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MLB Preview: Colorado Rockies (24-31) at Arizona Diamondbacks (31-23)

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MLB Preview: Colorado Rockies (24-31) at Arizona Diamondbacks (31-23)

COLORADO ROCKIES NOTES:

I THINK WE’VE MET BEFORE

  • The Colorado Rockies continue their seven-game road trip this evening with the second 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 have gone 5-6 so far in their 17-game stretch without an off-day since May 19, their longest stretch without an off day this season … their next off day will come following this road trip on June 5.

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 16-11 (.593) since April 30, the third-best record in the NL over that span behind the Dodgers (18-9, .667) and Giants (17-11, .607) … the Diamondbacks rank fourth in the NL over that span with a 15-11 record (.577).
  • Coming off of a 7-20 April in which they slashed .243/.304/.367, the Rockies are slashing .278/.340/.445 in May while going 15-11 this month … are hitting .369 (77-for-214) 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 has hit a homer run in a career-best four-straight games, the longest streak by a Rockies player since Elias Díaz homered in four-straight June 28-July 2, 2021 … only four players in franchise history have homered in at least five-straight games, with David Dahl achieving the feat most recently in 2018.
  • McMahon also has an extra-base hit in five straight games, the longest streak by a Rockies player since Trevor Story put together a five-game streak Sept. 6-11, 2021.
  • McMahon has gone 12-for-20 with two doubles, one triple, four home runs and 12 RBI over his last five games … he’s the seventh player in franchise history to have a five-game stretch with at least 12 hits, 12 RBI and seven extra-base hits, the first since Carlos González in 2015.
  • The third baseman went 4-for-5 on Monday, matching his career-high hit total (also: April 6, 2021 vs. Arizona) … fell a double shy of the cycle, his second time in his last two games falling either a double or triple shy of the cycle.

BABY GOT BACKSTOP

  • Rockies catcher Elias Díaz ranks third among NL position players with 2.4 WAR (Baseball Reference), trailing Ronald Acuña (3.0) and Freddie Freeman (2.5) … his 1.1 defensive WAR ranks fourth in the Majors, second in the NL.
  • Díaz’s .335 batting average (54-for-161) ranks third in the Majors, second in the NL … his .374 average (34-for-91) average at home is the highest in the Majors while his .444 (20-for-45) average with runners in scoring position ranks fourth the Majors.
  • Has appeared in 46 games at catcher, the second-most in the Majors … his 10 catcher caught stealing are third in the Majors, while his 35.5 caught stealing percentage ranks third (min. 20 games).

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 11-12 against Arizona over the last two seasons, 21-21 since 2021, 26-26 since 2020 and 64-64 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 36-game on-base streak since April 15, the longest active streak in the Majors and tied for the longest streak in the Majors this season (also: Yordan Álvarez, 36 games) … 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 .264/.345/.417 through the streak with 19 walks … over his last 18 games since May 7, is slashing .311/.366/.527 with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 12 RBI and eight multi-hit games

ROCKIES STARTING PITCHER – #21 KYLE FREELAND LHP
DENVER KID

  • Kyle Freeland will make his 12th start of the season today, his fifth on the road.
  • The 30-year-old Denver native graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, 15 minutes south of Coors Field … selected in the first round of the 2014 First Year Player Draft (eighth overall), the third player in University of Evansville history to be drafted in the first round.
  • The Rockies announced on April 19,2022 that they agreed to a five-year contract extension with Freeland covering the 2022-26 seasons … the extension includes two arbitration years and three years of free agency.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Didn’t factor into the Rockies’ 7-6 walk-off win over the Marlins last Thursday at Coors Field … pitched five innings and allowed two runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts … allowed one run in the third and one in the fourth, exiting the game after five with the Rockies trailing 2-1.

SNAKES

  • Facing Arizona for the second time this year … on the losing end of a 9-1 Rockies loss on April 28 at Coors Field … pitched six innings and allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts … faced two batters in the seventh inning with the game tied 1-1 with both reaching base and scoring.
  • Has made 18 career starts against the Diamondbacks, going 3-7 with a 5.34 ERA (97.2 IP, 58 ER) … has not logged a win against Arizona since Sept. 23, 2018, going 0-5 with a 6.55 ERA (55.0 IP, 40 ER) in his last 10 starts.
  • Is 2-3 with a 4.83 ERA (41.0 IP, 22 ER) in eight career starts at Chase Field … 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA (20.0 IP, 15 ER) over his last four starts in Phoenix since 2019.
  • Made two starts against the Diamondbacks in 2022, both at Chase Field, allowing six runs across 12.2 innings … tossed six scoreless on May 7, 2022 but did not receive a decision in the 4-1 Rockies win.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

  • Has gone 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA (37.1 IP, 14 ER), nine walks and 31 strikeouts in seven home starts … is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA (16.0 IP, 2 ER) over his last three home starts and 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA (22.0 IP, 5 ER) over his last four.
  • Career record of 31-26 (Rockies 50-35) with a 4.65 ERA (450.2 IP, 233 ER) in 85 appearances (82 starts) at Coors Field … ERA eighth all-time at Coors Field among pitchers with at least 40 starts, 31 wins tied for fourth with Jon Gray and Jason Jennings.

DONUT

  • Has six games this season in which he has tossed at least five scoreless innings, already tied for the second-most such games in a single season in franchise history … his next game of five-plus scoreless innings will tie him with Ubaldo Jiménez in 2010 for the most in franchise history.

ROAD WARRIOR

  • Has tossed at least six innings in three of his four road starts this season, going 1-3 with a 4.71 ERA (21.0 IP, 11 ER) … held a 2.84 ERA (19.0 IP, 6 ER) through his first three road starts before allowing eight runs (five earned) in two innings in his last road start May 20 at Texas.
  • Has gone 5-8 with a 3.40 ERA (108.2 IP, 41 ER) in 19 starts on the road over the past two seasons, the seventh-lowest road ERA in the NL over that span (min. 100 IP).
  • Posted a 2.87 road ERA (62.2 IP, 20 ER) in 11 road starts since last year’s All-Star Break, the third-lowest road ERA in the NL over that span (min. 60 IP).

ROCKY MOUNTAIN FEELS

  • His 53 career wins are tied for seventh in franchise history with Jon Gray and Pedro Astacio … Ubaldo Jiménez ranks sixth with 56 wins.
  • Ranks fifth in franchise history with 161 career starts, 12 shy of tying teammate German Márquez for fourth … passed Jason Jennings (156) for the fifth-most starts in franchise history in his May 3 start vs. Milwaukee.
  • His 683 strikeouts are the seventh-most in franchise history … trails Jeff Francis in sixth with 742 strikeouts.
  • Career 4.24 ERA ranks fourth all-time among Rockies starting pitchers (min. 75 starts).

THE HOME RUN HIGHWAY

  • Ten of his 25 earned runs this year have come off of home runs, with six of them being solo homers.
  • Has now allowed a home run in three-consecutive starts, and has allowed only two home runs over his last six.
  • His 19 home runs allowed in 2022 were his fewest since 2018 (17) … his 0.98 HR/9 was the 13th-lowest in the National League in 2022 … his lowest HR/9 rate since he posted a 0.76 clip in 2018.

BEST FOOT FORWARD

  • Began his season with two scoreless outings, the first pitcher in franchise history to toss at least six scoreless innings in each of his first two appearances of the season … allowed his first run of the season in the first inning of his third start, ending a 13.0 inning scoreless streak to begin the season, tied with Jason Jennings (2001) for the second-longest streak to begin a season in franchise history, behind Jhoulys Chacín (14.1 IP, 2010).

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:

HERE’S THE STORY
♦ Since May 12, the D-backs’ 11-5 (.688) record is tied for the third best in the Majors (also: Rangers), behind the Astros (12-4; .750) and Yankees (12-5; .706).

♦ The D-backs’ 31 wins are the third most in the NL, behind the Dodgers (33) and Braves (32)…the D-backs’ 25 wins vs. NL opponents are second behind the Dodgers (30) 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 6-3 in their last 9 games vs. Rockies.

♦ Ketel Marte is hitting .324 (12-for-37; 4 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI) while Evan Longoria is hitting .306 (11-for-36; 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 6 RBI) vs. Kyle Freeland.

GURRIEL MAKING A FRANCHISE STATEMENT
♦ Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s .374 average in the month of May is the highest by a D-back since AJ Pollock in 2014 (.375) and tied for the fourth highest ever by a D-back in May (also: Shawn Green/2006), behind Paul Goldschmidt/2013 (.376), Luis Gonzalez/1999 (.376) and Pollock/2014 (.375).

♦ Since May 1, Gurriel ranks among MLB leaders [min. 80 PA] in SLG (2nd, .771), OPS (2nd, 1.212), XBH (T-2nd, 16), AVG (3rd, .374), OBP (6th, .441) and homers (T-7th, 8).

♦ Overall, Gurriel ranks among MLB leaders this season in SLG (6th, .566), AVG (7th, .319) and OPS (7th, .935).

