Sunday, April 5, 2026
everygame sportsbook
Home Blog Page 2646

MLS Preview: FC Dallas (6-3-5) at Sporting Kansas City (3-8-4)

MLS Editor
-
0
MLS Preview: FC Dallas (6-3-5) at Sporting Kansas City (3-8-4)

FC Dallas, who recorded a 21 home win over Sporting Kansas City on March 18, is unbeaten in it last six MLS away matches against Sporting Kansas City (W4 D2). FC Dallas has never gone seven straight regular season road matches against a single opponent without a loss in club history.

Sporting Kansas City recorded its third win of the season on Sunday, defeating the Portland Timbers, 4-1, at home. Sporting Kansas City has scored nine goals in its three league wins this season (3.0 per match) but has totaled just four goals in its other 12 MLS games (0.33 per match, D4 L8).

FC Dallas is unbeaten in five straight matches following a 1-1 draw at the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday (W2 D3). Dallas has had just one longer unbeaten run in regular season play since the start of the 2019 season, gong nine in a row without a loss in March-May last season (W6 D3).

Daniel Salloi has scored 10 career goals in 17 appearances against FC Dallas in all competitions in his career, twice as many as he’s scored against any other MLS opponent. The only other player to score more than five goals against FC Dallas in all competitions since Salloi joined MLS in 2017 is Johnny Russell (6).

Jesus Ferreira has been involved in a goal in each of his last three MLS games against Sporting Kansas City (2 goals, 1 assist). The only FC Dallas player to record goal contributions in at least four straight games against Sporting Kansas City was Jesus’ father David Ferreira, who did so in 5 straight games from 2009-2013.

MLS Preview: Minnesota United FC (5-5-4) at Austin FC (4-6-4)

MLS Editor
-
0
MLS Preview: Minnesota United FC (5-5-4) at Austin FC (4-6-4)

Minnesota United FC has won three of its five all-time meetings with Austin FC (L2), winning three of the last four after Austin FC won the first encounter in May of 2021. Four of the five wins were decided by a one-goal margin, though the latest goal in any of of the five matches was score in the 62nd minute.

Austin FC suffered its sixth league loss of the season in its 14th match on Saturday, a 2-1 defeat defeat against the Houston Dynamo FC. Austin FC didn’t lose for the sixth time until its 26th match of the season, though the Austin FC Verde have not dropped consecutive MLS matches this season.

Minnesota United FC won its last away match, a 1-0 victory at the Portland Timbers on May 20. The Minnesota United FC Loons have won an MLS-high four away matches this season and have totaled 10 away wins since the start of last season (D1 L14), only CF Montreal Impact (12) has more.

Gyasi Zardes has scored in three straight MLS matches and has become the 13th player in MLS history to score 100 goals. Seven of those goals came against Minnesota United FC, including hat-tricks in 2018 and 2022. No player has scored three hat-tricks against a single opponent in MLS history.

Bongokuhle Hlongwane attempted a club-record nine shots in Minnesota United FC’s draw with Real Salt Lake on Saturday. Hlongwane has attempted 36 shots in 13 appearances this season, hitting 16 on target, nearly as many of each as he had in 29 regular-season games last year (44 shots; 19 on target).

MLB Preview: New York Yankees (34-23) at Seattle Mariners (28-27)

MLB Editor
-
0
MLB Preview: New York Yankees (34-23) at Seattle Mariners (28-27)

NEW YORK YANKEES NOTES:

AT A GLANCE: The Yankees continue their six-game road trip tonight with the final game of a three-game set at Seattle (2-0 thus far)…after an off-day on Thursday, will also play three games at Los Angeles-NL (Fri.-Sun.).

At 34-23 (.596), have the fourth-best record in the AL and fifth-best record in the Majors.

Have won four straight games, nine of their last 12 games, 11 of their last 15 games, 13 of their last 18 games and 16 of their last 22 games.

With a win today, would match their season-high winning streak (5G from 5/18-23).

Are 19-8 (.704) in their last 27 games (since 5/2), the best record in the Majors in that span.

Including their current series, 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).

Are a season-high 11G over .500.

YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Yankees won their fourth straight game with a 10-2 win over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday…LHP Nestor Cortes (5.0IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 6K) started and earned his fifth win of the season…LF Isiah Kiner-Falefa (4-for-5, 1R, 4RBI) tied his career highs in hits and RBI…SS Anthony Volpe (1-for-5, 1R, 1HR, 3RBI) hit a three-run HR in the third inning…CF Greg Allen (1-for-4, 1R, 1HR, 1RBI) hit his first HR as a Yankee with a solo HR in the fourth inning… RF Aaron Judge (1-for-3, 2R, 1HR, 1RBI, 2BB) homered in his third straight game, hitting a solo HR in the seventh inning…DH Willie Calhoun (2-for-5, 2R) recorded multiple hits in his career-high-tying third straight game…2B Gleyber Torres (2-for-5, 1R) extended his hitting streak to 10 games…1B Jake Bauers (1-for-3, 1RBI, 1BB, 1SF) reached base twice and hit a sac fly in the first inning…RHP Michael King (2.0IP, 2H, 1BB, 3K) and RHP Ryan Weber (2.0IP, 1H, 1K) combined to toss 4.0 scoreless innings of relief.

CALENDAR DAYS: The Yankees have hit 53 home runs in 28 games during the month of May, the most home runs in the Majors in that span…matches their most HR in the month of May in franchise history (also 53HR in May 2002)…also matches 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 rank second in SLG (.475) and OPS (.800), third in runs scored (157) and runs per game (5.61), and tied for third in extra-base hits (98).

HAWAIIAN PUNCH: INF/OF Isiah Kiner-Falefa recorded a career-high-tying 4H and a career-high-tying 4RBI on Tuesday at Seattle…has driven in a run in a career-high-tying four straight games (also 4G from 6/15-19/18 with Texas)…has 8RBI in that span and 10RBI in his last six games.

Is batting .382/.417/.765 (13-for-34) with 10R, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3HR, 12RBI, 2BB and 1SB in his last 11G (since 5/16).

As a Yankee (since 2022), has hit .333 (46-for-138) with 5 doubles, 1HR, 53RBI, 9BB, 5SF, 3SH and 1HP with RISP.

BRONX BOMBERS: Yankees batters have scored at least 10R in three straight games, tied for their third-longest stretch in franchise history…trails only a five-game stretch from 6/12-17/30 and a four-game stretch from 5/22(G1)- 24(G2)/30…have scored at least 10R in three straight games for just the third time in the last 17 seasons since 2007 (also 3G from 9/15-17/20 and 5/19-21/19).

The Yankees have hit 87HR this season, the second-most home runs in the AL and the fourth-most in the Majors… their 29 games with multiple home runs are tied with Tampa Bay for the most in the Majors.

The Yankees have had 17 different players homer this season, tied for the most in the Majors (also Minnesota).

ON A ROLL: OF Willie Calhoun has recorded multiple hits in a career-high-tying three straight games and four of his last five games…has reached base in 10-of-22PA over his last five games, batting .429/.455/.619 (9-for-21) with 4R, 4 doubles, 4RBI and 1BB.

WHAT A RELIEF: Yankees relievers have posted a Major League-best 2.90 ERA (220.1IP, 71ER), .215 opponents’ BA and .337 opponents’ SLG this season…also rank third in HR/9.0IP (0.74) and opponents’ OPS (.664), and fourth in WHIP (1.21).

GET THE BROOMS OUT: The Yankees look to complete their third sweep of the season…with a win tonight, would mark their first sweep of Seattle since a three-game sweep from 8/5-7/21 at Yankee Stadium…would mark their first sweep at T-Mobile Park since a three-game set from 8/26-28/19.

BRONX BEAT: The Emmy Award-winning YES App has launched Bronx Beat, a programming series providing behind-the-scenes looks at some of the Bronx’ best-known institutions and hidden gems including small businesses, parks, landmarks and neighborhoods…Bronx Beat episodes will also appear on the Yankee Stadium scoreboard throughout the season…Bronx Beat highlights the borough’s diverse cultural offerings, world class arts and entertainment influences and unique culinary contributions, as well as the multitude of small businesses which make the Bronx so unique.

RISPY BUSINESS: Yankees batters are hitting .360/.402/.547 (31-for-86) with 10 doubles, 2HR, 40RBI, 7BB/2IBB, 1HP and 3SF with RISP in their last 11 games (since 5/19).

ALL RISE: OF Aaron Judge hit his American League-leading 18th home run of the season on Tuesday with a solo HR in the seventh inning…has homered in at least three straight games for the 10th time in his career(first since: 4G from 9/3- 7(G1)/22)…if he homers tonight, it would mark the third time in his career he has homered in at least four straight games (also 5G from 7/29-8/2/20 and 4G from 9/3-7(G1)/22).

Has 4HR in his last three games, 7HR in his last 11 games and 12HR in his last 16 games (since 5/13).

Has reached base in 9-of-14PA (6H, 3BB) over his last three games.

Has reached base safely in each of his last 17G (since 5/12), batting .371/.506/1.016 (23-for-62) with 20R, 4 doubles, 12HR, 23RBI, 17BB/2IBB and 1SB in that span.

The Yankees have gone 157-50 in his career when he homers…since 2020, the Yankees are 85-21 in those games…the Yankees are 13-1 this season when he homers.

His 238 career HR are the most by any Major League player through his first 775 career games (previous: Ryan Howard230HR).

Has 23RBI in his last 16 games…has recorded 25RBI in 20 games since returning from the I.L. (since 5/9).

Has 7HR in his last nine games vs. the Mariners, 11HR in his last 18 games vs. Seattle and 13HR in his last 26 games against the Mariners…has 10HR in his last 14 games at T-Mobile Park.

Since 2017, has hit .375/.493/1.000 (21-for-56) with 15R, 5 doubles, 10HR, 19RBI, 13BB, 1HP, 2SB and 1SF in 15 games at T-Mobile Park.

Leads the Majors in SLG (.691), OPS (1.104), AB/HR (9.17) and game-winning RBI (9), is second in HR (18, first in AL), tied for second in extra-base hits (28, tied for first in AL), fifth in OBP (.413, second in AL) and total bases (114, second in AL), tied for seventh in runs scored (41, third in AL), tied for ninth in walks (33, tied for second in AL) and tied for 10th in RBI (39, tied for sixth in AL)…also ranks seventh in the AL in BA (.303).

Is batting .303/.413/.691 (50-for-165) with 41R, 10 doubles, 18HR, 39RBI, 33BB, 3SB and a 1.104 OPS in his first 46 games this season…in 2022, hit .309/.376/.669 (54-for-175) with 38R, 9 doubles, 18HR, 37RBI, 20BB, 3SB and a 1.044 OPS in his first 46 games.

GLEYBER DAY: INF Gleyber Torres owns a season-high 10-game hitting streak (since 5/20), batting .341/.370/.545 (15-for44) with 10R, 3HR, 4RBI, 1BB and 1HP in that span…marks his longest hitting streak since a 10-game streak from 9/9-21/22… matches the fourth-longest streak of his career, trailing only a 12-game streak from 4/23-5/7/19 and 11-game streaks from 7/17-29/21 and 5/9-22/19.

Has reached base in 24 of his last 25 games (since 5/5), batting .301 (31-for-103) with 21R, 4 doubles, 5HR, 15RBI, 8BB, 1HP and 2SF in that span…has also reached base in 34 of his last 38 games (since 4/20) and 37 of his last 42 games (since 4/15).

SEA-ING CLEARLY: Including their current series, the Yankees have won 11 of their last 12 series at T-Mobile Park (since 9/12/11) and 12 of their last 14 completed series (since 7/8/10).

Their 26-8 (.765) record since 2012 is the best by any team (min. 15G) at any stadium in that span (next: Los Angeles-NL: 23-8, .742 at Citi Field).

Are 36-14 in their last 50G vs. the Mariners (since 6/10/14).

ROAD WARRIORS: The Yankees have won a season-high six straight games on the road…marks just the second time in the last four seasons (since 2020) that the Yankees have won at least six straight road games (also 6G from 8/14-27/21)…with a win tonight, would mark just the second time in the last 11 seasons (since 2013) that the Yankees have won at least seven straight road games (also 7G from 5/12-25(G2)/19)…their 15-10 (.600) record on the road this season is the fifth-best in the Majors.

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP CLARKE SCHMIDT (2-5, 5.58 ERA)
RHP Clarke Schmidt will make his 12th start of the season in tonight’s series finale at Seattle…the 27-year-old will make the start on extended five days’ rest…made his 11th start of the season on Thursday vs. Baltimore, recording the loss despite allowing just 1ER over 5.0IP (5H, 2BB, 4K, 0HR)…has tossed at least 5.0 innings in five of his last seven starts after not doing so in his first four starts this season…
struck out Ezequiel Durán (swinging) in the fifth inning on 4/28 at Texas for his 100th career strikeout…made his second career Opening Day roster in 2023 (also 2022)…in 2022, went 5-5 with two saves and a 3.12 ERA (57.2IP, 46H, 23R/20ER, 23BB, 56K, 5HR) in 29 appearances (three starts) over four stints with the Yankees…in three starts, went 0-2 with a 4.63 ERA (11.2IP, 13H, 6ER, 2BB, 14K, 0HR)…as a reliever, went 5-3 with two saves and a 2.74 ERA (46.0IP, 33H, 17R/14ER, 21BB, 42K, 5HR) in 26 games…tossed at least 2.0 innings in 13 of his relief appearances and at least 3.0 innings in five of those relief appearances…was selected by the Yankees in the first round (16th overall) of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina.

LAST TIME OUT: Made his 11th start of the season on Thursday vs. Baltimore, recording the loss despite allowing just 1ER over 5.0IP (5H, 2BB, 4K, 0HR)…allowed his only run on an Anthony Santander single in the fifth inning…threw 97 pitches, matching his career high (also 97 pitches on 4/28/23 at Texas).

VS. SEATTLE: Will be making his first career appearance vs. Seattle.

Has made six career appearances (four starts) vs. AL West opponents, going 1-3 with a 6.65 ERA (21.2IP, 16ER) and 31K.

Is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA (14.2IP, 11ER) and 20K in three starts vs. AL West teams this season (4/18 vs. Los Angeles-AL, 4/28 at Texas and 5/9 vs. Oakland).

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Has made 23 appearances (seven starts) in his career on the road, going 4-5 with one save and a 4.95 ERA (56.1IP, 66H, 36R/31ER, 24BB, 59K, 5HR).

Is 1-1 with a 7.27 ERA (17.1IP, 14ER) and 20K in four starts on the road this season (4/7 at Baltimore, 4/12 at Cleveland, 4/28 at Texas and 5/19 at Cincinnati)…has tossed 5.0IP in each of his last two road starts after not doing so in his first two starts on the road this season.

