)…Has now racked up 10+ hits on 44 occasions this season, 4th most among AL teams…Since 2021, have piled up an MLB-high 182 double-digit hit games (2nd: BOS – 167). Toronto batters have notched 1,017 hits this season, 2nd most in MLB (1st: TEX – 1,060)…Are currently 2nd in the AL in team OBP (.332), 3rd in AVG (.261), 2nd in OBP (.332), 5th in OPS (.753), 6th in SLG (.421), and 7th in extra-base hits (346).
VS. THE GUARDIANS: All-Time: 217-221-2
2022: 2-5 Road: 100-119-2
Road: 1-3 Progressive Field: 43-67
The Blue Jays are facing the Guardians for the first time this season…Lost two of three at Rogers Centre last year after dropping three of four at Progressive Field last May…Two of their three losses in Cleveland were by a single run.
Santiago Espinal hit safely in all six of his games against the Guardians last season, going 8-for-19 (.421) with three doubles, an RBI, and four walks (.522 OBP, 1.101 OPS)…Is a career .355 hitter (11- for-31) vs. CLE, notching four doubles and four RBI for a .943 OPS.
George Springer recorded four hits over his four meetings with the Guardians in 2022, batting .333 (4- for-12) with a pair of doubles and four RBI…Over 36 career games vs. CLE, has hit .275 (36-for-131) with 12 doubles, seven homers, and 19 RBI (.917 OPS).
Whit Merrifield leads all current Blue Jays with 113 career games against his former division rival…Has gone 114-for-453 (.252) over that stretch with 22
doubles, two triples, 10 homers, and 48 RBI.
STARTING PITCHER – Hyun Jin Ryu, LHP #99
TODAY’S GAME: Making his 2nd start of the season and his 1st on the road…Made his season debut on 8/1 vs. BAL, giving up 4 runs over 5.0+ frames with 9 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts…Was his 50th career start in a Blue Jays uniform. Since joining the Blue Jays in 2020, the team has gone 17-7 (.708) when he starts on the road, the 3rd-best mark in the Majors over that span, min. 20 GS (Logan Gilbert – .732, Jack Flaherty – .724). His 3.17 ERA since the start of 2018 is the 13th-best mark in the Majors (min. 500 IP)…Among active pitchers with 1000+ IP, his career 3.28 ERA is 8th best.
2023 HIGHLIGHTS: Began the season on the injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2022. Was sent on a rehab assignment to the FCL Blue Jays and made one start on 7/4, pitching 3.0 innings of one-run ball on 4 hits, no walks, and 5 strikeouts. Made one start with Single-A Dunedin on 7/9, tossing 4.0 shutout innings with 3 hits, no walks, and a strikeout. Started for Triple-A Buffalo on 7/15, going 5.0 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits while walking none and recording 5 strikeouts. On 7/21, made a 2nd start with Buffalo, tossing 6.0 innings of 2-run ball, scattering 3 hits and a walk with 5 punchouts.
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS FALL 5-3, LOSE SEASON SERIES TO WHITE SOX
After opening the series with Friday’s 4-2 victory, the Cleveland Guardians dropped a second straight decision to the Chicago White Sox, falling 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field… Cleveland is 1-2 to begin a 7-game homestand against Chicago-AL (1-2) and Toronto (4 games)…club has gone 11-7-2 over last 20 series (+3G above .500/33-30 record since May 26). » The Guardians held a 3-2 lead in the top of the 9th inning before the ChiSox rallied for a trio of 2-out runs following an infield throwing error that would have ended the game with a Cleveland victory secured; one run scored on the miscue to knot the game at 3-3 and then perpetual Cleveland nemesis Elvis Andrus delivered a go-ahead 2-run single off EMMANUEL CLASE, who shouldered his eighth blown save of the year despite all runs being unearned (1.0IP, 4H, 3R-0ER, 0BB, 3SO, 22 pitches)…XZAVION CURRY made his fourth start of the year, matching a career-high with 5.0 innings (5.0IP, 4H, 2R-ER, 0BB, 4SO, 65 pitches)…surrendered both tallies in the 1st inning after Andrus doubled to lead-off the game and then scored on an RBI-triple by Luis Robert Jr.’s, who came home on a sac fly by Eloy Jiménez…Cleveland staged a 3-run rally in the 5th, as GABRIEL ARIAS followed a KOLE CALHOUN lead-off double with a 2-run homer (5) off Jesse Scholtens (6.0IP, 6H, 3R-2ER, BB, 6SO, HR, 96 pitches); Guards pushed across one more run on a MYLES STRAW infield single that forced a throwing error.
Cleveland (54-58) sits in 2nd place in the AL Central standings, 4.5 games behind 2nd-place Minnesota (59-54) and 4.5 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-9.0G, 49-62)…despite dropping 7 of last 9, Guardians have still won 22 of 42, 29 of 55 and 32 of last 61…have also dropped 52 of last 97 overall since starting year 9-6.