THE ANSWER-BACKS STRIKE AGAIN
♦ The D-backs’ 16 comeback wins are tied for the most in the NL (also: Dodgers, Reds and Mets).

♦ The D-backs’ 8 comeback wins in May are tied for third in the NL (also: Dodgers and Reds), behind the Rockies and Mets.

KETEL LOOKING TO EXTEND
♦ Ketel Marte’s career-best 27-game on-base streak (since April 26) is the second longest active on-base streak in the Majors, behind Jurickson Profar/COL (36), and tied for the third longest by a D-back since 2014 (also: Paul Goldschmidt/2015, David Peralta/2017, Nick Ahmed/2019)… in the span, is hitting .295 AVG/.369 OBP with 1 double, 2 triples, 5 homers, 15 RBI, 12 walks and 2 HBP.

SNAKE BITES
♦ Emmanuel Rivera is hitting .347 (10-for-29)/.835 OPS with 3 doubles, 6 RBI and 2 walks in his last 9 games.

♦ Corbin Carroll is hitting .314 (11-for-35)/.956 OPS with 3 doubles, 2 homers, 5 RBI, 4 BB and 4 SB in his last 9 games.

♦ Ketel Marte is hitting .314 (11-for-35) with 1 triple, 2 homers, 4 RBI and 2 SB in his last 8 games.

MOUND NOTABLES
♦ Since May 20, D-backs starters’ 3.61 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) leads the NL, ahead of the Cubs, Padres and Cardinals while allowing the fewest homers (4) [also: Cubs and Cardinals] and third-fewest runs (24) [also: Mets].

FIP is a statistic meant to measure a pitcher’s effectiveness, taking balls in play out of the equation, focusing solely on events a pitcher has the most control over – strikeouts, unintentional walks, hit-by-pitches and home runs.

♦ Since May 20, the D-backs’ bullpen boasts a 2.06 ERA (8 ER in 35.0 IP), third best in MLB, behind the Giants (0.45) and Guardians (1.40), while their 4 saves are tied for third (also: Cardinals and Rays), behind the Nationals (5) and Giants (5).

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

♦ The D-backs’ 10 Outs Above Average (OAA) as a team are tied for third (also: Brewers), behind the Padres (17) and Mariners (11).

♦ Christian Walker’s 5 OAA leads all first basemen, ahead of Nathaniel Lowe/TEX (4) and Josh Naylor/CLE (4).

RHP ZAC GALLEN ♦ #23
AT A GLANCE: Is in his fifth season with the D-backs.

  • Fifth in the 2022 NL Cy Young Award voting.
  • 2022 D-backs Most Valuable Pitcher by the Arizona Chapter of the BBWAA after going 12-4 with a 2.54 ERA.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Is 5-0 with a 0.77 ERA (3 ER in 35.0 IP), 0.66 WHIP, .158 opponent average and 47 strikeouts in 5 home starts this season.

  • His 0.77 home ERA leads the Majors (min. 25.0 IP).
  • His 2.14 ERA (39 ER in 163.2 IP in 26 starts) since July 13, 2022 is the lowest in the Majors (min. 120.0 IP).
  • In innings 1-3, has allowed 6 runs, held opponents to a .171 average, walked 3 and struckout 33.

VS. ROCKIES: Is 5-1 with a 2.66 ERA (21 ER in 71.0 IP) and 85 strikeouts in 12 career starts…won his last start on Sept. 11, 2022 (3 ER in 6.0 IP, 11 K).

  • Is 3-1 with a 2.91 ERA (11 ER in 34.0 IP) and 45 strikeouts in 6 starts @ Chase Field…the D-backs are 4-2 in that span.

NL RANKINGS: Ranks among NL leaders in wins (T-1st, 6), strikeouts (3rd, 72), strikeout-to-walk ratio (3rd, 5.36), walks (T-3rd, 14), WHIP (4th, 1.02) and ERA (8th, 2.97).

LIMITING THE LONG BALL: His 57.0 consecutive homerless innings are the second-longest active streak in MLB behind Sonny Gray/MIN (0 HR in 60.1 IP).

  • Has yet to allow a home run (125 BF) at home this year.

THE SCORELESS STREAK: Tallied the D-backs fourth-longest scoreless streak (28.0 IP) in franchise history from (April 4 [final inning]-April 26, 2023).

  • From April 10 to April 26, went 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER in 27.0 IP), 0.44 WHIP, .112 opponent average, 1 walk and 41 strikeouts.

MLB Preview: Cleveland Guardians (24-29) at Baltimore Orioles (34-20)

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MLB Preview: Cleveland Guardians (24-29) at Baltimore Orioles (34-20)

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:

ALLEN’S CAREER DAY POWERS CLEVELAND TO WIN
The Guardians built on momentum from the weekend and snapped a 3-game road skid with a 5-0 Memorial Day shutout of the Orioles on Monday afternoon at Baltimore’s Camden Yards… marked club’s fifth team shutout of 2023…club is seeking back-to-back series wins for the first time since March 30-April 5 after taking first two series of the season on the road in Seattle & Oakland.

The victory was paced by an exemplary effort from Cleveland’s battery…making just his 7th career start, LOGAN ALLEN piled up 10 K’s across 7.0 scoreless frames to notch his second win (7.0IP, 3H, 0R, 2BB, 10SO, 103 pitches)…the rookie left-hander faced either the minimum (3x) or 4 batters (3x) in 6.0 of his 7.0 frames – lone exception coming in the 4th when he faced 5 batters after a fielding error and a double put a pair of runners in scoring position…went on to retire 10 of final 11 batters he faced…southern Pennsylvania native CAM GALLAGHER picked up a pair of hits and drove in a pair of runs, breaking a scoreless tie with a 5thinning sac fly to score WILL BRENNAN (3-for-4, 2 2B, 2R) ahead of his opposite-field RBI-single in the 7th that spurred Cleveland’s 4-run rally…the Guardians backstop also cut down Cedric Mullins on an attempted steal in the 1st…Cleveland’s 7th-inning rally also included an RBI-double by STEVEN KWAN and a fielder’s choice
that plated a pair of runs with the help of a throwing error.

Cleveland (24-29) sits in 3rd place in AL Central standings, 3.5 games behind 1st-place Minnesota (28-26) and 1.5 games behind 2nd-place Detroit (-2.0G, 25-27)…despite winning 3 of 4 and 4 of last 7 games, Guardians have dropped 23 of last 38 overall since starting year 9-6…Cleveland is 1-0 to begin a 7-game road trip through Baltimore (1-0, two-to-play) & Minnesota (4G); club has dropped 3 of 4 and 9 of last 12 road games (12-14 overall).

MONDAY’S TIDBITS
After a career-high 10 strikeouts yesterday, LOGAN ALLEN became just the second pitcher in franchise history to have 3-ormore games with 8+ strikeouts in their first 7 career games, joining Herb Score, who accomplished the feat in 5 of his first 7 career games…is just the 8th pitcher in franchise history to have 10+ strikeouts in his first 7 career games, the first since TRISTON MCKENZIE in 2020.

After hitting his 536th career extra-base hit Monday, JOSÉ RAMÍREZ passed Nap Lajoie for 6th all-time in franchise history… with 3 more extra-base hits, he will pass Ken Keltner for 5th in club history.

The Guardians secured their 10th victory of the season when scoring 5-or-more runs and their first since an 8-6 victory against Los Angeles-AL on May 13 at Progressive Field…the club has scored 5-or-more runs in an MLB-low 13 contests this season, and sports a 10-3 record in such games…the last time Cleveland won by 5-or-more runs was March 31, a 9-4 victory at Seattle.

MAY ON THE MOUND
Through the end of April, the Guardians pitching staff as a whole owned a 4.04 ERA (114ER/253.2IP), 13th in MLB…with 2 games left to play in May, the pitching staff has lowered its ERA to 3.69 (195ER/475.2IP), 5th in MLB…the staff owns a 3.28 ERA (81ER/222.0IP) this month, 2nd in the AL behind Houston and 3rd in MLB.

The starting rotation lowered its ERA from 4.61 (75ER/146.1IP) at the end of April down to 4.06 (133ER/295.0IP)…the rotation’s 3.51 ERA (58ER/148.2IP) in the month of May ranks 5th in MLB …the starting staff has allowed an MLB-low 58 earned runs this month while throwing the 4th-most innings…the table below displays where Cleveland’s starting rotation ranks among MLB teams in May.

CLEVELAND STARTING ROTATION MAY SPLITS (MLB RANK)
ERA ER IP .AVG BB/9 WHIP
3.51 (5th) 58 (1st) 148.2 (4th) .246 (11th) 2.36 (4th) 1.19 (7th)

After ending April with a 3.27 ERA (39ER/107.1IP), the bullpen lowered its ERA to a 3.09 (62ER(180.2IP) mark, 4th in MLB, Baltimore is 2nd with a 3.06 ERA (69ER/202.2IP)…the bullpen’s 2.82 ERA (29ER/97.2IP) in May leads the AL and is 3rd in MLB…it has held opposing hitters to a 215 average this month, 2nd in the AL behind Chicago-AL and 4th in MLB…its inherited runners score rate of 21.3% (13-of-61) leads MLB…EMMANUEL CLASE has an MLB-high 17 saves ahead of SF’s Camilo Doval (14)…the pen has allowed just one across 23.2 innings over the last seven games.

