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MLB Preview: Chicago Cubs (24-31) at San Diego Padres (26-30)

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MLB Preview: Chicago Cubs (24-31) at San Diego Padres (26-30)

CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:

No team release available.

SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:

Padres rout Marlins 10-1 in Miami, claiming series victory

  • Newest Padre Gary Sánchez homered for his 2nd time in as many days, and he went 2-for-4 with a 3 RBI (now has 4 hits in his 1st 3 games as a Padre)…Fernando Tatis Jr. had his 1stcareer 3-double game, logging 4 RBI in the contest…Brandon Dixon, Xander Bogaerts, and Kim also doubled in the game.
  • The day after going 2-for-28 on Wednesday, the Padres went 11-for-36 on Thursday.
  • Starter Joe Musgrove went 6.0 innings with 1 unearned run allowed and 3 hits…he punched out 3 with 3 walks.

Padres end roadtrip on a high note, hit 15 home runs and go 5-4 on 11-day, 9-game trip

  • The Friars return home today from an 11-day, 9-game road trip in which the Friars went 5-4…in the Padres last 9 games since the start of the trip, the Padres have hit the 3rd-most home runs in baseball with 15 HR, trailing just the Dodgers (17 HR) and Angels (18 HR) since May 23.

Padres and MLB commemorate the 3rd annual Lou Gehrig Day

  • Today, MLB and the clubs announced efforts to commemorate the 3rd annual Lou Gehrig Day today, in which they will collectively raise awareness and research funds for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
  • MLB will run a special charitable auction at auctions.mlb.com, featuring 30 autographed and authenticated Lou Gehrig Day bats, including players selected by MLB researcher and analyst Sarah Langs…the players were selected based on a personal connection to ALS, their support of the ALS Community, or a symbolic connection to Gehrig by either their passion for the game, character or a unique statistical connection…the Padres representative is Austin Nola, and the Cubs’ is Trey Mancini… Austin and Aaron’s uncle, Alan Andries, attended almost every LSU game in which they played, and he passed away after a 6-year battle with ALS on February 10, 2021.
  • Fernando Tatis Jr.’s career .714 SLG across his 47 games during June ranks 2nd all-time (since 1901) to Lou Gehrig (.739 SLG).

Padres induce 8 ground ball double plays in the 3-game series

  • San Diego’s 8 induced ground ball double plays in their 3-game set @ Miami were the most of any team in a 3 or 4-game series in 2023…it tied the Padres record for induced GIDP’s in a 3-game series (now done 4x, and it was the 1st since 2016 also vs. Miami).

Pitching is a bright spot in rough slugging in May

  • This past month, the Padres won 10 of their 26 games for a .385 winning %, tied for the 5th lowest in MLB in May…however, in the month, San Diego pitchers had the best ERA of any team (3.20) and the 2nd best opponent average (.221) behind just the White Sox’s .220.
  • Conversely, San Diego batters hit .212 in May, the lowest batting average of any NL team and the 2nd lowest in MLB to just the A’s .208 average.

STARTER – MICHAEL WACHA 52
Wacha set for 20th career start vs. CHC
31-year-old Michael Wacha takes the mound tonight for his 11th start of the season, his 5th at Petco Park and the 20th of his career vs. CHC…his 22 career appearances and 19 starts vs. the Cubs are the 2nd-most he’s made against any team, trailing only 25 outings and 21 starts vs. CIN…he made his 5th start in SD brown and gold at Wrigley Field, but did not factor into SD’s 5-3 victory behind 5.0 innings of 3-run ball…Wacha has just 5 quality outings in his 19 career starts vs. the Cubs, going 4-8 with a 6.31 ERA, 1.56 WHIP and .280 AVG against…he’s allowed a career-high 8 runs twice in his career, and both instances have come against the Cubs – once in 2016 and again in 2018…his last winning decision vs. CHC came as a memvber of the Cardinals on June 22, 2016.

Wacha earns first-career Pitcher of the Month award
After going 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA in 5 May starts, Wacha becomes the 2nd Padres pitcher of the month winner in the last 3 instances, with rotation-mate Yu Darvish in September/ October of last season…in 32.0 IP, he allowed just 3 earned runs on 16 hits with seven walks and 26 strikeouts, while holding opposing batters to a .147 AVG…during the month of May, he led the Majors in ERA, WHIP (0.72), AVG against and opposing OPS (.405).

The month of May overview
He opened his award-winning month with 6.0 scoreles IP in a no-decision vs. CIN on May 2, holding the Reds to two hits….he then picked up the victory in 3 consecutive starts on May 9 @ MIN, May 15 vs. KC and May 21 vs. BOS…he compiled 15.0 consecutive scoreless IP after firing 7.0 scoreless IP of one-hit ball with a career-high 11 strikeouts in the start against Kansas City and hurling 6.0 scoreless frames against BOS…he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning of his start vs. KC before surrendering a leadoff single in the eighth to Michael Massey.

The 2nd-best winning percentage in MLB since ’22
Enters play today with a 5-1 record on the season and the Padres are 7-3 in his starts… among all pitchers who have made at least 30 starts since the beginning of 2022, Wacha’s .842 winning percentage (16-3) is 2nd-best in the Majors, trailing only LAD’s Tony Gonsolin (.905, 19-2)…his winning percentage is ahead of Kyle Wright (.778, 21-6), and Justin Verlander (.769, 20-6) and Zac Gallen (.760, 19-6).

Wacha’s pitch mix
Wacha throws his changeup 32.1% of the time, and is limiting opponents to a .205 AVG against it (16-for-78)…his cutter drops an average of 24.5 inches – which is 4.5 more inches and 15% more rise than other ML cutters – the 5th-most vertical movement of any cutter in the Majors (min. 100 throws)…but opponents are hitting .333 (11-for-33) against it, with 2 of his 4 5R allowed coming against the pitch…opponents are hitting .175 vs. his 4-seamer, .290 vs. his sinker and .200 vs. his curveball.

Hard hit%
Is getting hit hard 31.3% of the time (87th percentile), his 2nd-lowest hard hit % behind only 30.1 % in 2017…his career average hard hit % is 35.2%, and the MLB average is 36.0%.

Barrels and contact
He’s allowed 4 barrels across his last 5 starts, and has allowed 14 barrels in his 925 pitches thrown and 166 batted balls (8.4% barrel rate), 2nd-highest barrel rate of his career (10.5 in ’21)…17.9 percent of his pitches have been put in play (18.4 career average), and his 34.9 ground ball percentage is the lowest of his career (44.9 % career-ground ball rate)…his 33.1 % fly ball rate is the highest of his career (21.6% career fly ball rate).

MLB Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (25-31) at Washington Nationals (24-32)

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MLB Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (25-31) at Washington Nationals (24-32)

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:

GAME #56 RECAP: The Phillies fell to the New York Mets, 4-2, and were swept in a three-game series at Citi Field … Starter Taijuan Walker (L, 4-3) went 4.0 innings and allowed 3 runs on 2 hits with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts … The Phillies jumped in front early with 2 runs in the 1st but failed to score again … Philadelphia’s six hits were all singles, three of which came off the bat of Nick Castellanos.

NATITUDE PROBLEM: Since 2020, the Phillies are 36-12 (.750 win%) in 48 games against the Nats with a +103 run differential (302-199) … Philadelphia’s .750 winning percentage against the Nats since 2020 ranks 1st among all major league teams against any single opponent in that span (min. 40 G) … In this span, the Phillies are slashing .274/.357/.499 against the Nats and their SLG and OPS (.856) rank 1st among all MLB clubs against any single opponent (min. 40 G) … Philadelphia is averaging 6.29 runs per games against the Nats since 2020 which ranks 2nd among all teams against any single opponent in that span (min. 40 G), behind only the Blue Jays against the Orioles (6.31 R/G) … Last year, the Phillies went 16-3 against Washington which was their most wins in a season against any one opponent since 1962 when they went 17-1 against Houston … Since July 29, 2021 (game 2), the Phillies have won 24 of their last 27 games against the Nationals.

THE SUMMER OF SCHWARB: Since 1901, 1,880 major league players have made at least 500 plate appearances in the month of June … Out of those 1,880, 10 players have a career SLG of .600 or greater during the month, and, of those 10, eight are enshrined in Cooperstown and the other two are Mike Trout and Kyle Schwarber … Lou Gehrig ranks 1st (.739 SLG), Babe Ruth 2nd (.709), Larry Walker 3rd (.641), Ted Williams 4th (.635), Hank Greenberg 5th (.622), Jim Thome 6th (.616), Jimmie Foxx 7th (.615), Trout 8th (.614), Rogers Hornsby 9th (.603) and Schwarber 10th (.602) … Schwarber has 47 home runs in 462 career at bats during June and his 9.83 AB/HR average ranks 1st among all players in MLB since at least 1901 (min. 500 PA) – Babe Ruth ranks 2nd at 10.64 … Schwarber also has a .346 isolated power (ISO) during the month of June for his career which ranks 3rd in MLB since at least 1901 (min. 500 PA), behind only Lou Gehrig (.361 ISO) and Babe Ruth (.357 ISO) … Last June, Schwarber hit 12 home runs in 27 games and slashed .372/.385/.680 with a 1.065 OPS in 122 plate appearances as he was named National League Player of the Month, his second consecutive POM Award in June (also 2021 with WSH) … Over the last three months of June combined, Schwarber has 28 home runs (56 total hits) and is slashing .271/.368/.705.

D.C. POWER BROKER: In 37 career games against the Nationals, Kyle Schwarber is slashing .311/.444/.697 with a 1.141 OPS, 31 runs scored, 13 home runs, and 30 walks to 35 strikeouts … His 1.141 OPS against D.C. is his highest against any team and ranks 6th among all active players in MLB with at least 150 plate appearances against any single team … He is averaging a home run every 9.15 at bats which is 3rd-best among all active players against any one team, behind only Fernando Tatis Jr. against the Diamondbacks (8.25 AB/HR) and Aaron Judge against the Orioles (8.82).

WHEELS UP: Phils’ starter Zack Wheeler is slated to make his first start at Nationals Park since Oct. 2, 2022 (8-1 Phils win) – with temperatures in the 50’s and a steady rain falling, the Phillies reduced their magic number to one as Wheeler went 5.0 innings (7 SO, 0 BB) … In his last start, May 27 at ATL, Wheeler became only the second visiting pitcher to go into Truist Park and strike out 12 or more Atlanta hitters in 8.0 innings or more (other: Sandy Alcantara, 5/28/22).

JUNE BLOOM: Over the last three seasons (2021-23), the Phillies have combined to go 32-50 in the month of May and their .390 winning percentage during May ranks 27th out of 30 MLB clubs … During that same time (2021-23), the Phillies are 31-21 during the month of June and their .596 winning percentage during June ranks T-5th out of 30 MLB clubs (with LAD), trailing only BOS (.709), HOU (.667), NYY (.630) and ATL
(.618).

BULLISH ON THE PEN: Since April 16, the Phillies bullpen has allowed 45 ER in 146.0 IP and has the lowest ERA in the National League at 2.77 (next: SD, 3.08) which ranks 2nd in MLB behind only HOU (2.67) … Philadelphia’s bullpen has faced 617 batters during this stretch and limited them to a .223/.295/.344 slash line with a .638 OPS that ranks 3rd in MLB behind only SD (.614) and HOU (.619) … Per Statcast, since April 16, the Phillies bullpen is running the lowest hard hit rate of any bullpen in MLB (31.7%) with the lowest average exit velocity on balls in play (87.1 MPH).

MR. 400: Friday night in Atlanta, right-hander Craig Kimbrel earned the 400th save of his ML career in the Phils’ 6-4 win … He became only the eighth player in the history of Major League Baseball to reach 400 saves and he did so in the 730th game of his career, which is the 3rd-fewest games needed to achieve the feat, trailing Hall of Famer’s Trevor Hoffman (706 games) and Mariano Rivera (697 games).

IN COMPANY WITH COOPERSTOWN: The newest member of the 400 save club, Craig Kimbrel, ranks 11th since at least 1893 with 1,130 SO as a reliever … He trails Hall-of-Famers Trevor Hoffman (1,133) for 10th place and Mariano Rivera (1,135) for 9th place … Additionally, in the instances in which he converted his first 400 saves, Kimbrel had a 0.63 ERA (28 ER, 397.2 IP) – here are the ERA’s (in saves) for the seven current members of the 400-save club when they reached #400: Rivera (0.67), Billy Wagner (0.75), Lee Smith (0.83), Hoffman (0.84), John Franco (0.88), Kenley Jansen (0.94) and Francisco Rodriguez (1.05).

THEY DON’T BOO NOBODIES: Phils designated hitter Bryce Harper reached 5,000 career at bats last Thursday night at ATL … When he reached 5,000, Harper had 614 extra-base hits and 891 walks and he became only the 13th player in the modern era (since 1900) with as many walks and extra-base hits through the first 5,000 at bats of a career … Harper is joined by Babe Ruth (1928), Ted Williams (1951), Mike Schmidt (1982), Barry Bonds (1995), Mark McGwire (1998), Frank Thomas (2000), Jeff Bagwell (2000), Jim Thome (2003), Brian Giles (2006), Lance Berkman (2009), Adam Dunn (2011) and Mike Trout (2022).

TONIGHT’S STARTER – ZACK WHEELER  RHP #45
2023: 4-4, 3.60 ERA Career: 78-61, 3.43 ERA

LAST START: 5/27 at ATL (W, 4-4): 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, BB, 12 SO, 29 batters faced, 106 pitches/68 strikes … The Phillies finished the day 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position with 12 men left on base, but their 2 runs in the 5th inning proved be enough … Bryson Stott out the Phils up 1 with a sacrifice fly and Trea Turner followed with an RBI double … For the 2nd straight day, Craig Kimbrel converted the save, his 7th of 2023.

TONIGHT’S START:
Road Warrior: Among 38 active pitchers in MLB who have made at least 100 road starts in their careers, Wheeler’s .594 winning percentage (41-28) on the road ranks 8th … He trails Max Scherzer (.663), Stephen Strasburg (.656), Clayton Kershaw (.655), Gerrit Cole (.655), Justin Verlander (.627), Jacob deGrom (.621) and Adam Wainwright (.604).

East Coast Bias: Since joining the Phils, Wheeler has made 39 starts against the NL East – he is 17-11 with a 2.84 ERA (78 ER, 247.0 IP) and the Phillies are 22-17 in those games  Luck Be A Ball In Play Tonight: Wheeler has a 2.68 FIP this season which is lower than his mark last year (2.89) when he posted a 2.82 ERA … This season, Wheeler has a 3.60 ERA and his 0.92 difference between ERA and FIP is the 6th-largest of any pitcher in MLB … Wheeler’s 2.68 FIP ranks 6th among all pitchers in MLB – he trails only Zac Gallen (2.09 FIP), Sonny Gray (2.20), Spencer Strider (2.36), Kevin Gausman (2.38) and Nathan Eovaldi (2.54)

Whiffs: Wheeler is running a whiff rate of 30% or greater on three different pitches this year: Sweeper (42.4%), 4-seam fastball (36.7%) and Slider (29.8%)

The Ace Club: Since 2018, Wheeler ranks 4th in MLB (Nola 5th) in fWAR among all pitchers at 24.4 – he trails only Jacob deGrom (27.1), Max Scherzer (26.4) and Gerrit Cole (24.6)

Statcast Rankings: 97th percentile in extension, 90th percentile in AVG exit velo, 85th percentile in fastball spin, 84th percentile in barrel rate & walk rate, 82nd percentile in fastball velocity, 79th percentile in xSLG, 78th percentile in whiff rate and 76th percentile in strikeout rate & curve spin

10 years: Wheeler is at 9 years and 163 days of Major League service time today … He is scheduled to hit 10 years of service on June 11 vs LAD

ROAD:
2023: 3-2, 3.68 ERA (12 ER, 29.1 IP), 39 SO, 4 BB in 5 starts

Career: 41-28, 3.49 ERA (236 ER, 608.1 IP), 613 SO, 193 BB in 102 starts

2023 SEASON:
Recorded his 18th career double-digit strikeout game and 10th as a Phillie on 5/27 at ATL

Racked up a career-high 23 swings and misses on 4/23 vs COL

Made his 200th career start on 4/23 vs COL

On 4/12 vs MIA extended his streak of home starts without allowing a HR to 4 and his streak of 5 or fewer hits allowed at home to 9

WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:

No team release available.

MLB Preview: Oakland Athletics (12-46) at Miami Marlins (29-28)

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MLB Preview: Oakland Athletics (12-46) at Miami Marlins (29-28)

OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:

No team release available.

MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:

MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins today continue a nine-game homestand – matching their longest ‘stand of the year (also Sept. 15-24). Play the first of three games vs. Oakland today, coming off a series loss (1-2) vs. San Diego. Will host Kansas City for three from Mon.- Weds. Are coming off a 5-5 road trip, which began by dropping two of three in San Francisco and three of four in Colorado before sweeping a three-game series in Anaheim over the weekend.

YESTERDAY’S RECAP
Miami dropped the series finale vs. San Diego, 10-1. LHP Jesus Luzardo retired the first 9 batters he faced before being taxed for 5 runs on 4 hits. Miami’s lone run was courtesy of a sacrifice fly by 2B Luis Arraez who later ended a no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the seventh. SS Joey Wendle notched his 500th career hit. Marked the second straight game in which Miami failed to record an extra-base hit.

UP THE RANKS
At 29-28 through the club’s first 56 games, marks the latest in a non-shortened season the Marlins have owned a winning record since August of 2017.

  • Marlins entered June with a winning record for the first time since 2016 (27-25), and just the fourth time since moving into this ballpark (also 2012 and 2014).

CALIFORNIA LOVE
Miami has won 5 of its last 7 games against Oakland dating back to 2017 with a 10-9 record all-time.