In 16 games (two starts) on the road in 2022, went 3-4 with one save and a 3.62 ERA (32.1IP, 30H, 15R/13ER, 11BB, 34K, 2HR)…allowed 2R-or-fewer in 14 of those games, 1R-or-fewer in 12 of those appearances and nine were scoreless.

2023: Has made 11 starts this season, going 2-5 with a 5.58 ERA (50.0IP, 62H, 36R/31ER, 18BB, 58K, 8HR)…has tossed at least 5.0 innings in five of his last seven starts after not doing so in his first four starts this season.

Has not allowed a HR in each of his last three starts…has surrendered just 1HR over his last five starts after allowing at least 1HR in five of his first six starts of the season (7HR total).

Has allowed 2R-or-fewer in each of his last two starts and in four of his last five starts.

In his eighth start of the season on 5/9 vs. Oakland, earned his first win of the season after allowing just 2ER over a career-high 6.0IP (5H, 2BB, 7K, 1HR, 1WP)…marked his first career win as a starter…reached 100.0 career innings in the first inning.

Recorded a career-high-tying 8K in back-to-back starts on 4/23 vs. Toronto and 4/28 at Texas.

Made his second career Opening Day roster.

FOR STARTERS: Will be making his 17th career start…over his first 16 career Major League starts (11 in 2023, three in 2022, one in 2021, one in 2020), is 2-8 with a 5.40 ERA (70.0IP, 86H, 50R/42ER, 25BB, 78K, 9HR)…has tossed at least 5.0IP in five of his last seven starts after not doing so in his first nine career starts.

Is 2-5 with a 5.58 ERA (50.0IP, 31ER) and 58K in 11 starts in 2023…tossed a career-high 6.0IP on 5/9 vs. Oakland…recorded a career-high-tying 8K on 4/23 vs. Toronto and 4/28 at Texas.

Went 0-2 with a 4.63 ERA (11.2IP, 6ER) and 14K in his three starts in 2022 (6/16 vs. Tampa Bay, 8/28 at Oakland, 9/3 at Tampa Bay).

SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners conclude a 10-game homestand (6-3) with the last of 3 games against the New York Yankees (0-2)…Seattle has won series against the Oakland Athletics (4-0) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2-1) on the homestand…following tonight’s game, the Mariners will embark on a 11-day, 8-game road trip with visits to Texas (3 G, June 2-4), San Diego (2 G, June 6-7) and Los Angeles-AL (3 G, June 9-11)…tonight’s game will be televised live on ROOT SPORTS with Dave Sims and Mariners Hall of Famer Dan Wilson on the call…the game will also be broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith.

ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners dropped last night’s middle game to the Yankees by a 10-2 score… despite the loss, the Mariners are 6-3 over their last 9 games…Seattle is 21-10 when scoring at least 4 runs and 7-17 when scoring 3-or-fewer…the Mariners are 16-15 at T-Mobile Park and 12-12 on the road this season.

  • How They Stack Up – The Mariners are 19-10 (.655) against below-.500 teams and 9-17 (.346) against .500-or-better teams this season.
  • I Just May – Seattle is 16-11 in the month of May, clinching a winning month…this season marks their first winning May since going 18-11 in May 2018.
  • Geno Feeling Risp-y – With runners in scoring position this season, Eugenio Suárez is batting .373 (19×51) with 1 double, 4 home runs, 31 RBI and 14 walks with a 1.141 OPS.

VOTEMARINERS – ALL-STAR VOTING IS LIVE…MLB All-Star Voting begins today and fans can vote up to 5 times every day until voting ends on June 22…the player from each league with the most votes at their position will earn an automatic place in the starting lineup at the 2023 MLB All-Star Game Presented by Mastercard at T-Mobile Park…fans will be entered into the Mariners All-Star Voting Sweepstakes with every vote as long as “Seattle Mariners” is selected as their favorite team on the ballot…for more information, visit Mariners.com/vote.

TODAY’S ROSTER MOVES…Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Justin Hollander announced following roster moves earlier today:

  • Matt Festa, RHP, recalled from Triple-A Tacoma.
  • Darren McCaughan, RHP, optioned to Triple-A Tacoma (post-game May 30).

TYING A BOW ON MAY…Ty France went 3-for-5 with 1 run scored, 1 double, and 1 RBI in last night’s game…during the month of May, Ty has reached safely in 22 of 26 games, including 20 games with at least 1 hit and 9 multi-hit games…overall, he is batting .287 (31×108) during the month with 15 runs, 7 doubles, 4 home runs, 10 RBI and 6 walks with 4 hit-by-pitches, while reaching base at a .348 clip and slugging .463 with a .811 OPS…his 31 hits and .287 batting average were both best among Mariners batters during the month…he also ranked T1st in doubles (7) and T2nd in home runs (4).

JARRED KELENIC: ALL-STAR OUTFIELDER?…Jarred Kelenic is batting .283 (54×191) with 27 runs, 14 doubles, 1 triple, 10 home runs, 26 RBI, 7 stolen bases and 16 walks, getting on base at a .340 clip, slugging .524 with an .863 OPS in 52 games this season…Kelenic has mashed left-handed pitchers this season, batting .327 (16×49) with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs and 12 RBI with a 1.026 OPS in 51 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 140 OPS+ ranks 5th among qualified American League outfielders, trailing Aaron Judge-NYY (204), Yordan Alvarez-HOU (170), Randy Arozarena-TB (161) and Brent Rooker-OAK (147).

GETTING DEFENSIVE…the Mariners defense is 2nd-best in the American League by Outs Above Average (9) this season, ranking tied for 5th in the Majors behind only San Diego (17), Arizona (12), Milwaukee (10) and Detroit (10)…Seattle’s .990 team fielding percentage is tied for 2nd-best in the American League with Houston, trailing only Tampa Bay (.990).

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 (9.8), WHIP (1.18), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.58), walks-per-9 innings (2.53), home runs-per-9 innings (0.86) and Fielding Independent Pitching (3.44)…Seattle pitchers have also allowed the fewest walks (139) and home runs (47)…Seattle pitchers lead the Majors in opponent on-base percentage (.293), slugging percentage (.364) and OPS (.657)…Mariners starting pitchers rank 2nd in the Majors in fWAR (6.6), trailing only Minnesota (6.8)… Mariners relief pitchers rank 2nd in the Majors in fWAR (3.3), trailing only Baltimore (3.7).

BRYCE MILLER – AL ROOKIE OF THE MONTH?…Bryce Miller made his Major League debut on May 2 at Oakland, setting a franchise record for strikeouts (10) in a debut…in 6 May starts, the 24-year-old right-hander went 3-2 with a 3.00 ERA (12 ER, 36.0 IP) with 3 walks and 31 strikeouts…so far in the month of May, Miller leads AL rookie pitchers in fWAR (1.2), wins (3) and starts (6)…he also leads in WHIP (0.75), walks-per-9 innings (0.75), strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.33) and home runs-per-9 innings (0.50) among AL rookies with at least 20.0 IP since May 1…his 3.00 ERA ranks 2nd to Logan Allen-CLE during the month.

JULIO WINS AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK…Julio Rodríguez yesterday was named American League Player of the Week (May 22-28)…during the week, Julio hit .467 (14×30) with 6 runs, 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 7 RBI, 1 hit-by-pitch and 1 stolen base, getting on base at a .484 clip, slugging .800 with a 1.284 OPS during that span…during that span he was the most valuable player in the American League by FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (0.8).

  • Adding To The Trophy Case – The award marked Julio’s second AL Player of the Week (also: July 3, 2022)…he was named AL Rookie of the Month twice last season (May, June)…he was named an American League All-Star, a Silver Slugger Award winner and BB

AS YOU MAY KNOW…J.P. Crawford has been one of the best shortstops in the American League this season by Baseball Reference WAR…he currently holds 1.6 bWAR, 3rd-best among AL shortstops behind only Wander Franco-TB (3.5 bWAR) and Bo Bichette-TOR (3.1 bWAR), and…DID YOU KNOW?… since joining the Mariners in 2019, J.P. is 1 of only 5 shortstops to accumulate 10+ bWAR in the American League?…J.P.’s mark of 11.2 bWAR in that span (2019-c) trails only Xander Bogaerts (18.8), Carlos Correa (18.4), Bo Bichette (15.8) and Tim Anderson (12.1) for most among AL shortstops.

MARINERS STARTER – RHP GEORGE KIRBY
2023 MLB Breakdown:
W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Overall 5-4 3.43 10/10 63.0 63 24 24 6 51 7
Home 3-2 4.76 5/5 28.1 33 15 15 2 26 5
Road 2-2 2.34 5/5 34.2 30 9 9 4 25 2
vs. NYY 0-0 0.00 0/0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Career MLB Breakdown:
W-L ERA G/GS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Overall 13-9 3.40 35/35 193.0 198 78 73 28 184 20
Home 6-5 3.7 18/18 99.2 110 44 41 12 103 14
Road 7-4 3.09 17/17 93.1 88 34 32 16 81 6
vs. NYY 0-0 0.00 0/0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0

ABOUT KIRBY…

  • 25-year-old right-hander is making his 11th start of the season, 1st against New York-AL…he is also making his 36th career start, and 1st career start against the Yankees.
  • Selected by the Mariners in the first round (20th overall) of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft; signed by Mariners scout Ty Holub.
  • Played 3 seasons (2017-2019) at Elon University (NC), going 19-8 with a 3.30 ERA (88 ER, 240.0 IP) in 45 games (34 GS) with the Phoenix.
  • Became the first rookie in MLB history to record a save in the postseason in his first career relief appearance.
  • Graduated from Rye HS (Rye, NY) where he was named to the all-metro, all-state, all-section and all-league baseball teams 3 times.

LAST TIME OUT…L#4 in last start on 5/26 vs. PIT…allowed 7 runs on 9 hits (4 HR) and 1 walk with 4 strikeouts over 4.2 innings pitched…the 7 runs and 4 home runs matched career-highs.

CAREER-HIGH STRIKEOUTS…matched his career-high in strikeouts at 9 on 5/9 against Texas…this marked the 4th time George has struck out 9 batters in a game (last: 8/24/22 vs. WSN).

THESE BOOTS WERE NOT MADE FOR WALKING…leads all qualified pitchers in the Majors with a 8.50 strikeouts-to-walk ratio, ranking ahead of teammate Logan Gilbert (6.64), and Joe Ryan-MIN (5.85)

QUALITY KIRBY…pitched 8 consecutive quality starts (4/9-5/26), his longest quality start streak in his career…his previous high in consecutive quality starts was 2 (last: 9/10-9/17/22)…his 8-game quality start streak is the longest streak in the Majors this season…his 8 quality starts this season are tied for the 4th-most in the Majors, trailing league leader Marcus StromanCHC (10).

HOME SWEET HOME…is set to make his 19th career start at T-Mobile Park… when pitching at home Kirby is 6-5 with a 3.70 ERA (41 ER, 99.2 IP) with 12 walks and 103 strikeouts…his 8.58 strikeout-to-walk ratio at T-Mobile Park is the highest in franchise history among pitchers who have made at least 10 starts…he ranks ahead of Luis Castillo (6.87) and Logan Gilbert (6.39).

MARVELOUS MONTH OF MAY…in 9 career starts in the month of May, Kirby has a 4-3 record with a 3.70 ERA (24 ER, 58.1 IP) and has allowed 7 walks while striking out 55.

TRIPLE SEVENS…pitched at least 7.0 innings in 3 consecutive starts (4/27-5/9)…this marked a career high in consecutive games with at least 7.0 innings pitched…prior to the streak, Kirby had never pitched 7.0+ innings in consecutive games…during the streak Kirby was 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA (4 ER, 22.0 IP) and allowed 2 walks while striking out 18.

KIRBY’S COMPLETE…pitched his first career complete game on 4/27 against Philadelphia, tossing 8.0 innings allowing just 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walks with 7 strikeouts…he became the first Mariners pitcher to lose a complete game since Taijuan Walker on Sept. 24, 2014 in a 1-0 loss at Toronto.

MAKING MARINERS HISTORY…his 12.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio in March/April was the best to start a season in Mariners history among starting pitchers with at least 2 starts…he ranks ahead of Taijuan Walker who had an 8.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2016.

MISSION CRITICAL…the Mariners own a 13-6 record in games that Kirby tosses at least 6.0 innings…in games Kirby goes 5.2 innings or less, the Mariners are just 8-8.

MLB Preview: Colorado Rockies (24-32) at Arizona Diamondbacks (32-23)

MLB Editor
-
0
MLB Preview: Colorado Rockies (24-32) at Arizona Diamondbacks (32-23)

COLORADO ROCKIES NOTES:

I THINK WE’VE MET BEFORE

  • The Colorado Rockies continue their seven-game road trip this evening with the third of four games against the Arizona Diamondbacks … travel to Kansas City for three games Friday-Sunday, the club’s first games at Kauffman Stadium since 2017.
  • The Rockies are coming off of a 5-2 homestand against the Miami Marlins (3-1) and New York Mets (2-1) … beat the Mets 10-7 on Saturday and 11-10 on Sunday, the second and third times this season the club has logged a win despite allowing at least seven runs (3-17).
  • The Rockies are in the midst of 17-straight days without an off day … also in a stretch of 33 games in 34 days … last off day was on May 18 with the next two on June 5 and June 22 … have gone 5-7 so far through this stretch.

HI, MY NAME IS

  • Right-handed pitcher Blair Calvo became the 26th pitcher the Rockies have used this year when he made his Major League debut last night, the third-most pitchers used in baseball behind Oakland (29) and Tampa Bay (26) … the Rockies used 25 total pitchers in 2022, 26 in 2021 and have used more than 30 pitchers just once since 2016 (31 pitchers, 2019).
  • Dinelson Lamet will make his first start of the season tonight, the 11th pitcher to make a start for Colorado this year, tied for the third-most in baseball … entering the season, the Rockies had used 22 total starting pitchers in Bud Black’s tenure as manager since 2017, the fewest starters in the Majors.

DRY HEAT

  • Colorado has won six of their last eight series since May 2 and seven of their last 10 series since April 24 … had lost or split each of their first seven series of the season prior to this stretch.
  • The Rockies have gone 16-12 (.571) since April 30, the fourth-best record in the NL over that span behind the Dodgers (19-9, .679), Diamondbacks (16-11, .593) and Giants (17-12, .586).
  • A win tonight will be the Rockies’ 16th in May … have won at least 16 games in May five previous times in franchise history, most recently in 2019 (16-10).
  • Coming off of a 7-20 April in which they slashed .243/.304/.367, the Rockies are slashing .277/.339/.445 in May … are hitting .347 (77-for-222) with runners in scoring position in May after they hit .251 (61-for-243) with runners in scoring position in April.

WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HERO

  • Sunday’s win was the 441st of Bud Black’s Rockies career (2017-2023), passing Don Baylor for the second-most managerial wins in franchise history … Baylor, the Rockies’ first manager in franchise history, went 440-469 in six seasons at the helm from 1993-98 … Clint Hurdle holds the Rockies record for managerial wins, holding a 534-625 record in parts of eight seasons from 2002-09.

RETURN OF THE MAC

  • Ryan McMahon had his four-game home run streak and five-game extra-base hit streak snapped on Tuesday but singled to extend his hitting streak to a season-high six games.
  • Has gone 13-for-23 with two doubles, one triple, four home runs and 12 RBI over his hitting streak … went 4-for-5 on Monday, matching his career-high hit total (also: April 6, 2021 vs. Arizona) … fell a triple shy of the cycle Sunday and a double shy of the cycle on Monday.

BABY GOT BACKSTOP

  • Rockies catcher Elias Díaz ranks fourth among NL position players with 2.4 WAR (Baseball Reference), trailing Ronald Acuña (2.9), Freddie Freeman (2.7) and Dansby Swanson (2.5) … his 1.1 defensive WAR is tied for the fourth-best in the Majors, tied for second in the NL.
  • Díaz’s .329 batting average (54-for-164) ranks fourth in the Majors, second in the NL … his .374 average (34- for-91) average at home is the second-highest in the Majors while his .426 (20-for-47) average with runners in scoring position ranks sixth the Majors.
  • Has appeared in 47 games at catcher, the second-most in the Majors … his 10 catcher caught stealing are third in the Majors.

THE VALLEY

  • The Rockies are facing Arizona for the second time this season, the first time in Phoenix … dropped two of three to the Diamondbacks at Coors Field April 28-30.
  • Colorado is 11-13 against Arizona over the last two seasons, 21-22 since 2021, 26-27 since 2020 and 64-65 since 2016.
  • The Rockies went 5-5 at Chase Field in 2022, including taking three of four here July 7-10.

THANK YOU SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?

  • Outfielder Jurickson Profar holds an active 37-game on-base streak since April 15, the longest active streak in the Majors and the longest streak in the Majors this season … it is the seventh-longest streak in franchise history, the longest since DJ LeMahieu’s 38-game streak Aug. 9-Sept. 22, 2016 … LeMahieu’s streak is tied with a Matt Holliday 38-game streak in 2007 for the fifth-longest streak in franchise history.
  • Profar is slashing .257/.341/.405 through the streak with 20 walks … over his last 20 games since May 7, is slashing .295/.356/.500 with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 12 RBI and eight multi-hit games.

ROCKIES STARTING PITCHER – #32 DINELSON LAMET RHP
HOW WE GOT HERE

  • Dinelson Lamet will make his first start in a Rockies uniform today after being reinstated from the 15-day injured list prior to today’s game … was placed on the IL on May 4 with lower back stiffness.
  • Originally claimed off waivers by Colorado from Milwaukee on Aug. 5, 2022 and signed a one-year deal with the Rockies this offseason to avoid arbitration … was designated for assignment by the Brewers on Aug. 3 after being acquired via trade from San Diego on Aug. 1 … the Brewers received Lamet, LHP Robert Gasser, LHP Taylor Rogers and OF Esteury Ruiz from San Diego in exchange for LHP Josh Hader.

SETTING THE TONE

  • Has made 56 starts over his career, going 14-17 with a 3.78 ERA (285.2 IP, 120 ER) … opposing hitters have slashed .211/.295/.374 when the
    right-hander starts.
  • His last start came on June 26, 2021 against Arizona as a member of the Padres … went 2.1 innings and allowed four runs on six hits, including two home runs … received the loss in the 10-1 contest.
  • Used solely as a starter in each of his first three seasons from 2017- 2020 … began the 2021 season as a starter before transitioning to the bullpen in September after missing time with forearm injuries.
  • on his MLB debut at Citi Field back on May 25, 2017 … tossed five innings and allowed one run, three hits and two walks while striking out
    eight.

START ME UP

  • Made three rehab starts with Triple-A Albuquerque, posting a 0.84 ERA (10.2 IP, 1 ER) with six hits allowed, one walk and 11 strikeouts.
  • Tossed 4.2 scoreless innings his last time out May 26 vs. Round Rock, allowing two hits with one walk and six strikeouts while throwing 63 pitches … tossed four perfect innings in his previous outing, May 20 vs. Tacoma, striking out four while throwing 38 pitches.

AGE 30 SEASON

  • Appeared out of the bullpen 12 times this season before being placed on the injured list on May 4, allowing 16 runs (15 earned) on 14 hits
    across 10.2 innings (12.66 ERA) … issued 12 walks with 13 strikeouts.
  • Scored upon eight times in his 12 outings, including in each of his last four before being placed the injured list … allowed a season-high five runs in 0.1 innings on April 28 vs. Arizona.

TURNING TO THE PEN

  • Made 31 total relief appearances with the Rockies since being claimed last season, posting up a 7.04 ERA (30.2 IP, 24 ER) … allowed at least one run in 14 of his 31 appearances.
  • Went 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA (20.0 IP, 9 ER) in his 19 appearances with the Rockies in 2022 … walked 10 while striking out 29 while limiting opponents to a .189 average (14-for-74).
  • Has a 6.97 ERA as a reliever in his career with hitters slashing .253/.378/.442.
  • Holds a career WHIP of 1.70 as a reliever and 1.17 as a starter is.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:

HERE’S THE STORY
♦ Since May 12, the D-backs’ 12-5 (.706) record is the best in the NL and tied for the third best in the Majors (also: Rangers), behind the Astros (13-4; .765) and Yankees (13-5; .722).

♦ The D-backs’ 32 wins are tied for the second most in the NL (also: Braves), behind the Dodgers (34)…the D-backs’ 26 wins vs. NL opponents are second behind the Dodgers (31) and ahead of the Rockies (22) and Braves (22).

♦ The D-backs are second in the NL West (23 days in/tied for first place from April 2-30).

♦ The D-backs are 7-3 in their last 10 games vs. Rockies.

SERIES-LY SPEAKING
♦ With a win today, Arizona would secure its second consecutive series win over Colorado and fourth of its last 5.
♦ The D-backs are also looking to win their sixth series in their last 8 overall.

CORBIN RUNNING INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS
♦ Last night, Corbin Carroll became the fi rst D-backs player ever with multiple games of 2+ SB and 1+ HR in the same season… only 7 others in MLB have done it since 2010 and no one has had 3 such games since 2002 (Aaron Boone/CIN in 2002).

♦ Carroll’s 5 games with 2+ steals is the most in the Majors this season… it is the most games with 2+ stolen bases by a D-back since Jarrod Dyson in 2019 (5) and only 2 Dback players have met the feat 6 times (Jean Segura/2016 and Eric Byrnes/2007)…the franchise record is 10 by Tony Womack in 1999.

MCCARTHY & CARROLL: SUPER DUO
♦ Jake McCarthy and Corbin Carroll became the first pair of D-backs teammates to each steal 2+ bases in the same game since 2018 (Jarrod Dyson & Chris Owings) and seventh overall in franchise history.

♦ McCarthy became just the second D-back in franchise history to steal 2 bases in consecutive games)…no D-back has ever had 3 straight games with multiple steals)…only 1 MLB player has had 3 straight games with multiple steals since 2018 (Trea Turner with Nationals, 2018).

GURRIEL MAKING A STATEMENT
♦ Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s 1.158 OPS in the month of May is the second highest ever by a D-back, behind Paul Goldschmidt/2015 (1.226) while his .356 AVG is currently ninth.

♦ Since May 1, Gurriel ranks among MLB leaders [min. 80 PA] in SLG (2nd, .736), OPS (3rd, 1.158), XBH (T-3rd, 16), AVG (T-5th, .356) and homers (T-7th, 8).

GALLEN GALVANIZES
♦ Zac Gallen, over his last 12 appearances at home, is 10-1 with a 0.68 ERA (6 ER in 79.1 IP) and a 0.68 WHIP.

♦ He is the fi rst MLB pitcher to have 10+ wins with an ERA and WHIP both under 0.70 over a span of 12 home starts since Walter Johnson did it from June 12-Sept. 15, 1917.

HOMER HAPPY
♦ Last night marked the third time in May where the Dbacks hit 3+ home runs in a game (Ketel Marte/fi rst inning, Evan Longoria/first inning, Corbin Carroll/sixth inning) and third time at home (also: May 7 vs. Nationals and May 3 @ Rangers).

♦ The D-backs 13 multi-homer games in May are tied for the most in the NL (also: Dodgers).

KETEL CONTINUES…
♦ Ketel Marte’s career-best 28-game on-base streak (since April 26) is the second longest active on-base streak in the Majors, behind Jurickson Profar/COL (37), and the third longest by a D-back since 2014…in the span, is hitting .294 AVG/.365 OBP with 1 double, 2 triples, 6 homers, 16 RBI, 12 walks and 2 HBP.

D-FENSE! D-FENSE!
♦ The D-backs’ .990 fielding pct. is tied for the second best in the Majors (also: Padres and Rays), behind the Mets (.991).

STARTING PITCHER – LHP TOMMY HENRY ♦ #47
AT A GLANCE: D-backs’ Competitive Balance-B selection (74th overall) in the 2019 draft out of the University of Michigan.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Retired 4 of the 5 batters faced over 1.1 scoreless innings in his first career appearance out of the pen on May 27 vs. Red Sox.

  • The D-backs are 4-2 in his 6 starts.
  • When leading off an inning, holding batters to a .200 average (6-for-30) with 5 strikeouts.

LAST START: Earned his second win of the season on May 22 @ Phillies (2 ER in 5.2 IP)… allowed homers to Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott in the fourth inning.

VS. ROCKIES: Is 2-0 with a 5.91 ERA (7 ER in 10.2 IP) in 2 starts @ Coors Field…making his fi rst start @ Chase Field.

EARLY IMPACT: In innings 1-3, is limiting opponents to a .191 average (12-for-63) with 7 walks and 11 strikeouts.

FIRST TIME THRU: Limiting batters to a .208 average (10-for48) with 6 walks and 10 strikeouts the first time through the lineup.

VS. RIGHTIES: Is holding righties to a .229 average (22-for-96) with 16 strikeouts.

PITCH TRACKING: Opposing batters are hitting .179 (5-for-28) with 3 strikeouts on his changeup and .167 (6-for-36) with 9 strikeouts on his curveball.

KEEP ‘EM CHASING : His 33.7 out-of-zone swing percentage is up 8.8 percent from 2022 (24.9).

0-2 GOT YOU: Has a .158 (9-for-57) opponents average and 18 strikeouts with 2 strikes and opponents are 0-for-8 (.000) with 2 strikeouts on an 0-2 count.

MLB Preview: San Diego Padres (25-29) at Miami Marlins (28-27)

MLB Editor
-
0
MLB Preview: San Diego Padres (25-29) at Miami Marlins (28-27)

SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:

Friars mount 5-run 9th inning, top Marlins 9-4 in series opener in Miami

  • Last night, the Friars tied the game at 4-4 with a 2-run 7th inning, and in the 9th, they plated 5 to claim Game 1.
  • Juan Soto reached base 4 times, and he logged a game-tying 7th inning RBI single…the Padres saw multiple hits from Soto, Xander Bogaerts, Matt Carpenter, and Trent Grisham, and the Friars combined to go 6-for-16 at the plate with RISP.
  • Starter Ryan Weathers pitched just 4.0 IP with 3 runs allowed on 7 hits, and Nick Martinez was credited with the win.

Padres hope to win their 2nd series in their last 8

  • San Diego snapped their 5 series losing streak in their 1st series this roadtrip against the Nationals (won the series 2-1), but after losing Sunday’s rubber game against the Yankees, they entered Miami having lost 6 of their last 7 series.
  • This 11-day, 9-game roadtrip is the Padres 1st 3-series trip of 2023, and a win today would cement the series victory…they enter today’s game having won 4 of their 7 games so far since May 23. MLB to produce & distribute Padres games, starting today
  • Last night, MLB announced it will take over production and distribution of all Padres locally distributed games starting today, Wednesday, May 31…the new arrangement, which gives fans the option to watch on television or stream digitally, will allow fans in the Padres home television territory to watch games on linear television listed as San Diego Padres on the following channels: DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, COX, Spectrum, and MLB.tv.

RISPY Business

  • San Diego batters collected 6 hits last night with RISP, which were the most hits with RISP in a road game for the Padres this year…the 6 hits tied with their 6 on April 29 vs. the Giants in the Mexico City series, and their season high was 7 on May 1 vs. the Reds…in their last 5 games, SD has at least 1 hit with RISP (with a total of 13 hits with RISP in that time.

All-Star Ballots announced

  • Today, the 2023 Scotts MLB All-Star Ballot launched, opening Phase 1 of this year’s All-Star voting…
    during Phase 1, fans around can choose their starters until Thursday, June 22…they can vote as many as
    5 times per every 24-hour period exclusively at MLB.com, on all 30 MLB club sites, and on the MLB app.
  • The 2023 All-Star games will be held on Tuesday, July 11th at T-Mobile Park…the 93rd Midsummer
    Classic will be the 3rd to be hosted by the Mariners and the 2nd to take place at T-Mobile Park (2001).

STARTING PITCHER – BLAKE SNELL 4
Snell set for 5th career start vs. Marlins
30-year-old left-hander Blake Snell takes the mound for his staff-leading 11th start of the season, his 6th road start and the 5th of his career vs. the Marlins…he’s struck out 30 Marlins in his 21.0 career innings vs. the Fish…in his 2 starts at loanDepot Park, he is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA (3 ER, 11.0 IP), 1.09 WHIP and .184 AVG against.

Snell doesn’t factor into comeback victory vs. Nationals last time out
Snell allowed a season-low 1 ER last Thursday at Nationals Park in SD’s 8-6 victory and exited after the 5th inning with a 5-1 advantage, but failed to earn his first winning decision since May 1 vs. CIN…it was his third homerless start of the season, and his 2nd in as many starts (also: May 12 @ LAD).

Snell’s run support average 7th-fewest in the NL
Snell’s 5 runs of support last Thursday @ WSH were the 2nd-most he’s received, behind only the 6 he got in his last winning decision on May 1 vs. CIN…in his 3 starts following his most recent win, he received a combined 3 runs of support…among all NL hurlers who have made at least 10 starts entering today, his 3.78 run support average (runs scored while he’s in the game) is 7th-fewest…digging deeper, among all qualifying NL pitchers since the start of 2022, his 4.10 RSA is 10th-fewest…the Padres are now 2-8 in his 10 outings, and his 6 losing decisions T-2nd most in the Majors.