CLEVELAND BULLPEN MAY SPLITS (MLB RANK)
ERA ER IP AVG BB/9 WHIP
2.82 (3rd) 23 (2nd) 73.1 (29th) .215 (4th) 3.19 (6th) 1.15 (3rd)

SHOW UP AND GET OUTS
Cleveland has benefited from strong defense recently…the club’s 9 outs above average in May are tied with the Padres and Royals for the MLB lead in that span…since the start of last season, Only Merrill Kelly (17 OAA) and Yu Darvish (16) have received better defense than CAL QUANTRILL (15). » JOSH NAYLOR (1st, 2 OAA), STEVEN KWAN (T1st, 2), WILL BRENNAN (2nd, 2) JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (T2nd, 3) and ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ (T2nd, 2) all rank within the top 2 at their respective positions in outs above average in May.

PUT 4 ON THE BOARD
Following Monday’s 5-0 victory, Cleveland improved to 16-5 when scoring 4-or-more runs…since the start of last season, the Guardians are 94-18 when plating 4+ runs, good for 5th-highest win percentage among MLB teams during that span…the club has totaled 4-or-more runs in 9 of its 25 games played this month. » Cleveland is 703-185 (.792) when scoring 4+ during the Terry Francona era (since 2013), holding the 2nd-highest in percentage in MLB behind Los Angeles-NL (769-158, .830)…over that period, the Guards are 166-515 (.244) when scoring 3-or-fewer runs, 2ndbest in the AL behind Tampa Bay (173-511, .253) and 5th-best in MLB.

WIN % WHEN SCORING 4+ RUNS, SINCE 2013
TEAM WIN% RECORD
Los Angeles-NL .830 769-158
Cleveland .792 703-185
New York-AL .784 736-203
St. Louis .780 704-198
Houston .777 701-201

TONIGHT’S STARTER – 47 CAL QUANTRILL RHP

QUANTRILL’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 2-3 4.75 10 10 55.0 56 30 29 18 31
Career 33-19 3.66 123 85 526.0 500 236 214 148 400

QUANTRILL ON THE ROAD
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 1-0 3.64 5 5 29.2 30 13 12 6 18
Career 12-13 3.93 56 34 224.2 230 114 98 67 177

TONIGHT’S START
The 28-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his 11th start, 6th on the road, this evening in the middle contest of this 3-game series with the Baltimore Orioles…is starting on extended 5 days rest; is 15-10 with a 4.07 ERA (91ER/201.1IP) in 36 career starts on 5 days of rest…the club is 6-4 in Quantrill starts this season.

LAST TIME OUT
His last start came on May 24 vs. Chicago-AL in a 6-0 defeat… he suffered his third loss of the year after allowing a season-high 6 earned runs over 4.0 innings, marking his shortest start since September 4, 2022 vs. Seattle (3.0IP)…he allowed 6-or-more earned runs for the first time since allowing 6 earned runs on June 25, 2021 at Minnesota…after retiring the first 6 White Sox hitters in order, a leadoff walk in the 3rd led to a Tim Anderson RBI-single… the White Sox did most of their damage against Quantrill in the 4th, starting with a leadoff walk and infield single that led to a Jake Burger sacrifice fly, a Romy González 2-RBI double, a wild pitch that plated another run, and a Seby Zavala sacrifice fly that put Chicago-AL ahead 6-0…Quantrill’s outing ended after the final out in the 4th.

BALTIMORE BRIEFING
This will be his 5th career appearance and 4th career start against the Orioles…his last start against Baltimore came on August 30, 2022, a 5-1 victory at Progressive Field…Quantrill allowed just one run (earned) and one hit over 6.0 innings with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks…in his 4 previous appearances against the O’s, he sports a 1-1 record with a 6.00 ERA (8ER/12.0IP)… Quantrill has allowed three-or-fewer hits and one-or-fewer earned runs in 3 of his 4 appearances against the Orioles…his last start in Baltimore on June 6, 2021 was the shortest of his career, lasting only 1.1 innings while allowing 7 runs (5 earned) on 5 hits with one strikeout…teams are 3-1 in Quantrill’s 4 games against the Orioles.

He is 4-2 with a 3.66 ERA (32ER/76.1IP) in 18 career games/14 career starts against the AL East…the Guards have won each of Quantrill’s last five starts against the division, dating back to July 27, 2022…Quantrill’s lone start against the AL East this season was May 1 at New York-AL…he did not factor into the decision, despite throwing a season-high 7.1 innings…he allowed 2 runs (earned), a walk and 6 hits while striking out 2.

CONSISTENT CAL: THE ROAD WARRIOR
In Quantrill’s last 27 starts, dating back to July 11, 2022, he has a 13-3 (.813) record, ranking T2nd in win percentage among all MLB pitchers in their last 27 starts behind Los Angeles NL’s Tony Gonsolin (17-2, .895)…as a club, Cleveland has won 22 of Quantrill’s last 27 starts…since starting 2022 with a 1-5 record in his first 7 road tilts, including 5 straight losses, Quantrill has turned things around and won 6 consecutive decisions across his last 11 starts away from home…since July 22, 2022, Quantrill holds an unblemished 6-0 record with a 2.91 ERA (21ER/65.0IP), along with 50 strikeouts and 14 walks in his 11 road starts during that span… only Quantrill, Houston’s Framber Valdez (9-0) and Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (4-0) are unbeaten (min. 10 GS) in all road starts since July 22, 2022…he has received 4-or-more runs of support in of those 11 starts…Quantrill has a 7.20 RSA on the road sinceJuly 22, 2022, ranking 4th among all MLB pitchers with 10-or-more road starts during that timeframe.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:

YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Orioles were shut out by the Guardians yesterday, 5-0, in the opener of the three-game set at Oriole Park…Have dropped three straight series openers and four of their last five after beginning the year 13-0 in such games… Were shut out for the fourth time this season and first since May 14 vs. Pittsburgh; all shutouts have come since May 3…Have dropped four of their last five games at Oriole Park after beginning the year 15-7 at home.

WELLS, WELLS, WELLS: Tyler Wells has struck out at least seven batters in each of his last four starts, tied for the third-longest streak by an Orioles pitcher since the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954, behind an eight-game streak by Connie Johnson in 1957 and a five-game streak by Erik Bedard in 2007; Wells is the first O’s hurler to strike out at least seven batters in four straight starts since Dylan Bundy did so in 2017…Wells’ streak is the third-longest active streak in MLB this season behind Atlanta’s Spencer Strider (11 G) and Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller (6 G).

Leads MLB in WHIP (0.83) and opponent on-base percentage (.220); also ranks among qualified pitchers in H/9 (2nd, 5.71), opponent batting average (2nd, .176), and BB/9 (7th, 1.71).

Has tossed at least 5.0 innings in each of his 11 appearances (10 starts) this season; entered 2023 with 12 such games (all in 2022).

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Of Baltimore’s 54 games this season, 48 have been decided by four or fewer runs, tied with Los Angeles-AL for the most in MLB…The O’s have gone 31-17 in those games, the most wins and best winning percentage (.646) in MLB…The O’s have gone 22-13 in games decided by three or fewer runs, tied for the most wins in MLB with Cleveland (22-19).

FEELS GOOD TO BE HOME: The O’s are in the middle of a six-game homestand, which began this past weekend with three games against the Rangers (1-2)…The Orioles are hosting the Guardians for a three-game set which began yesterday (0-1)…The Birds are 16-11 (.593) in Baltimore and own the fourth-best home winning percentage in the AL and tied for fifth-best in MLB.

AGAINST THE GUARDIANS: The O’s are facing the Guardians for the second of seven games this season…The Birds will travel to Cleveland for four games at Progressive Field from September 21-24…Baltimore went 3-3 against Cleveland in 2022, 1-2 at Oriole Park and 2-1 at Progressive Field…The O’s have not won a season series against the Guardians since 2016 (5-1).

WHAT’S TRENDING: The O’s have won 25 of their last 38 games, 28 of 42, and 30 of 45…The 34-20 overall record ranks third in MLB to start the season (see box at right)… Entering today, the Rays (39-17), Rangers (34-19), Dodgers (33-22), Yankees (33-23), Braves (32-22), Astros (31-22), and Diamondbacks (31-23) are the only other teams with 30 wins this season, while the Rays and Rangers are the only other teams with 20 or fewer losses.

MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle ranks fifth in MLB with 28 Barrels, per Statcast, trailing only New York-AL’s Aaron Judge (32), Toronto’s Matt Chapman (31), Atlanta’s Matt Olson (30), and New York-NL’s Pete Alonso (29)…He ranks tied for ninth in MLB with 80 Hard-Hit Balls…His 38 RBI rank tied for seventh in the AL and tied for 11th in MLB; they are tied with Los Angeles-NL’s Max Muncy for third among primary first basemen, trailing only New York-NL’s Pete Alonso (46) and Atlanta’s Matt Olson (42).