  • The Marlins went 8-8 vs. AL West opponents in 2022; are 3-0 this year after a 3 gm. sweep of the Angels in Anaheim last weekend. Marked their first-ever series sweep vs. the Angels and their first sweep of at least three games against an AL West opponent since July 25-27, 2014 at Houston (3-0).

WALK IT LIKE I TALK IT
C Nick Fortes recorded his second career walk-off hit on Wednesday vs. San Diego, previously done on June 26, 2022 vs. NYM (HR off Adam Ottavino). Marked Miami’s third walk-off win of the season and first since Jorge Soler’s walk-off homer on May 16 vs. WSH (also, Jean Segura RBI single on April 28 vs. CHC).

CLOSE CALLS
Miami is 16-4 (.800) in games decided by one run, the best such win pct. in the Majors. The second-best mark is Milwaukee (11-8, .727). The 20 one-run contests are the fourth-most among Major League teams. Miami started the year with a 12-0 record in one-run games, surpassing the 1972 New York Mets 11-0 stretch of one-run games, the most in MLB history.

  • According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Miami’s .800 winning pct. in one-run games in 2023 compared to its .375 (24- 40) win pct. in 2022 marks the 2nd-highest year-to-year winning pct. bump in one-run games behind the 1889-1890 Louisville Colonels.

SEND THE FISH TO THE SEA
Major League Baseball on Wednesday launched the 2023 All-Star Ballot for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard, which will be held on Tuesday, July 11 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. The Marlins’ nominees at their positions: Garrett Cooper (1B), Luis Arraez (2B), Jean Segura (3B), Jon Berti (SS), Jacob Stallings (C), Jorge Soler (DH), Bryan De La Cruz (OF), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (OF), and Avisail Garcia (OF). Fans can vote at mlb.com/all-star/ballot.

GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS
2B Luis Arraez leads MLB with his .382 batting avg. (73×191) and a .437 OBP, and ranks 3rd with 73 hits. Also ranks tied for 3rd with 22 multi-hit games. Has struck out just 10 times in 210 PA (.047 K/PA), the lowest mark in MLB among qualified batters.

  • Is the highest AVG through a player’s first 52 games to start a season since Cody Bellinger’s .383 AVG with the Dodgers in 2019.
  • Only Dee Strange-Gordon (82 in 2015) has more hits for a Marlins player through his first 52 games of a season.

GREAT WHEN LATE
The Marlins’ offense ranks second in MLB with a .271 AVG (172×635) in the seventh inning or later, behind only Toronto (.275) and Houston (.274). Their .287 AVG (49×171) in the ninth inning is also the second-best in MLB (.287)

PODER SOLER
DH/OF Jorge Soler tied a franchise record with 12 home runs in the month of May, matching the mark set by Dan Uggla in 2008 and Giancarlo Stanton in 2012. Only one time in Marlins history has a player hit more homers in any month – Stanton, 18 HR in 2017. His 25 RBI in May tied the third-most in club history (also, Marcell Ozuna, 2016).

  • Is tied for 3rd in MLB with 17 HR (trailing only Pete Alonso-20 and Aaron Judge-18).

HE’S HERE AND HE’S PERFECT
RHP Eury Perez has held his opponent to 3 earned runs or less in each of his first 4 career starts, becoming the eighth Marlins pitcher since 2010 to do so. Made his Major League debut on May 12 at 20 years and 27 days, becoming the youngest pitcher in Marlins’ history. The previous youngest pitcher was Jose Fernandez, who debuted at 20 years and 250 days. Became the second youngest player (position / pitcher) to debut with the Marlins in club history, behind only INF Edgar Renteria who debuted at 19 years and 277 days.

MR. MARLIN
The Marlins will continue their 30th-anniversary celebration today as they host 1997 and 2003 World Series champion Jeff Conine, who will be available for pictures with fans in the Marlins Museum presented by Fanatics at 5:45 p.m. On Sunday, the first 8,000 fans will receive a special Jeff Conine Mystery Jersey presented by Norweigan Cruise Lines. Conine will join fans at the gates from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. to hand out giveaways.

DANCING ON A THIN LINE
Thus far in 2023, Miami is 27-3 when limiting opponents to 4 runs or less and has gone 2-25 when allowing 5 or more runs.

TODAY’S STARTER – #27 EDWARD CABRERA
Edward Cabrera, 25, will make his second career start against the Oakland A’s tonight and his 12th start of the season.

  • In his last outing at Oakland (August 22, 2022), pitched a career-high 8.0 scoreless innings, allowing only 2 hits with 7 strikeouts with 7 strikeouts on 101 pitches (63 strikes). Allowed just 5 baserunners and retired final 14 batters he faced.
  • In his most recent start on Saturday, May 27 at Los Angeles – AL, tossed 5.2 innings and allowed just 3 runs. Allowed 4 hits and 4 walks. Struck out 5.
  • Walked a combined 20 batters in his first 5 starts of 2023. Has walked 5 in last 3 outings, including back-to-back outings of 1 walk or less for just the second time in his career.
  • Has allowed 3 or less runs in 9 outings this season (11 apps.); T-1st among Marlins starters w/ Jesus Luzardo – 9.
  • Has pitched 8 consecutive games with 5+ strikeouts (4/18 – 5/22), tied fourth in MLB among active streaks since 2022 (w/ Mitch Keller – PIT, Clayton Kershaw – LAD, and Eduardo Rodriguez – DET).
  • In 14 career starts at home, owns a 4.37 ERA (68.0 IP/31 ER) and has gone 6-4 with 69 strikeouts. In 18 starts away is 3-7 with a 4.06 ERA (82.0 IP/37 ER) and 100 strikeouts.
  • Left-handed batters are hitting .162 (17×105) vs. Cabrera in 2023 with 4 home runs and 38 strikeouts while right-handed batters are hitting .292 (26×89) with 3 home runs and 28 strikeouts.
  • Through 11 starts in 2022 pitched to a 5-3 record, with a 2.70 ERA (60.0/18), 63 SO, and 8 HR. Through 11 starts in 2023 has a 3-4 record, with a 5.02 ERA (52.0/29), 66 SO, and 7 HR.

MLB Preview: Baltimore Orioles (35-21) at San Francisco Giants (28-28)

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MLB Preview: Baltimore Orioles (35-21) at San Francisco Giants (28-28)

BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:

WEDNESDAY’S NEWS: The Orioles fell to the Guardians, 12-8, Wednesday afternoon at Oriole Park…Adley Rutschman went 4-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, Ryan O’Hearn tied a career high with two doubles, and Aaron Hicks made his O’s debut and was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a walk before leaving due to muscle cramps in the seventh inning.

Baltimore fell to 5-4 in rubber games this season.

The 12 runs tied a season high (5/26 vs. TEX) and the 17 hits matched a season high (5/15 vs. LAA).

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Of Baltimore’s 56 games this season, 50 have been decided by four or fewer runs, tied with Los Angeles-AL for the most in MLB…The O’s have gone 32-18 in those games, the most wins and best winning percentage (.640) in MLB…The O’s are 23-13 in games decided by three or fewer runs, the most wins and best winning percentage (.639) in MLB.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The O’s begin a six-game road trip with three games this weekend in San Francisco…After an off day on Monday, the Orioles play three games in Milwaukee from June 6-8…Baltimore is 18-9 (.667) away from Oriole Park, tied with Atlanta for the best winning percentage and tied for the second-most wins on the road in MLB this season…Only Texas (19-12) have more road victories in 2023…The Birds went 38-43 (.469) on the road last year, 14th-best in MLB, after going a combined 114-237 (.325) away from Camden Yards from 2017-21.

AGAINST THE GIANTS: The O’s and Giants meet for the first time since 2019 and for the first time in San Francisco since 2016…The Orioles went 1-2 at Oriole Park from May 31 to June 2, 2019 and took three of four games at Oracle Park (then AT&T Park) from August 12-14, 2016…The Birds have gone 9-9 against the Giants since the teams first met in 2002…The O’s have played just six games against San Francisco at Camden Yards, fewest among active teams.

WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won 26 of their last 40 games, 29 of 44, and 31 of 47…The 35-21 overall record is third-best MLB to start the season (see box at right)… Entering today, the Rays (40-18) and Rangers (35-20) are the only other teams with 35 wins this season.

Last season, the Birds did not collect their 35th win until their 75th game on June 27 (35-40); they did not reach 36 wins until their 80th game on July 3 (36- 44), which was the start of their 10-game winning streak.

APRIL SHOWERS BROUGHT MAY POWER: Anthony Santander slashed .337/.422/.634 (34-for-101) with seven doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 18 runs scored, 22 RBI, and 13 walks in 27 games in May after slashing .213/.280/.362 (20-for-94) with eight doubles, two home runs, eight runs scored, 11 RBI, and 10 walks in 25 games in March/ April; he reached base safely in 24 of 27 games last month and had a hit in 20 of those games, including 11 multi-hit efforts…His 1.056 OPS in May ranked second in the AL and fifth in MLB (see box at right)…For the month, he was also third in the AL and tied for sixth in MLB in RBI, tied for third in the AL in extra-base hits (15), tied for third in the AL and seventh in MLB in total bases (64), fourth in the AL and sixth in MLB in slugging percentage, fifth in the AL and eighth in MLB in on-base percentage, tied for fifth in the AL in hits, sixth in the AL and 10th in MLB in batting average, and seventh in the AL in home runs.

He leads MLB switch hitters in OPS (.857) and slugging percentage (.503).

After not recording a three-hit game through May 24, he has three such games since May 25, including in back-to-back games from May 29-30.

His three extra-base hits (2-2B, HR) on Tuesday night tied his career high for the fifth time (last: 9/27/22 at BOS).

BIG TIME RUTSCH: Adley Rutschman leads the AL with 43 walks, a .411 on-base percentage, and with 101 times on base (58 H, 43 BB) this season while ranking among MLB leaders in walks (2nd), OBP (4th), and TOB (4th)…He ranks among MLB switch hitters in OBP (1st), batting average (2nd, .289), and OPS (2nd) and among primary catchers in OBP (1st), AVG (2nd), and OPS (2nd).

Wednesday marked his fourth, four-hit game this season, most in MLB; it was also his seventh game in 2023 reaching base safely at least four times, also most in MLB.

HAYS OF OUR LIVES: Austin Hays is tied for third in the AL and tied for eighth in MLB with a .311 batting average…He ranks second on the O’s in hits (56) and doubles (13).  He leads MLB with a .433 batting average in the seventh inning or later and is the only qualified player currently over .400 in those spots this season; he also leads MLB with a .434 average with two outs.

Hays was named the Fielding Bible Award Co-Defensive Player of the Month for May with Toronto’s Kevin Kiermaier by Sports Info Solutions; he led MLB with 10 Defensive Runs Saved last month.

MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle ranks sixth in MLB with 28 Barrels, per Statcast, trailing only New York-AL’s Aaron Judge (34), Toronto’s Matt Chapman (32), Atlanta’s Matt Olson (30) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (29), and New York-NL’s Pete Alonso (29)…His 38 RBI rank fifth among primary first basemen, trailing only New York-NL’s Pete Alonso (46), Atlanta’s Matt Olson (42), Los Angeles-NL’s Max Muncy (40), and Cleveland’s Josh Naylor (40).

ROSTER MOVES: The O’s recalled Bruce Zimmermann from Triple-A Norfolk today…In a corresponding move, Mychal Givens was placed on the 15-day Injured List with right shoulder inflammation, retroactive to June 1.

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – #64 DEAN KREMER RHP
5-2, 4.58 ERA

QUICK HITS: Slated to make his 50th career start tonight; will also be his 12th start of the season, sixth on the road, and first career start against the Giants tonight… Made a career-high 22 appearances (21 GS) in 2022, 11 appearances at home (10 GS), and 11 on the road…Owned an 8-7 record with a 3.23 ERA (45 ER/125.1 IP) and 87 strikeouts…Made six starts of 5.0-or-more scoreless innings, tied for seventh-most in the AL…Acquired by the Orioles along with INF Breyvic Valera, OF Yusniel Diaz, RHP Zach Pop, and INF Rylan Bannon in exchange for INF Manny Machado on July 18, 2018…Originally selected by the Dodgers in the 14th round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft out of UNLV.

LAST TIME OUT: Appeared in his 50th career game in his last start on May 27 vs. Texas…Dealt his second loss of the season after allowing three runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work…Left the game with a runner on base, who later scored…Snapped his three-game winning streak at Oriole Park…Marked his fourth quality start of the season…Threw 97 pitches, 63 strikes.

AGAINST THE GIANTS/NL WEST: Making his first career start against the Giants and the NL West…A California native, Kremer will make his first career start in the Golden State at the Major League level…His last appearance in California came on June 30, 2018 with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga when he was a member of the Dodgers organization.

LIFE ON THE ROAD: Making his sixth road start of the 2023 campaign tonight… Did not factor into the decision in his last start away from Oriole Park on May 21 at Toronto, allowing one run on nine hits (1 HR) with two walks and a career-high-tying seven strikeouts (4x, last: 7/9/22 vs. LAA) in 5.1 innings…Threw a season-high 105 pitches, 64 strikes…Has pitched to a 2-1 record with a 4.15 ERA (12 ER/26.0 IP) in five road starts this season.

INTERLEAGUE WARRIOR: Making his sixth career Interleague start; has gone 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA (10 ER/28.1 IP) and three quality starts in five career outings against the National League…Earned the win in his last Interleague start on May 5 at Atlanta, his first career start against the Braves…Allowed one run on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 6.0 innings…Marked his second quality start of the season…Threw 93 pitches, 55 strikes.

‘KREM’ OF THE CROP: Had his career-high scoreless streak snapped at 22.2 innings on July 4, 2022 vs. Texas…Marks the longest scoreless streak by an Orioles starter since Mike Mussina pitched 27.0 scoreless innings from September 21, 1995 to April 2, 1996…The last Orioles pitcher with a scoreless streak of at least 22.2 innings was Steve Johnson, who tossed 25.1 scoreless frames across eight games (three starts) from August 25 to September 29, 2012.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:

TODAY’S GAME: The Giants and Orioles’ all-time series is tied at nine apiece, with Baltimore holding a 7-5 advantage at Oracle Park…SF has won the first game in each of its last six series entering this series…the Giants last game-one loss was on May 8 vs. Washington.

CA-MAY-LO: SF closer RHP Camilo Doval earned the team’s first monthly award of the season after being named the NL Reliever of the Month for May earlier today…Doval led all relievers with 11 saves in May while posting a 1.32 ERA (2er, 13.2ip) and a 0.80 WHIP…this is Doval’s third-career Reliever of the Month award, his first two coming in each of the previous two Septembers…the only other Giant to win the award, which began in 2017, was LHP Jake McGee in July of 2021.

RUH ROH RIGHTY: Baltimore is slated to start three righthanders this series…in April, that would have been a welcomed sight for SF…the Giants posted an .828 OPS vs. righties during the first month of the season, which ranked second in the Majors, while struggling to a .632 OPS vs. lefties (26th)…in May, however, the Giants had a dramatic drop-off against righties (.701 OPS, 21st in MLB), and a nearly opposite improvement vs. southpaws (.775 OPS, 12th).

BREAK OUT THE LITTLE RED MACHINE: Giants pitchers lead the Majors with a 49.9% ground ball rate, more than 3% higher than the next closest team (Tampa Bay, 46.8%)… SF’s three starters this series all rank inside MLB’s top-25 in ground ball rate, with RHP Alex Cobb (60.6%) and RHP Logan Webb (60.3%) ranking first and second, while RHP Anthony DeSclafani sneaks in at 25th with his 44.5% mark.

…OR NOT: Batlimore’s offense offers an interesting challenge for the ground-ball heavy Giants staff…the Orioles offense is tied for the sixth-lowest ground ball rate (40.6%), and hits the ball in the air a lot (eighth with a 39.0% fly ball rate)…Baltimore is not converting its fly balls into homers, with an 11.5% HR/ FB…when opponents do put the ball in the air against SF, it’s leaving the yard at a league-leading rate (15.5%).

PITCHER’S BEST FRIEND: Both the Giants and Orioles have been excellent at turning ground balls with runners on into double plays…Baltimore has turned an MLB-leading 53 double plays, while SF at 49 is tied for second with Colorado nd St. Louis (Stats, LLC)…Stats, LLC goes on to note that the Giants have hit into 32 double plays, which is tied for fourth-fewest, while the Orioles have hit into the sixth-most (47).

SAY MAY: At 17-12, the Giants had the third-best record in the National League last month, trailing only the two teams ahead of them in the NL West standings, the Dodgers (18-10) and Diamondbacks (17-10)…SF’s 3.39 ERA in May was third-best in the Majors, behind San Diego (3.20) and Houston (3.29).

GRAB SOME PINE: SF pitchers struck out 247 batters last month, which narrowly missed out on the franchise’s monthly all-time record of 248 set in Sept. of 2021 and Sept. of 2016 (Stats, LLC)…the 155 strikeouts by Giants pitchers over their last 15 games is their fifth-most strikeouts in a 15-game span in franchise history, trailing only four separate marks set in July of 2019, the most being 165 from July 12-26…Baltimore hitters offer a good challenge as the Orioles have a 21.3% strikeout rate, which is tied for seventh-lowest in the Majors.

FOOL ME ONCE, CAN’T GET FOOLED AGAIN: IF J.D. Davis has the eighth-best OPS in the NL (1.063) and OF Mike Yastrzemski and has the ninth (1.050) when facing a pitcher a second time (min. 30 at-bats)…when given a third chance at pitcher, Yastrzemski’s OPS is 1.181, which ranks sixth in the NL (min. 20 at-bats).

FLICK OF THE RISP: Since May 15, SF has been one of the best teams in the Majors with runners in scoring position.