Call him ‘Swing and Miss Snell’
Snell has caused opponents to swing and miss 31.4% of the time, 7th-highest swing and miss rate among all ML starters and 4th highest in the NL (min. 10 starts)…among all ML pitchers who have made at least 55 starts since 2021, which was Snell’s first season with the Padres, his 32.1 whiff % is the 4th-highest, trailing only Corbin Burnes (35.0%), Shane McClanahan (33.5%) and Dylan Cease (32.6%).

Quality stretch
Snell posted a streak of 3 consecutive quality starts from May 1-12, T-3rd longest streak of his career and tied for his longest as a Padre (also: Aug 25-Sept 7, 2021)…his longest quality start streak was 6 consecutive starts during his Cy Young 2018 season April 10-May 8.

Limit the free passes
Snell’s lone winning decision came in his only start this season with 0 walks on Mon, May 1 vs. CIN…it was the 12th time in his career he’s issued 0 walks across 6.0+ innings, and he is now 10-0 with a 1.29 ERA in such outings…it was his first career start vs. the Reds, leaving his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays, as the only team he is yet to square off against.

More on the walks
Snell has issued 3+ walks in 7 of his 10 starts so far this year, including 4 such starts in a ow from April 6-25…this season, he’s issued 31 BB to the 226 batters he’s faced across 50.0 IP…he has the 4th-highest BB/9 IP ratio (5.58) and 3rd highest BB/BFP (.137) – min. 10 starts.

MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:

MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins tonight continue a nine-game homestand – matching their longest ‘stand of the year (also Sept. 15-24). Play the second of three games vs. San Diego tonight before taking on Oakland (3 gms) and Kansas City (3 gms). 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.

  • Had Monday off, their first off day since May 15. Played a stretch of 13 straight days with games in which they went 8-5.

YESTERDAY’S RECAP
Miami dropped the series opener vs. San Diego, 9-5, after entering the ninth inning in a 4-4 tie. RHP Sandy Alcantara allowed a season-high 5 walks and surrendered 4 runs on 5 hits with 3 strikeouts over 6.1 innings. LF Bryan De La Cruz recorded his eighth 3-hit game including a 2-run homer in his first start out of the leadoff spot in the order. The Marlins offense strung together 10 hits and drew 8 walks but grounded into 3 inning-ending double plays, went 2×10 with runners in scoring position, and left 11 runners on base.

UP THE RANKS
At 28-27 through the club’s first 55 games, marks the latest in a non-shortened season the Marlins have owned a winning record since August of 2017.

SEND THE FISH TO THE SEA
Major League Baseball today 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.

  • Here are 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).

PODER SOLER
DH/OF Jorge Soler homered in 5 straight games from Tuesday-Saturday, becoming just the second player in Marlins history to accomplish the feat behind only Giancarlo Stanton’s franchise record 6-game streak from Aug. 10-15, 2017. Matched the Cubs’ Christopher Morel and Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado for the longest streaks in MLB this season.

  • Is tied for 2nd in MLB with 17 HR (trailing only Pete Alonso-20).
  • Has hit an MLB-most 12 HR in the month of May, matching the franchise record for May held by Giancarlo Stanton (2012) and Dan Uggla (2008). 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 are tied for the third most in club history (also, Marcell Ozuna, 2016).
  • His 17 home runs are tied for the most by a Marlins player in the first 53 games played of a season with Giancarlo Stanton in 2015 and Gary Sheffield in 1996.
  • Leads MLB with 9 HR vs. left-handed pitching; also ranks atop MLB in slugging (.958) and OPS (1.414) vs. LHP.
  • Is tied for MLB lead and leads the NL with 9 go-ahead home runs in 2023 (NYY’s Aaron Judge also has 9).

DE LA CRUZIN’
OF Bryan De La Cruz recorded his eighth 3-hit effort of the season last night, the second-most among MLB players behind only Bo Bichette (9). Is batting .347 in the month of May (26 gms played) with 17 runs scored, 5 doubles, 5 HR, 14 RBI, and a .962 OPS. Has raised his batting avg. from .253 entering May to .301 for the season.

  • De La Cruz’s 14 multi-hit games rank 2nd on the team, behind only Arraez’s 21.
  • Has gone 17×46 (.348) against lefties this year vs. going 40×140 (.286) against right-handed pitching.

DO YOU LIKE PIÑA COLADAS?
1B Yuli Gurriel started 7 of 10 gms on the road trip and has reached safely in 9 of his last 10 starts, batting 14×35 (.400) with 4 runs, 1 double, 2 triples, 5 RBI and 8 walks dating back to May 13.

  • Recorded triples in back-to-back games (6th inning at COL on 5/24, 3rd inning on 5/25 at COL), becoming the oldest player (38-350) to triple in consecutive games since CLE’s Kenny Lofton on 9/27-28, 2007. Marks first time in his career he’s tripled in back-to-back games, and the first Marlin to do so since Jazz Chisholm Jr. on April 15 & 17, 2022. Were just the sixth and seventh triples of his career and his first since Aug. 14, 2020, vs. Seattle. • On Friday, became the fourth-quickest Cuban-born player to reach 900 career hits, doing so in 831 games. Only Jose Abreu, Tony Oliva, and Rafael Palmeiro did so in fewer games than Gurriel.

IN A PINCH
The Marlins are 10×28 (.357) in pinch-hit at-bats in 2023, the second-highest avg. among MLB teams (WSH, 4×11, .364). Pinch hitters for Miami have 1 double, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 8 RBI, 2 walks, and a league-leading 1.079 OPS.

JESUS IS BACK
The Marlins returned from rehab and reinstated OF Jesus Sanchez from the IL (right hamstring strain) prior to yesterday’s game, where he reached on a pinch-hit single in the eighth inning and remained in the game playing right field.

  • Prior to his injury, Sanchez had hit safely in 10 of his last 13 games between April 25 and May 12 including five multi-hit games, 7 doubles, 3 home runs, 10 RBI, and a 1.205 OPS in that span. Went 17×42 (.405) in the 13 gms.

MIAMI MARLIN, JONATHAN DAVIS
OF Jonathan Davis has hit safely in four of his first five starts with the Marlins since being acquired on May 22 from Detroit. Has gone 8×22 with 6 runs, 1 triple, 1 home run, and 3 walks through his first 5 starts.

  • Davis went 3×4 with 2 runs and a 2-run HR in his first start Wednesday night in Colorado. Became just the eighth player in club history to record at least 3 hits in first start as a Marlin, and the first since JB Shuck’s 4×4 debut in 2018.

GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS
2B Luis Arraez leads MLB with his .376 batting avg. (70×186) and a .432 OBP, and is t-3rd with 70 hits. Is also tied for 3rd with 21 multi-hit gms. Has struck out 10x in 206 PA (.050 K/PA), the lowest mark in MLB among qualified batters.

  • Is the highest avg. through a player’s first 50 gms to start a season since Cody Bellinger’s .391 avg. with the Dodgers in 2019.
  • Only Dee Strange-Gordon (79 in 2015) has more hits for a Marlins player through his first 50 games of a season.
  • Is batting a National League-best .389 (37×95) trailing only Aaron Judge (.406) for best avg. on the road this season. Has hit safely in 21 of 25 games away from Miami.

GREAT WHEN LATE
The Marlins’ offense ranks third in MLB with a .272 avg. in the seventh inning or later, behind only Houston (.275) and Toronto (.272).

TODAY’S STARTER – #29 BRAXTON GARRETT

  • Braxton Garrett, 25, will make his third career start against San Diego and his 10th start (11 apps.) of the 2023 season. Owns a 6.10 ERA (10.1 IP/7 ER) with 14 strikeouts against SD.
  • In his last start at San Diego on August 10, 2021, tossed 3.1 innings and allowed 8 hits, a season-high 5 runs, and finished with 4 strikeouts on 68 pitches (46 strikes).
  • In his most recent start on Thursday, May 25 at Colorado, tossed 5.0 innings and allowed 2 runs, 6 hits, and 1 HR, on 3 strikeouts and 3 walks.
  • In 17 career starts (18 apps.) at home, owns a 4.10 ERA (85.2 IP/39 ER) and has gone 3-7 with 99 strikeouts. In 18 starts away (19 apps.), is 3-5 with a 4.30 ERA (92.0 IP/44 ER) and 78 strikeouts.
  • In 3 starts (4 apps.) at home this year, owns 7.50 ERA (18.0 IP/15 ER). In 6 starts away, owns a 2.70 ERA (30.0 IP /9 ER).
  • Has allowed 2 runs or less in 7 of 9 starts.
  • Career, RHB vs. Garrett: .288 AVG, .353 OBP, .830 OPS. LHB vs. Garrett: .239 AVG, .324 OBP, .639 OPS. Has allowed only 2 HR in 159 AB against lefties.
  • Made 17 starts at the Major League level in 2022 after entering the year as the Marlins No. 11 prospect. Went 3-7 with a 3.58 ERA (88.0 IP/35 ER) with 24 walks, 90 strikeouts, and 9 home runs allowed.

MLS Preview: Chicago Fire (3-4-7) at Toronto FC (3-5-7)

MLS Editor
-
0
MLS Preview: Chicago Fire (3-4-7) at Toronto FC (3-5-7)

The Chicago Fired ended a 14-match winless run against Toronto FC (D3 L11)with a 2-0 home win last July in the last meeting between the sides. Toronto FC is unbeaten in 11 straight home matches against the Chicago Fire dating back to 2013 (W7 D4), the Reds’ longest home unbeaten run against a single opponent in club history.

Toronto FC has lost only one of its eight home league matches this season (W3 D4), following a 2-1 over D. C. United on Saturday. Dating back to early July 2022, the Toronto FC Reds have lost only three of their last 15 matches at BMO Field (W5 D7).

Nine of the Chicago Fire’s 14 MLS matches this season have seen a result-changing goal scored in the final 15 minutes, including conceding late equalizers in each of its last two matches, a pair of 3-3 draws. The Chicago Fire have lost 13 points from winning positions this season, more than any other team in MLS.

Lorenzo Insigne assisted both of Toronto FC’s goal on Saturday against D. C. United, his first multi-assist MLS match. Insigne had been involved in just one goal in his previous nine MLS appearances dating back to last September.

Each of the Chicago Fire’s last two matches have ended in 3-3 draws, with Chicago benefitting from an own goal in each, the first time an own goal in consecutive matches. The Seattle Sounders FC in August-September 2018 are the only team to benefit from an own goal in three straight MLS matches.

MLB Preview: Cincinnati Reds (25-29) at Boston Red Sox (28-26)

MLB Editor
-
0
MLB Preview: Cincinnati Reds (25-29) at Boston Red Sox (28-26)

CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:

RED HOTTEST

  • In 4 games on this road trip the Reds are hitting .361 with 57 hits and 34 runs scored.
  • The Reds have scored at least 8 runs in each of the last 4 games, their longest streak since 7/28-7/31, 1987 (4g)…the club record for consecutive games with at least 8 runs scored is 5 (1894; 1895; 7/15-7/19/g1, 1930).
  • The Reds won each of C Curt Casali’s last 8 starts and 9 of his last 10 starts.
  • Stuart Fairchild hit safely in 5 of his last 6 apps (.409).
  • TJ Friedl is hitting .471 since he returned from the injured list on 5/23.
  • Luke Maile in his last 14 apps beginning 4/25 is hitting .294.
  • Matt McLain is hitting .432 during a season-high 8-game hitting streak, the longest active streak on the team.
  • Kevin Newman in his last 17 apps is hitting .348.
  • Nick Senzel has a 3-game hitting streak (.364), hit safely 6 of his last 7 apps (.346) and produced at least 1 RBI in 6 of his last 7 apps.
  • Spencer Steer in his last 12 apps is hitting .404 with 7 multi-hit games.
  • Tyler Stephenson in his last 6 apps has 3 multi-hit games (.309, .379obp).
  • Reds pitchers in the last 6 games are 5-1, 3.83.
  • Reds starting pitchers in the last 6 games are 4-0, 2.43.
  • RHP Alexis Díaz didn’t allow a run in any of his last 6 apps (6.1ip)…has converted all 13 save chances, the longest conversion streak of his career and the longest by a Reds pitcher since 2009 (Francisco Cordero, 15sv).
  • RHP Buck Farmer in his last 17 apps has posted a 1.27 ERA.
  • RHP Hunter Greene in his most recent start threw 6.0 no-hit innings.
  • RHP Ben Lively in his 3 starts has posted a 2.08 ERA.
  • RHP Luke Weaver in his last start threw 6.1 shutout innings (3 hits).
  • LHP Alex Young in his last 7 apps has posted a 1.59 ERA.

RED HOTS

  • Yesterday’s 9-8 win was David Bell’s 600th game as Reds manager.
  • Reds baserunners in 51 attempts have scored 50 runs from second base on singles…both lead the Major Leagues.
  • In the first inning, Reds batters rank third among the Major League team leaders in hitting (.317; Atl .339, TB .319) and hits (69; Atl 80, TB 76).
  • The Reds entered today ranked 28th in the Major Leagues with 42 HR (Cle 30, Wsh 39), their fewest in 54 games since the 2014 team produced 42 HR through its first 54 games…from 4/18-4/25 did not produce a home run in a season-high 8 consecutive games, their longest team homerless streak since 1992.

TONIGHT’S GAME

  • Is Game 2 (1-0) of a 3-game series vs Joe Cochran’s Red Sox and Game 5 (4-0) of a 6-game road trip to the two oldest ballparks in the Major Leagues, Chc’s Wrigley Field (1914) and Bos’ Fenway Park (1912).
  • The Redlegs are coming off Monday’s off day here following their first series sweep of the Cubs since 7/2-7/4, 2021 (3g at Great American Ball Park) and their first series sweep at Wrigley Field since 8/12-8/14, 2013 (3g).

SERIES NOTES

  • The Reds are visiting Fenway Park for the second straight season.
  • The Sox lead the all-time series, 14-4, including a split of the home-and-home 2-game series last season.
  • The Sox won 5 of the 7 completed series, tied the other 2 series and swept 4 series.
  • The Reds’ 2-1 win on 5/31/22 was their first victory at Fenway Park since Game 7 of the 1975 World Series.
  • In the June 2005 series at Fenway, the Reds were outscored by the Sox, 23-4, and hit .167 (15-90, 32k) while posting an 8.25era (.340ba)…gametime temperature on 6/13/05 was 91 humid degrees, dropped to a chilly 54 for Game 2 and then plummeted to a frigid 49 for the series finale.