SOLID CONTACT: The Orioles rank tied with the Cardinals and Dodgers for sixth in MLB with an 89.8 mph average exit velocity, per Statcast, trailing the Braves (91.2 mph), Rays (90.3 mph), Angels (90.0 mph), and Rangers and Yankees (89.9 mph)… Baltimore’s 15.1 degree average launch angle on batted balls is the second-highest in the majors, trailing only the Dodgers (15.5)…Baltimore’s 576 Hard-Hit Balls rank sixth in the AL and ninth in MLB.

WHAT A RELIEF: The Baltimore bullpen owns a 3.11 ERA (70 ER/202.2 IP), the third-best in MLB behind the Yankees (2.95) and Guardians (3.09)…O’s relievers have 16 wins this season, tied with the Yankees for the most in the majors…The O’s are second in MLB with 235 strikeouts from the ‘pen, trailing the Royals (249).

ROSTER MOVES: The Orioles today signed outfielder Aaron Hicks to a Major League contract…He will wear No. 34 and be active for tonight’s game…In a corresponding move, outfielder Cedric Mullins was placed on the 10-day Injured List with a right groin strain.

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – #48 KYLE GIBSON RHP
QUICK HITS: Scheduled to make his 12th start of the season, fifth at home, and 22nd career appearance (21st start) against the Guardians tonight…Became the first O’s pitcher in club history (since 1954) to start and win each of his three first appearances with the team…Started a season 4-0 for the second time in his career, joining a 6-0 start with Texas in 2021; became the fifth Oriole starting pitcher since 2004 to begin a year 4-0, joining John Means (4-0 in 2021), Bud Norris (4-0 in 2013), Wei-Yin Chen (4-0 in 2012), and Erik Bedard (4-0 in 2006)…In 278 career appearances (272 starts), Gibson owns a 95-94 record with a 4.49 ERA (783 ER/1570.0 IP)…The O’s signed Gibson to a one-year contract on December 5, 2022…He has also spent time with the Twins, Phillies, and Rangers across 10 Major League seasons.

LAST TIME OUT: Earned his second straight win in his last start on May 25 at New York-AL…Worked a season-high-tying 7.0 scoreless innings on two hits with a season-high four walks and three strikeouts…Marked his team-leading sixth quality start of the season…Also marked his sixth win of the season; last season, he earned his sixth victory in his 20th start on July 27 vs. Atlanta with Philadelphia…Became the oldest O’s pitcher (35-214) to toss 7.0-or-more shutout innings in a start since Freddy García (36-236) also tossed 7.0 scoreless frames on May 30, 2013 vs. Washington… Marked his fewest hits surrendered in a start since also allowing two on April 22 vs. Detroit…Also marked his first shutout start of 7.0-or-more innings since also tossing 7.0 scoreless frames on August 27, 2022 vs. Pittsburgh with Philadelphia…Tossed 7.0 innings-or-more in back-to-back starts for the first time since working 15.0 innings across two outings from April 13-18, 2021 with Texas…Threw 96 pitches, 56 strikes.

CAREER AGAINST THE GUARDIANS: Making his 22nd career appearance (21st start) against the Guardians…Charged with a blown save in his last start against Cleveland with Minnesota on September 15, 2019 at Progressive Field…Allowed two runs (1 ER) on two hits (1 HR) and one walk in 1.0 inning…Threw 31 pitches, 16 strikes…Owns a 3-10 record with a 5.59 ERA (64 ER/103.0 IP) through his first 21 appearances (20 starts) against the Guardians.

CAREER AGAINST THE AL CENTRAL: Making his 96th career appearance (92nd start) against the AL Central tonight…Has made four starts against the division in 2023, going 1-1 with a 5.56 ERA (14 ER/22.2 IP) in those games…Dealt the loss in his last start against the AL Central on May 3 at Kansas City after allowing six runs on 10 hits (1 HR), both season highs, in 6.2 innings of work…Did not record a walk or a strikeout in a start for the first time in his career…Threw 74 pitches, 49 strikes…Made his MLB debut on June 29, 2013 against the Royals with Minnesota; earned the win after allowing two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and a hit batter in 6.0 innings at Target Field…Threw 91 pitches, 64 strikes…With the Rangers, he tossed a career-low 0.1 inning on April 1, 2021, at Kansas City…Owns a 33-32 record with a 4.54 ERA (267 ER/529.1 IP) through his first 95 games (91 starts) against the AL Central.

HOME COOKING: Making his fifth home start of the 2023 campaign tonight…Owns a 2-2 record with a 3.04 ERA (8 ER/23.2 IP) through his first four starts at Oriole Park this season…Dealt the loss in his last home start on May 14 vs. Pittsburgh after allowing four runs on seven hits with a then-season-high-tying three walks and five strikeouts in 5.0 innings…Threw 95 pitches, 57 strikes…Has lost each of his last two starts at Oriole Park since May 8 after winning two straight to begin the season.

MLB Preview: Los Angeles Angels (29-26) at Chicago White Sox (22-34)

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MLB Preview: Los Angeles Angels (29-26) at Chicago White Sox (22-34)

LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:

LEADING OFF: Today, the Angels play the second (1-0) of seven games on a road trip against the Chicago White Sox (1-0; May 29-31) and Houston Astros (June 1-4)…Halos went 5-4 on last homestand against the Minnesota Twins (2-1), Boston Red Sox (3-0) and Miami Marlins (0-3)…LAA was 3-4 on last road trip to Cleveland (1-2) and Baltimore (2-2).

WINS AND LOSSES: Halos victory last night snapped season-high-matching three game losing streak…The straight losses came after winning each of previous four (including three game sweep vs. Boston).

“WHITE SOX, WHAT’S THAT?”: Today is the second (1- 0) of seven games this season between the Angels and White Sox…In addition to the current three game set in Chicago, the teams will meet again for four games at The Big A from June 26-29…Halos have won six consecutive season series vs. White Sox and 10 of last 11 season series overall…Since 2011, Angels are 52-27 (.658) vs. CWS.

HIGHEST CAREER OBP vs. WHITE SOX
(min. 200 PA)

  1. Babe Ruth – .471
  2. Mike Trout – .459
  3. Ted Williams – .449
  4. Lou Gehrig – .446
  5. Jimmie Foxx – .445

FRIENDLY CONFINES: Since 2018, Angels are 10-4 at Guaranteed Rate Field.

LEAGUE LEADER: Shohei Ohtani, leads the Majors in opponent batting average (.155), is second in strikeouts (90) and ranks fourth in WHIP (0.95).

PLAY FROM AHEAD: Halos have held leads in 44 of 55 games played this year.

JOYCE CALLED UP: Yesterday, RHP Ben Joyce made his Major League debut, working one scoreless inning with two strikeouts…Recorded first career strikeout on 101.8 MPH pitch vs. Gavin Sheets; second fastest pitch for first career strikeout in the Statcast era (102.4 MPH by Julian Fernandez (COL) on 9/5/21 vs. ATL)…Joyce is ranked by MLB Pipleline as Angels #9 prospect…The Angels third round selection last season becomes the second player from the 2022 Draft to reach the Majors, following teammate Zach Neto.

‘PEN PALS: The Angels bullpen is pitching to a 3.59 ERA (198 IP – 79 ER) this season, which is the eighth-best ERA in the Majors.

LATE COMEBACKS: Halos have three wins this season when trailing after eight innings, which matches the Angels total from each of the last two seasons…Last time LAA had more than three wins in a season when trailing after eight frames was 2017 (5).

SHUT OUT: Sunday vs. Miami was the first time Halos were shut out since Aug. 21, 2022 at Detroit…The streak of 94 games without being shut out was the longest active streak in the Majors and finishes as the fourth-longest streak in Angels history.

SINGLE HANDED: Gio Urshela has hit 47 singles this year plus 10 extra-base hits (seven doubles, one triple & two home runs)…Urshela ranks second, behind Toronto’s Bo Bichette (55), for the American League lead in singles…Since May 5, Urshela has hits in 18 of 22 games with a PA and ranks fourth in the A.L. with a .354 (28/79) batting average in that span.

LEAD ASSISTANT: Hunter Renfroe is tied for second in the American League with five outfield assists this season…Since 2017, his 61 outfield assists lead the Majors (Starling Marte is second with 52 assists).

NET-OW: Zack Neto has been hit by 10 pitches this season, which is second-most in the Majors…Since 1901, Neto’s 10 HBP are tied for the most through a player’s first 41 career MLB games with Nick Johnson (2001-02) and Tim Locastro (2017-19).

ESTÉVEZ ENDING: This season, Carlos Estévez is pitching to a 1.50 ERA (24 IP – 4 ER) and has converted all 13 of his save opportunities (the 13 saves are a new career high)…He is the first Angels pitcher to convert his first 13 save opportunities of a season since Troy Percival had 16 straight successful save opportunities to begin the 2001 season.