TODAY’S STARTER – LOGAN WEBB RHP #62
2023 RECORD: 4-5, 2.75 ERA

WITH THE GIANTS: Is in the midst of his fifth season with SF…made his fourth career Opening Day roster and his second consecutive Opening Day start with his outing on March 30 at the Yankees… signed a five-year, $90 million extension on April 14 that keeps him in a Giants uniform through 2028…the contract bought out his final two arbitration years and first three years of free agency. LAST TIME OUT: Continued his recent string of success last Saturday in Milwaukee by spinning 7.0 innings of one-run ball to earn the win in the Giants’ 3-1 victory…Webb struck out 11, his second double-digit strikeout game this season (the other was a career-best 12 strikeouts on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium)…he walked one and allowed only four hits in the 107-pitch effort, his highest pitch count of the season thus far.

CORNER TURNED : Over his last seven starts, Webb has looked more like the 2021-2022 version, posting a 1.68 ERA (9er, 48.1ip) on 37 hits with 11 walks and 48 strikeouts…the peripherals have been better than his first four outings (4.94 ERA, 26 hits, 23.2ip)… in this stretch, Webb’s changeup has been a key as its accounted for 74 of the 145 outs that he’s recorded according to SIS…overall, Webb’s 1.68 ERA since April 22 is fourth-best in MLB behind TEX’s Nathan Eovaldi (1.20), SD’s Michael Wacha (1.46) and DET’s Eduardo Rodríguez (1.65).

I PUT ON FOR MY CITY: Webb has enjoyed pitching here in his home park throughout his career, boasting an 18-12 mark with a 2.84 ERA (77er, 244.0ip) in 42 career starts here at Oracle during the regular season…the Giants have gone 28-14 (.667) in his 42 career regular season starts here…in his last home start here on May 20 vs. Miami, Webb fired 6.0 scoreless innings but the Giants lost 1-0.

I WATCHED A CHANGE…IN YOU: Through his first four starts this year opponents hit .344 with a .563 slugging % off his changeup…in his last seven starts, opposing hitters have gone 15-for-86 (.174) against the pitch with three extra-base hits, 26 strikeouts and five walks…in his last start vs. Milwaukee, Webb threw a career-high 51 changeups that netted him 12 outs (two hits allowed) with seven of the outs being strikeouts.

VS. BALTIMORE: Is making his first career start vs. the Orioles.

APRIL SHOWERS BROUGHT MAY FLOWERS: Webb had one of the best months of May in the modern era according to Stats, LLC.

THE THRILL OF THE CHASE…: This season Webb’s chase rate is 32.7%, up from 30.7% a season ago and much closer to his 32.5% rate during his breakout 2021 campaign…overall, his career chase rate average sits at 30.0%…entering his start today, Webb’s 32.7% chase rate this season is 10th-best in the Majors but fourth-best in the National League among qualified starters.

STAYING GROUNDED: His 60.3 groundball percentage this season is slightly up from last year’s 56.7% mark and above his career average of 57.1%…entering play this afternoon the 60.3 groundball % is just behind teammate Alex Cobb (60.6%) for the MLB lead.

WEBB PITCH ARSENAL / STATCAST INFO (2023)
Pitch Type Usage Percentage Avg. Velo BAA SO
Sinker 41.0% 92.5 mph .301 14
Changeup 33.6% 87.3 mph .214 35
Slider 21.9% 84.4 mph .167 22
4-Seam Fastball 3.5% 92.9 mph .308 5

THIS IS MORE LIKE IT…: After allowing seven homers in his first six starts spanning 37.1 innings to begin the year, Webb has not allowed a homer in his last four starts (27.0ip) and has allowed one overall in his last five starts (34.2ip)…his 2.8 home run percentage is still way above his career norm (1.8%) but it’s at least coming down.

A CONCERNING RECENT TREND…: Over the last 2+ seasons as Webb has come into his own, the Giants as a team are 43-26 (.623) in games that he has started since 2021…however, SF is 4-7 in his 11 starts this season 9-11 in his last 20 starts dating to August 13, 2022…in those 20 starts, Webb has received one or fewer runs of support 10 times…he himself has a 2.50 ERA in those 20 starts while posting an 9.12 K/9ip ratio and a 4.77 K/BB ratio.

THAT’S STRIKEOUTS WITH A K: The righty has whiffed 76 batters in 72.0 innings so far in 2023 (9.5 K/9ip)…his 5.4 K/BB ratio is third-best in the NL…for reference, Webb’s highest K/9 of his career came in his breakout 2021 season where he averaged 9.6 strikeouts per 9.0 innings…looking at this season a different way, Webb is striking out 26.9% of his batters faced (76 strikeouts in 283 batters faced)…last year his strikeout percentage was 20.7%.

EARLY RETURNS: Webb’s 70.3% first-pitch strike percentage is up from last year’s 65.3% average and above his career average of 64.9%…he posted a career-best 66.6% ground ball rate in his breakout 2021 campaign…his 70.3% first pitch strike percentage is sixth-best in the Majors and second-best in the National League.

MLB Preview: Atlanta Braves (33-23) at Arizona Diamondbacks (34-23)

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MLB Preview: Atlanta Braves (33-23) at Arizona Diamondbacks (34-23)

ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:

Turnaround – The Braves return to Arizona tonight for this first time since June 1 of last season, when they beat the D-backs, 6-0, to start a streak of 14 consecutive wins for the club. Atlanta entered that game here in Arizona with a 23-27 (.460) record, and sat 10.5 games out of the division lead. From June 1 through the end of last season, starting with a win here at Chase Field, the Braves went 78-34 (.696), the best record in baseball.

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Braves and D-backs tonight open a three-game series in what is the first of six scheduled meetings between the clubs this season… Arizona will travel for three games at Truist Park, July 18-20.

  • Atlanta and Arizona played six total games last season, with the Braves winning four of the six… The Braves have won the season series with the Diamondbacks in each of the last two years, and since 2008, Atlanta has only lost the season series with Arizona twice…They went 3-4 against the D-backs in 2019, and 2-5 in 2016…Atlanta is 52-40 (.565) overall against Arizona since that year.
  • The Braves dropped two-of-three games in Arizona last season, losing a series at Chase Field for the first time since 2017… The Braves’ lone win in that series prevented a series sweep and was the first of the club’s 14 consecutive wins from June 1-15.
  • Atlanta is 48-38 (.558) all-time here at Chase Field since the facility opened in 1998, including a 10-5 (.667) record since 2018.
  • RH Charlie Morton has made 12 career starts against Arizona, going 5-1 with a 4.01 ERA (30 ER/67.1 IP) and 69 strikeouts versus the D-backs…In his lone start against them last season, he allowed four hits and four runs over 5.0 innings in a no-decision…The 6-foot-5, 235-pound righthander had made 10 starts for Atlanta this season, and is 5-5 with a 3.59 ERA (23 ER/57.2 IP).
  • RH Merrill Kelly has never beaten Atlanta, going 0-2 with a 4.05 ERA (9 ER/20.0 IP) in three career starts…The 6-foot-2, 190-pound native of Houston, TX, pitched against the Braves once last season, July 31 at Truist Park, and threw 7.0 scoreless innings in a no-decision…Kelly has started 11 games for Arizona this season, going 6-3 with a 2.83 ERA (20 ER/63.2 IP).

WIN: Atlanta avoided a three-game sweep to Oakland on Wednesday afternoon with a win, 4-2, over the A’s… It was just the second series win of the season for the Athletics.

  • The victory gave the Braves a winning record for the month of May, as the club went 15-14 (.517) over 29 games…Atlanta has not played to a losing record in a calendar month since going 13-15 (.464) in May of 2022.
  • Ozzie Albies opened the scoring on Wednesday with a two-run homer out to right field, his 11th of the season…His 11 homers and 36 RBI are both second most among N.L. second basemen, trailing just Nolan Gorman of the Cardinals.
  • The Braves led the National League with 51 total home runs in May, while their .788 OPS trailed just the Dodgers (.820) for tops in the N.L.
  • Atlanta improved to 10-8 (.556) in day games with the win…The Braves were under .500 last season in day games, playing to a 24-27 (.471) record.

WINS ABOVE REPLACEMENT: Atlanta’s roster has collectively compiled 31.0 fWAR on the season, most by any team in the majors…The Astros, Yankees and Padres all have 30.6 to rank just behind.

  • The Braves lead the majors with 3.3 fWAR from the catching position, and rank second with 3.5 from right field (Yankees – 4.0).
  • All nine offensive positions have contributed a positive fWAR for Atlanta, including five positions over 2.0 and two more over 1.5.
  • The Braves’ pitching staff is also tops in baseball with 12.8 fWAR on the season, including a league-best 3.1 mark from the bullpen.
  • Individually, Atlanta has three of the five most valuable players in baseball by fWAR, with Sean Murphy ranking third (2.8) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (2.7) placing fifth.

ROTATION: Atlanta’s starting rotation has combined to compile a 3.41 ERA (112 ER/295.1 IP) and a 3.52 FIP this season, both marks which are best in the National League.

  • Atlanta starters have allowed just 112 earned runs on the season, eight fewer than any other N.L. team, while also pacing the circuit in strikeouts (312) and homers allowed (28).
  • Since the date Max Fried was placed on the injured list, May 9, Braves’ starters have pitched to a 3.42 ERA and a 3.75 FIP…No other N.L. starting staff has an ERA under 4.10 in that span.
  • Three pitchers have made at least 10 starts for Atlanta this season, and all three rank within the top 16 in ERA in the National League…Bryce Elder leads all of baseball with a 1.92 ERA, Spencer Strider ranks eighth in the N.L. with a 2.97 ERA, and Charlie Morton sits 16th with a 3.59 mark.

BULLPEN: Four Atlanta relievers combined to throw 3.2 perfect innings on Wednesday… It marked the second time this season that the unit has gone at least 3.0 perfect innings in a game.

  • The Braves’ bullpen pitched 3.1 perfect innings on April 2 at Washington, albeit in a loss, 4-1.
  • Only three other teams have multiple 3.0-plusinning perfect efforts by their bullpen this season – Miami, Seattle and Toronto.
  • A.J. Minter pitched 1.0 inning with a strikeout on Wendesday and has retired each of the last seven batters he has faced, three via strikeout.

MORTON DECISIONS: Charlie Morton has taken a decision in each of his starts this season, going 5-5 in his 10 turns…His 10 decisions are tied for most in the majors.

  • No Braves starter has opened the year with a longer streak of consecutive decisions since 2010, when Derek Lowe went 8-5 over his first 13 starts…Lowe did not have a no-decision until June 12.

Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #50 Charlie Morton RHP
2023 Record: 5-5, 3.59 ERA • 2022 Record: 9-6, 4.34 ERA
vs. RHB: .259 (30-116), 2 HR • vs. LHB: .279 (31-111), 4 HR
Home: 2-3, 4.13 ERA (13/28.1) • Away: 3-2, 3.07 ERA (20/29.1)

Today’s Game

  • Set to make his 11th start of the season and first against Arizona.
  • Struck out nine hitters while scattering seven hits over 5.1 innings of two-run ball in his last start against Philadelphia.
  • Has either won or lost each of his starts this season…His 10 consecutive games with a decision is tied for the longest active streak in 2023.
  • Morton has struck out 316 hitters with his curveball since the beginning of the 2020; the most in the majors.
  • During that span hitters are missing on 52.9% of curveballs thrown, the second highest rate in the majors…The MLB average is 11.6% (among QS).
  • Over the last two seasons he has thrown his curve on 40.0% of pitches, also the most in baseball among qualified starters.
  • Utilizing his curveball on 46.0% of pitches thrown this season.
  • Morton’s 967 strikeouts since the 2018 season are the fourth most in baseball.
  • Prior to the 2018 season, Morton threw his curveball on 21.3% of pitches throughout his career.
  • Since the beginning of 2018 he has thrown his curve on 36.1% of pitches.
  • Enters play with only 21% of balls put in play against him registering as line drives this season.
  • Tied for the fourth lowest mark in the National League.
  • Hitters are registering a .342 batting average on balls in play against Morton in ’23.
  • The MLB BABIP this season is .301 for qualified starters.
  • Batters are hitting 39.2% of balls 95 mph or higher against Morton while the MLB average for qualified starters is 39.7%.
  • In his age 39 season, Morton is the sixth-oldest active pitcher in the majors.

2023 Recap

  • Struck out 10 hitters over 6.2 scoreless innings in his win against Texas on May 15.
  • Has now struckout at least 10 hitters in six games since turning 38, passing Hall-of-Famer Cy Young for the ninth most such games dating to 1901.
  • Morton is the first player with at least six games of 10 or more strikeouts at his age since Hall-of-Famers Randy Johnson and John Smoltz.
  • Made his first start of the season against St. Louis.
  • Only struck out one hitter through 5.1 innings pitched against the Cardinals, marking just the ninth time in his career Morton pitched at least 5.0 frames while failing to record at least two punchouts and the first since June 5, 2015 against Pittsburgh.
  • Struck out San Diego’s Jake Croneworth on April 8 to record his 1,700th career punchout.
  • Is one of 16 active pitchers in baseball with as many strikeouts.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:

HERE’S THE STORY
♦ The D-backs are tied for first in the NL West with the Dodgers and share the best record in the NL…Arizona has spent 24 days in/tied for first place this season (April 2-30, June 1) and it is the latest the team has been in first place since Sept. 2018.

♦ The D-backs have won a season-high 5 straight games and are 11+ games above .500 for the first time since Sept. 7, 2018 (76-65).

♦ Since May 12, the D-backs’ 14-5 (.737) record is tied for the best in the Majors (also: Astros).

♦ The D-backs’ 28 wins vs. NL opponents are second behind the Dodgers (31).

♦ Through 57 games, the D-backs have matched their exact record at this point in 2017 (34-23), the last season they appeared in the postseason…in 5 of the 6 seasons they won 33+ games through 57 games, they were postseason contenders (Wildcard in 2017; Division Champs 1999, 2002, ’07; World Series Champs in 2001).

♦ The D-backs have won 3 of their last 4 games vs. Braves @ Chase Field (since 2021) and went 2-1 in 2022 at home.

SWWWWEEP
♦ With yesterday’s walk-off win, the D-backs notched their first series sweep of the season and first 4-game series sweep vs. Rockies since Sept. 26-29, 2002.

♦ It was the D-backs’ first sweep overall since Aug. 26-28, 2022 @ White Sox and first 4-game sweep since April 22- 25, 2019 @ Pirates.

♦ The D-backs have won 6 their last 8 series.

ANSWER-BACKS: ACTIVATED
♦ The D-backs’ 17 comeback wins are tied for the second most in the NL (also: Reds), behind the Mets (18).

♦ Since 2022, the D-backs’ 54 comeback wins are second in the NL, behind the Dodgers (64).

KETEL REACHES 30 ON-BASE & EXTENDS HIT STREAK
♦ Ketel Marte’s career-best 30-game on-base streak (since April 26) is the longest active on-base streak in the Majors, and the third longest by a D-back since 2014…in the span, is hitting .297 AVG/.368 OBP with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 6 homers, 17 RBI, 13 walks and 2 HBP.

♦ Marte is the ninth D-back in franchise history to collect a 30+-game on-base streak and first since Paul Goldschmidt in 2018 (46 – franchise best).

♦ He is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak (since May 20), his longest of the season (.313; 15-for-48) and tied for the fi fth-longest active streak in the Majors (also: Gleyber Torres/NYY)…this season, he has 4 separate streaks of 7+-game hit streaks.

THE RUNNING GAME
♦ The D-backs’ 86.9 stolen base pct. is the highest in the Majors (53-for-61) while their 53 stolen bases are the second most in the NL, behind the Pirates (60).

♦ Corbin Carroll’s 16 total stolen bases are tied for second in the NL (also: Starling Marte/NYM), behind Ronald Acuña Jr./ATL (23).

♦ Defensively, the D-backs have allowed the fewest stolen bases (18) in the NL while Gabriel Moreno leads the Majors with a 54.2 caught-stealing pct. (13-of-24).

D-FENSE! D-FENSE!
♦ The D-backs’ .990 fielding pct. is tied for the best in the Majors (also: Mets, Rays and Padres) and 20 errors are second fewest committed.

♦ The D-backs’ 11 Outs Above Average (OAA) are second, behind the Padres (15).

MOUND NOTABLES
♦ Since May 20, D-backs starters rank among the NL in wins (T-1st, 6), runs allowed (T-1st, 27), home runs allowed (T1st, 4), ERA (2nd, 3.62), opponent avg. (5th, .244), WHIP (6th, 1.24) and strikeouts (T-7th, 55).

♦ Since May 20, D-backs relievers rank among the NL in K/9.0 IP (1st, 11.84), wins (T-1st, 6), ERA (2nd, 2.08), runs allowed (2nd, 12), strikeouts (2nd, 57), opponent avg. (2nd, .213) and WHIP (4th, 1.27).

YOUNG ‘BACKS
♦ The D-backs’ 28.2 roster age is tied for fifth youngest in the Majors (also: Athletics and Phillies)…the Guardians currently own the youngest squad (26.5).

STARTING PITCHER – RHP MERRILL KELLY ♦ #29
AT A GLANCE: In his fifth season with the D-backs.

  • Played 4 seasons (2015-18) with the SK Wyverns/KBO.
  • Grew up in Scottsdale, Ariz., and attended Desert Mountain High School, Yavapai College and Arizona State.
  • Pitched for Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: In his last 6 starts (4 quality), is 5-0 with a 2.41 ERA (10 ER in 37.1 IP), .185 opponent average, 8 walks and 44 strikeouts…has allowed 1 earned run with at least 6.0 IP in 4 of those 6 outings.

  • The D-backs are 5-1 in his last 6 starts.
  • His .192 opponent average ranks fourth in the NL behind Dustin May/LAD (.173), Spencer Strider/ATL (.178) and Marcus Stroman/CHC (.188).
  • When leading off an inning, holding batters to a .164 average (10-for-61) with 19 strikeouts.