THE 6 IN THE LAND
The Toronto Blue Jays visit Progressive Field for a 4-game series against the Cleveland Guardians this week, the first of two series between the clubs this season…Cleveland won the season series in 2022, going 5-2 in 7 games against Toronto…during the Terry Francona era, the Guardians are 33-27 against the Jays and 19-11 at Progressive Field…overall, Cleveland is 221-217 all-time against Toronto dating back to 1977.
In 45 games against Toronto, JOSÉ RAMÍREZ is batting .289 (50-for-173) with 6 home runs and 28 RBI…ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ owns a .375 average (9-for-24) with 4 RBI and a .941 OPS in 9 games against the Blue Jays.
TERRIFIC TITO
Terry Francona’s next victory will be his 900th as the Manager of the Guardians…through his 11 seasons with Cleveland, he is currently 899-729 (.552), leading the Guardians to 4 AL Central Titles (2016-18, 2022) and the American League Pennant in 2016… Francona won AL Manager of the Year in 2013, 2016 and 2022.
Francona (1,928) recently passed Hall-of-Famer Casey Stengel (1,926) for 13th-most wins by a manager in MLB history…he is 81 wins away from 12th place, held by Hall-of-Famer Leo Durocher (2,009)…Francona has the 3rd-most wins by an active MLB manager behind Bruce Bochy (2,069) and Dusty Baker (2,157).
LET’S GET IT STARTED
Cleveland’s starting pitching has excelled in the second half, holding opponents to 2-or-fewer earned runs in 18 of the rotations 22 outings since July 14…they have lasted 5.0-or-more innings in 17 of their 22 starts since the All-Star break, with 3 of those 5 outings being XZAVION CURRY’s spot starts…the rotation’s 2.94 ERA (38ER/116.1IP) to start the second half is the lowest in MLB, 34 points lower than the next-best team (Toronto, 3.28)…Guardians starters also rank 2nd in MLB in opposing batting average (.221) and opposing slugging percentage (.371), behind Baltimore (.212 AVG, .335 SLG), while allowing the 4th-fewest hits (93).
RUMBLE, YOUNG MAN, RUMBLE
Cleveland is one of 2 MLB teams (also Oakland) to have 6 different rookies throw 30.0+ innings this season; TANNER BIBEE (94.2IP) LOGAN ALLEN (86.1IP), XZAVION CURRY (64.0IP), GAVIN WILLIAMS (42.2IP), PEYTON BATTENFIELD (34.2IP) and HUNTER GADDIS (31.1IP)…39.18% of Cleveland’s innings pitched this season (392.0IP/1000.1IP) have come via rookies, 2nd in MLB behind Oakland (41.68%)…the Guards rookies rank amongst MLB clubs’ rookies in wins (19, 1st), games started (57, 1st), strikeouts (354, 2nd) and innings pitched (392.0, 2nd)… Cleveland possesses the youngest average age of pitchers (26.1) among MLB clubs this season, ahead of Miami (27.4).
KWAN-TUM MECHANICS
After heading into the All-Star break hitting .263 (94-for-358) with 2 home runs, 27 RBI and a .685 OPS, STEVEN KWAN is batting .315 (28-for-89) with 3 home runs, 11 RBI and a .881 OPS in his 22 games to open the second half…his .881 OPS ranks 2nd on the club behind JOSH NAYLOR (.942) during that span…he’s hit safely in 16 of 22 games to start the half and T2nd in the American League with TOR’s Whit Merrifield with 28 hits during that stretch.
Kwan led the club’s qualified hitters with 4.05 pitches per plate appearance in the 1st half…in the 20 games since the start of the second half, Kwan has seen 3.57 pitches per plate appearance, a 0.48 difference, and the largest difference among Cleveland’s qualified hitters.
He has shown success this season hitting early in counts, batting .364 (12-for-33) with a .867 OPS on the first pitch…with the count 0-1, he owns a .308 (20-for-65) batting average…most notably, when the count is 1-0, Kwan is hitting .542 (13-for-24) with a 1.435 OPS.
CAN’T HELP BUT BEING A LITTLE EXTRA
JOSÉ RAMÍREZ has 49 extra-base hits this season, ranking T7th in the American League with TEX’s Marcus Semien…since the start of the 2017 season he leads MLB with 465 extra-base hits, 16 ahead of LAD’s Mookie Betts (449) who is in 2nd place… Ramírez ranks 4th all-time in club history in extra-base hits, trailing Jim Thome (620), Tris Speaker (667) and Earl Averill (724).