JUST MET A MAN NAMED BARRIA: Jaime Barria is scheduled to make his second start of the season tomorrow after making 11 of his 12 appearances this season from the bullpen…Since April 8, he leads the Majors (min. 25 IP) with a 0.36 ERA (25.1 IP – 1 ER).

THE MICK: Mickey Moniak has hits in nine of his 11 starts for the Angels this season, including three leadoff homers and eight total extra-base hits…He’s one of three players in the Majors with three leadoff HR this year, along with Mookie Betts (LAD) and Christian Yelich (MIL)…On May 13 at Cleveland, became the first player in MLB history to make his season debut on his birthday and hit a leadoff home run.

BACHMAN IN THE SHOW: Sam Bachman made his MLB debut Friday night vs. Miami with 2.0 innings pitched in relief…The Angels first round pick (ninth overall) in the 2021 Draft, Bachman is currently rated by MLB Pipleline as the #4 prospect in the Halos system…He is the highest drafted player from the 2021 Draft to debut and the only pitcher from the first two rounds of that Draft to appear in the Majors.

UNEARNED: Angels have allowed 31 unearned runs this season, which leads the Majors…Halos have committed 34 fielding errors this season, which is tied for sixth-most in the Majors.

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP TYLER ANDERSON
2-0, 4.81 ERA
Has a 3.14 ERA (28.2 IP – 10 ER) across last five starts

TODAY’S GAME: Making 10th start of the season and sixth on the road…Is in eighth Major League season and made seventh straight Opening Day roster…Signed a three-year contract with Angels, Nov. 16, 2022.

  • DECISIONS: Victory in last start snapped streak of seven consecutive starts with a no-decision…The seven game streak tied for the second-longest in franchise history…Angels record streak was eight straight no-decisions by Jim McGlothlin between the 1966-67 seasons.
  • BACK ON TRACK: Pitched 6.0 scoreless innings in Angels debut on April 2 at Oakland, before allowing 5+ runs in each of next three starts…In last five starts, has a 3.14 ERA (28.2 IP – 10 ER) and 19 strikeouts.
  • LEFT OUT: This season, is holding left-handers to a .234 average (11/47) compared with a .294 (42/143) average against right-handers.
  • FASTBALL DAMAGE: This season, opponents are batting .290 (18/62) against his fastball, but are hitting .273 (35/128) against the rest of his arsenal.
  • LAST TIME OUT: Earned the win in last start on Wednesday vs. Boston after tossing 6.0 innings and allowing one earned run on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts…The victory snapped a streak of seven straight no-decisions after winning Angels debut on April 2 at Oakland.
  • HURT BY THE HOMER: 12 of 28 runs allowed this season (42.9%) have scored on home runs.
  • VS. CHICAGO (A.L.): In two career starts vs. Chicago (A.L.), is 0-0 with a 6.52 ERA (9.2 IP – 7 ER) and six strikeouts…Last appearance came last season for Dodgers on June 9, 2022, which was one of just four starts in 2022 with 4+ earned runs allowed.
  • AT GUARANTEED RATE FIELD: Only previous appearance at Guaranteed Rate Field came on June 9, 2022 for Dodgers (ND; 3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO).
  • HALO DEBUT: Earned the win in Angels debut on April 2 at Oakland after working 6.0 shutout frames, allowing four hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
  • THE CHANGE: Last season, held opponents to a .179 (41/229) average against his changeup, but opponents are batting .281 (16/57) this year.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX NOTES:

WHITE SOX AT A GLANCE
The Chicago White Sox have lost three straight games but won eight of 14, nine of 16 and 15 of 28 as they continue a six-game, seven-day homestand tonight vs. the Los Angeles Angels.

RHP Lucas Giolito, who has allowed two earned runs or less in four of his last six outings, is scheduled to start tonight’s game.

The White Sox went 3-4 on their last trip, losing three of four at Detroit and winning two of three at Cleveland … they suffered a 6-5, 10-inning defeat in Sunday’s finale at Comerica Park.

Following this series vs. the Angels and an off day Thursday, Chicago will conclude the homestand this weekend vs. the Tigers.

Following next Monday’s off day, the White Sox will take a brief three-game trip from 6/6-8 at the Yankees before returning to Chicago for a three-game weekend series vs. Miami.

The Sox are in fourth place in the AL Central, 5.0 games behind second-place Detroit and 7.0 behind first-place Minnesota.

The White Sox went 6-3 on their last homestand from 5/12-21 vs. Houston (1-2), Cleveland (2-1) and Kansas City (3-0).

TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
The White Sox are 15-13 in the last 28 games since 4/30 following a 7-21 start … Sox pitchers own a 3.06 ERA (54 ER/159.0 IP) in 17 games since 5/11, the second-best mark in MLB.

Chicago starters own a 3.19 ERA (35 ER/98.2 IP) and .207 average with 95 strikeouts in the last 18 games (11 quality starts).

The Sox are hitting .216/.260/.334 with just eight homers and 49 runs scored (4.1 R/G) over the last 12 games … they have scored four runs or less seven times and homered in six contests.

The White Sox are 4-8 vs. Los Angeles-AL since the start of the 2021 season … the Sox have not won a series vs. the Angels since 9/25-28/17 at Guaranteed Rate Field (3-1).

Lucas Giolito is 2-1 with a 2.27 ERA (8 ER/31.2 IP), .202 (23- 114) opp. average, 0.88 WHIP, .582 OPS and 30 strikeouts in five starts (four QS) at Guaranteed Rate Field this season.

Eloy Jimenez is 17-40 (.425) with two doubles, three homers, 12 RBI and four multi-hit efforts during his 10-game hitting streak.

LAST NIGHT’S RECAP
Yasmani Grandal grounded out to shortstop with the tying runs on base to end the Angels’ 6-4 win over the White Sox.

Eloy Jiménez cut the deficit to two with a solo homer in the ninth and was followed by a Andrew Vaughn HBP, Gavin Sheets walk and Jake Burger pop out before Grandal’s final at-bat.

The Angels struck first with four runs in the first off Michael Kopech on back-to-back homers by Brandon Drury and Matt Thaiss … the Sox cut into the deficit on solo homers by Vaughn in the first and Romy Gonzalez in the fi fth.

Kopech (4 ER/4.1 IP) suffered his fifth loss and had his scoreless IP streak snapped at 15.0 … he struck out 10-plus for the second time this season and fourth time in his career.

Jiménez extended his hitting streak to 10 games … Chicago walked once, struck out 11 times and went 1-4 with RISP.

GIOLITO’S GUARANTEED RATES
Lucas Giolito is 2-1 with a 2.27 ERA (8 ER/31.2 IP), 0.88 WHIP, 30 strikeouts and three home runs in three home starts (4 QS).

He has limited opponents to a .202/.240/.342 (23-114) slash line, allowed one run or less three times and two hits or less twice.

The home starts have included matchups against first-place Minnesota and Tampa, defending World Series champion Houston and defending National League champion Philadelphia.

REST WHEN YOU CAN
This series vs. the Angels marks the end of a 16-game stretch without a day off … the White Sox are 14-13 during the current stretch of 29 games in 30 days from 5/2-31 (last off day was 5/15).

The 29-game stretch includes 15 games at home, 14 on the road and 20 vs. the American League Central … the White Sox played six of seven series from 5/5-28 vs. teams below .500.

MIND THE GAP
Chicago is 15-13 (.536) since 4/30, the second-best record among American League Central clubs behind Detroit (16-12).

The Sox 3.85 ERA since 4/30 is the sixth-best in the AL.

A breakdown of the White Sox first 56 games this season:
W-L AVG R R/G HR OBP SLG OPS ERA IP QS ER HR SO
15-13 .250 133 4.8 32 .303 .407 .71 3.85 250.0 14 107 33 244
7-21 .227 106 3.8 26 .288 .367 .655 5.88 243.1 8 159 44 272

ELVIS ON THE MEND
INF Elvis Andrus is 3-7 (.429) with a home run, RBI and walk in his first two rehab games with Class AAA Charlotte … he has been on the 10-day IL since 5/13 with a strained left oblique.

WHITE SOX VS. LOS ANGELES ANGELS
The White Sox and Angels meet seven times this season: three times at Guaranteed Rate Field and four at Angel Stadium.

The Sox went 3-4 last season, including 2-2 at home and 1-2 on the road … they have not won a series vs. the Angels since 9/25-28/17 at Guaranteed Rate Field (3-1).

The White Sox are winless in the last six season series (2016- 19, ’21-22) and have not won a season matchup since 2015 (4-3).

Chicago is 3-7 in the last 10 games and 7-19 in the last 26.

HOW THE WEST WAS WON
The Sox are 3-5 vs. the American League West this season … they went 3-4 vs. Houston in their first two series vs. the division.

The Sox went 18-16 vs. the division last season and 16-17 in 2021 … they are 19-15 at home vs. the AL West since 2021.