LAST START: Earned the 4-2 win vs. Red Sox on May 28 after allowing 1 run in 6.1 innings…matched a season high with 10 strikeouts (also: May 5 vs. Nationals).

VS. BRAVES: Is 0-2 with a 4.05 ERA (9 ER in 20.0 IP) in 3 starts.

  • Posted a no-decision after tossing 7.0 scoreless innings in his last start on July 31, 2022 @ Braves…made his last start @ Chase Field on Sept. 22, 2021 (6 ER in 6.0 IP).

NL RANKINGS: Ranks among NL starters in average (3rd, .192), wins (T-3rd, 6), ERA (7th, 2.83) and WHIP (7th, 1.07).

VS. LEFT AND RIGHT: Limiting lefties to a .176 average (21-for 119) with 36 strikeouts and righties to a .210 average (22 for-105) with 33 strikeouts.

CHANGING IT UP: Opponents are hitting .129 (8-for-62) with 23 strikeouts and a whiff rate of 34.9 pct. off his changeup.

MLB Preview: New York Yankees (34-24) at Los Angeles Dodgers (34-23)

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MLB Preview: New York Yankees (34-24) at Los Angeles Dodgers (34-23)

NEW YORK YANKEES NOTES:

AT A GLANCE: The Yankees continue their six-game road trip tonight with the first game of a three-game set at Los Angeles-NL (through Sun.)…are 2-1 on the road trip after winning two-of-three at Seattle…after this road trip, will return home for a six-game homestand vs. Chicago-AL (Tues.-Thurs.) and Boston (6/9-11).

At 34-24 (.586), have the fifth-best record in the AL.

Have won four of their last five games, nine of their last 13 games, 11 of their last 16 games, 13 of their last 19 games and 16 of their last 23 games.

Are 19-9 (.679) in their last 28 games (since 5/2), the best record in the Majors in that span.

Have won or split six of their last seven series (since 5/8), seven of their last nine series (since 5/1) and 13 of their 18 series this season (going 11-5-2).

WHERE WE LEFT OFF: The Yankees fell to the Mariners in a 1-0 “walk-off” loss in 10 innings on Wednesday…Yankees batters were shut out for the third time this season…RHP Clarke Schmidt (5.2IP, 3H, 0R, 1BB, 7K) did not record a decision despite tossing 5.2 scoreless innings…2B Gleyber Torres (1-for-4), 3B DJ LeMahieu (1-for-4) and C Kyle Higashioka (1-for-3) were the only Yankees to record a hit…DH Aaron Judge (0-for-3, 1IBB) was intentionally walked in the ninth to extend his on-base streak to 18 games…LHP Wandy Peralta (2.0IP, 1H, 3K) and RHP Clay Holmes (1.1IP, 3K) were both scoreless in relief…RHP Ron Marinaccio (0.0IP, 1H, 1R/0ER) took the loss after allowing the automatic runner in the 10th
inning to score.

CALENDAR DAYS: The Yankees hit 53 home runs in 29 games during the month of May, the most home runs in the Majors in that span…matched their most HR in the month of May in franchise history (also 53HR in May 2002)…also matched their fifth-most home runs in a single calendar month in
franchise history, trailing their 74HR in August 2019, 58HR in June 2022, and 54HR in August 1998 and July 1940 (also had 53HR in August 2018, May 2002 and June 1961).  During the month of May, also ranked third in SLG (.463), runs scored (157) and runs per game (5.41), and fourth in
OPS (.782) and extra-base hits (98).

The Yankees led the Majors with 19 wins and ranked second with a 19-10 (.655) record, trailing only Texas’ 18-9 (.667) record…it marked just the seventh time in the last 11 seasons (since 2013) the Yankees have recorded at least 19 wins in a single calendar month…also went 22-6 in June 2022, 19-9 in May 2022, 21-8 in August 2021, 21-9 in August 2019, 20-7 in May 2019 and 20-8 in September 2017.

NATIONAL TREASURE: The Yankees are 9-3 in 12 Interleague games this season…have won each of their four series vs. NL opponents this season.

Their current three-game set vs. the Dodgers marks their first series against Los Angeles-NL since 8/23-25/19…are 8-8 all-time vs. the Dodgers in the regular season and 6-5 at Dodger Stadium.

HAWAIIAN PUNCH: INF/OF Isiah Kiner-Falefa is batting .342/.375/.684 (13-for-38) with 10R, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3HR, 12RBI, 2BB and 1SB in his last 12G (since 5/16).

PITCH PERFECT: Yankees pitchers have posted a 3.67 ERA (519.2IP, 212ER) this season, the fifth-lowest ERA in the Majors… rank second in the Majors in opponents’ BA (.225), fourth in strikeouts (531), fifth in opponents’ OPS (.683), and sixth in opponents’ OBP (.306), opponents’ SLG (.378) and WHIP (1.22).

Yankees relievers have posted a Major League-best 2.86 ERA (223.2IP, 71ER) and .214 opponents’ BA this season… the Yankees are the only Major League bullpen that has an ERA below 3.00 this year.

GLEYBER DAY: INF Gleyber Torres owns a season-high 11-game hitting streak (since 5/20), batting .333/.360/.521 (16-for-48) with 10R, 3HR, 4RBI, 1BB and 1HP in that span… matches the second-longest streak of his career, trailing only a 12-game streak from 4/23-5/7/19 (also had 11-game streaks from 7/17-29/21 and 5/9-22/19).

Has reached base in each of his last 13 games and 25 of his last 26 games (since 5/5), batting .299 (32-for-107) with 21R, 4 doubles, 5HR, 15RBI, 8BB, 1HP and 2SF in that 26-game span…has also reached base in 35 of his last 39 games (since 4/20) and 38 of his last 43 games (since 4/15).

BASEBALL IS THE BEST: Earlier today, the Yankees announced that they will honor Sarah Langs as their HOPE Week honoree on Tuesday, July 4 — the 84th anniversary of Lou Gehrig making his famous “Luckiest Man” speech…earlier this week, Sarah learned about the honor via a surprise Zoom with Yankees Senior Vice President and General Manager Brian Cashman, Senior Advisor Omar Minaya, Manager Aaron Boone, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, Director of Community Outreach Julia Steinbrenner and journalist/colleague Buster Olney…on Tuesday, July 4, Langs and other women from the ALS community will be honored in a pregame ceremony, which will include a video of Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech being read by Yankees players, Sarah and other women of the ALS community…Sarah and her fellow honorees will also take the field with the team prior to first pitch and be guests of the Yankees for their 1:05 p.m. game vs. Baltimore.

ALL RISE: OF Aaron Judge batted .342/.474/.882 (26-for76) with 23R, 5 doubles, 12HR, 25RBI, 20BB/3IBB, 1SB and 1SF in 21 games during the month of May…led the Majors in May in SLG and OPS (1.356) and was tied for the Major League lead in HR (first in AL)…also ranked second in the Majors in OBP (first in AL), tied for second in RBI (tied for first in AL) and extra-base hits (17, tied for first in AL), tied for fifth in walks (tied for second in AL) and tied for sixth in runs scored (tied for first in AL)…also ranked sixth in the AL in BA…his 12HR during May matched his third-most in a single calendar month, trailing only his 15HR in September 2017 and 13HR in July 2022 (also hit 12HR in May 2022).

According to OptaSTATS, his 1.917 OPS on the road in May was the highest mark by any Major League player in a single calendar month on the road in the Modern Era (min. 30PA), surpassing Babe Ruth’s 1.838 OPS in August 1924.  Has 4HR in his last four games, 7HR in his last 12 games and 12HR in his last 17 games (since 5/13).

Has reached base in 10-of-18PA (6H, 4BB/1IBB) over his last four games.

Has reached base safely in each of his last 18 games (since 5/12), batting .354/.494/.969 (23-for-65) with 20R, 4 doubles, 12HR, 23RBI, 18BB/3IBB and 1SB in that span.

Has 23RBI in his last 17 games…has recorded 25RBI in 21 games since returning from the I.L. (since 5/9).

Has hit 4HR in five career games against the Dodgers… has homered in each of his three career games at Dodger Stadium.

Is batting .388/.500/.940 (26-for-67) with 19R, 7 doubles, 10HR, 21RBI, 16BB, 1SF and 2SB in 19 road games this season…has reached base in 18-of-19 games on the road this year (did not reach base in 2PA on 4/27 at Texas after exiting the game due to injury).

Leads the Majors in SLG (.679), OPS (1.088), AB/HR (9.33) and game-winning RBI (9), is second in HR (18, first in AL), tied for third in extra-base hits (28, tied for second in AL), tied for fifth in OBP (.410, tied for second in AL), sixth in total bases (114, third in AL), eighth in runs scored (41, third in AL) and tied for eighth in walks (34, third in AL)…is also tied for seventh in the AL in RBI (39) and ranks eighth in BA (.298).

Is batting .298/.410/.679 (50-for-168) with 41R, 10 doubles, 18HR, 39RBI, 34BB, 3SB and a 1.088 OPS in his first 47 games this season…in 2022, hit .303/.371/.657 (54-for-178) with 39R, 9 doubles, 18HR, 38RBI, 21BB, 3SB and a 1.029 OPS in his first 47 games.

Has reached base safely in each of his last 21 Interleague games (since 8/5/22), batting .429/.500/.833 (36-for-84) with 23R, 7 doubles, 9HR, 22RBI, 12BB/2IBB and 3SB in that span…matches the longest on-base streak by a Yankee in Interleague play in the last eight seasons (since 2016)… Judge also recorded a 21-game streak from 6/12/18-7/23/20.

Has hit .395/.458/.721 (17-for-43) with 11R, 2 doubles, 4HR, 10RBI and 5BB in 11 Interleague games this season…has batted .316/.404/.642 (121-for-383) with 1R, 19 doubles, 2 triples, 34HR, 68RBI, 56BB/4IBB and 9SB in 105 career Interleague games.

His .640 SLG and 1.046 OPS in Interleague play since 2017 are the highest in the Majors.

STANTON ISLAND: OF/DH Giancarlo Stanton has hit .310/.362/.713 (27-for-87) with 13R, 8 doubles, 9HR, 25RBI, 7BB and 1SB in 23 career games at Dodger Stadium. RISPY BUSINESS: Yankees batters are hitting .341/.388/.516 (31-for-91) with 10 doubles, 2HR, 40RBI, 8BB/2IBB, 1HP and 3SF with RISP in their last 12 games (since 5/19).

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP LUIS SEVERINO (0-0, 1.59 ERA)
RHP Luis Severino will make his third start of the season in tonight’s series opener at Dodger Stadium…the 29-year-old will make the start on extended five days’ rest due to Thursday’s team off day…made his second start of the season on Saturday vs. San Diego and did not record a decision despite allowing just 2R/1ER over 6.2IP (1H, 3BB, 5K, 1HR)…surrendered his only hit on a solo HR by Fernando Tatis Jr. in the fourth inning…missed the first 48 games of the season with a right lat strain…went 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA (102.0IP, 72H, 37R/36ER, 30BB, 112K, 14HR) in 19 starts for the Yankees in 2022…allowed 3ER-or-fewer in 15 of his starts, 2ER-or-fewer in 12 of those starts and oneor-zero earned runs in nine of those games…missed 59 team games in 2022 with a low grade right lat strain (7/14-9/20)…the two-time AL All-Star (2017, ’18) ranked third in the Majors in 2018 with 19 wins (19-8), tied for second-most by a Yankee in the last 14 seasons (since 2009) behind CC Sabathia (21-7 in 2010)…has two of the top-eight single-season strikeout totals in Yankees history (230K in 2017, 220K in 2018)…is one of four pitchers in Yankees history with multiple 200-strikeout seasons (also Gerrit Cole from 2021-22, David Cone from 1997-98 and Ron Guidry from 1978-79)…finished third in 2017 AL Cy Young Award voting…was originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent on 12/26/11…signed to a four-year contract extending through the 2022 season with a club option for the 2023 season on 2/15/19…the Yankees exercised his club option for the 2023 season on 11/7/22.

2023: Will make his third start of the season tonight…did not record a decision in his last start on Saturday vs. San Diego despite allowing just 2R/1ER over 6.2IP (1H, 3BB, 5K, 1HR)…surrendered his only hit on a solo HR by Fernando Tatis Jr. in the fourth inning…exited the game in the seventh inning with two men on base (1BB, 1ROE) and two outs…Michael King entered in relief and allowed one of those inherited runners to score.

Did not record a decision in his first start of the season on 5/21 at Cincinnati (4.2IP, 4H, 1ER, 1BB, 5K, 0HR)…was returned from rehab and reinstated from the 15-day injured list on 5/21 prior to his start.

Dating back to last season, has allowed 1ER-or-fewer in each of his last three starts (since 10/3/22), tied for the second-longest such streak of his career (trails only a five-start streak from 7/15-8/6/17)…has allowed 2ER-or-fewer in each of his last five starts (since 9/21/22), tied for the second-longest such streak of his career (trails only a nine-start streak from 9/12/18-4/20/22)…has allowed 2ER-or-fewer in seven of his last eight starts (since 6/30/22).

Missed the first 48 games of the season with a right lat strain…combined to make two rehab starts with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Double-A Somerset, posting a 4.05 ERA (6.2IP, 8H, 3ER, 2BB, 6K, 1HR).

Posted a 9.00 ERA (15.0IP, 15ER) and 23K in five spring starts before being his scratched from his final spring start due to injury.

VS. LOS ANGELES-NL/INTERLEAGUE: Will make his second career appearance and first career start vs. the Dodgers tonight…tossed 2.0 scoreless innings in relief on 9/14/16 vs. Los Angeles-NL at Yankee Stadium (1H, 1K).

Both of his starts this season have come against NL clubs (5/21 at Cincinnati and 5/27 vs. San Diego).

Went 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA (19.0IP, 17H, 6ER, 4BB, 20K, 4HR) in four starts against NL opponents in 2022, with the Yankees going 4-0 in those games.

In 17 career appearances (15 starts) vs. NL teams, is 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA (92.0IP, 64H, 23R/18ER, 24BB, 108K, 10HR, 1HP, 4WP)…has tossed 6.0-or-more innings with at least 8K in seven of his 15 career Interleague starts…has allowed 3R-or-fewer in 13 of his 15 starts…has not allowed more than 4R in any of his 15 career Interleague starts.

The Yankees are 13-2 all-time in Interleague games that he has started…have won each of his last six Interleague starts (since 2022).

ROAD RULES: Will make his second road start of the season…did not record a decision in his first road start of the year (also his season debut) on 5/21 at Cincinnati (4.2IP, 4H, 1ER, 1BB, 5K, 0HR).

In 64 career games (54 starts) on the road, is 23-15 with a 3.29 ERA (325.1IP, 119ER) and 349K.

Has surrendered 3ER-or-fewer in 42-of-54 career starts on the road and 2ER-or-fewer in 33 of those starts.

From 4/7/17-6/26/18, recorded at least 6K in 23 consecutive road starts…at the time, was the fourth-longest streak in Major League history (Randy Johnson-33GS from 8/22/98-8/14/00; Pedro Martinez-28GS from 8/24/99-6/21/01 and Randy Johnson-25GS from 8/30/00-5/11/02)…was later surpassed by Shane Bieber (28GS from 4/27/19-5/27/21).

START ME UP: The Yankees are 61-26 in his 87 starts since 2017…has allowed 1ER-or-fewer in 42-of-87 starts (48.3%) since the beginning of 2017.

From 7/8/17-7/12/18, the Yankees went 31-4 in his 35 starts, the first time the Yankees won at least 31 games in a pitcher’s 35-start span since going 31-4 over 35 Ron Guidry starts from 8/10/77-8/15/78 (Elias).

LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:

TITANS OF INDUSTRY: The Dodgers dropped the finale of their three-game set with the Nationals on Wednesday and tonight continue their homestand (2-1) against an unfamiliar opponent as the American League East’s New York Yankees visit Chavez Ravine for just the fifth time ever in the regular season. Of course, the two squads met 11 times in the World Series from 1941-81 with Dodger Stadium involved in four of them (1963, 1977-78, ’81). While tonight’s contest is being broadcast by SNLA, the two teams are going national this weekend as FOX will feature the 4:15 p.m. start tomorrow and ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball comes to town for the 4:08 p.m. start on Sunday. Following the series and homestand closer on Sunday, the Boys in Blue will hit the road for a six-game trip on Monday afternoon that has stops in Cincinnati (June 6-8) and Philadelphia (June 9-11). Los Angeles (.596) and Arizona are tied atop the NL West and co-own the best record in the National League and the fourth-best mark in the big leagues, trailing Tampa Bay (.690), Texas (.636) and Baltimore (.625). The Dodgers have the best home record in the National League (19-8, .704) and have won 13 of their last 15 contests at the Ravine.

COMING UP SHORT: The Dodgers scored at least six runs for the fifth consecutive game, but were unable to keep the Nationals off the board and fell, 10-6, on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. The club ripped 11 hits, including five extra-base hits and three home runs. Mookie Betts hit two homers, including the 40th leadoff blast of his career (20th with Los Angeles). His four leadoff homers in 2023 lead the Majors and his 40 career leadoff blasts are tied with Charlie Blackmon for ninth all-time, four shy of Brady Anderson. The two home run game was the 24th multi-homer contest of Betts’ career. The Dodgers lead the National League in runs per game (5.60), runs scored (319), home runs (96), extra-base hits (215), slugging percentage (.460) and walks (245).

RIVALRY RESTARTED: The Dodgers and Yankees haven’t met since August 2019 and the clubs have met just 16 times since the start of Interleague play in 1997, with each team winning eight games. The Yankees took two of three from the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in that 2019 three-game series and overall Los Angeles is 6-6 vs. the Bronx Bombers at Chavez Ravine. Despite posting a 1.67 ERA (5 ER/27.0 IP) in four career starts vs. the Yankees, Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw has never beaten the Bombers, going 0-1. In his career, the Yankees are the only team Kershaw has pitched against and not beaten. He has never faced the Orioles or Red Sox in the regular season. Kershaw has a 1.13 ERA (3 ER/24.0 IP) at Dodger Stadium this season.