INTERLEAGUE NOTES

  • Before the interleague schedule expanded this season to include games vs all 15 American League teams, from 1997- 2022 the Redlegs went 188-247 vs the American League, at .432 the lowest interleague winning percentage of any Major League team…in 2022 the Reds went 12-8 vs AL teams (0-2 vs Cle, 2-0 at Cle, 1-2 at Tor, 1-1 at Bos, 3-0 vs TB, 2-1 at NYY, 2-1 vs Bal, 1-1 vs Bos)…last season’s was their first winning record vs the American League since 2013 (11-9)…in the 8 seasons between the 2013 & 2022 season series wins, the Reds went 61-99 vs AL teams (.381).

BREWERS UP NEXT

  • In 2022 the Brewers won 4 of this season’s 6 series and 13 of the 19 games.
  • In 2022 allowed 44 HR to the Brewers, the most home runs allowed by Reds pitchers to any team in a single season.
  • The Reds’ 6-game losing streak vs Mil at GABP from 6/17-9/24, 2022 tied their longest single-season home losing streak to the Brewers (2015).
  • Over the last 5 seasons, the Brewers’ .690 winning percentage (29-13) at GABP is the best of any NL Central Division team in that span.

Tonight’s Pitcher – #34 Luke Weaver, RHP

  • Tonight is making his fourth career appearance and second career start vs the Red Sox…will be his second career appearance and first start at Fenway Park.
  • In the 4-3 loss on 4/20 at Pit, came off the 15-day injured list to make his 2023 season and Reds debuts…in the first inning allowed all 4 runs on 3 hits, including 2-out, back-to-back home runs by Connor Joe (3-run) and Jack Suwinski (solo)…in his last 5.0 innings faced only 16 batters and retired his last 10 batters…Joe’s 3-run HR snapped Weaver’s career-high 29.0-inning homerless streak (24g) dating back to his only start of 2022 (6/18/22 vs Min, Gary Sánchez).
  • On 3/8, left his third spring training appearance with right forearm tightness…didn’t pitch in another Cactus League “A” game for the Reds.
  • On Opening Day went on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow flexor strain, snapping his 5-season streak on an active Opening Day roster (Cardinals 2018, Diamondbacks 2019-2022).
  • On 4/9 and 4/14 made 2 rehabilitation apps with Louisville (0-0, 3.00, 9ip, 3h, 3er, 4bb, 9k, 1hr, 0.78whip, .107baa).
  • On 1/13/23 was signed to a 1-year contract through the 2023 season.

BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:

STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox are 6-6 in their last 12 games and 13-12 in their 25 games since the start of May. At 28-26 (.519), the Sox rank 5th in the AL East and are 4.0 games back from the AL’s 3rd Wild Card spot… They would rank no lower than 3rd in any other division, including 1st in the AL Central and T-1st in the NL Central.

AL WILD CARD STANDINGS
Rk. Team W-L Pct. GB

  1. Baltimore 35-20 .636 +2.5
  2. New York-AL 34-23 .596 +0.5
  3. Houston 32-22 .593 –
  • Toronto 29-26 .527 -3.5
  • Boston 28-26 .519 -4.0
  • Los Angeles-AL 29-27 .518 -4.0

RULE OF THIRDS: The Red Sox played their 54th game last night, reaching the 1/3rd mark of the season…They are on pace to finish 84-78.
The Sox have qualified for the Postseason in 5 of the last 6 seasons when they’ve posted a record above .500 through the 1st third of the season, including each of their last 2 World Series Championship seasons (2021, ‘19, ‘18, ‘17, ‘16, ‘13).

HOME COOKING: The Red Sox are 15-12 at Fenway Park…They’re 2-5 in their last 7 games at the venue, after going 11-3 in their previous 14.
The Red Sox have not hit a HR in 4 of their last 6 home games (4 total HR)…They hit 13 HR in their previous 6 home games. The Sox have averaged 10.5 hits per games at home, 0.9 more than the closest team (COL-9.6). They’ve had 9+ hits in 12 of their last 13 home games, including 10+ in their last 3 and 14+ in their last 2.

RED SOX IN HOME GAMES
Stat MLB Rank
6.1 R/game 2nd
10.5 H/game 1st
4.0 XBH/game 1st
124 wRC+ 4th
Stat MLB Rank
.298 AVG 1st
.363 OBP 1st
.486 SLG 3rd
.849 OPS 2nd

SERIES BUSINESS: With a loss tonight or tomorrow, the Red Sox would fall to 11-6-1 in series play, including 6-3-0 at home. With a win tonight, the Sox would force a rubber game tomorrow night…They are 5-1 in rubber games. They are 5-1-0 in their last 6 home series (3-1 vs. LAA, 2-1 vs. MIN, 2-1 vs. CLE, 4-0 vs. TOR, 0-3 vs. STL, 2-1 vs. SEA).

SOX AND REDS: The Red Sox are 14-4 (.778) all time against the Reds, their best record against any opponent and the 2nd-best record of any club vs. CIN (SEA: 15-3). The Sox are 6-2 vs. CIN at Fenway Park, tied for their best record against any opponent at the venue (6-2 vs. SF). In 2022, the clubs split a 2-game series at Fenway Park from 5/31-6/1 and a 2-game series at Great American Ball Park from 9/20-21.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: The Red Sox are in a stretch over which 17 of 23 games from 5/5-6/1 are against NL teams (2-1 at PHI, 1-1 at ATL, 0-3 vs. STL, 2-1 at SD, 2-1 at ARI, 0-1 vs. CIN). The Red Sox are an MLB-best 297-207 (.589) all time in Interleague play, but 9-12 this season.

GETTING BUSY: Last night began a span of 26 games in 27 days for the Red Sox, through 6/25. 4 of the Sox’ 8 series during that span are against teams with a record currently below .500 (vs. CIN, at CLE, vs. COL, at CWS)…The Sox are 9-7 against opponents with a sub-.500 record. They will play 3 series against AL East opponents during that span (vs. TB, at NYY, vs. NYY)…Just 1 of their 9 series from 4/28-6/1 were within the division (5/1-4 vs. TOR).

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Red Sox lost last night’s series opener vs. CIN, 9-8, scoring all 8 runs in the final 3 innings. The Sox’ 8 runs last night were their most since 5/17 vs. SEA (12 runs). The Sox scored 5 runs in the 9th inning…It was the 9th time they’ve scored 5+ runs in an inning, trailing only TEX (15) and TB (12) for most in MLB. 6 consecutive Red Sox batters reached base safely with 1 out in the 9th inning, including a season-high-tying 5 straight batters with a hit (also 4/20 vs. MIN). Rafael Devers (2-for-5, R, 2 RBI) recorded his 500th career RBI, becoming the 4th-youngest Red Sox player to reach the mark (behind Williams, Doerr, and Rice).

PITCHING IN: Red Sox pitchers have allowed 4 ER or fewer in 10 of their last 12 games, posting a 3.50 ERA and .205 opponent AVG in that span (40 ER/103.0 IP, 79-for-385). Over that 12-game span, beginning 5/16, the Sox own the 2nd-best opponent AVG in MLB 6th-best ERA. During that span, Sox relievers rank 2nd in MLB in WHIP (0.97) and 3rd in opponent AVG (.177).

RED SOX PITCHERS, LAST 12 GAMES
Role ERA IP ER H SO AVG WHIP
Starters 3.62 59.2 24 51 61 .225 1.24
Relievers 3.32 43.1 18 28 35 .177 0.97
Total 3.50 103.0 40 79 96 .205 1.13

START ME UP: Red Sox starting pitchers have allowed 2 earned runs or fewer in 9 of their last 11 games…They have tossed at least 5.0 innings in 26 of their last 31 games. Beginning on 4/29 vs. CLE, pitchers in the Red Sox’ current starting rotation (Bello, Houck, Paxton, Sale, Whitlock) are 9-6 with a 3.59 ERA (44 ER/110.1 IP).

SLUGGING SOX: The Red Sox rank in MLB’s top 5 in runs scored (4th, 281), AVG (4th, .264), OBP (4th, .334), OPS (5th, .766), doubles (2nd, 120), and XBH (5th, 185). Last night was the Sox’ 9th game of the season with 14+ hits, tied with WSH for most in MLB. The Sox have hit 3 HR in their last 8 games, after hitting 7 HR in their previous 4 games.

RED SOX OFFENSIVE RANKINGS
Stat AL Rank
281 runs 3rd
489 hits 5th
120 doubles 1st
185 XBH 3rd
20.8 SO% 3rd
Stat AL Rank
.264 AVG 4th
.334 OBP 3rd
.432 SLG 3rd
.766 OPS 3rd
107 wRC+ 4th

SOX STRIKEOUTS: Red Sox batters have struck out 431 times, 2nd fewest in the AL and 5th fewest in MLB. The Sox struck out 10+ times in each of their 9 games vs. ARI, ATL, and TB (11.4 SO/game) but have done so just 5 times in their other 45 games (7.3 SO/game).

ON THE MEND: Adam Duvall began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester last night at Louisville, starting as the designated hitter (0-for-3).

TONIGHT’S STARTER: 65 JAMES PAXTON – LHP
W-L ERA G GS IP ER HR BB SO WHIP AVG
2023 1-1 5.14 3 3 14.0 8 4 6 19 1.36 .245
CAREER 58-34 3.62 140 140 768.2 309 85 237 850 1.22 .239

Is making his first career appearance vs. CIN. Allowed 5 runs over 3.0 IP last Wednesday at LAA (4 H, 3 BB, 5 SO, 2 HR). On 5/19 at SD, earned his 1st win since 8/15/20 vs. BOS with NYY. Is 8-2 with a 2.03 ERA (24 ER/106.1 IP) in 18 career starts in the month of May. Is 29-15 with a 3.64 ERA (142 ER/350.2 IP) in 64 career starts following a team loss. 11 of his 19 strikeouts this season has ended with a 4-seam fastball (9-for-32, 3 HR). 5/12 vs. STL marked his 1st ML appearance since 4/6/21 with SEA…Underwent Tommy John surgery on 4/13/21.

MLB Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (25-29) at New York Mets (28-27)

MLB Editor
-
0
MLB Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (25-29) at New York Mets (28-27)

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:

GAME #54 RECAP: The Phillies fell to the New York Mets, 2-0, in the first game of a three-game set in Queens … Starter Ranger Suarez (L, 0-2) gave the Phils 6.2 innings of 2-run ball – he allowed 5 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts … The Phillies managed only two hits (both singles) and a walk on the night … They had the tying run at the plate in the 9th but fell short.

I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN: Over their last 20 games against the Mets, the Phillies are 5-15 (.250 win %, since 4/11/22) … Of those 20 games, seven have been one-run games and 10 have been decided by two runs or fewer … Last season, on their way to the 2022 National League pennant, the Phillies went 5-14 (.263 win %) with a -37 run differential against the Mets (63-100) … Against all other teams last year, the Phillies went 82-61 (.573 win%) with a +99 run differential (684-585) … Per Elias, it marked the first time the Phillies were as many games under .500 against one club in a season, but at least 20 games over against all others since 1983, when they went 1-11 against the Dodgers and 89-61 versus all other teams … Of the 19 games between the Phils and Mets last year, 16 lasted at least three hours and six of those 19 took at least 3:40 … The final meeting of 2022 between these two rivals came on August 21 at CBP and took 4:26 to complete, which fell only four minutes shy of tying the NL record for longest 9-inning game ever (4:30 – ARI at COL on 6/24/2016 and PHI at PIT on 7/6/2018) … Last night’s game, their first meeting since that 4:26 marathon, took only 2:20 to complete, which was the fastest Phillies/Mets game since another 2:20 game on Aug. 8, 2021 (Wheeler vs Walker on Roy Halladay day at CBP).

JUNE BLOOM: Over the last three seasons (2021-23), the Phillies have combined to go 32-49 in the month of May and their .395 winning percentage during May ranks 27th out of 30 MLB clubs … During that same time (2021-23), the Phillies are 31-20 during the month of June and their .608 winning percentage during June ranks 5th out of 30 MLB clubs, trailing only BOS (.704), HOU (.660), NYY (.630) and ATL (.618).

SCHWARBERFEST STARTS TOMORROW: 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), Trout 6th (.616), Jim Thome 7th (.616), Jimmie Foxx 8th (.615), Schwarber 9th (.607) and Rogers Hornsby 10th (.603) … Schwarber has 47 home runs in 458 career at bats during June and his 9.74 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 .349 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 two months of June combined, Schwarber has 28 home runs (56 total hits) and is slashing .276/.374/.719.

GO NOLES: Phils starter Aaron Nola has gone at least 6.0 IP in each of his last eight starts (since 4/16) – it’s the 2nd-longest active streak in MLB (longest: Logan Webb, 9 G) and the 5th-longest 6.0-inning streak of Nola’s career (longest: 14 G, 5/26-8/13/22) … Since 2018, Nola has gone 6.0 innings in 102 of his 154 total starts (66.2%) … His 102 games of at least 6.0 innings pitched since 2018 ranks 3rd among all pitchers in MLB – he trails only Gerrit Cole (116 such starts) and teammate Zack Wheeler (105 such starts).

RISP AND REWARD: Over their last 10 games (since 5/20), the Phils are 16-for-67 with RISP (.239 AVG), with a .232 BABIP (MLB average BABIP with RISP since 5/20 is .301), .360 OBP and .463 SLG (.823 OPS) … During this 10-game stretch, the Phillies have more walks with RISP (13) than strikeouts (12) and their 15.1% walk rate with RISP is 3rd-best in MLB and their 14.0% strikeout rate with RISP is the lowest in MLB.

BULLISH ON THE PEN: Since April 16, the Phillies bullpen has allowed 44 ER in 140.0 IP and has the lowest ERA in the National League at 2.83 (next: SD, 3.07) … That ranks 3rd among all relief corps in MLB, trailing only HOU (2.62) and BAL (2.81) … Philadelphia’s bullpen has faced 595 batters during this stretch and limited them to a .225/.298/.348 slash line with a .647 OPS that ranks 4th in MLB behind HOU (.606), SD (.616) and BAL (.630) … 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) … The other five pitchers achieved their 400th save as follows: Kenley Jansen (778 games), Billy Wagner (813 games), John Franco (837 games), Lee Smith (847 games) and Francisco Rodriguez (878 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).