ROTATION SENSATION
White Sox starters own a 3.19 ERA (35 ER/98.2 IP), .207 opponents average and 95 strikeouts over the last 18 games since 5/11 … they lead MLB in average, rank second in OPS (.638), third in ERA and seventh in WHIP (1.18) during that span.

Starters have allowed three runs or less 13 times, two or less 10 times and one or less six times … the rotation since 5/11:

W-L ERA WHIP QS IP H R ER HR BB SO SO/9.0 AVG OPS
8-45 3.19 1.18 11 98.2 74 39 351 10 42 95 8.7 .207 .638

PROVIDING RELIEF
The White Sox bullpen owns a 3.01 ERA (30 ER/89.2 IP) and .202 (66-326) opponents average with 80 strikeouts and just seven home runs allowed over 27 games in May.

Sox relievers rank among the MLB May leaders in opp. average (T1st), opp. OPS (3rd, .626), WHIP (4th, 1.17) and ERA (5th).

By comparison, relievers recorded a 6.68 ERA, .290 average, .885 OPS and a 1.76 WHIP in the fi rst 29 games from 3/30-4/30.

POSTING PUNCHOUTS
White Sox pitchers are tied for second in the American League and third in MLB with 516 strikeouts this season.

Sox starters rank second in MLB with 317 strikeouts, 16 behind the Twins (333) … relievers rank ninth in the AL (199 SO).

LONGBALL LOGISTICS
The White Sox have hit 32 homers in their last 28 games since 4/30 and 35 in the last 31 contests (10 multi-homer) since 4/27

Chicago is 17-20 when homering, 7-8 when hitting multiple homers and 5-14 when going homerless this season.

SOUTHPAW SUCCESS
Chicago is hitting .306/.365/.483 in the last 19 games vs. LHP.

The White Sox are batting .273/.338/.442 vs. left-handed pitching since the start of the 2019 season … during that span, the Sox lead MLB in average, rank second in on-base percentage, fifth in OPS (.780) and sixth in slugging percentage.

Tim Anderson (.351) and Hanser Alberto (.343) rank 1-2 in MLB in average vs. left-handers since the start of 2019.

SEARCHING FOR HOME˨FIELD ADVANTAGE
The White Sox are 12-14 (.462) at home this season after going 37-44 (.457) in 2022, the 12th-best winning percentage in the American League … by comparison, the Sox were 53-28 (.654) at home in 2021, the best record in the AL.

Through 26 home games this season, the White Sox have been outscored, 141-112, and outhomered, 42-29.

Jake Burger (nine), Luis Robert Jr. (seven) and Andrew Vaughn (fi ve) have combined to hit 21 of the Sox 29 home runs.

AS TA GOES, SO GO THE WHITE SOX
Since the start of the 2020, the Sox are 162-124 when Tim Anderson is in the starting lineup (69-85 when he doesn’t start).

During that span, the Sox are 132-81 when Anderson records a hit, 76-33 when he records a multi-hit eff ort, 97-48 when he scores a run and 27-3 when he homers.

Anderson ranks second in MLB since the start of 2019 with 55 three-hit games (Sox are 38-17), trailing Freddie Freeman (61).

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

STARTER – #27 LUCAS GIOLITO RHP
GIOLITO AT A GLANCE
Is scheduled to make his 12th start of the season, sixth at home and first vs. the Los Angeles Angels.

Has gone 3-4 with a 3.15 ERA (19 ER/54.1 IP), .220 (44-200) opponents average and 55 strikeouts over his last nine starts … has tossed 6.0-plus IP in eight of the nine starts and has allowed two runs or less in six.

Opponents are hitting .226 (14-62) against him with RISP and .280 (7-25) with RISP/two outs in 2023.

Is 74 strikeouts away from becoming the 12th pitcher in White Sox history with 1,000 (63 strikeouts away from 1,000 in his career).

Finished sixth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 2019, seventh in 2020 and tied for 11th in 2021.

Threw the 19th no-hitter in White Sox history on 8/25/20 vs. Pittsburgh, walking one with 13 strikeouts.

Was a finalist for a Rawlings(R) Gold Glove and Comeback Player of the Year Awards and was a 2019 AL All-Star.

Won AL Pitcher of the Month honors in May 2019 and AL Player of Week for 8/24-30/20 and 5/27-6/2/19.

LAST START
Suffered his fourth loss of the season on 5/25 at Detroit, allowing four runs on six hits with a career-high tying seven walks (third time) and four strikeouts over 3.2 IP … held the Tigers scoreless over the first three innings before allowing four runs in the fourth, including a solo home run to Akil Baddoo to lead off the inning.

Departed the game in the fourth with the White Sox trailing, 4-1, two outs and runners on first and third … threw 89 pitches (49 strikes).

Owned a 68.2 first-strike percentage and 8.8 swinging-strike percentage (eight swing and misses) vs. 22 batters … threw 44 four-seam fastballs (92.7 mph avg; 94.0 mph max), 25 sliders (84.1 avg; 86.1 max) and 20 changeups (80.6 avg; 81.8 max).

SUMMER AT 35TH AND SHIELDS
Has gone 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA (15 ER/49.2 IP) and .207 (37-179) opponents average over his last eight starts at home since 9/4/22 … has allowed three runs or less in seven of those starts.

Threw the 19th no-hitter in White Sox history on 8/25/20 at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates … struck out a career-high tying 13, the most by a Sox in a no-hitter.

POSTING PUNCHOUTS
Has recorded 14 career starts with 10-plus strikeouts, tied with teammate Dylan Cease for fourth-most in White Sox history … needs one double-digit strikeout game to tie Juan Pizarro for third place.

Recorded consecutive 10-plus strikeout games twice in his career from 8/20-25/20 (two) and 8/16-27/19 (three).

His last double-digit strikeout game came on 5/4/22 at the Cubs (10 SO).

THE QUALITY KID
Leads the White Sox and is tied for 11th in the American League with six quality starts this season.

Has tossed 77 quality starts in his career, fifth-most in the American League since 2017.

EFFICIENCY IS KEY
Is averaging 94.8 pitches per start, 16.5 pitches per inning and 3.89 pitches per batter faced this season … all three marks are the lowest by a Sox pitcher in 2023.

BITTEN BY THE LONG BALL
Has allowed 60 home runs since the start of the 2021 season, the 10th-most in baseball … is averaging 1.34 HR/9.0 IP during that span.

Has surrendered nine home runs over his 11 starts this season, allowing one three-run homer, one two-run and seven solo … has allowed six homers on the road, three at home, five vs. left-handed hitters and four vs. righties.

VS. LOS ANGELES ANGELS || A.L. WEST
Is scheduled to make his eighth career start against the Angels and fourth at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Went 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA (5 ER/12.0 IP) and .283 (13-46) opponents average over two starts in 2022.

Has allowed three runs or less in all seven career starts against the Angels … has tossed 6.0-plus five times.

His last win against the Angels came on 8/16/19 at Angel Stadium (2 ER/6.0 IP).

Is 1-4 with a 6.51 ERA (34 ER/47.0 IP) and .300 (57- 190) opponents average over his last nine starts vs. the American League West this season.

Is a graduate of Harvard-Westlake High School, located approximately 50 miles from Angel Stadium … his pitching coach in high school was current White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz.

MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (28-26) at Houston Astros (31-22)

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MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (28-26) at Houston Astros (31-22)

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 with a win over the Astros yesterday…tonight, the Twins will play the second of three at Minute Maid Park…after the three-game series concludes tomorrow night, 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 12-14 on the road.

ROYCE MAKES HIS RETURN KNOWN: The Twins beat the Astros last night at Minute Maid Park by a score of 7-5 in 10 innings, making them 5-3 in extras this season…Royce Lewis, playing in his first game in exactly one year, had the game-tying RBI single with two outs in the top of the ninth inning as the Twins eventually earned their first victory this season when trailing after eight innings (1-23)…Sonny Gray was the starter, allowing three runs (2 earned) on four hits in a 6.0-inning no-decision…Jhoan Duran (1-1) earned the win with 2.0 scoreless innings, pitching the ninth and 10th, throwing 29 pitches…the offense recorded 14 hits, as Lewis hit a three-run jimmy jack…Ryan Jeffers hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the 10th, a ball that registered at 117.4 mph exit velocity, the hardest-hit ball by a Twin in the Statcast Era (since 2015).