INTERLEAGUING: The Dodgers are 3-3 in interleague play this season after going 15-5 last year against the other league, including a 7-3 record at home. Since the start of the 2019 season, Los Angeles is 56-30 in interleague play and their .651 winning percentage in that span is second best in the Majors, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays, who have a .673 Interleague winning percentage in that span.

LOCKED IN: Dodger designated hitter J.D. Martinez went 1-for-3 with a double and two walks on Wednesday, extending his hitting streak to 15
games in the process. Martinez has been on fire since returning from the injured list on May 12, hitting safely in 17 of 18 games while batting .311 (23-for-74) with four doubles, eight homers and a Major League leading 24 RBI during that span. He is three games shy of matching his career best hitting streak of 18 games (April 20-May 17, 2022).

THE GLUE: Dodger catcher Will Smith went 2-for-4 and belted his eighth homer of the year on Wednesday. He batted .318 (27-for-85) with three doubles and five homers during the month of May to go along with a .963 OPS. The Dodgers are 25-13 (.658) when Smith has appeared in a game and 25-10 (.714) when he starts.

LONG BALLS: The Dodgers hit three more home runs Wednesday afternoon and have 96 on the season, which ranks second in the Majors, trailing only the Tampa Bay Rays (103). Los Angeles recorded their 17th 3+ homer game on Wednesday, which leads the Majors. The Dodgers also rank second in the Majors with 46 games with at least one homer, behind the Rays (49), who have homered in all but nine games this season.

TONIGHT’S STARTER vs YANKEES: LHP CLAYTON KERSHAW (6-4, 3.32 ERA in 11 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:

  • Over 11 starts, the Texas native owns a 6-4 record with a 3.32 ERA (23 ER/62.1 IP) with 75 strikeouts against 16 walks and has generated a
    1.14 WHIP
  • Notched his 200th career win in his start on April 18 against the Mets, making him the only Los Angeles Dodger to win 200 games with the same franchise…joins Don Sutton (233) and Don Drysdale (209) on the Dodger all-time list…
  • Currently 21st all-time on the Major League strikeout list with 2,882…he needs 118 more to become the 20th player in Major League history
    with 3,000 strikeouts
  • Has fired 6.0+ innings in seven out of his 11 starts this season
  • He was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for April after posting a 5-1 record with a 1.89 ERA (8 ER/38.0 IP) and 41 strikeouts and a 0.76 WHIP

VS. YANKEES:

  • Will face New York for the fifth time in his career…is 0-1 with a 1.67 ERA (5 ER/27.0 IP) and 27 strikeouts against zero walks
  • Last faced the club on August 25, 2019, tossing 7.0 innings while giving up four hits, three runs, no walks and 12 punchouts while allowing three homers in the loss

MLB Preview: Cleveland Guardians (25-31) at Minnesota Twins (30-27)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Cleveland Guardians (25-31) at Minnesota Twins (30-27)

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:

GUARDS LOSE LEAD, FALL IN SERIES OPENER
The Guardians opened a 4-game weekend set in the Twin Cities with a heart-breaking 7-6 walk-off loss to the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night at Target Field…marked the sixth time that Cleveland has been walked off in a road loss this season.

Willi Castro ended the contest with a 9th-inning sac fly after the Twins started the frame by loading the bases against ELI MORGAN with a lead-off walk, double and intentional walk…the ending rubber-stamped an unwelcome change of fortune after Cleveland rallied for 5 runs in the 6th to erase a 3-1 deficit with the help of a lead-off walk by MYLES STRAW and 6 singles; JOSÉ RAMÍREZ and JOSH BELL each drove in a run with 2 of those knocks, while MIKE ZUNINO’s single brought home a pair…ANDRES GIMENEZ also had a run-scoring groundout during the big rally after doubling to lead off the 2nd inning, which set the table for WILL BRENNAN’s RBI-single to give Cleveland an early 1-0 lead…TANNER BIBEE (5.0IP, 6H, 3R-ER, BB, 6SO, HR, HB, 96 pitches) retired 8 straight Twins to start his outing before running into trouble in the 4th, as a lead-off walk and one-out HBP allowed for a Max Kepler RBIsingle…Michael Taylor led off the 5th with a solo shot off Bibee, while Christian Vazquez later doubled and scored on Alex Kirilloff’s RBI-single.

Cleveland (25-31) sits in 3rd place in AL Central standings, 4.5 games behind 1st-place Minnesota (30-27) and 2.5 games behind 2nd-place Detroit (-2.5G, 26-28)…despite winning 4 of 7 and 5 of last 10 games, Guardians have dropped 25 of last 41 overall since starting year 9-6…Cleveland is 2-2 on this 7-game road trip through Baltimore (2-1) & Minnesota (0-1, three-to-play); club has dropped 5 of 7 and 11 of last 15 road games (12-17 overall).

HEATING UP THE BATS
Dating back to May 26 vs. St. Louis, Cleveland’s offense has scored 4+ runs in 6 of 7 games and tallied 7+ hits in each of their last 7 games…the Guards last recorded 7+ hits in 7 consecutive games 9/12-9/17/2022, a streak that lasted 16 total games, dating back to 9/2/2022…since May 26, the Guardians lead MLB with 48 singles…their 72 hits rank T1st in MLB with Cincinnati and 9 go-ahead RBI rank T1st in MLB with Los Angeles-NL and Miami…their 21 doubles rank 2nd in MLB behind the Reds’ 22…their 37 runs in the last 7 days rank 2nd in the AL behind Houston’s 38 and 5th in MLB…as a club, the Guards are hitting .286 since May 26, ranking 2nd in the AL behind Texas (.292) and 6th in MLB.

Since May 26, JOSH BELL’s 3 go-ahead RBI rank T1st in the AL/T2nd in MLB…JOSÉ RAMÍREZ ranks T1st in the AL/T2nd in MLB with 4 doubles and T2nd in the AL/T5th in MLB with 11 hits in the span…JOSH NAYLOR ranks T2nd in the AL/T4th in MLB with 8 RBI and T4th in the AL/T8th in MLB with a .450 batting average (min. 15 AB) in the last week of play…STEVEN KWAN’s 8 singles since May 26 rank T3rd in the AL/T5th in MLB.

THE GUARDIAC KIDS
The Guardians lead MLB with 26 one-run games out of their 56 games played this season, owning an 11-15 record in such contests…the Guards 11 victories rank T2nd in MLB behind Miami’s 16 such wins…Cleveland’s 26 one-run contests are T2nd-most in club history through the first 56 games of a season, the most since 1966 when they went 18-8 over 26 one-run contests…last season, the Guards finished 28-17 (.622) in one-run games, holding the 4th-best win percentage in MLB…the Guardians are the first MLB team with 26 one-run contests in their first 56 games since the 2015 Seattle Mariners (14-12, .538).

MOST CLE ONE-RUN GAMES IN FIRST 56G
YEAR COUNT RECORD (W%)
1910 27 14-8-5 (.611)
2023 26 11-15 (.423)
1966 26 18-8 (.692)
1944 26 15-11 (.577)
1918 26 14-12 (.538)

The Guards also lead MLB this season with 37 games decided by 2-runs-or-less, holding an 18-19 record…Cleveland has the most games decided by 2-runs-or-less in the first 56 games of a season since the 2015 Seattle Mariners (18-22)…the Guards finished last season with a 43-30 (.589) record in games decided by 2-runs-orless, holding the 5th-best win percentage in MLB…the Guardians 37 contests decided by 2-runs-or-less are tied for the most through the first 56 games of a season in franchise history.

MOST CLE 2-RUNS-OR-LESS GAMES IN FIRST 56G
YEAR COUNT RECORD (W%)
2023 37 18-19 (.486)
1968 37 19-17-1 (.527)
1944 37 18-19 (.486)
1910 37 19-13-5 (.581)
1943 36 18-18 (.500)

RAMÍREZ RE-WRITING RECORD BOOKS » JOSÉ RAMÍREZ enters today needing one extra-base hit to pass Ken Keltner (538) for 5th-most extra-base hits in Cleveland history…since 2018, Ramírez leads all MLB hitters with 349 extra-base hits…he has 198 career home runs as a Clevelander, and is 3 homers away from passing Travis Hafner (200) for 9th-most in club history…with 171 go-ahead RBI, he is two go-ahead RBI away from passing Carlos Santana (172) for 9th-most in franchise history… since 2018, his 124 go-ahead RBI leads all MLB hitters…with 305 career doubles, he needs a pair of two-baggers to pass Keltner (306) for 6th-most in Cleveland history…with his 88th career 3-hit outing on Wednesday at Baltimore, he needs 2 more 3-hit games to pass Carlos Baerga, Joe Jackson and Joe Vosmik (89) for 15th-most 3-hit games in a Cleveland uniform.

TITO TERRIFIC
Terry Francona currently owns a career record of 1,899-1,617, putting him at T15th all-time in manager wins (Elias)…with his next victory, he will pass Hall-of-Famer Bill McKechnie (1,899-1,724) for 15th-most wins in MLB history and become the 15th manager ever to reach 1,900 wins…with 3 more victories, he will pass Gene Mauch (1,901-2,037) for 14th-most wins…among active managers, he ranks 3rd, behind TEX’s Bruce Bochy (2,038-2,049) and HOU’s Dusty Baker (2,126-1,813).

Francona spent four years in Philadelphia from 1997-2000, going 285-363…he spent eight seasons with Boston, winning 2 World Series and owning a 744-552 record while boasting all but two seasons with 90+ wins…in his 11 years with Cleveland, he has gone 870-702, winning 4 AL Central titles and reaching the World Series in 2016.

TONIGHT’S STARTER – 43 AARON CIVALE RHP

CIVALE ON THE ROAD
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-0 0.00 1 1 7.0 2 0 0 1 3
Career 12-10 3.82 35 35 200.1 174 88 85 45 158

CIVALE’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-1 2.84 2 2 12.2 11 4 4 2 8
Career 25-22 4.04 65 65 365.2 338 175 164 87 320

TONIGHT’S START
The 27-year old right-hander is making his first start after missing 48 games on the injured list due to a strained left oblique…marks his second start on the road…has made 2 starts this season, both against Seattle, combining for 4 earned runs over 12.2 innings (2.84 ERA) with 8 strikeouts and 2 walks…made 3 rehab starts at Triple-A Columbus, working up to 88 pitches in his most recent outing on May 28 vs. Indianapolis.

LAST TIME OUT
He toed the rubber on Sunday in his third rehab start at Triple-A Columbus…worked 4.2 innings, allowing 4R/ER on 6 hits with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks…threw 88 pitches, 54 for strikes…made 3 total starts on his rehab assignment, throwing 32 pitches in his first outing and 69 in his second…across his 3 starts, he finished with a 4.91 ERA (6ER/11.0IP) with 16 strikeouts and 4 walks.

His last Major League start came on April 7 in a 5-3 defeat to Seattle at Progressive Field…he suffered the loss, allowing 4R/ ER on 9 hits with 5 strikeouts and one walk…despite allowing one baserunner in each of the first 4.0 frames, he did not give up a run over that stretch…Cooper Hummel opened up the 5th frame with a single and scored on an RBI-double from J.P. Crawford… Ty France drove in Crawford with an RBI-single two batters later… Jarred Kelenic doubled with one out in the 6th frame and scored on Crawford’s 2nd RBI-double of the day…Civale was pulled following the double but was charged with the run after Julio Rodríguez drove in Kelenic with a 2-run home run.

Civale opened up his season with a 7.0-inning shutout performance at Seattle on April 1 (7.0IP, 2H, 0R/ER, 1BB, 3SO, 80 pitches)…induced 12 ground balls in the start, his most since April 27, 2021 vs. Minnesota (16)…Civale became the first pitcher to work 7.0-or-more scoreless innings with 80-or-fewer pitches since Carlos Carrasco on August 16, 2014 (79 pitches).

HANGING OUT BY THE LAKE
Will be making his 9th career start against Minnesota…holds a 1-4 record with a 4.20 ERA (21ER/45.0IP), 48 strikeouts and 8 walks in his previous 8 starts…his last start against the Twins came on June 21, 2022, a 6-5 win at Target Field…he did not factor into the decision, allowing 2R/ER on 5 hits across 5.0 innings with 7 strikeouts and one walk…he’s 0-2 with a 4.39 ERA (13ER/26.2IP) in 5 career starts at Target Field…does not have a win against Minnesota since April 27, 2021, going 0-2 in 3 starts since.

In 34 career starts against the AL Central, he’s 14-8 with a 3.58 ERA (76ER/191.0IP), holding opposing hitters to a .232 average (166-715)…went 3-1 with a 3.31 ERA (20ER/54.1IP) across 11 starts…logged 5 quality starts and held opposing batters to a .217 batting average (45-for-207)…finished the season by winning 2 straight starts against the Kansas City Royals on September 30 and October 5.

THE ARSENAL
Has utilized 4 different pitches through his first two starts this season, using his cutter almost 50% of the time…opposing hitters are 0-for-11 in at-bats ending with his curveball…has thrown both his sinker and 4-seam fastball about 15% of the time.

The curveball was his putaway pitch in 2022 with batters hitting .124 (13-for-105) with 58 strikeouts in 105 at-bats ending with the curve…the pitch averaged 65.8 inches of drop (11 more inches than average), finishing in the 95th percentile of spin rate (Baseball Savant)…2 of his 8 strikeouts in 2023 have come via the curveball.

CIVALE’S PITCH ARSENAL, 2023
Pitch Type % MPH SO Opp BA
Cutter 48.6 87.0 4 .308
Curveball 19.7 77.0 2 .000
Sinker 15.8 91.6 2 .333
4-seam Fastball 14.8 91.1 0 .000

MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:

THE TWINS: After completing their short three-game road-trip in Houston with a record of 2-1, the Twins began their quick four-game homestand against the Guardians with a walk-off victory last night…tonight, they will play the second of four against Cleveland and complete the series on Sunday afternoon…after this series, the Twins will travel to St. Petersburg to enjoy an off-day on Monday, then begin a six-game road-trip with three at Tampa Bay from June 6-8, then three at Toronto from June 9-11.

TWINS FLIP 2022 SCRIPT ON GUARDIANS: The Twins beat the Guardians last night at Target Field by a score of 7-6 in walk-off fashion as Willi Castro recorded his first career walk-off with a sac fly…Pablo López was the starter but did not factor into the decision, allowing six runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings pitched…Cleveland scored five runs off López on six hits in the top of the sixth, all on singles…the offense recorded 10 hits as Christian Vázquez and Donovan Solano each had two…Michael A. Taylor hit his seventh home run of the season and Royce Lewis hit his second, a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth…the Twins loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth as Castro drove in Ryan Jeffers, the fourth walk-off win for the Twins this season.

QUICK BREAK FROM TED LASSO: The Twins are playing on Apple TV+ tonight which will mark the third time for the Twins on that platform this season…their other two came on May 5 at Cleveland, a 2-0 victory over the Guards; and May 12 vs. Chicago-NL, a 6-2 loss to the Cubs.

The Twins next Apple TV+ game will be on July 7 vs. Baltimore.

ON GUARD: The Twins are playing the Guardians for the fifth of 13 times in 2023…the Twins are 2-2 vs. the Guards this season, going1-2 at Progressive Field from May 5-7 and 1-0 at Target Field.

Since the start of 2022, 18 of the 23 games have been decided by three runs-or-less and 11 by one run.

Last night’s win snapped a three-game losing streak to the Guards at Target Field…the Twins are just 2-5 in their last seven at Target Field vs. Cleveland, but are 15-11 here since the start of 2020.

The Twins have hit 60 home runs against Cleveland pitching since the start of 2021, their most vs. any opponent in that span…next is Kansas City (56) and Chicago-AL (55).

Since 2019, Carlos Correa is hitting .304 (38-for-125) with four doubles, nine home runs, 17 RBI, 21 runs scored, 14 walks, a .379 on-base percentage and a .931 OPS in 33 games vs. Cleveland…however, he is just 1-for-15 this season with no walks and one home run (off Stephan on May 6).

Since 2016, Max Kepler’s 22 home runs vs. Cleveland lead baseball (chart in right margin).

YOU DONE MESSED UP A-A-RON!: Lifetime notable numbers vs. Aaron Civale: Alex Kirilloff has three hits in five at-bats (.600), including one double and three RBI…Max Kepler has six hits in 17 at-bats (.353), including two doubles, one RBI and two walks.

The Twins have dealt Civale four losses (1 win) in eight career starts, including seven home runs and 42 hits…four losses are Civale’s most vs. any opponent.

CENTRAL OF ATTENTION: The Twins have gone 11-6 against the AL central this season, going 2-2 vs. the Guardians, 6-1 vs. the Royals and 3-3 vs. the White Sox…below are the Twins pitching numbers compared to other AL divisions/NL:

W-L ERA BAA K/BB K/9.0 WHIP OPS
CENTRAL 11-6 2.73 .196 2.76 8.8 1.07 .571
EAST 6-7 4.32 .249 3.90 9.5 1.24 .722
WEST 5-4 3.60 .229 4.50 11.1 1.13 .662
NATIONAL 8-10 3.57 .232 2.95 10.2 1.25 .687

BEASTIE ROYCE: Since returning from rehab assignment (right ACL surgery) and being rein- stated from the 60-day IL on May 29, Royce Lewis has hit safely in all three games played, hitting .308 (4-for-13) with one double, two home runs, six RBI and a 1.154 OPS…between his rehab stops at Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul, and Minnesota, he has hit .327 (17-for-52) with three doubles, six home runs, 17 RBI, a .731 slugging percentage and a 1.106 OPS in 13 games…that includes a six-game hitting streak (3 with St. Paul, 3 with Minnesota).