STAND FOR THE LAND
After another strong weekend series at the gate (100,184 vs. CWS), Cleveland has drawn 1,261,662 fans over 54 home games (23,364/game), up 342,979 from this point in 2022 (918,683)…the per-date home average is up over 37.34% (6,352/game) from this point last year (17,012 to 23,364)…league-wide, MLB attendance is up 9.2% from 2022, drawing 29,309 per gate opening compared to the season-ending 2022 total of 26,843…attendance across MLB averaged 38,284 on Saturday as the 13 games over 35,000 fans marked the first time in a 15-game slate since 2004…this season, the Guardians eclipsed the one million-mark in date #46 compared to 59 dates a year ago.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – #63 GAVIN WILLIAMS RHP
WILLIAMS AT HOME, MLB
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-1 4.21 5 5 25.2 27 12 12 12 21
Career 1-1 4.21 5 5 25.2 27 12 12 12 21
WILLIAMS’ MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-3 3.38 8 8 42.2 36 16 16 21 37
Career 1-3 3.38 8 8 42.2 36 16 16 21 37
TONIGHT’S START
The 6-6, 250-pound 23-year-old right-hander is making his ninth career start, sixth at home, in the opening matchup of this 4-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays, his first career start against the club…the rookie has allowed 3-or-fewer runs in each of his past 5 outings…is seeking his first win since July 8 against Kansas City…has not thrown more than 95 pitches in any of his outings this season.
At the time of his MLB debut, Williams was the organization’s #1 prospect, MLB’s #2 pitching prospect and the #10 prospect overall (MLB.com)…he was selected in the first round, #23 overall, out of East Carolina University by Cleveland in the 2021 MLB Draft… became the 7th different rookie to make their Major League debut for the Guardians this season…is starting on extended 5 days’ rest for the fifth time in his career; owns an 0-2 record with a 2.82 ERA (7ER/22.1IP) through his first 4 starts on 5 days’ rest.
LAST TIME OUT
Williams took the hill in the middle contest of a 3-game set against the Houston Astros on Tuesday…he suffered his third career loss after working 5.0 innings with 2 runs (earned) allowed on 4 hits with 6 strikeouts and 4 walks…he retired 3 of 4 in the 1st frame, the lone blemish being a Jeremy Peña double…in the 2nd, he struck out the side for the first time in his MLB career, retiring José Abreu, Chas McCormick and Yainer Díaz…Williams faced trouble in the 3rd with an Astros 2-out rally as Jose Altuve singled, Peña walked, both runners advanced on a wild pitch and Kyle Tucker plated both runners with a 2-RBI single…despite back-to-back walks to start the 4th, Williams settled in and retired 3 straight hitters…he retired 3 of 4 Astros in the 5th to end his outing.
HEY ROOKIE! YOU’RE ON CLEANUP DUTY!
Williams has fared well against team’s #3 and #4 hitters to begin his MLB career, holding #3 hitters to a .100 (2-for-20) average and #4 hitters to a .143 (3-for-21) average…since making his MLB debut on June 21, he trails only New York-AL’s Gerrit Cole in OPS (.328, 2nd) and OBP (.182, 2nd) against #3 and #4 hitters…he also ranks among MLB arms since his MLB debut against #3 and #4 hitters in WHIP (0.65, 3rd), SLG (.146, 3rd) and batting average (.122, 4th)…in his 8 career outings, he has allowed just 5 hits to #3 and #4 hitters while striking out 14 and walking 3.
ROAD TO THE SHOW
2023: Opened up the season at AA Akron and was effective in his 3 starts…over 14.1 innings, he allowed just one earned run (0.63 ERA) on 6 hits with 20 strikeouts against 3 walks… was promoted to AAA Columbus following his start on April 20… made 9 starts at Columbus, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.93 ERA (15ER/46.0IP) with 61 punchouts and 21 walks…opposing hitters sported a .186 average (29-for-186)…at the time of his promotion to the bigs, among AAA pitchers (min 45.0IP), he was 2nd in SO/9 (11.93), 4th in WHIP (1.09) and 5th in ERA (2.93)…over his Minor League career he owns an 11.81 SO/9 and 3.59 SO/BB.
2022: Began his career at High-A Lake County, making a total of 9 starts…went 2-1 with a 1.40 ERA (7ER/45.0IP) with 67 strikeouts and 14 walks…allowed 2+ earned runs in just one start on April 15, 2022 against Dayton, his second professional start…was promoted to AA Akron following his outing on June 3…finished the season with the RubberDucks, going 3-3 in 16 starts…boasted a 2.31 ERA (18ER/70.0IP), 2nd in the Eastern League behind his teammate TANNER BIBEE (1.83), with 82 strikeouts and 26 walks…among Eastern League pitchers (min 70.0IP) he finished with the 2nd-lowest opposing average (.176), 2nd-lowest H/9 (5.66) and 9th-highest SO/9 (10.54).