JOE CY-AN: Through 10 starts, Joe Ryan has gone 7-1, 2.21 ERA (61.0 IP, 15 ER) with 10 walks and 70 strikeouts, while holding opponents to a .209 (48-for-230) batting average…below are his ranks among AL starting pitchers in a few notable categories:

ERA OPS SLG WHIP FIP WAR
Gray – 1.94 Ryan – .544 Gray – .287 Wells – 0.83 Gray – 2.13 Eovaldi – 2.8
McClanahan – 1.97 Gilbert – .555 Ohtani – .291 Gilbert – 0.92 Ryan – 2.32 Gray – 2.5
Rodriguez – 2.13 Rodriguez – .563 Ryan – .300 Ryan – 0.95 Gausman – 2.46 Gausman – 2.5
Ryan – 2.21 Ohtani – .564 Rodriguez – .311 Ohtani – 0.95 Eovaldi – 2.47 Ryan – 2.3
Valdez – 2.38 Gray – .576 Gilbert – .318 Rodriguez – 0.98 Gilbert – 2.72 Valdez – 2.2

FIRING UP SUMMER: With two games 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 .228 113 197 39 1 36 106 105 273 .319 .401 .720
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 14 3 228.1 195 95 86 24 87 248 3.39 .229

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 248 strikeouts this month, fourth 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
2022 (30 games)………………………………………………….8.6 ………………………………………………………256
2018 (28 games)………………………………………………….8.8 ………………………………………………………252
2023 (25 games) ………………………………………………..*9.8 ……………………………………………………..248

  • indicates club record for May

SPACE CITY AND MINNY: The Twins and Astros are playing each other today for the fifth of six scheduled games in 2023…the Twins are 38-43 all-time against the Astros in the regular season, including a record of 27-34 since Houston joined the American League in 2013.

The Twins are 3-1 vs. Houston this season…one more win in this series 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

THIS IS THE STORY OF A CHAMPION: Christian Vázquez will be receiving his 2022 World Series ring as part of a special pregame ceremony tonight with his family joining him on the field…it’s Vázquez’s second ring after winning the World Series with the 2018 Red Sox…Vázquez was acquired by the Astros at the 2022 deadline, in exchange for Wilyer Abreu and Enmanuel Valdez…he played in 35 games for the Astros, hitting .250 (26-for-104) with three doubles, one home run and 10 RBI.

He played in six Postseason games for the Astros, including two ALDS games vs. Seattle, one ALCS game vs. New York-AL and three World Series games vs. Philadelphia…hit .235 (4-for-17) with one walk and three RBI…went 2-for-7 with one RBI in three World Series games…he drove in two runs with a single in Game 3 of the ALCS at New York-AL…was behind the plate for the Astros’ combined no-hitter in Game 4 of the World Series, becoming the second catcher in MLB history to catch a no-hitter in the World Series, joining Yogi Berra, who caught Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. BBs FOR CC: Carlos Correa drew a walk yesterday and has now reached safely in each of his last 15 games, hitting .263 (15-for-57) in that span with a .391 on-base percentage (15 hits & 12 walks), six doubles, one home run, nine RBI and an .812 OPS…Correa’s current streak is his longest since reaching in 20-straight from September 13-October 3, 2022…his career long is 27, from June 10-July 15, 2017 with Houston.

Correa has drawn nine walks in his last seven games and 12 walks in his last 15 games, since May 10…since that date, his 12 walks are tied for fifth most in the AL.

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.

OLIVAR SHOWS HIS MUSSEL: Low-A Fort Myers catcher/outfielder Ricardo Olivar has been named Florida State League Player of the Week for the week of May 22-28…in five games for the Mighty Mussels, Olivar hit .500 (9-for18) with two doubles, one home run, three RBI, three walks, a .571 on-base percentage, a .778 slugging percentage and a 1.349 OPS.

STARTING PITCHER – JOE RYAN 41
2023: 7-1, 2.21 ERA CAREER: 22-10, 3.26 ERA

Making his 11th start and appearance of 2023 and his seventh road start of the year…also his 43rd career start and appearance.

Facing Houston for second time this season, third time in career and first at Minute Maid Park; 1-1, 7.20 ERA (10.0 IP, 8 ER) with six walks and 13 strikeouts in two previous starts vs. the Astros.

Owns most strikeouts (251) and second-most wins (22) through a pitcher’s first 42 career games in Twins history (since 1961).

LEAGUE LEADER: Ryan enters today leading American League pitchers in several statistical cat- egories…here are his numbers through 10 starts and how they rank among qualified AL pitchers:

STATISTIC RYAN’S #’S AL RANK
Opponent OPS ………………………………………. .544 ……………………………………………………………. 1st
Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio………………………….. 7.00 …………………………………………………………… 2nd
Wins………………………………………………………. 7 …………………………………………………………….T-2nd
WHIP……………………………………………………. 0.95 ……………………………………………………………. 3rd
WAR……………………………………………………… 2.3 …………………………………………………………….. 4th
ERA …………………………………………………….. 2.21 ……………………………………………………………..4th
Strikeouts………………………………………………. 70 …………………………………………………………… T-9th

LAST TIME OUT: Earned the win in the Twins 7-1 victory on May 24 vs. San Francisco at Target Field; pitched a season-low 5.0 innings, allowing one run on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts… pitched opposite of Anthony DeSclafani, who took the loss…allowed his only run in the second inning on an RBI single by third baseman Casey Schmitt…threw a season-high 107 pitches, tied with his only other career start vs. San Francisco on August 26, 2022 for the second most of his career, trailing only his 110 pitches at Los Angeles-NL on August 9, 2022…marked his shortest start since going 4.0 innings vs. Los Angeles-AL on September 24, 2022…received six runs of support and ranks tied for second in baseball this year with 56 total runs of support…Twins bullpen fired 4.0 scoreless innings as Minnesota salvaged the finale of the three-game series.

Has not allowed a home run in his last six starts, his longest streak without allowing a homer in his career…last allowed a homer in the sixth inning on April 19 at Boston to Kiké Hernández, logging 36.1 innings since the home run.

Snapped career-long streaks of seven-straight quality starts and 10-consecutive starts of 6.0-or-more innings…his nine-start stretch pitching 6.0-or-more innings in 2023 is tied with SF’s Logan Webb for the longest such streak in baseball this season.

TWO STARTS AGO: Recorded his seventh-straight quality start but did not factor into the decision in the Twins 5-4 loss against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium on May 19…pitched 6.0 innings, allowing three runs (2 earned) on seven hits, with one walk and nine strikeouts…allowed one run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by outfielder Taylor Ward, scoring infielder Zach Neto…gave up two runs in the fourth inning, one on a RBI double from infielder Brandon Drury and one on a throwing error by catcher Ryan Jeffers…was relieved by Griffin Jax to start the seventh inning with the Twins leading 4-3; Jax allowed two runs in the inning and Minnesota did not score in the final two innings, dropping the series opener.

RYAN VS. HOUSTON: Tonight is Ryan’s third career start vs. the Astros…last faced Houston on April 8 at Target Field, earning the win in the Twins 9-6 victory; went 6.0 innings, allowing four runs on three hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts…allowed all four runs on a grand slam by designated hitter Yordan Alvarez in the third inning…his 10 strikeouts set his season high and were the second most in a start in his career to that point (11 at Chicago-NL on September 22, 2021); has since matched his 2023 season high twice (April 13 at New York-AL & May 13 vs. Chicago-NL)…lost his only other start against the Astros on May 10, 2022 at Target Field, a 5-0 Twins defeat (4.0 IP, 4 R/ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 3 K).

In seven career starts vs. American League West opponents (HOU – 2, SEA – 2, LAA – 2, TEX – 1), Ryan is 1-4, 5.40 ERA (35.0 IP, 21 ER) with 18 walks and 40 strikeouts; Twins have gone 2-5.

BUSY ROAD: Making his team-high seventh road start of the year tonight…is 3-1, 2.19 ERA (37.0 IP, 9 ER) with six walks and 39 strikeouts in his first six road starts this season…his 2.19 ERA on the road is fourth best in the American League (min. 4 GS)…Twins won his first three road starts of 2023, with Ryan going 3-0, 2.73 ERA (19.0 IP, 5 ER), but Minnesota has dropped each of his last three starts on the road, despite Ryan posting a 2.00 ERA (18.0 IP, 4 ER) with 20 strikeouts in those starts…he is undefeated in four starts at Target Field this year, going 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA (24.0 IP, 6 ER), four walks and 31 strikeouts.

Pitching at Minute Maid Park for the first time in his career tonight; will become the 14th ballpark he has appeared at since debuting in 2021…is 5-5, 4.79 ERA (67.2 IP, 36 ER) with 15 walks and 71 strikeouts in 13 previous starts at new ballparks.

Ryan has gone 11-5 with a 3.27 ERA (113.0 IP, 41 ER), 25 walks and 115 strikeouts in 20 career road starts…has similar numbers in 22 career home starts, going 11-5 with a 3.25 ERA (121.2 IP, 44 ER), 37 walks and 136 strikeouts.

LEFT/RIGHT: Left-handed hitters are batting just .198 (23-for-116) with a .528 OPS and 28 strikeouts against Ryan this year…his .528 opponent OPS against lefties ranks eighth in the American League this season (min. 30.0 IP)…right-handed hitters are hitting .219 (25-for-114) with a .559 OPS and 42 strikeouts…his .209 (48-for-230) overall opponent batting average in 2023 ranks 10th in the American League and 13th in baseball…over his career, Ryan has slightly better splits against left-handed hitters than righties, with lefties batting just .195 (84-for-430) with a .603 OPS since his debut in 2021…right-handed hitters are hitting .215 (95-for-441) with a .639 OPS off Ryan.