He is hitting .375 (3-for-8) with three extra-base hits off fastballs for Minnesota this season.

AK’S PAs AND ABs: Alex Kirilloff has reached base safely in 13 of his last 19 plate appearances and in 18 of his last 28 PAs…in his last six games he has posted a .643 on-base percentage, drawing nine walks and recording eight hits (1 HBP)…since being recalled from Triple-A St. Paul on May 5, Kirilloff has hit .315 (23-for-73) with three doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, 16 walks, a .457 on-base percentage and a .936 OPS in 24 games…among players with at least 75 PAs this season, his .457 OBP leads all of baseball.

He is hitting .405 (17-for-42) with four extra-base hits off fastballs this season.

LAND OF 10,000 RAKES: Since May 1, the Twins have homered 38 times, the fourth most in the AL since that date…on the season, they have homered 76 times, tied with two other teams for the sixth most in baseball…42 of their home runs have come at home.

ON THIS DAY IN TWINS HISTORY: In 1986, Rod Carew announced his retirement from baseball at the age of 40…Carew retired with a .328 career batting average, compiled over 19 major league seasons…he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

GRACIAS, BIG SEXY: Former Minnesota and Cleveland pitcher Bartolo Colón officially announced his retirement today…the 50-year-old made 15 starts for the Twins in 2017, going 5-6, 5.18 ERA (80.0 IP, 46 ER), including a complete game on August 4, 2017 vs. Texas at the age of 44.

STARTING PITCHER – BAILEY OBER 17
2023: 3-2, 2.68 ERA CAREER: 8-8, 3.58 ERA

Making his eight start of the season and sixth home start; tied with Sonny Gray and Pablo López for the most home starts on the Twins staff this season…also his 39th career start and appearance.

Facing the Guardians for the second time this season, fifth time in his career…is 1-1, 1.64 ERA (22.0 IP, 4 ER) with two walks and 18 strikeouts in his four previous starts.

Began season with Triple-A St. Paul and was recalled when Kenta Maeda landed on the IL on April 29…since being inserted into the rotation, the Twins have gone 4-3 in his seven starts.

Selected by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the College of Charleston.

LAST START: Took his second loss of the season in a 3-0 Twins defeat in the finale of the three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Target Field on May 28; marked the first time in his career he has lost consecutive starts…pitched 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on five hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts…tied his previous start on May 22 vs. San Francisco for his shortest outing of the year…his seven strikeouts marked a season-high and the most strikeouts he has recorded since he struck out a career-high 10 batters on September 27, 2022 vs. Chicago-AL…allowed both runs in the second inning on a two-RBI single to catcher Alejandro Kirk…relieved by Griffin Jax in the sixth inning as the bullpen combined to pitch 4.0 innings, allowing one run (an RBI single by Bo Bichette off José De León in the eighth inning)…the Twins were shut out at Target Field for the first time this season and the fourth time overall (also, May 7 at Cleveland, April 16 at New York-AL, April 4 at Miami).

TWO STARTS AGO: Took his first loss of the season in a 4-1 Twins defeat in the opener of the three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at Target Field on May 22, opposite John Brebbia… pitched 5.0 innings and allowed four runs on three hits, with three walks and two strikeouts…recorded his shortest outing of the season and fewest strikeouts since June 22, 2021 vs. Cincinnati when he struck out two batters…allowed all four runs in the first inning via an RBI double by designated hitter J.D. Davis and a three-run home run by outfielder Michael Conforto…marked the most runs he has allowed in the first inning in his career; also walked three batters in the first, marking the most walks he has issued in an inning…relieved by Emilio Pagán in the sixth inning as the bullpen combined to pitch 4.0 scoreless innings…the Twins offense struck out a season-high 16 times…the only run the Twins scored came from a solo home run by outfielder Kyle Garlick in the eighth inning.

Marked his first loss at Target Field since August 17, 2021 vs. Cleveland (6.0 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 3 K); snapped a four-game win streak at Target Field, dating back to September 24, 2021, going 4-0, 2.89 ERA (46.2 IP, 15 ER) with 11 walks and 50 strikeouts in the nine-game span.

OBER VS. CLEVELAND: Facing the Guardians for the second time this season and fifth time in his career; is 1-1, 1.64 ERA (22.0 IP, 4 ER) with two walks and 18 strikeouts in four previous starts…last faced Cleveland on May 5 at Progressive Field for his first road start of the season…earned the win; pitched 7.0 scoreless innings and allowed three hits, with one walk and six strikeouts, opposite Peyton Battenfield…relieved by Jorge López in the eighth inning and combined with Jhoan Duran to complete the shutout…the Twins won 2-0, highlighted by a Max Kepler home run…also were on Apple TV+.

Ranks third for the lowest ERA against the Guardians since 2021 (min 20.0 IP), trailing Eduardo Rodriguez (1.23) and Devin Smeltzer (1.29).

Making his first start against the Guardians at Target Field since August 17, 2021 (L, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 3K).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Ober is making his third-consecutive and sixth overall home start of the season, 21st of his career…in five home starts this season, Ober is 1-2, 3.62 ERA (27.1 IP, 11 ER) ith nine walks and 25 strikeouts…all home runs he has allowed this season have been at target Field…is 5-3, 3.81 ERA (99.1 IP, 42 ER) with 26 walks and 102 strikeouts in 20 career home starts… Twins have gone 12-8 in his home starts.

Holds a .212 opponent batting average at home this season, 19th lowest among American League pitchers (min 25.0 IP).

Ranks third for the most strikeouts in their first 20 home games in Twins history (min 95.0 IP), fourth in lowest ERA and lowest walks issued.

Owns the second-most earned runs allowed at Target Field this season (min 25.0 IP), trailing Pablo López (24).

NO BATTER IS SAFE: Right-handed hitters are batting .209 (14-for-67) with 18 strikeouts and two walks against Ober after seven starts this season…left-handed hitters are hitting .205 (16-for-78) with 19 strikeouts and nine walks…in his career, right-handed hitters are batting .221/.242/.410 with 107 strikeouts against Ober…lefties are hitting .260/.325/.428 with 77 strikeouts off him.

Ranks 11th for the lowest batting average against lefties in the American League (min. 20 .0 IP).

ARSENAL: Ober has used a four-pitch mix in his seven starts of the 2023 season, per Baseball Savant…51.6 percent of pitches thrown in his last start were fastballs…also threw 30 sliders to right-handed batters…mostly uses his slider (122 pitches) against righties while relying on his changeup (115 pitches) and curveball (48 pitches) against lefties…here’s a look at his repertoire:

PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (#, vs. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (91.5)…47.6% (303 pitches, 120/183) ………… .215 (14-for-65), 5 2B, 2 HR, 17 K
Changeup (83.8)…………..22.3% (142 pitches, 27/115) …………………….. .176 (6-for-34), 2 2B, 8 K
Slider (81.8)…………………21.8% (139 pitches, 122/17) …………… .222 (8-for-36), 3 2B, 1 HR, 10 K
Curveball (78.2)……………….8.3% (53 pitches, 5/48) ……………………….. .200 (2-for-10), 1 2B, 2 K.

Tied for 15th for the lowest opponent batting average against a curveball in the American League and 16th against a changeup, (min. 500 pitches).

ACROSS THE RIVER: In his four starts with Triple-A St. Paul this season, Ober went 2-1, 2.55 ERA (17.2 IP, 5 ER) with six walks and 22 strikeouts…in his last start with the Saints on April 18, earned the win in 6-0 St. Paul victory vs. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre…pitched 5.0 scoreless innings, allowed three hits, walked one batter and fanned six.,

MLB Preview: Detroit Tigers (26-28) at Chicago White Sox (23-35)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Detroit Tigers (26-28) at Chicago White Sox (23-35)

DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:

TIGERS SALVAGE SERIES FINALE AGAINST TEXAS: The Tigers closed out their series against the Rangers with a 3-2 win on Wednesday. Jake Marisnick had two hits and drove in a run in his Tigers debut, while Tyler Nevin and Spencer Torkelson each added two hits. Javier Báez added a double and a RBI. On the mound, Joey Wentz started for Detroit, giving up one run on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Will Vest picked up the win, throwing 1.2 innings of perfect relief with one strikeout. Alex Lange pitched a scoreless ninth with one walk and two strikeouts for his 10th save.

ROSTER MOVES: The Tigers have announced the following roster moves:
*Following Wednesday’s game, optioned RHP Braden Bristo to Triple A Toledo

*Recalled RHP Reese Olson from Triple A Toledo

LOOKING BACK AT MAY: The Tigers finished the month of May with a 16-11 record, the team’s first winning month since September, 2021. Detroit’s .593 winning percentage in May was the club’s best in a month of at least 10 games since going 16-10 (.615) in July, 2016. The Tigers 16-11 record in May was the fifth-best record in the American League and seventh-best mark in the Majors.

LOCKDOWN LANGE: Alex Lange struck out two in a scoreless ninth inning on Wednesday to earn his 10th save of the season, which ranks eighth in the American League. Lange has not allowed a run in 18 of his last 19 outings, posting a 0.46 ERA (19.2IP/1ER) and 32 strikeouts in that span.
Among AL relievers with at least 20.0 innings pitched, Lange ranks second in opponent batting average (.130), tied for third in ERA (1.16), fifth in FIP (1.91) and tied for 10th in WHIP (0.90).

ANOTHER ONE-RUN WIN: The Tigers improved to 10-4 in one-run games this season with Wednesday’s 3-2 win. Detroit’s .714 winning percentage in one-run games is the third-best mark among big league teams.

TIGERS AND WHITE SOX: The Tigers and White Sox resume their series tonight in Chicago. The two teams played last weekend with Detroit winning three-of-four games. The White Sox went 12-7 against the Tigers last season, but the two sides split 10 meetings at Guaranteed Rate Field.

AGAINST THE AL CENTRAL: The Tigers continue divisional play tonight against the White Sox. Detroit is 9-4 against American League Central teams so far this season, winning all four of its series against divisional opponents. The Tigers have finished below .500 against AL Central foes in each of the last five 162-game seasons, including a 34-42 record last season.

ON THE ROAD: The Tigers tonight begin a six-game road trip, which includes three games at Chicago (AL) (June 2-4) and three games at Philadelphia (June 5-7). Detroit is 12-15 on the road this season, but has won four of its last five road series. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .225/.299/.346 away from Comerica Park, while the pitching staff has a 4.44 ERA (235.0IP/116ER).

INJURY REHAB UPDATE: Kerry Carpenter continued an injury rehab assignment with Triple A Toledo last night, starting at designated hitter and going 1×5. Carpenter has been sidelined since April 29 with a right shoulder sprain.

TIGERS ON THE IL:

  • RHP Beau Brieske (right upper arm discomfort, 60-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)
  • OF Kerry Carpenter (right shoulder sprain, 10-day IL on April 29, retroactive to April 28)
  • OF Riley Greene (left fibula stress reaction, 10-day IL on May 31)
  • RHP Matt Manning (right foot fracture, 60-day IL on April 12)
  • OF Austin Meadows (anxiety, 60-day IL on April 8, retroactive to April 7)
  • RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
  • RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
  • LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (left index finger pulley rupture, 15-day IL on May 30, retroactive to May 29)
  • LHP Tarik Skubal (left elbow strain, 60-day IL on March 14)
  • RHP Spencer Turnbull (neck discomfort, 15-day IL on May 12, retroactive to May 7)
  • OF Matt Vierling (low back soreness, 10-day IL on May 30, retroactive to May 29)
  • RHP Trey Wingenter (right biceps tendinitis, 60-day IL on April 22, retroactive to April 19)

TONIGHT’S TIGERS STARTING PITCHER

45 Reese Olson • No Record (2-3, 6.38 ERA (36.2IP/26ER) at Triple A)

  • Olson will make his Major League debut tonight in the series opener at Chicago (AL).
  • Did not factor into the decision in his most recent start for Triple A Toledo last Friday vs. Rochester, allowing a run on four hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts in 5.0 innings…has allowed one run-or-less in each of his last three starts for Toledo, compiling a 1.26 ERA (14.1IP/2ER) and 22 strikeouts in that stretch.
  • Has started 10 games for the Mud Hens this season, posting a 2-3 record with a 6.38 ERA (36.2IP/26ER) and 47 strikeouts.
  • Spent the entire 2022 season with Double A Erie, going 8-6 with a 4.14 ERA (119.2IP/55ER) and 168 strikeouts, which set an Erie single-season record.
  • Was originally drafted by Milwaukee in the 13th round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of North Hall High School in Gainesville, GA…was acquired by the Tigers from the Brewers on July 30, 2021 in exchange for Daniel Norris

CHICAGO WHITE SOX NOTES:

WHITE SOX AT A GLANCE
The Chicago White Sox have lost fi ve of the last seven games but won 10 of 18 and 16 of 30 as they continue a six-game, seven-day homestand tonight with the series opener vs. Detroit.  RHP Mike Clevinger, who has reinstated from the 15-day injured list earlier today, is scheduled to start tonight’s game.

The White Sox opened the trip losing two of three to the Angels, including a 12-5 defeat in Wednesday’s decisive game.

Following this weekend’s series vs. the Tigers and Monday’s off day, the White Sox will take a brief three-game trip to Yankee Stadium from 6/6-8 before returning to Guaranteed Rate Field for a three-game series from 6/9-11 vs. Miami.

The White Sox are in fourth place in the AL Central, 5.0 games behind second-place Detroit and 7.5 behind first-place Minnesota.

The Sox went 3-4 on their last trip from 5/22-28 at Cleveland (2-1) and Detroit (1-3) and 6-3 on their last homestand from 5/12-21 vs. Houston (1-2), the Guardians (2-1) and Kansas City (3-0).

TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
The White Sox are 16-14 in the last 30 games since 4/30 following a 7-21 start … Sox pitchers own a 3.51 ERA (69 ER/177.0 IP) in 20 games since 5/11, the fourth-best mark in MLB.

Chicago starters own a 3.85 ERA (46 ER/107.2 IP) and .218 average with 104 strikeouts in the last 20 games (11 QS).

The Sox are hitting .234/.279/.368 with just 10 homers and 61 runs scored (4.4 R/G) over the last 14 games.

The White Sox are 12-8 vs. Detroit at Guaranteed Rate Field since the start of the 2021 season … they have outscored the Tigers by an 87-63 margin in over the 20 games.

Mike Clevinger is 8-1 with a 1.19 ERA (9 ER/68.1 IP), .191 (47-246) opp. average, .516 OPS, 0.98 WHIP and 74 strikeouts (9.75 per 9.0 IP) in his last 11 starts (nine QS) vs. Detroit.

Eloy Jiménez is 19-48 (.396) with three doubles, three homers, 13 RBI and four multi-hit eff orts during his 12-game hitting streak.

ROSTER MOVES
The Sox reinstated RHP Mike Clevinger from the 15-day IL, returned INF Elvis Andrus from his rehab assignment at Class AAA Charlotte and reinstated him from the IL, DFA INF Hanser Alberto and optioned RHP Jesse Scholtens.

Clevinger was placed on the IL on 5/18 with right wrist inflammation, and Andrus on 5/13 with a left oblique strain.

WEDNESDAY’S RECAP
The Angels hit fi ve home runs, including three off Lance Lynn, en route to a 12-5 win in the decisive game of the series.

The Angels scored two runs in the fi rst, fourth, seventh and ninth and added four runs in the third … Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani accounted for three of the fi ve homers.

Lynn fell to 4-6 after allowing eight runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 4.0 IP … Jesse Scholtens worked 4.0 IP in relief and allowed two runs on two hits.

Eloy Jiménez extended his hitting streak to 12 games, and Jake Burger hit a solo home run in the ninth.

The Sox went 2-9 with RISP and left 10 runners on base.

TIGER TAMER
Mike Clevinger is 8-2 with a 1.74 ERA (14 ER/74.1 IP), .209 (55-263) opp. average, .572 OPS, 1.09 WHIP and 77 strikeouts (9.58 per 9.0 IP) in 13 career games (12 GS/nine QS) vs. Detroit.

His 1.74 ERA is the lowest among active pitchers vs. the Tigers (min. 70.0 IP) … teammate Dylan Cease ranks second (2.09).

Clevinger has allowed two earned runs or less in 11 starts, one or less eight times and zero earned runs in fi ve … he is 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA (3 ER/33.0 IP) and 0.91 WHIP in his last five outings.

ELOY’S GONE STREAKING
Eloy Jiménez is 19-48 (.396) with three doubles, three homers, 13 RBI and four multi-hit eff orts during his 12-game hitting streak.

The streak is the third-longest of his career (13 twice; last 2021), third-longest active in the AL and fifth-longest active in MLB.

The last White Sox with a 12-game hitting streak was Jose Abreu from 8/27-9/8/22 (also 12) … Luis Robert Jr. owned a 13-game hitting streak from 7/12-2-8/24/22.

ANDREW, ANDREW … HE’S OUR MAN!
Andrew Vaughn is slashing .391/.455/.891 (18-46) with nine doubles, four homers and 34 RBI with RISP and .500/.619/1.063 (8-16) with a homer and 12 RBI with RISP/two outs in 2023.

Vaughn ranks among MLB RISP leaders in slugging pct. (1st, .891), OPS (4th, 1.346), RBI (T5th, 34), and average (11th, .391).

Vaughn is tied for second in MLB with seven GW RBI, trailing Aaron Judge (nine), and tied for third with 13 go-ahead RB.

WHITE SOX VS. DETROIT TIGERS
The Tigers won three of four in the first meeting from 5/25-28 in Detroit… following this weekend series, the White Sox and Tigers do not play again until 9/1-3 in Chicago and 9/8-10 in Detroit.