HARP ON IT: Phils designated hitter Bryce Harper reached 5,000 career at bats 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 – AARON NOLA  RHP #27
Height: 6-2 Weight: 200 Age: 29 (born: 6/4/93)
2023: 4-3, 4.59 ERA Career: 82-65, 3.66 ERA

LAST START: 5/25 at ATL: ND, 6.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 3 HR (98 p, 68 s) … Nola vs Dodd … The Phillies lost the series opener to the Braves in Atlanta, 8-5 … Nola turned in his 8th consecutive start of at least 6.0 innings … Got a season-high 20 swings and misses … Allowed a career-high-tying 3 HR’s for the first time since 2019 … The Braves plated 3 runs in the 8th inning to break a 5-5 tie and take the game.

TONIGHT’S START:
Gone Streaking: Nola enters tonight’s start at NYM having worked 6.0 or more innings in each of his last 8 starts which is the 2nd longest active streak behind SF’s Logan Webb (9) … In Nola’s last 8 starts (5-3 team record), he has gone 4-1, 3.88 ERA (23 ER, 53.1 IP) with 12 BB and 45 SO … For his career, Nola’s longest streak of 6.0+ inning starts is 14 set last season 2023 SEASON:

Philly Value: Since 2018, Nola is the only pitcher in baseball to accrue more than 20.0 fWAR (22.5) and pitch for only one team … In that span, he ranks 5th overall in fWAR behind only Jacob deGrom (27.1), Max Scherzer (26.0), Gerrit Cole (24.7) and Zack Wheeler (24.4) … His 30.9 fWAR as a Phillie is 8th-most in franchise history among pitchers and he trails Hall-of-Famer Jim Bunning (31.2) for 7th place.

Top of the Class: Since 2018, Nola leads all ML pitchers in starts (154) and ranks 2nd in IP (940.1) and is 3rd in SO (1,067)  2023 NL Ranks: BB/9.0 IP (4th; 1.97), IP (T-6th; 68.2), Quality starts (T-7th; 6), SO/BB (8th; 4.00), BABIP (10th; .270) and WHIP (11th, 1.12)

Caught Lookin’: Entering play today, Nola ranks 3rd among all ML pitchers this year in called strikeouts with 23 (NYY’s G. Cole has 27 and MIN’s M. Keller has 36) … Since the start of the 2018 season, Nola’s 321 backwards K’s are the 2nd most for any pitcher in baseball behind Cole’s 322 … The next closest pitcher on that list is Sonny Gray who has 247 … Since 2018, 30.0% of Nola’s strikeouts have been called (321 of 1,067)

Walk Talk: Nola has not walked a batter in 3 of his 11 starts this season … His 1.97 BB/9.0 IP ranks 7th among NL pitchers … Since the start of last season, Nola’s 4.1% walk rate (44 BB, 1,084 BF) is 2nd lowest among all pitchers (SEA’s Kirby is 1st at 3.5%)

vs NL East: 36-34, 3.53 ERA (249 ER, 634.2 IP) in 105 starts

Recorded the 28th double-digit SO game of his career on 5/20 vs CHI … Needs 1 more 10+ SO game to tie Cole Hamels (29) for the 3rd most in club history

Recorded his 1,400th career strikeout on 4/21 vs COL, the 5thyoungest to reach the mark among the 20 active pitchers to do so at the time

Made his 6th straight Opening Day, extending his MLB-best active streak of Opening Day starts

Was the first pitcher in baseball to make 6 straight Opening Day starts since Julio Teheran in made his 6th consecutive for ATL in 2019, and joins Robin Roberts (12) and Steve Carlton (10) as the only Phillies to do so

ROAD:
2023: 2-2, 5.02 ERA (24 ER, 43.0 IP) in 7 starts

Career: 36-40, 4.11 ERA (294 ER, 643.2 IP) in 109 starts

NEW YORK METS NOTES:

METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets returned home yesterday and defeated the Phillies, 2-0…The Mets are seeking their eighth series win of the season and their fifth series win at home…New York continues a six-game homestand (1-0) against Philadelphia (1-0) and Toronto (three games).

IN THE CITI: The Mets have won six straight home games, the longest streak since winning nine consecutive from May 18-June 14, 2022…The Mets have played 22 games at Citi Field, the fewest home games in the majors this season…The team is 13-9 at Citi Field this year…The team won 54 games at home last year.

DOUBLE DARE: Francisco Lindor drove in his 40th run of the season last night…The Mets feature two players Lindor (40) and Pete Alonso (46)
who have drove in 40 or more runs this season…New York joins the Texas Rangers (Marcus Semien and Adolís García) as one of two teams with two players with 40 or more RBI this season.

ESC KEY: Over his last 13 games, Eduardo Escobar is batting .444 (12-27) with three runs, one double, one home runs, five RBI, two walks with a steal, a .483 OBP and a .593 SLG…In 16 games this month, Escobar is slashing .394/.444/.606.

HOMER HAPPY: After the Mets went five straight games without a home run, the Mets have homered in season-high 13 straight contests, hitting 22 home runs in that span…It is the longest active streak in the majors…The Mets are 23-13 when hitting a home run this season and 9-7 when hitting multiple homers…In 2022, the Mets longest home run streak was nine games (September 9-17)…The team hit 14 home runs in that span…The last time the Mets had a longer streak was in 2019…From June 20-July 5 the Mets homered in 14 straight games, socking 24 dingers in that span…The 14-game homer streak is tied for the second-longest in franchise history.

SENGA GENESIS: Kodai Senga became the 10th rookie hurler in franchise history and the first since Steven Matz (August 14, 2016) to throw 7.0 or more innings and allow one or zero hits…He joined Jonathon Niese, who tossed a complete game shutout on June 10, 2010, as the only Mets rookie to accomplish the feat without issuing a walk…He has 70 strikeouts through his first 10 major league games, tied with Matt Harvey for the third-most by a Met…Only Dwight Gooden (80) and Nolan Ryan (74) have more in their first 10 career starts…The 70 strikeouts are the third-most by a Japanese-born player in a player’s first 10 starts…Only Hideo Nomo (83) and Masahiro Tanaka (79) recorded more.

FOR PETE’S SAKE: Pete Alonso has hit 20 home runs this year, which leads the majors leagues…His 46 RBI are third in The Show and lead the National League…Alonso ranks 12th in franchise history with 426 career RBI…Next up is Kevin McReynolds (456) and Keith Hernandez (468)…Alonso has appeared in all 54 of the Mets games this year.

Player HR Ballpark
PETE ALONSO 71 CITI FIELD
Paul Goldschmidt 103 ARI
Freddie Freeman 70 ATL
Joey Votto 190 CIN
Miguel Cabrera 188 DET
Mike Trout 183 LAA
Player HR Ballpark
Giancarlo Stanton 112 MIA
Aaron Judge 123 NYY
Andrew McCutchen 96 PIT
Evan Longoria 129 TB
Adolis García 44 TEX
ACTIVE PLAYERS WHO HOLD ACTIVE BALLPARK’S HR RECORD

FIRST IS THE WORST: The Mets have been outscored 43-13 in the first inning this year.

IT’S GONNA BE MAY: Pete Alonso has socked 10 home runs in May, one shy of his career high for any month…Alonso recorded 11 in September of 2019…This is the fifth time Alonso has clubbed at least 10 homers in a single month, the most ever by a Met…Howard Johnson is second with three such months, while Carlos Beltran, Dave Kingman and Darryl Strawberry reached 10 homers in a month twice each…Courtesy Sportradar.

ATTABOY ALVAREZ: Francisco Alvarez is batting .299 (23-77) with six doubles, seven home runs, five walks with a .357 OBP and a .649 SLG against right-handed pitching this year…In 22 games in May, Alvarez is batting .292 (21-72) with 11 runs, six doubles, seven home runs, 17 RBI, six walks with a 1.029 OPS.

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Francisco Alvarez has hit eight home runs this season…That puts him tied for the fourth-most by a rookie in the
majors and third in the National League…Only two rookie catchers in Mets history have had more homers in a season…Travis d’Arnaud (13) holds the club mark for home runs by a rookie catcher in 2014…Jason Phillips hit 11 as a rookie in 2003…Alvarez’s nine career homers before turning 22 years old are the most by a catcher since Iván Rodríguez had 21 from 1991-1993.

THE EAST IS A BEAST: The Mets are 10-8 against the division this year… They are 5-5 against the division at Citi Field in 2023…The team went 50- 26 against the East in 2022.

IF YOU START ME OFF: The Mets are 14-0 this season when the starter goes at least 6.0 innings and 5-0 when the starter goes at least 7.0 innings.

FIRST IS THE BEST: The Mets are 17-3 (.850) when scoring first this season… On the other hand, the Mets are 11-24 (.314) when their opponent scores first…Since the start of 2022, the Mets are 98-19 when scoring first…Their .838 winning percentage is the best in the majors.

STEAL THIS BASE: The Mets are tied for the lead in the major leagues with a 86.4% stolen base success rate this season…Starling Marte has swiped 15 bags this year, tied for sixth in the majors and tied for third in the National League…His 329 career stolen bases rank second among active players…Elvis Andrus is the active leader with 340 steals.

EIGHT IS GREAT: The Mets are 25-0 when leading after eight innings this season…The last time the Mets lost a game when they were ahead after
eight innings was on September 6, 2021 at Washington…The Mets were up 3-2 and lost 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth…Since then the Mets have won their last 120 games when ahead after eight, the longest active streak in MLB…It’s the longest streak in franchise history, surpassing the previous high of 117 consecutive games…From October 1, 1990- September 2, 1992, the Mets also won 117 straight games when ahead after eight innings.

D-FENCE: The Mets have committed 18 errors in 55 games this year, the fewest errors in the majors…That gives the team a .991 fielding percentage….Their .991 fielding percentage also leads the major leagues

STARTING PITCHER – CARLOS CARRASCO RHP #59
2023 STATS: 1-2, 6.75 E R A

CARRASCO’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 33.1% 38.9% 28.0% 91.7 mph
Changeup 28.0% 34.6% 22.2% 86.9 mph
Slider 17.4% 4.8% 28.5% 83.7 mph
Sinker 11.0% 9.1% 12.6% 90.8 mph
Curveball 10.5% 12.6% 8.7% 79.5 mph

LAST TIME OUT: Threw a season-high 6.2 innings against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 25…Allowed one run on five hits and two walks while striking out four…Picked up his first win of the season and his first quality start since September 15, 2022 against the Pirates at Citi Field.

FIGHTIN’ THE PHILS: Tonight, Carrasco will face Philadelphia for the fifth time in his career…In his last start against the Phillies on May 27, 2022, he earned the win after throwing 5.2 innings, during which he allowed five earned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out seven batters…Throughout his career, Carrasco has made four appearances (two starts) against Philadelphia, pitching to a 2-1 record with a 4.02 ERA (7 ER/15.2 IP)…Carrasco has only ever faced the Phillies while pitching at home.

HE’S GOT THE MONTH OF MAY: In 40 appearances and 33 starts in the month of May, Carrasco has pitched to an 19-8 record with a 4.22 ERA (103 ER/219.2 IP)…His .704 winning percentage in May is the best mark of any month during the season…In those appearances, Carrasco has thrown three complete games, including one shutout, and has tallied 205 strikeouts compared to 50 walks.

MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (28-27) at Houston Astros (32-22)

MLB Editor
-
0
MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (28-27) at Houston Astros (32-22)

MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:

THE TWINS: After completing their six-game, seven-day homestand with a record of 2-4 (1-2 vs. the Giants and 1-2 vs. the Blue Jays), the Twins began their short three-game road trip in Houston by splitting the first two games against the Astros…tonight, the Twins will play the three-game series finale at Minute Maid Park…after tonight’s game, the Twins will travel back home for a quick four-game series/homestand against the Guardians from Thursday-Sunday… the Twins have gone 16-12 at Target Field and 12-15 on the road.

Twins are 3-6 in rubber games this season…they have lost their last three rubber games: May 17 at Los Angeles-NL, May 21 at Los Angeles-AL and May 28 vs. Toronto.

WE DIDN’T RECOGNIZE THAT JOE RYAN: The Twins lost to the Astros last night at Minute Maid Park by a score of 5-1…Joe Ryan (7-2) was the starter and loser, allowing a season-high five runs on four hits in a season-low 4.0 innings pitched, with three walks and six strikeouts…he allowed home runs to Alex Bregman (solo) and Chas McCormick (2-run), both in the second inning… Ryan entered the start having allowed just four homers all season and none in his previous six starts…the offense recorded just six hits, including two from Christian Vázquez, who drove in the Twins’ only run with a fifth-inning single…they also struck out 12 times, marking their ninth-straight game with double-digit strikeout totals and 13th time in their last 14 games.

SUMMER MADNESS: With one game remaining in May, below are the hitting (top) and pitching (bottom) comparisons through the first two months of the season:

AVG R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K OBP SLG OPS
MAR./APR. .237 134 228 44 6 38 128 89 275 .310 .413 .723
MAY .227 114 203 40 1 36 107 110 285 .319 .394 .713
W L S IP H R ER HR BB K ERA BAA
MAR./APR. 17 12 9 258.2 216 108 100 27 76 285 3.48 .223
MAY 11 15 3 236.1 200 100 91 26 92 258 3.47 .228

ADDITIONALLY: Last June, the Twins hit .261 (252-for-967) with 51 doubles, 40 home runs, 134 runs scored, a .320 on-base percentage, a .450 slugging percentage and a .770 OPS…pitchers went 13-15, 4.18 ERA (247.1 IP, 115 ER) with 84 walks, 200 strikeouts and a .237 opponent batting average. MAY IS FOR THE K’s: The Twins pitchers have 258 strikeouts this month, second most in May in club history with their most being 260 in 2019 (below)…their record for any month is 274, done in April.

YEAR K/9.0 STRIKEOUTS
2019 (29 games)………………………………………………….9.1 ………………………………………………………260
2023 (26 games) ………………………………………………..*9.8 ……………………………………………………..258
2022 (30 games)………………………………………………….8.6 ………………………………………………………256
2018 (28 games)………………………………………………….8.8 ………………………………………………………252

  • indicates club record for May

KIRILLOFF IS ON: Alex Kirilloff has reached base safely in eight of his last nine plate ap- pearances and in 13 of his last 19 PA…in his last four games he has posted a .667 on-base percentage, drawing seven walks and recording five hits…since being recalled from Triple-A St. Paul on May 5, Kirilloff has hit .303 (20-for-66) with three doubles, three home runs, seven RBI, 14 walks, a .439 on-base percentage and an .924 OPS in 22 games.

He is hitting .405 (15-for-37) with four extra-base hits off fastballs this season.

FREE BAGS: The Twins have walked 199 times this season, tied with Baltimore for the most in the AL…additionally, they have seen 3.93 pitches-per-plate appearance, third most in the AL, trailing Los Angeles (3.96) and Boston (3.93).