The White Sox are hitting .234/.273/.376 with three home runs, own a 5.19 ERA (20 ER/34.2 IP) with one quality start and have been outscored by a 23-22 margin this season.

The White Sox went 12-7 last season, going 5-5 at home and 7-2 on the road, and outscored the Tigers by a 100-59 margin.

Chicago is 46-24 since the start of the 2019 season and 34-15 since the start of the 2020 season vs. the Tigers.

CENTRAL DIVISION DYNAMICS
Chicago is 12-11 vs. the American League Central, including a 7-2 mark at home … the White Sox have won all five of the last six home games and won all three series in Chicago.

Following this series vs. Detroit, the Sox will not play an AL Central club until after the All-Star break (7/21-23 at Minnesota).

The White Sox went 37-39 in 2022 and 69-47 from 2020-21.

ROTATION SENSATION
White Sox starters own a 3.85 ERA (46 ER/107.2 IP), .218 opponents average and 104 strikeouts over the last 20 games since 5/11 … they rank second in MLB in average and OPS (.691).

Starters have allowed three runs or less 14 times, two or less 10 times and one or less six times … the rotation since 5/11:
W-L ERA WHIP QS IP H R ER HR BB SO SO/9.0 AVG OPS
9-6 3.85 1.18 11 107.2 86 50 46 15 46 104 8.7 .218 .691

POSTING PUNCHOUTS
White Sox pitchers rank third in the major leagues with 535 strikeouts in 2023, trailing Minnesota (543) and Houston (551).

Sox starters rank second in MLB with 326 SO, 23 behind the Twins (349) … relievers rank seventh in the AL (209 SO).

LONGBALL LOGISTICS
The White Sox have hit 34 homers in their last 30 games since 4/30 and 37 in the last 33 contests (10 multi-homer) since 4/27

Chicago is 18-21 when homering, 7-8 when hitting multiple homers and 5-14 when going homerless this season.

SOUTHPAW SUCCESS
Chicago is hitting .321/.374/.526 in the last 21 games vs. LHP.

The White Sox are batting .273/.339/.444 vs. left-handed pitching since the start of the 2019 season … during that span, the Sox lead MLB in average, rank second in on-base percentage and OPS (.783) and fi fth in slugging percentage.

Tim Anderson (.350) and Hanser Alberto (.344) rank 1-2 in MLB in average vs. left-handers since the start of 2019.

SEARCHING FOR HOME˨FIELD ADVANTAGE
The White Sox are 13-15 (.464) at home this season, the 12th-best winning percentage in the American League, after going 37-44 (.457) in 2022 … by comparison, the Sox were 53-28 (.654) at home in 2021, the best record in the AL.

Through 28 home games this season, the White Sox have been outscored, 156-124, and outhomered, 49-31.

Jake Burger (10), Luis Robert Jr. (seven) and Andrew Vaughn (five) have combined to hit 22 of the Sox 31 home runs.

AS TA GOES, SO GO THE WHITE SOX
Since the start of the 2020, the Sox are 163-125 when Tim Anderson is in the starting lineup (69-85 when he doesn’t start).

During that span, the Sox are 132-82 when Anderson records a hit, 76-33 when he records a multi-hit eff ort, 97-49 when he scores a run and 27-3 when he homers.

Anderson ranks second in MLB since the start of 2019 with 55 three-hit games (Sox are 38-17), trailing Freddie Freeman (62).

Anderson needs three homers to become the fourth player in White Sox history to record 100 homers and 100 stolen bases.

STARTER – #52 MIKE CLEVINGER RHP
CLEVINGER AT A GLANCE
Is scheduled to make his 10th start of the season, fifth at home and first vs. the Detroit Tigers.

Was reinstated from the 15-day IL prior to tonight’s game … missed to starts after being placed on the IL with right wrist inflammation on 5/21.

Has limited opponents to three or less runs in six of his first nine starts with two scoreless starts.

Has surrendered seven home runs across his last five starts after allowing no home runs over his first three.

Agreed to terms with Chicago on a one-year, $12-million deal in December (includes a mutual option for 2024).

Has appeared in just 39 games (38 starts) since the start of the 2020 season … missed the entire 2021 season to continue his recovery from his second Tommy Johnsurgery … also underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012.

Was originally drafted by the Angels in the fourth round of the 2011 MLB Draft … was traded to Cleveland in August 2014 … made 101 major-league appearances (88 starts) with Cleveland from 2016-20 … was traded to San Diego in August 2020, appearing in just 27 games (16 starts) with Padres from 2020-22.

LAST START
Earned his third win of the year on 5/17 vs. Cleveland, allowing two runs on six hits with four walks and five strikeouts over 6.0 IP.

Marked his third quality start and first win since 4/8 at Pittsburgh … snapped a five-game streak of allowing at least one home run.

Departed the game in the seventh with the White Sox leading, 7-2, the eventual final score.

Owned a 67.9 first-strike percentage and 10.5 swinging-strike percentage (10 swing and misses) vs. 28 batters … threw 95 pitches (58 strikes) with the following pitch breakdown: 51 four-seam fastballs (93.1 mph avg; 95.8 mph max), 16 cutters (83.9 avg; 85.9 max), 14 sliders (78.1 avg; 80.6 max) 12 changeups (85.9 avg; 87.5 max) and two curveballs (73.8 avg; 75.0 max)

TAKE ME HOME
Is 4-3 with a 2.59 ERA (16 ER/55.2 IP) with 17 walks and 47 strikeouts across his last 10 starts at home.

Is 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA (7 ER/20.0 IP), 11 walks and 19 strikeouts in four starts at Guaranteed Rate Field in 2023 … holds a career 3-2 record with a 3.14 ERA (15 ER/43.0 IP) in eight starts (four quality starts) at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Owns a 26-12 record, 2.94 ERA (116 ER/355.2 IP), .222 (292-1317) opponents average and 388 strikeouts over 69 career appearances (61 starts) at home.

His 2.94 career ERA at home ranks 13th among active pitchers (min. 350.0 IP).

START STRONG
Is limiting opponents to a .212 (14-66) batting average across the first two innings this season … is holding opponents to a .211 (15-71) average with 19 strikeouts the first time through the lineup.

Posted a 2.04 ERA (10 ER/44.0 IP) and .173 (27-156) opponents average across the first two innings in 2022, compared to a 5.76 ERA (45 ER/70.1 IP) and .267 (75- 281) mark from the third-seventh.

Limited opponents to a .196 (37-189) average the first time through the lineup in 2022, compared to a .244 (43-176) mark the second time through the lineup and a .306 (22-72) average the third time through the order.

BEND DON’T BREAK
Is limiting opponents to a .198 (17-86) average with runners on base, .176 (9-51) average with RISP and .091 (2-22) average with RISP/two outs this season.

His opponents average with RISP/two outs is the second-lowest in MLB (min. 25 PA), his opponent average with RISP is fifth-lowest (min. 60 PA) and opponent average with runners on is sixth-lowest min. 100 PA).

VS. DETROIT TIGERS || A.L. CENTRAL
Will make his 13th career start (14th appearance) against the Detroit Tigers and first at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Is 8-2 with a 1.74 ERA (14 ER/72.1 IP), limiting the Tigers to a .209 (55-263) batting average with 24 walks and 77 strikeouts.

Last faced Detroit on 7/26/22 at Detroit with San Diego … did not factor in the decision after allowed two runs on six hits (one home run) with one walk and five strikeouts over 7.0 IP in the Padres 6-4 win.

Owns a 4-0 record with a 0.82 ERA (3 ER/33.0 IP) across his last five starts against Detroit with five quality starts, holding the Tigers scoreless in three of those starts.

Is 27-9 with a 2.38 ERA (84 ER/317.0 IP), 102 walks and 338 strikeouts in 58 career outings (51 starts/34 quality) against the American League Central … his 2.38 ERA is the best against the AL Central among active pitchers (min. 200 IP).

NFL Transactions 6-2-23

NFL Editor
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NFL Transactions 6-2-23

The following are the NFL transactions for Friday, June 2. Transactions will be published each day after they are circulated to NFL clubs. This public version will include waiver requests, assignments via waivers, terminations, free agent signings, reserve list and practice squad additions and deletions, and trades.

WAIVER SYSTEM TRANSACTIONS


WAIVER REQUESTS (All are NO RECALL)

BUFFALO
    Johnson, BraydonWROklahoma State   

NEW ENGLAND
    Tavai, JustusDTSan Diego State   


TERMINATIONS VIA WAIVER SYSTEM

DENVER
    Patrick, JacquesRBFlorida State   

INDIANAPOLIS
    Hagans, DariusRBVirginia State   

SEATTLE
    Smith, ChrisRBLouisiana-Lafayette   


 ACTIVE LIST ADDITIONS


FREE AGENT SIGNINGS

BUFFALO
    Ateman, MarcellWROklahoma State   

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
    Shepherd, DarriusWRNorth Dakota State   

MINNESOTA
    Maag, GarettWRNorth Dakota   



SELECTION LIST SIGNINGS

MIAMI
    Achane, DevonRBTexas A&M(3-84)*  
    Hayes, RyanTMichigan(7-238)*  
    Higgins, ElijahTEStanford(6-197)*  


    *Round and Overall Selection Number in 2023 Draft.



RESERVE LIST ADDITIONS

NEW ENGLAND
    McCourty, DevinDBRutgers   
         Reserve/Retired

SEATTLE
    Bumphus, LaTrellDETennessee   
         Reserve/Injured from Waived/Injured; Does Not Count Against 90 Limit

MLB Preview: Seattle Mariners (29-27) at Texas Rangers (35-20)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Seattle Mariners (29-27) at Texas Rangers (35-20)

SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners begin an 11-day, 8-game road trip with the first of 3 games against the Texas Rangers…they will also visit San Diego (2 G, June 6-7) and Los Angeles-AL (3 G, June 9-11) on the trip…Seattle is coming off a 10-game homestand (7-3) against Oakland (4-0), Pittsburgh (2-1) and New York-AL (1-2)…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Dave Sims and Aaron Goldsmith on the call…the game will also be broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners defeated the Yankees by a 1-0 score in 10 innings on Wednesday… Seattle finished its 10-game homestand with a 7-3 record…Seattle is 21-10 when scoring at least 4 runs and 8-17 when scoring 3-or-fewer…the Mariners are 17-15 at T-Mobile Park and 12-12 on the road this season.

  • Roster Moves – OF Taylor Trammell (truh-mell) was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma (post-game 5/31)… INF Mike Ford was selected by Seattle today, bringing the Major League, 40-man roster to 40 players.
  • I’ve Got The Month of May – The Mariners finished May with a 17-11 (.607) record.

BEST IN THE WORLD AT WHAT THEY DO…the Mariners pitching staff leads the Majors in several categories this season, including FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (10.2), WHIP (1.17), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.59), walks-per-9 innings (2.51), home runs-per-9 innings (0.84) and Fielding Independent Pitching (3.42)…Seattle pitchers have also allowed the fewest walks (141) and home runs (47)…Seattle pitchers lead the Majors in opponent on-base percentage (.291), slugging percentage (.359) and OPS (.650)…Mariners starting pitchers rank 2nd in the Majors in fWAR (6.9), trailing only Minnesota (7.1)… Mariners relief pitchers rank 2nd in the Majors in fWAR (3.3), trailing only Baltimore (3.4).

J.P. THE CATALYST…J.P. Crawford has gotten on base at a .355 clip this season, leading the team with 29 walks…in 54 games this season, the Mariners shortstop is batting .251 (47×187) with 30 runs, 11 doubles, 3 home runs, 22 RBI and 29 walks, slugging .358 with a .713 OPS…Crawford comes into play tonight with a 6-game hitting streak (5/26-c), batting .296 (8×27) with a double, home run, 2 RBI and a walk during that span.

JARRED KELENIC: ALL-STAR OUTFIELDER?…Jarred Kelenic is batting .277 (54×195) with 27 runs, 14 doubles, 1 triple, 10 home runs, 26 RBI, 7 stolen bases and 16 walks, getting on base at a .333 clip, slugging .513 with an .846 OPS in 53 games this season…Kelenic has mashed left-handed pitchers this season, batting .320 (16×50) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs and 12 RBI with a 1.006 OPS in 52 plate appearances against southpaws…overall, Kelenic leads the Mariners in total bases (100), extra-base hits (25), batting average, slugging percentage and OPS…Jarred’s 135 OPS+ ranks 6th among qualified AL outfielders, trailing Aaron Judge-NYY (195), Randy Arozarena-TB (160), Mike Trout-LAA (140), Masataka Yoshida-BOS (138) and Austin Hays-BAL (137).

GETTING DEFENSIVE…the Mariners defense is tied for 2nd-best in the American League by Outs Above Average (9) this season with Kansas City, trailing only Detroit (10)…Seattle’s .989 team fielding percentage is tied for 2nd-best in the American League with Houston, trailing only Tampa Bay (.990).

KING GEORGE…George Kirby twirled 8.0 scoreless innings in the Mariners 1-0 win over the Yankees on Wednesday…the right-hander allowed just 3 hits with no walks and 7 strikeouts, becoming the first New York-born pitcher to toss 6.0+ scoreless innings in his first-ever appearance against the Yankees since Hall of Famer Waite Hoyt did it for the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 8, 1919 in Game 2 of a doubleheader… Kirby has been stellar over his last 26 starts dating back to last season, going 11-6 with a 2.98 ERA (49 ER, 148.0 IP) with 21 walks and 142 strikeouts…since July 1, 2022, Kirby leads the American League (min. 120 IP) in fWAR (4.8), FIP (2.51), walks-per-9 innings (1.28) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.76).

AT THE TOPA, TOPACABANA…Justin Topa tossed a scoreless 10th inning in Seattle’s last game on Wednesday vs. New York-AL, recording his first career big league win…he became the first New York-born pitcher to earn his first career Major League win against the Yankees since Don Cooper for the Minnesota Twins on Sept. 2, 1981…in 24 appearances with Seattle this season, Topa has a 3.32 ERA (8 ER, 21.2 IP) with 8 walks and 22 strikeouts.

AS YOU MAY KNOW…Julio Rodríguez went 2-for-4 with a stolen base in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the Yankees…it was Julio’s 10th stolen base of the season, but…DID YOU KNOW?…that Julio is one of 4 Major Leaguers with 10+ home runs and 10+ stolen bases this season?…the 22-year-old outfielder is joined by Ronald Acuña Jr.-ATL, Josh Lowe-TB and Bobby Witt Jr.-KC, and…DID YOU ALSO KNOW?… that Julio is tied as the 2nd-fastest Mariners player (54 games) to reach 10/10 in a season?…only Ruppert Jones (1979) has reached 10+ home runs and 10+ stolen bases faster (52 G) in a season…Julio tied Alex Rodriguez (1998) as 2nd-fastest in franchise history…in 1998, A-Rod became the 3rd player in MLB history to join the 40/40 club, finishing the season with 42 home runs and 46 stolen bases.

MARINERS STARTER – RHP LUIS CASTILLO
2023 MLB Breakdown:
W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Overall 4-2 2.69 11/11 63.2 48 21 19 15 76 6
Home 4-1 1.89 8/8 47.2 30 10 10 9 61 2
Road 0-1 5.06 3/3 16.0 18 11 9 6 15 4
vs. TEX 0-1 5.40 1/1 5.0 8 3 3 0 9 1

ABOUT CASTILLO…

  • The 30-year-old right-hander is set to make his 12th start of the season, 2nd against the Rangers…he is also making his 160th Major League start and 2nd career start against Texas.
  • Has been named an All-Star in 2019 and 2022.
  • Originally signed as an international free agent by the San Francisco Giants on 12/23/11.
  • Made MLB debut on 6/23/17 vs. Washington (w/ Cincinnati)
  • Signed a 5-year contract extension with the Seattle Mariners on Sept. 24, 2022 after being acquired in a trade with Cincinnati on July 30, 2022.

LAST TIME OUT…W#4 in last start on 5/27 vs. Pittsburgh…allowed just 1 hit and 2 walks in 6.0 innings pitched while striking out 10.

SEASON-HIGH PUNCHIES…recorded a seasoh-high 10 strikeouts in his last start against the Pittsburgh Pirates…he was only 3 strikouts away from matching his career-high…this marked the 16th time in Castillo’s career that he has recorded 10+ strikeouts in a game (last: 8/27/22 vs. CLE).

1,000 AND COUNTING…recorded his 1,000th career strikeout in his outing on 5/22 against Oakland after striking out Shea Langeliers to begin the 5th inning…Castillo finished the night with 8 strikeouts, 1 away from his season high.

STILL ROLLING…has only allowed 15 walks while striking out 76 batters in 11 starts this season…his 15 walks are tied for the 11th fewest in the Major Leagues with 3 other pitchers…his 76 strikeouts on the season ranks tied 11th in the Major Leagues with 4 other pitchers…Castillo’s 5.07 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks tied 11th in the Major Leagues with Zack Wheeler-PHI.

OFF TO A GOOD START…his 135 strikeouts through his first 20 Mariners starts are the 2nd most in Mariners history through a pitchers first 20 starts…he trails only Robbie Ray (136) and ranks ahead of Félix Hernández (124) and Michael Pineda (123).

MAKING THEM EARN IT…has only allowed 19 earned runs through 11 starts this season which is tied 5th in the Major Leagues…his 2.69 ERA (19 ER, 63.2 IP) ranks 9th in the Major Leagues behind Justin Steele-CHC (2.65).

KEEPING THE BASES CLEAN…has only allowed 66 runners to reach base safely through 11 starts this season which is tied for the 3rd fewest in the Major Leagues with Drew Smyly-CHC…he also ranks among Major League leaders in opponents average (T-5th, .203/48×237) and WHIP (T-5th, 0.990).

DOMINATE THE ZONE…had 38 strikeouts in 6 starts in March/April which is the second most strikeouts to start a season in his career…his career-high in strikeouts for March/April is 50 which he achieved in 7 games to start the 2019 season.

KEEPING THEM IN THE YARD…gave up his first home run of the season on 4/28, breaking a 5-game span of allowing no home runs…this was his longest span of games to start a season without giving up a home run in his career.

NEARLY PERFECT…carried a perfect game into the 7th inning in his start against Colorado on 4/16…earned his second win of the season after pitching 7.0 scoreless innings and allowing only 2 hits while striking out a season-high 9 batters…the last pitcher to throw a perfect game in the Majors was Félix Hernández on 8/15/12.

HOT START…did not allow a run in either of his first 2 starts to begin the season, becoming just the third Mariners pitcher to do that, joining Félix Hernández (2007) and James Paxton (2017).

PREVIOUSLY ON OPENING DAY…became just the 3rd Mariners starter to hold the opponent scoreless in an Opening Day start, joining Félix Hernández (2007, 2013 & 2018) and Randy Johnson (1995)…he is the first player in franchise history to toss 6.0+ scoreless innings while allowing 1-or-fewer hits on Opening Day…his game score of 76 was the highest of any Opening Day starter this season.

FOR OPENERS…made his 3rd career Opening Day start on 4/30 vs. CLE and his first with the Mariners, becoming the 18th different pitcher to start on Opening Day in franchise history.

THE STONE WAS ROLLING…began his start on 9/7/22 vs. Chicago-AL by striking out the first 7 batters he faced, setting a franchise record for most strikeouts to begin a start, passing Michael Pineda (5 on 7/9/11 at LAA)…the 7 strikeouts also tied the AL record for most strikeouts to begin a game (done 4x, last: Blake Snell-TB, 6/3/18 vs. SEA).

A PERFORMANCE FOR THE AGES…ND on 8/9/22 against New York-AL in his home debut after being acquired by the Mariners on 7/30/22…tossed 8.0
scoreless innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 on 110 pitches, 72 for strikes…marked the 5th time in his career he has thrown 8.0+ innings, and just the 2nd time he has tossed 8.0+ scoreless innings (also: 9/21/18 at MIA)…induced 20 swings-and-misses, the third most he has induced in a game this season.

MAIDEN VOYAGE…struck out 8 in his first start with the Mariners on 8/3/22 at New York-AL…8 strikeouts are tied for the 3rd-most in a Mariners debut (also: Cliff Lee), trailing Andy Benes and Enrique Romo who struck out 9…Benes and Castillo both made their Mariners debuts on Aug. 3, after being acquired by the Mariners at the trade deadline.

NOW THAT’S QUALITY…recorded 8-consecutive quality starts from 6/28-8/15/22, a career-best streak (previous: 5, 2x (8/14-9/5/21 and 6/15-7/6/21 w/ CIN)…tossed a quality start in each of his first 3 starts with Seattle (8/3-8/15/22).

LA PIEDRA…tossed 7.0 innings and allowed 1 run in 3-consecutive starts from 7/3-7/14/22, striking out 22 batters over the 3 starts…3-consecutive starts of 7.0+ innings while allowing no more than 1 run was tied for the longest streak in the Majors with 7 other pitchers…marked the 1st time in his career he has tossed 7.0+ innings in 3-consecutive starts.

TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:

WINS AND LOSSES: Texas lost its last game on Wed. at DET, 3-2, finishing with a 6-3 record on the 9-G, 10-day road trip to PIT (2-1), BAL (2-1) and DET (2-1)…team has won 2 of 3, 6 of 8, 9 of 12, 14 of 20, and 17 of last 24 games…TEX is an MLB-best 21-9 (.700) in last 30 G beg. 4/28…TEX is 27-14 in last 41 G and 31-16 in last 47 G beg. 4/9.

  • At 35-20 (.636), TEX owns the 2nd-best record in MLB to only TB (40-18, see chart below)…club’s 35 wins rank T2nd in A.L. and MLB (40-TB, 35-TEX/BAL).
  • The 35-20 start the Rangers’ best 55-G start to a season in WSH/TEX franchise history.
  • TEX is 15 G above .500 entering the homestand…team reached season-high 16 G above .500 with win on Tues. at DET (35-19), just the 11th season in Rangers history to reach that mark (1st since 2016) and the earliest date (5/30) team ever climbed to 16-over in a campaign (prev. 6/10 in 1996).

BEST RECORDS IN MLB, 2023
Win Pct. Team W-L
.690 Tampa Bay 40-18
.636 Texas 35-20
.625 Baltimore 35-21

MAY FLOWERS: TEX went 18-9 (.667) in May, highest win pct. in MLB last month…it marked Rangers’ highest win pct. in any month since a 20-8 (.714) finish in June 2016…it ranks as T4th-best win pct. in May in club history, best since a 20-9 (.690) mark in May 2009…the 18 wins last month were T2nd in MLB (19-NYY, 18-TEX/LAD) and match Rangers’ most in any month since the start of 2017 (18-11 in June 2019).

SERIES STUFF: Texas has won 4 consecutive series for the 2nd time this season (also 4/10-23)…last time that TEX won 5 series in a row? 6/15-7/1/18 vs. COL/at KC/at MIN/vs. SD/ vs. CWS…club has gone 9-1-1 in last 11 series and 12-2-1 in last 15…team is 13-4-1 overall in series this year, going 5-2-1 at home and 8-2-0 on the road…TEX is 4-1-1 in last 6 series at GLF…team has won 6 straight road series for the 1st time in franchise history, and has won 8 of last 9 away series… club did not win a 13th series in 2022 until 8/12-14 at SEA.

AT HOME: Rangers are 16-8 (.667) at home, 2nd-best home record in A.L. and 3rd in MLB (TB-.813, 26-6; LAD-.704, 19- 8)…has won 3 straight, 4 of 5, 8 of 11, 13 of last 19 at GLF beg. 4/5…TEX has a 102-114 all-time record at Globe Life Field (2020-23), but are 22-15 last 37 G here (beg. 9/11/22)… TEX leads MLB in R/G (6.79) and HR/G (1.71) at home in 2023, and 163 R are 3rd-most in MLB (190-TB, 176-BOS).

VS. SEATTLE: TEX took 2 of 3 G from 5/8-10 at SEA in only other series in ’23, ending span in which Rangers had lost 9 straight series at T-Mobile (last win: 2-1 from 5/27-29/19 at SEA)…TEX has won 5 of last 8 G dating to ‘22, but still 5-12 in last 17 G vs. SEA…after this weekend’s series, clubs will not meet again until Rangers’ final home games 9/22-24 and the last contests of the year 9/29-10/1 in Seattle…TEX lost season series in 2022 (5-14) 5th time in 6 years…TEX is just 13-35 vs. SEA beginning 8/21/20.

ROSTER MOVES: Earlier today, C Mitch Garver was activated from the IL and OF Bubba Thompson was optioned to Round Rock (AAA)…please see the separate release for more details.

ELITE OFFENSE: TEX leads MLB w/ 346 R, 6.29 R/G, and .272 BA…club has 10+ R in an MLB-leading 14 G (14-TEX, 8-CHC/TB) and has scored 5+ R in an inning 15 times this season.

  • The 346 runs scored by TEX in ’23 are the most over the first 55 G of a season in franchise history, and is T24th-most in the modern era.
  • TEX’s +131 run differential ranks 1st in MLB, 2nd-best figure at the 55-G mark by any club in the last 47 years beg. 1977 (2016 Cubs were +141 after 55 G).
  • Current A.L. ranks: OBP (2nd, .340), OPS (2nd, .790), H (3rd, 522), 2B (T3rd, 112), SLG (4th, .450), TB (4th, 863), XBH (5th, 191)…own MLB-best .333 BA (170-510) w/ RISP.

SEMIEN STREAK: Marcus Semien enters the homestand riding a career-best 20-G hit streak, tied for the longest in MLB in 2023 (also HOU’s Mauricio Dubon, 4/2-26; LAD’s Freddie Freeman, 5/10-current)…it is just the 17th hit streak of 20+ games in Rangers history, 2nd in the last 13 years beg. 2011 (23-G hit streak by Adolis García 8/3-27/22)…totals during streak: .310/.347/.529/.846 (27-87), 3 HR, 2 3B, 6 2B, 16 RBI, 5 BB/12 SO and 19 R.

  • Semien has a 28-G on-base streak, as he had hits in 26 of 27 G in May at .322/.385/.513/.898.
  • MLB ranks for Semien among 2B in ’23: R (1st, 48), TB (1st, 110), RBI (1st, 44), 2B (1st, 14), H (2nd, 67), OPS (2nd, .850), BA (2nd, .295)….472 BA (25-53) w/ RISP, 3rd in MLB.

YES TO JUNG: Josh Jung’s career-best 14-G hit streak is the 2nd-longest active streak in the A.L. to only Semien (20 G)…has hits in 18 of his last 19 G at .382/.427/.632/1.058 (29-76) with 4 HR, 5 2B, 1 3B, and 12 RBI…it is T4th-longest hit streak by a rookie in TEX history…club record is 16 G by Elvis Andrus, 8/28-9/14/09…Jung ranks among A.L. leaders in TB (T4th, 110), R (T4th, 40), SLG (5th, .531), and H (T5th, 61).

HAVE A MONTH: Nathan Eovaldi was announced as Rangers May Player of the Month yesterday after going 4-0, 0.96 (4 ER/37.2 IP) over 5 G/GS for Texas last month, allowing one-or-zero runs in 4 of his 5 outings…his A.L.-leading 0.96 ERA ranked 2nd-best in MLB (min. 25.0 IP), and it was just the 7th time in TEX history that a pitcher has recorded an ERA below 1.00 in a full month (min. 30.0 IP)…just 2nd month in TEX history for a pitcher to have a sub-1.00 ERA with a WHIP of 0.85-or-lower (min. 30.0 IP), joining Charlie Hough in September 1983.

GOING GRAY: Jon Gray enters tonight’s start having won a career-high 4 consecutive starts for the 1st time…Gray is the 1st Ranger to win 4 consecutive starts since Taylor Hearn (4-0 from 8/24-9/12/21), with last longer instance being 5 straight by Lance Lynn from 6/17-7/11/19…Rangers went 5-0 in his 5 May starts, with Gray going 4-0, 1.95 (7 ER/32.1 IP) over 5 GS in May, 2nd-lowest monthly ERA of his career (min. 4 GS) to only a 1.89 figure over 5 G/GS in July 2016.

SEAGER IS SEA-WORTHY: With 2 hits on Wed. at DET, Corey Seager is batting .291/.305/.582/.887 (16-55) with 4 HR, 4 2B, and 19 RBI over 13 G since his return from the IL on 5/17…his 19 RBI since 5/13 lead the A.L., 2nd-most in MLB (20-LAD’s J.D. Martinez).

SHORTS: Texas has 11+ R in 2 straight and 7 of 24 home games in 2023, and has 5+ R in 5 straight and 8 of last 9 at GLF…Nathaniel Lowe has multiple hits and at least one RBI in 2 straight, and he ranks among A.L. leaders in 2B (T3rd, 16), R (T4th, 40), H (T5th, 61)…Texas has gone 11-5 (.688) against A.L. West foes in ’23, which would be the 3rd-best division win pct. in club history (.702-2011, .697-2013).

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #22 Jon Gray, RHP
(5-1, 2.81)

TONIGHT: The 31-year-old right-hander is set to make his 11th start and appearance of the season in tonight’s homestand opener vs. Seattle…Gray over his last 4 starts: 4-0, 1.00 ERA (3 ER/27.0 IP), 5 BB/27 SO, .170 opp. BA to drop season ERA from season-high 4.40 to season-low 2.81, 9th in the A.L…his .220 opp. BA ranks 14th in the A.L…will pitch on extra 6 days’ rest after earning win last Fri. at BAL (see below)…produced 17.0 consecutive scoreless innings from 5/8-20, longest span of his career and 2nd-longest by a Ranger in ‘23 (Eovaldi-29.2 SHO IP)…has logged at least 5.0 innings in 9 of 10 starts, as 57.2 IP are 3rd-most on club (74.1-Eovaldi, 61.0-Pérez)…7 of Gray’s 8 HR allowed in ‘23 have been solo shots…this is Gray’s 2nd season with Texas after signing a 4-year free agent contract with the club on 12/1/21…was hindered by several injuries last season, but still managed to post a 7-7 record, 3.96 ERA (56 ER/127.1 IP), and 134 strikeouts over 24 starts…prior to joining the Rangers, the right-hander had spent his entire pro career with Colorado, ranking 3rd in Rockies history with 849 strikeouts while
also placing among the all-time team leaders with 151 starts, 829.1 innings, and 53 wins from 2015-21…was the 3rd overall selection by Colorado in the 2013 MLB Draft after pitching 2 seasons at the U. of Oklahoma…is a native of the Oklahoma City area, growing up in nearby Chandler…Texas is 6-4 in Gray’s 10 starts in 2023.

SCORELESS STREAK / RECENT RUN: Gray enters tonight having won a career-high 4 consecutive starts for the 1st time…Gray is the 1st Ranger to win 4 consecutive starts since Taylor Hearn (4-0 from 8/24-9/12/21), with the last longer instance being 5 straight winning starts by Lance Lynn from 6/17-7/11/19…has QS in 3 of last 4 outings…Rangers went 5-0 in his 5 May starts, with Gray going 4-0, 1.95 (7 ER/32.1 IP) over 5 GS in May, 2nd-lowest monthly ERA of his career (min. 4 GS) to only a 1.89 figure over 5 G/GS in July 2016…finished last month ranking among A.L. leaders (min. 25.0 IP) in wins (T1st, 4), ERA (T2nd, 1.95), and opp. BA (12th, .205)…produced a career-best scoreless streak of 17.0 SHO IP from 5/8 (2nd inn.)-5/20 (3rd inn.), the 7th-longest scoreless span in the A.L. this season and 2nd-longest by a Ranger (29.2 IP by Eovaldi, 4/24-5/27).

LAST START: Will be starting a Friday series opener for a 2nd straight start, as he earned win in Rangers’ 12-2 victory on Fri. at BAL (W, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R-ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR, 92 pitches/61 strikes)…matched season high w/ 8 K’s…gave up solo HR to 2nd batter faced (Adley Rutschman solo HR in 1st inn), but faced 3-or-4 batters in every inning, never allowing more than one baserunner in any frame…Rangers scored twice in the 2nd and 8 times in the 4th as position player Ryan McKenna pitched the 9th for the O’s.

VS. SEATTLE: Has gone 2-2, 4.67 (18 ER/34.2 IP) in 6 G/GS vs. SEA in his career, earning win in his lone start this season on 5/8/23 at SEA (7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R-ER)…in that game, similar to his last start at BAL, permitted a solo HR to 2nd batter of the game (Ty France) before scattering 3 hits the rest of the way…each of his 4 starts vs. M’s with the Rangers have come in Seattle, as this will be his 1st meeting vs. M’s at Globe Life Field.

AT HOME / GLF: Gray is 1-1, 4.09 (10 ER/22.0 IP) in 4 home starts in ‘23, earning lone win in last home start on 5/20 vs. COL (5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R-ER)…has just 12 total home starts in his Rangers career spanning 2022-23: 5-2, 3.60 (26 ER/65.0 IP), and he has yet to make consecutive starts in Arlington in 2023…in 2022, made twice as many starts on the road (16) than at Globe Life Field (8)…started the 2nd ever game at this facility on on 7/25/20 at TEX w/ COL (4.2 IP, 1 R-ER), a 3-2 Rockies win…retired first 8 BF prior to Mathis’ 2-out triple in the 3rd inning…
has seen far more success in 6 starts on the road (4-0, 2.02 ERA). 1,000 K’S: Gray recorded a pair of strikeouts 4/26 at CIN to reach 1,000 career strikeouts and become one of 46 active Major League pitchers with 1,000+ career strikeouts…he joined fellow Ranger teammates Jacob deGrom (1,652), Jake Odorizzi (1,172), and Nathan Eovaldi (1,130) as one of 4 pitchers on the Rangers’ 40-man roster with 1,000+ career strikeouts.

  • Danny Duffy, who is on Triple-A Round Rock’s Injured List while rehabbing from a left elbow injury, ranks 40th among active ML hurlers with 1,046 career SO’s.

2023: Has allowed 3-or-fewer runs in 8 of his 10 starts…has 8 BB/31 SO last 6 starts after 11 BB/15 SO in 1st 4 starts…opponents are batting .220/.293/.366/.659 (45-205)…12 of 19 BB have been issued to LHB (7 BB/23 SO vs. RHB)…opp. BA by time thru the lineup: 1st (.217, 18-83), 2nd (.254, 18-71), 3rd (.180, 9-50), 4th (0-1)…Jonah Heim caught 1st 6 starts, Sandy León caught last 4 starts…made early exit in start on 4/15 at HOU (ND, 2.0 IP, 1 R-ER) after he took a liner off his right forearm during Yainer Diaz at-bat to lead off 3rd inning…was removed from the game after attempting warm-up throws…X-rays were negative and was diagnosed with a right forearm bruise…earned 1st win on 4/9 at CHC (5.2 IP, 2 R-ER), when Will Smith stranded bases loaded in the 6th inning…began start 5/13 at OAK w/ 6.2 hitless innings before a Jace Peterson 2-out single to RF in the 7th…

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER
it was the longest no-hit bid by a TEX starter since 4/15/18 at HOU, when Bartolo Colon retired the first 21 Astros…Gray surpassed 1000.0 career innings during the start (on 2nd out in 6th inn.)…in starts on last road trip 5/8 at SEA (73 game score) and 5/13 at OAK (79 game score), produced 2 of the 5 highest games scores of his Rangers career…in win on 5/20 vs. COL, escaped a 27-pitch 1st inning in which the Rox loaded the bases with no outs and did not score…marked Gray’s 1st career meeting against the team that drafted him and served as his home for 1st 7 MLB seasons.

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