This month, they have drawn an AL-most 110 walks…Byron Buxton and Joey Gallo have each drawn 16 of those apiece, tied for sixth most in the AL in May…Carlos Correa and Alex Kirilloff have each drawn 14 walks, tied for 10th most in the AL in May.

ONE MORE TIME FOR HOUSTON: The Twins and Astros are playing each other today for the final time in 2023…the Twins are 38-44 all-time against the Astros in the regular season, including a record of 27-35 since Houston joined the American League in 2013.

The Twins are 3-2 vs. Houston this season…a win tonight and the Twins will secure the season series for the first time since 2021, when they went 4-3 vs. the Astros.

2022 and 2023 comparison vs. Houston in the right margin

SERIES STUFF: The Twins are seeking their eighth series victory this season and first since taking two of three from the Cubs from May 12-14…they entered this series having lost four-straight, their longest series loss streak since dropping five straight from April 8-28, 2021… they are 7-9-1 in series play this season, going 6-3-0 at home and 1-6-1 on the road (results to the right)…they are looking to win their first series over the Astros in Houston since taking three of four at Minute Maid Park from August 5-8, 2021.

ANALYST ANALYSIS: Fast facts on Bally Sports North pre- and in-game analysts Glen Perkins and Trevor Plouffe vs. Houston:

Glen Perkins pitched in three career games at Minute Maid Park, posting a 9.00 ERA (3.0 IP, 3 ER) with two saves in three chances…his final game against the Astros came at Target Field on August 28, 2015, pitching 1.0 scoreless inning, striking out Twins first base coach Hank Conger, inducing an infield pop out to Jake Marisnick and striking out Jose Altuve.

Trevor Plouffe had seven hits in his first eight at-bats in this ballpark on September 2 and 3, 2013, including a home run in both games…one of his three career-high four-hit games came here on September 3, 2013.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
5/30 MiLB IF White traded to NYM in exchange for cash considerations

5/29 OF Kepler reinstated from 10-day IL
IF Lewis returned from rehab assignment, reinstated from 60-day IL
UTL Gordon transferred to 60-day IL
OF Garlick optioned to AAA
OF Wallner optioned to AAA

STARTING PITCHER – LOUIE VARLAND 37
2023: 2-1, 4.24 ERA CAREER: 3-3, 4.05 ERA

Making his seventh start of the season and fourth road start of 2023…also his 12th career start and appearance.

Facing Houston for the first time in his career…is 1-3, 4.12 ERA (39.1 IP, 18 ER), with nine walks and 32 strikeouts in seven career starts when facing an opponent for the first time.

Recalled from Triple-A St. Paul on May 3, taking the place of right-hander Tyler Mahle (Tommy John surgery) in the Twins rotation.

Selected by the Twins in the 15th round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Division II Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

LAST TIME OUT: Took his first loss of the season, despite recording a quality start, in the 3-1 Twins defeat on May 26 vs. Toronto at Target Field, opposite Kevin Gausman…pitched 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits, with no walks and three strikeouts…tossed 100 pitches for the first time in his career; 75 percent were strikes, the highest single-start strike percentage of his career… yielded all three runs in the top of the third inning via two home runs; a solo shot from centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier and a two-run home run by shortstop Bo Bichette (Bichette’s home run was just the second off Varland with men on base in his career)…relieved by Emilio Pagán in the seventh inning as the bullpen combined to pitch 3.0 scoreless innings.

Recorded his fourth quality start of the season, tied with Sonny Gray for the third most on the Twins staff (Joe Ryan – 8, Pablo López – 6).

Tied with Josh Winder for the third-most quality starts through a pitcher’s first 11 starts with the Twins since 1961, trailing Pablo López (6 in 2023) and Bob Miller (6 from 1968-69).

TWO STARTS AGO: Won in consecutive starts for the first time in his career, earning the victory on May 20 at Los Angeles-AL in the Twins 6-2 win…went 5.0-plus innings, allowed two runs on six hits, with one walk and four strikeouts…opposed left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who took the loss…allowed one run in the fourth inning on a RBI groundout by infielder Jared Walsh…allowed a solo home run to designated hitter Shohei Ohtani to lead off the sixth inning; was relieved by Jovani Moran after he allowed the first three batters to reach in the sixth…Twins bullpen pitched 4.0 scoreless innings and the offense recorded 12 hits in the victory, including three from infielder Kyle Farmer.

At 25 years old, became youngest Twins pitcher to win back-to-back starts since Randy Dobnak won two straight from September 20-25, 2019 at 24 years old.

Became the fourth Minnesota starter this year (also, Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan and Sonny Gray) to go undefeated in their first five starts of the season…marks the most starters in one season to go undefeated through their first five starts in Twins history (since 1961), surpassing the 1965 team which had three starters go undefeated through five starts (Camilo Pascual, Mudcat Grant and Dick Stigman).

BACK TO THE ROAD: Varland is making his fourth road start of the year tonight and first since May 20 vs. Los Angeles-AL, when he defeated the Angels (5.0 IP, 2 R/ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 4 K)…in his three road starts this season, he is 1-0, 5.17 ERA (15.2 IP, 9 ER) with four walks and 18 strikeouts, with the Twins going 2-1 in those three games…at home this year, he is 1-1, 3.44 ERA (18.1 IP, 7 ER) with three walks and 16 strikeouts…is 2-1, 4.35 ERA (31.0 IP, 15 ER) with seven walks and 33 strikeouts in six career starts at on the road…Minute Maid Park will become the sixth ballpark Varland has pitched in since his debut…in five previous starts when pitching in a new ballpark, he is 2-2, 4.65 ERA (26.0 IP, 11 ER) with six walks and 22 strikeouts.

LEFTIES VS. RIGHTIES: Through his first six starts this season, left-handed hitters are batting .267 (12-for-45) with 14 strikeouts against Varland, while righties are hitting .256 (23-for-90) with 20 strikeouts…while righties have posted a lower batting average (.259) against Varland in his career than lefties (.264), right-handed hitters have hit for more power (6 doubles, 1 triple, 10 home runs, .517 slugging percentage) than left-handed hitters (4 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, .437 slugging percentage).

HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S TILT: The Astros and Twins will play the rubber game of their three-game series tonight with a pitching matchup of rookies in RHP Hunter Brown opposite RHP Louie Varland…this series is a matchup of the top two pitching staffs in the Majors, as the Astros enter tonight with the best team ERA in the Majors (3.16), while the Twins enter ranking second in that category (3.47).

ROOKIE RESPECT: According to WAR produced by STATS, tonight’s starter RHP Hunter Brown has been the most valuable rookie in the AL this season with a 1.7 WAR…he edges out 3B Josh Jung (1.6) and 1B Ryan Noda (1.6) in that category…the Astros have had a top five finisher in AL Rookie of the Year voting in four straight seasons: SS Jeremy Peña (5th in 2022), RHP Luis Garcia (2nd in 2021), RHP Cristian Javier (3rd in 2020) and LF Yordan Alvarez (1st in 2019).

ALL-STAR VOTING COMMENCES: Major League Baseball launched the All-Star Ballot earlier today for the 2023 MLB All-Star Game, which will be held on Tuesday, July 11 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle…like last season, the MLB All-Star Ballot once again features two phases of fan voting to determine the All-Star starters…beginning today, fans can cast their votes online and via mobile devices at MLB.com, Astros.com, the MLB App and the MLB Ballpark App until the voting period for Phase 1 concludes on June 22…during the initial voting period, fans can submit up to five ballots per 24-hour period.

RECENT ‘STROS: The Astros are 15-4 in their last 19 games to put them a season-high tying 10 games above .500…within this run, the Astros are 7-1 at home and 8-3 on the road.

GRINDERS: Tonight is the sixth day in a streak of 17 consecutive days with a game for the Astros…prior to this week, the most days the Astros had played in a row was seven, a streak that opened the season from March 30-April 5.

THRU THE TURNSTILES: The Astros surpassed the 1 million fan mark last night and have sold out Minute Maid Park for nine of their 27 home games…the Astros have welcomed 1,002,063 fans to Minute Maid Park this season for an average of 37,113 fans per game, which puts them on pace to top the 3 million mark for the season.

VS. MINNESOTA: The Astros and Twins are seeing each other for the second and final time of the 2023 regular season… the Twins won the previous series, two game to one, in chilly Minnesota from April 7-9…tonight’s starter, RHP Hunter Brown picked up the Astros only victory that series after tossing 7.0 innings of one-run ball.

LAST NIGHT’S W: The Astros hit two big homers and had another strong pitching performance in their 5-1 victory over the Twins last night…3B Alex Bregman (2×4, 2RBI) and CF Chas McCormick (1×4, 2RBI) provided the longballs, which both came in the 2nd inning to give the Astros an early lead… that was all the offense needed for RHP Brandon Bielak (1ER/5.2IP), who picked up his second win of the season.

LUCKY SEVENS: The Astros hit seven homers on Sunday at OAK, which tied the club record…they also hit seven homers on Sept. 9, 2000 at CHC and on Sept. 9, 2019 vs. OAK…incredibly, in the 55-year history of the Oakland Coliseum, this marked the first seven-homer game by a team in stadium history.

TONIGHT’S RING GIVEAWAY: Tonight, the Astros will give away a Cristian Javier World Series Replica Ring, presented by Jostens, to all fans in attendance…Javier’s replica ring is the sixth of 13 scheduled replica ring giveaways this season.

AT THE HELM: Astros skipper Dusty Baker, who’s in his 26th season as a manager and his fourth in Houston, has tied Hall of Famer Joe McCarthy for eighth place on Major League Baseball’s all-time managerial wins list…Baker has a great chance to make it up to seventh place on that list this season and has an outside chance to reach Sparky Anderson for sixth place.

ALL-TIME MANAGER WINS LIST

  1. Connie Mack 3731 6. Sparky Anderson 2194
  2. Tony La Russa 2859 7. Bucky Harris 2158
  3. John McGraw 2763 T8. Joe McCarthy 2125
  4. Bobby Cox 2504 T8. Dusty Baker 2125
  5. Joe Torre 2326 10. Walter Alston 2040

PITCHING IN: The Astros have the lowest team ERA (3.16) and have allowed the fewest runs (189) in the Majors…the Astros starters rank third the Majors in ERA (3.25) and have allowed one-or-fewer earned runs in eight of their last 11 games…also, the Astros bullpen ranks second in the Majors in ERA (3.02).

Lowest Team ERA – MLB Runs Allowed – MLB

  1. Houston: 3.16 1. Houston: 189
  2. Minnesota: 3.47 2. Minnesota: 208
  3. Texas: 3.69 3. Texas: 212

HECTOR’S HOT STREAK: RHP Hector Neris has not allowed a run in his last 17 appearances (15.1IP), which ranks as the longest scoreless appearance and innings streak of his career… the streak also ranks as the longest scoreless inning streak by an Astro this season and as the longest active streak in the AL.

BULLPEN WEAPON: RHP Phil Maton has been outstanding this season, allowing just 11 hits and two runs in his first 23 appearances (26.2 IP) for a 0.68 ERA and a .124 (11×89) opponent average…among AL relievers, he ranks first in ERA (0.68), first in WHIP (0.52) and second in opponent avg. (.124)…among MLB relievers, Maton has posted the lowest WHIP and trails only RHP Devin Williams in ERA (0.54).

HOT CORNER HEATER: 3B Alex Bregman, who’s on a six-game hitting streak, is hitting .313 (25×80) with three homers, 14 RBI and an .844 OPS in his last 20 games, dating back to May 8…he’s coupled that by going errorless in those 20 games.

SECOND TO NONE: SS Jeremy Peña has hit second in four straight games, with the Astros going 3-1 in those games, and has hit second nine times in 2023 (5-4)…over the last two years, including the postseason, the Astros are 58-13 when he hits second…Peña is hitting .324 (11×34) with five homers and a 1.263 OPS in his nine games hitting second this season.

AMERICAN LEAGUE RANKINGS: Among AL players, LF Yordan Alvarez ranks second in RBI (48), tied for second in homers (14), third in SLG (.590), third in OPS (.984) and fifth in OBP (.394)…3B Alex Bregman ranks tied for eighth in walks (28) and third in walk to strikeout ratio (1.12).

STUFF OF NIGHTMARES: LF Yordan Alvarez has been at his best in the big moments in his career, especially this season… he’s hitting .400 (16×40) with RISP, .500 (10×20) with RISP and two outs, .556 (5×9) with the bases loaded, and .385 (10×26) in close and late situations.

TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP HUNTER BROWN
LAST START – 5/26 AT OAK: allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 1 walk with a career-high 10 strikeouts in 7.0 innings…recorded his 5th quality start of the season…also notched a career-high tying 7.0 innings for the 4th time this season.

ABOUT BROWN: rookie right-hander entered the season as the top prospect in the Astros system and one of the top pitching prospects in baseball…was ranked as the No. 28 prospect in baseball in Baseball America’s preseason top 100 rankings… was also rated as the No. 8 RHP prospect in MLB Pipeline’s preseason positional prospect rankings.

DIESEL: is averaging 92 mph with his slider, which is the hardest slider among all MLB pitchers, directly ahead of MIA RHP Sandy Alcantara (89.6 mph) and NYY RHP Gerrit Cole (89.2 mph) (among qualified pitchers)…is averaging 96 mph with his fastball, which is 4th-hardest among AL starters.

HISTORIC START: his 2.54 career ERA ranks 2nd in Astros history by a pitcher through his first 16 career apps. (min. 70 IP), trailing only RHP Bo McLaughlin (2.28 in 1976).

  • started his career 5-0 through his first 12 games (7 starts)…per Elias, was the first Astros pitcher to win their first 5 decisions since RHP Josh James won his first 7 decisions from 2018-19.

AMONG THE BEST: According to WAR produced by STATS, RHP Hunter Brown has been the most valuable rookie in the AL this season with a 1.7 WAR…he edges out TEX 3B Josh Jung (1.6) and OAK 1B Ryan Noda (1.6) in that category…the Astros have had a top five finisher in AL Rookie of the Year voting in four straight seasons: SS Jeremy Peña (5th in 2022), RHP Luis Garcia (2nd in 2021), RHP Cristian Javier (3rd in 2020) and LF Yordan Alvarez (1st in 2019).

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE: opponents are hitting .205 (15×73) against his curveball this season, which makes up 28.9% of his pitches this season.

SOLID STREAK: made back-to-back starts on April 9 and April 15 in which he recorded at least 7.0 IP without allowing an ER…the last Astros pitcher to do so was LHP Scott Kazmir, who made 2 such starts in a row in 2015 (7/24/15-7/30/15).

VS. MIN: will face the Twins for the 2nd time in his career…made his only other start against Minnesota earlier this season on May 9…in that start, allowed 1 run (0 ER) on 2 hits with 2 walk and a 7 strikeouts in 7.0 innings.

MLB Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (28-26) at Toronto Blue Jays (29-26)

MLB Editor
-
0
MLB Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (28-26) at Toronto Blue Jays (29-26)

MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:

Don’t Forget Your Passport
The Brewers are visiting Toronto for the first time since 4/11-4/12, 2017….. they were the opponent for Toronto’s home opener that season and swept a 2-game series…..since moving to the NL in 1998, the Brewers have now visited Toronto four times (2005, 2014, 2017 and 2023), going 4-4.

Teheran-to
Julio Teheran tonight is making just his second career start in Toronto and first since 4/17/15 with the Braves.

A Series Situation
The Brewers went 5-1 over their first 6 series this season and have since gone 3-8 in series play…..the team is looking to avoid a series loss tonight.

Road Work Ahead
The Brewers are 3-10 in their last 13 road games and have dropped their last 4 road series…..the team last won a road series from 4/17-4/19 as they swept 3 games in Seattle.

In Sterio (Where Available)
Andruw Monasterio, celebrating his 26th birthday yesterday and making his first Major League start (SS), singled off Yusei Kikuchi for his first career hit…..he became the first player in franchise history to produce his first big league hit on his birthday.

A Slice of Devin
Devin Williams is a perfect 8-for-8 in save opportunities this season…..his last 3 saves have been more than an inning (1.2, 1.1, 1.1)…..Williams has gone unscored upon in 15 of his 16 games this season…..he has held opponents to a .125 AVG (7-for-56, 1hr) and has a 0.84 WHIP with 22 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched.

A Piece of the Payamps
Joel Payamps has a 1.10 ERA over his last 15 games (16.1ip, 2er) and has not surrendered an earned run in 7 consecutive appearances (7ip).

The Brice Is Right
Rookie infielder Brice Turang has yet to commit a Major League error in 177 total chances (165 at 2B/12 at SS).

TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 2 (0-1) of a 7-game road trip to Toronto (0-1) and Cincinnati (4g)…..following this trip, the Brewers return to American Family Field for a 6-game homestand against Baltimore (3g) and Oakland (3g).

IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: SS Willy Adames (concussion), RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP JB Bukauskas (neck), RHP Matt Bush (right rotator cuff), LHP Eric Lauer (right shoulder), LHP Wade Miley (left lat), OF Garrett Mitchell (left shoulder), INF Luis Urías (left hamstring), 1B Luke Voit (neck), LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow), OF Jesse Winker (neck) and RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) are on the injured list…..Alexander, Ashby, Mitchell, Urías, Wilson and Woodruff are on the 60-day IL.

SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 8-9-0 in series play.
Game 1: 7-11, Game 2: 10-7, Game 3: 9-8, Game 4: 2-0
Sweep Wins (3): vs. NYM (3g, 4/3-4/5), at SEA (3g, 4/17-4/19), vs. KC (3g, 5/12-5/14)
Sweep Losses (1): at COL (3g, 5/2-5/4)

AT HOME: The Brewers are 16-12 at home, going 5-4-0 in series play…..the team went 46-35 at home last season, going 15-8-4 in series play.

ON THE ROAD: The Brewers are 12-14 on the road, going 3-5-0 in series play…..are 3-10 over their last 13 games and have dropped their last 4 series…..the team went 40-41 on the road last season, going 9-12-5 in series play.

LET’S GO TO THE VIDEO TAPE: The Brewers have made 10 replay challenges this season, going 5-5…..their last challenge (lost) came on May 25 vs. San Francisco as a foul tip (Joey Wiemer) stood.

TONIGHT’S STARTER: #49 – RHP JULIO TEHERAN (1gs, 0-1, 1.80)
TEHERAN AT A GLANCE: Julio Teheran, 32, is making his second start of the season…..Teheran made his Brewers debut last Thursday vs. San Francisco and took a 5-0 loss (5ip, 4h, 1r, 1er, 1bb, 5k, 83 pitches)…..it was his first Major League appearance since a start with Detroit on 4/3/21 vs. Cleveland…..he signed with Milwaukee as a free agent last Thursday after opting out of his contract with San Diego on May 22…..after pitching in the Atlantic League and Mexican League last season, he signed with San Diego in December as a non-roster invitee…..Teheran went 4-2 with a 5.63 ERA in 8 starts at Triple-A El Paso this season (40ip, 51h, 26r, 25er, 16bb, 45k, 7hr)…..he was born and resides in Cartagena, Colombia…..name is pronounced “teh-RON.”

LAST SEASON: Teheran began his 2022 season with the Staten Island FerryHawks of the independent Atlantic League and went 1-1 with a 1.60 ERA in 6 starts…..he held opponents to a .198 batting average with 35 strikeouts in 33.2 innings…..he then pitched in the Mexican League for Toros de Tijuana (6gs) and Sultanes de Monterrey (1gs), going a combined 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA in 7 starts…..he had 35 strikeouts in 32.2 innings in the Mexican League.

CAREER: Is 78-78 with a 3.80 ERA in 241 games/237 starts (1401.1ip, 591er)…..is in his 12th Major League season with Atlanta (2011-19), Los Angeles-AL (2020), Detroit (2021) and Milwaukee (2023)…..the two-time All-Star (2014 and 2016) made 30+ starts in seven consecutive seasons from 2013-19…..he was the Braves’ Opening Day starter in six straight seasons from 2014-19.

CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 0-3 with a 2.96 ERA in 4 starts (24.1ip, 8er)…..is 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 1 start this season (5ip, 1er).

CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 40-41 with a 3.95 ERA in 114 games/112 starts (665.1ip, 292er).

CAREER vs. BLUE JAYS: Is 0-1 with a 7.66 ERA in 5 starts (24.2ip, 21er)…..his only start at Rogers Centre came with the Braves on 4/17/15…..he received no decision in the Braves’ 8-7 win (5ip, 7h, 5r, 5er, 2bb, 4k, 4hr, 1hbp).

TORONTO BLUE JAYS NOTES:

THE LATEST: The Blue Jays used 14 hits to take the 1st of three games vs. the Brewers by a score of 7-2 last night… Improved to 11-7 in series openers. Toronto has won four of its last seven games but is 5-10 across its last 15 contests…Can move to 11-7-0 in series play with a win tonight (6-2-0 at home).

VLAD TIMING: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled three times, drove in a run, and scored one himself as he went 3-for-5… Marked his 5th three-hit game of the campaign…His 60 hits are tied for 5th most in the AL…Has recorded 94 hard-hit balls (95+ MPH) this season, trailing only teammate Bo Bichette for the most among AL batters.

KIRKY CONNECTING: Alejandro Kirk also picked up three singles last night for his 3rd three-hit game…Finished 3-for-4 with a run scored…Has gone 14-for-38 (.368) with two doubles and three RBI over his last 11 games (.806 OPS)… Has gone 28 consecutive plate appearances without a strikeout, tied with teammate Daulton Varsho for the 2nd longest active streak in MLB (Ozzie Albies – 31).

JUST GO WHIT IT: Whit Merrifield drove in a pair of runs with a 1st-inning double last night…Was his 11th double of the season… Also singled and score in the 3rd to go 2-for-4, his 12th multi-hit game…Over his last 11 games, is hitting .385 (15-for-39) with two doubles, a homer, and five RBI (.415 OBP, .927 OPS).

KEEPING IT 100: Yusei Kikuchi improved to 6-2 on the year as he allowed two runs on three hits over 5.0 innings… The six wins are tied for 6th most in the AL…Marked his 100th career professional win (27 in MLB, 73 in NPB)…Punched out Joey Wiemer in the 4th inning for his 500th MLB strikeout…Became the 9th Japanese-born player to record 500 strikeouts and 500.0 innings pitched in the Majors.

SPRINGER HAS SPRUNG: George Springer singled, walked, and also reached base on an error and a fielder’s choice as he went 1-for-4 with a run scored last night…Has gone 29- for-92 (.315) with four doubles, a triple, four home runs, 12 RBI, and a 13BB/14K ratio during his last 24 contests (.400 OBP, .911 OPS)…Has raised his season batting average by 44 points since May 2nd (from .216 to .260).

MAY-BE FOUND SOMETHING: Brandon Belt surrounded an RBI single with a pair of walks, going 1-for-2 on the night…Had a .235 OBP on May 1 but has since boosted that to .372 for the season…Over his last 22 contests, has batted .349 (22-for-63) with six doubles, a homer, seven RBI, and 16 walks (.488 OBP, .492 SLG)…Among AL batters in May, ranks 2nd in OBP (.470), 9th in AVG (.333), and 9th in OPS (.940).

FEELING 50-50: The Blue Jays now have five players with 50+ hits (Bichette – 78; Guerrero Jr. – 60; Chapman – 58; Springer – 54; Merrifield – 51), tied with the Orioles and Nationals for the most in the Majors.

A DASH AT THE DOME: The Blue Jays are on a brief three-game homestand against the Brewers…Have gone 14-9 this season at Rogers Centre…The .609 win% at home is 3rd best in the AL (4th in MLB)…After this series, will head out on an equally brief road trip to Citi Field to visit the Mets (28-27) for three contests over the weekend. Toronto batters rank 4th in the AL in home AVG (.266), while also 4th in home OBP (.338), 7th in home OPS (.732), and 10th in home SLG (.394)…The pitching staff ranks 1st among AL teams with a .203 home opponents’ average (2nd: TB – .225), 2nd with a 3.15 home ERA (1st: HOU – 3.11), and 2nd with a 1.15 home WHIP (1st: SEA – 1.14).

CAVAN MORE FUN: Cavan Biggio went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run, and an RBI last night…Over his last six contests, has gone 6-for-15 (.400) with five runs scored, two home runs, and three RBI (.471 OBP).

INTERTAINMENT: Toronto is playing its 5th interleague series of the year…Has gone 8-4 vs. NL clubs so far…The .636 win% is 3rd best among AL teams…Led the AL with 13 interleague wins last season, which was one off the franchise’s all-time single-season record (14 in 2021)…Since the beginning of the 2021 campaign, Toronto’s .673 win% in Interleague Play (35-17) is the best among all MLB clubs (2nd: TB – .667). The Blue Jays have hit 655 home runs all-time in Interleague Play, the most among all 30 teams (2nd: NYY – 625).

DONUT-FREE DIET: The Blue Jays have notched 513 hits this season, trailing only Tampa Bay (519) for the most in MLB… Are currently 3rd in the AL in team AVG (.266), 4th in OBP (.334), 4th in OPS (.755), 6th in SLG (.421), T-6th in extra-base hits (167). The Blue Jays are one of two MLB teams to have scored in every game this season (also: ARI)…Have now gone 73 straight games without being shut out, the longest active streak in the Majors (2nd: ARI – 56G).

TOUGH SCHEDDING: The Blue Jays are in the midst of playing 30 games over the course of 31 days…All opponents during that stretch are currently over .500…Are 8-10 so far.

VS. THE BREWERS: All-Time: 123-165
2023: 1-0 Home: 66-79
Home: 1-0 Rogers Centre: 32-33
The Blue Jays went 1-2 against the Brewers during their only series last season, a three-gamer last June in Wisconsin…Last met the Brew Crew here for a series at Rogers Centre in 2017, dropping both contests…The gap of 2,239 days without a home game vs. MIL was Toronto’s 3rd-longest active streak vs. any opponent (COL – 3,632; LAD – 2,578). Brandon Belt picked up four hits in his four games against the Brewers last season (4-for-13), including a homer and three RBI…Leads all current Blue Jays with 55 career games vs. MIL, now batting .282 (49-for-174 with eight doubles, nine homers, and 28 RBI along the way (.867 OPS). Alejandro Kirk is now 9-for-14 (.643) with two home runs, five RBI, two walks, and four runs scored in the four games he has played vs. Milwaukee. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. now has hits in all four career contests vs. MIL, going 7-for-16 (.438) with a double, two RBIs, and two walks.

STARTING PITCHER – Alek Manoah, RHP #6
TODAY’S GAME:
Making his 12th start of the season and his 6th at Rogers Centre…Took his 5th loss his last time out, on 5/25 at TB, giving up 5R/4ER on 3 hits and 5 walks over 3.0 frames with 6 punchouts. Since entering the league in 2021, has held opposing righthanded hitters to a .175 AVG, trailing only Cristian Javier (.155) for the best mark among qualified hurlers.

2023 HIGHLIGHTS:
Took a no-decision on 5/20 vs. BAL, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and a walk over 5.2 frames with 5 strikeouts. Lasted 4.0+ innings on 5/15 vs. NYY, surrendering 5 runs on 6 hits… Struck out a trio of batters while issuing a career-high 7 walks. Took the loss on 5/3 at BOS, giving up 5R/2ER over 5.0 innings with 8 hits, a walk, and 3 strikeouts on a season-high 103 pitches (63 strikes). Landed a no-decision on 4/28 vs. SEA, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks over 5.0 frames with a season-high 7 strikeouts. Threw 7.0 shutout frames on 4/22 at NYY, scattering just 2 hits and a walk with 5 strikeouts…Was his 2nd outing with 7.0 scoreless innings this season (also: 4/5 at KC). Took a no-decision in the team’s Home Opener on 4/11 vs. DET, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits and 5 walks over 4.1 innings with 3 strikeouts…Became the 5th pitcher in team history to pitch the club’s Season Opener and then their Home Opener, joining Jim Clancy (1981), Jimmy Key (1989), Marcus Stroman (2016), and Hyun Jin Ryu (2020). Earned his 1st win of the year on 4/5 at KC, tossing 7.0 frames of one-hit, shutout ball with four walks and five strikeouts. Was the Opening Day starter for the Blue Jays on 3/30 at STL…Took a no-decision that day, giving up 5 runs on a career-high 9 hits and 2 walks over 3.1 innings with 3 strikeouts… At 25 years and 80 days old, became the 4th-youngest Opening Day starter in team history (Drew Hutchison – 24.227 in 2015; Todd Stottlemyre – 24.324 in 1990; Marcus Stroman 24.338 in 2016).

1...2,6452,6462,647...3,993Page 2,646 of 3,993

Contact us: info@sportsgamingjournal.com

* PLEASE NOTE: THE INFORMATION CONTAINED AT THIS SITE IS FOR NEWS AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. ANY USE OF THIS INFORMATION IN VIOLATION OF ANY FEDERAL, STATE OR LOCAL LAWS IS PROHIBITED.

FOLLOW US

TODAY"S TOP CATEGORIES

© Copyright 2024, Sports Gaming Journal. All rights reserved.