THE ARSENAL: Ryan has utilized a four-pitch mix in his first 10 starts of the 2023 season…has leaned on his four-seam fastball and split finger, combining to throw the two pitches 87.4 percent of the time this year…recorded all four strikeouts in his last start on May 24 vs. San Francisco with his four-seam fastball; also threw only three sweepers and did not throw a slider in his last outing.

HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S TILT: The Astros and Twins will play the second game of their three-game series tonight with a pitching matchup of RHP Brandon Bielak opposite RHP Joe Ryan…despite yesterday’s high-scoring affair, 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 (3.21), while the Twins enter ranking second in that category (3.44).
ABOUT BIELAK: RHP Brandon Bielak is making his fifth turn in the rotation while subbing for the injured RHP José Urquidy… Bielak has allowed two-or-fewer earned runs in three of his four starts and is coming off the longest Major League start of his career on Wednesday at MIL (4ER/6.2IP)…Bielak has pitched in parts of the last four Major League seasons (2020- 23) with the Astros, making 50 appearances, including 12 starts…he began his 2023 season at Triple A Sugar Land, posting a 4.12 ERA (9ER/19.2IP) with 19 strikeouts and a .216 opponent batting average in five games (three starts) in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

RECENT ‘STROS: The Astros are 14-4 in their last 18 games to put them nine games above .500…within this run, the Astros are 6-1 at home and 8-3 on the road.

GRINDERS: Tonight is the fifth 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 have sold out Minute Maid Park for nine of their 26 home games, including yesterday… the Astros have welcomed 967,459 fans to Minute Maid Park this season for an average of 37,209 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 Brandon Bielak, was not in the Astros rotation during that series, but tomorrow’s starter RHP Hunter Brown tossed 7.0 innings of one-run ball in the Astros lone victory that series.

CONGRATS!: The Astros will present Twins C Christian Vázquez with his 2022 World Series Championship ring in a pregame ceremony tonight…Vazquez spent the final two months of the 2022 season in Houston after being acquired at the trade dead- line from Boston…he had his moments in Houston, including catching Game 4 of the World Series, the historic combined no-hitter, and tacking on four postseason hits and three RBI.

MEMORIAL DAY RECAP: The Astros dropped a Memorial Day matchup with the Twins yesterday by a score of 7-5 in 10 innings…Minnesota jumped out early to a 4-1 lead, which was erased by a 7th-inning grand slam by 2B Jose Altuve, which gave the Astros a 5-4 lead…unfortunately for Houston, their bullpen couldn’t hold as the Twins battled back for a run in the 9th and another two in the 10th…with the loss, the Astros dropped to 0-3 in extra-inning games this 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.

PITCHING IN: The Astros have the lowest team ERA (3.21) and have allowed the fewest runs (188) in the Majors…the Astros starters rank third the Majors in ERA (3.28) and have allowed one-or-fewer earned runs in seven of their last 10 games… also, the Astros bullpen ranks third in the Majors in ERA (3.08).

Lowest Team ERA – MLB Runs Allowed – MLB

  1. Houston: 3.21 1. Houston: 188
  2. Minnesota: 3.44 2. Minnesota: 203
  3. Seattle: 3.63 3. Texas: 206

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 ranks as the longest active streak in the Majors.

BULLPEN WEAPON:RHP Phil Maton has been outstanding this season, allowing just 11 hits and two runs in his first 22 appearances (25.1 IP) for a 0.71 ERA and a .129 (11×85) opponent average…among AL relievers, he ranks first in ERA (0.71), first in WHIP (0.51) and second in opponent avg. (.129)…among MLB relievers, Maton has posted the lowest WHIP and trails only RHP Devin Williams in ERA (0.54).

AMERICAN LEAGUE RANKINGS: Among AL players, LF Yordan Alvarez ranks second in RBI (48), tied for second in SLG (.598), tied for second in homers (14), third in OPS (.995) and fifth in OBP (.397)…3B Alex Bregman ranks tied for seventh in walks (28) and third in walk to strikeout ratio (1.17).

STUFF OF NIGHTMARES: LF Yordan Alvarez has been at his best in the big moments in his career, especially this season… he’s hitting .421 (16×38) 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.

SALAMI SEASON: 2B Jose Altuve hit his seventh career grand slam yesterday which tied him with LF Carlos Lee atop the franchise leaderboard in grand slams…also, among active Astros, LF Yordan Alvarez and 3B Alex Bregman rank tied for ninth on that list with four grand slams apiece.

RBI IN ASTROS HISTORY (1962-CURRENT)

  1. Jeff Bagwell 1,529 5. Bob Watson 782
  2. Craig Biggio 1,175 6. César Cedeño 778
  3. Lance Berkman 1,090 7. Jimmy Wynn 719
  4. José Cruz 942 8. Jose Altuve 702

TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP BRANDON BIELAK
LAST START – 5/24 AT MIL: allowed 4 runs on 5 hits with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts in 6.2 innings…set a single game career-high in innings (6.2)…allowed 2 of his 4 runs in the 7th inning.

SLIDE PIECE: is generating a career-best 45.2 whiff percentage with his slider this season, which is the higest whiff percentage of any pitch throughout his career…his slider accounts for 20.2 percent of his pitches this season.

WHAT A RELIEF: came on in relief on May 1 vs. SF after RHP Luis Garcia was removed in the 1st inning after 8 pitches…matched his career-high with 6 strikeouts, tossing 4.0 IP and allowing 2 runs, 2 hits and 3 walks… was the longest relief outing from an Astros pitcher this season and was the longest from an Astros pitcher since RHP Peter Solomon on 9/29/21 vs. AZ….had been recalled earlier in the day following the placement of RHP José Urquidy on the 15-day IL.

BACK IN THE BIGS: is making his first stint in the Majors this season and has appeared at the MLB level in each of the last 4 seasons (all with the Astros)… has settled into a starting role this season after serving in a hybrid starter-relief role through the first 3 seasons of his career…prior to his start on May 1, he had not made a start at the Major League level since 9/24/21 at OAK.

STARTER VS. RELIEVER: will be making his 13th career start in what is his 51st career MLB appearance…has gone 2-5 with a 5.18 ERA (28ER/48.2IP) as a starter vs. going 5-4 with a 4.56 ERA (36ER/71.0IP) as a reliever…of his 38 appearances as a reliever, has tossed at least 2.0 IP on 18 occasions…is set to make his 5th start of the year, with his career high for starts in a season at 6 games, which he accomplished in 2020.

MLB Preview: Tampa Bay Rays (39-17) at Chicago Cubs (23-30)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Tampa Bay Rays (39-17) at Chicago Cubs (23-30)

TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:

OUTSHINED IN CHI-TOWN — Despite their pitching staff holding the Cubs to one unearned run on just three hits, the Rays suffered a 1-0 loss at Wrigley Field on Memorial Day, falling victim to a one-hit shutout authored by Cubs starter RHP Marcus Stroman… SS Wander Franco (1-for-4, SB) was responsible for Tampa Bay’s lone hit, a lead-off single in the seventh inning…Rays starter RHP Taj Bradley (5.2IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, BB, 8SO) did not permit an earned run but was saddled with the loss, becoming the first Rays pitcher to take a loss despite tossing 5.2+ innings without allowing an earned run since Corey Kluber on 6/14/22 at New York-AL (6.0IP, 2R, 0ER).

The contest marked the first time the Rays have been held to one hit or fewer since being no-hit on 5/10/22 at Los Angeles-AL (12-0 L)…Tampa Bay joins Washington, Seattle and Colorado as the only major league clubs with multiple 1-0 losses in 2023 (also: 4/26 vs. HOU).

NEXT MAN UP — LHP Joe La Sorsa made his major league debut yesterday, tossing scoreless seventh and eighth frames without yielding a hit…he became the fourth Ray to make his MLB debut in 2023, joining RHP Kevin Kelly (4/1 vs. DET), RHP Taj Bradley (4/12 vs. BOS) and RHP Braden Bristo (4/13 vs. BOS)…it ties the sixth most debuts by any club this season, including the third most in the AL behind only Oakland (7) and Cleveland (5).

Excluding position players, the Rays have used 26 different pitchers this season, second most in the majors behind Oakland (27)…Tampa Bay has used 48 pitchers since the beginning of 2022, most in MLB in that span, ahead of Oakland (47).

IT STARTS WITH SHANE — The Rays are 10-1 in games started by Shane McClanahan, tying NYY Gerrit Cole (10-2) for the most team wins in games started by a pitcher…the last Rays pitcher that saw the club win 10 of their first 11 starts in a season was Matt Moore in 2013 (10-1).

With a win today, McClanahan will become the first pitcher in Rays history to begin a season 9-0…the last AL pitcher to start 9-0 was HOU Dallas Keuchel in 2017.

A win would also extend his personal winning streak to eight games, tying Blake Snell (8/10-9/23, 2018) for the longest single-season winning streak by a starting pitcher in club history

WHAT A WANDER-FUL WORLD — Wander Franco has multiple hits in five of his last eight games, batting .419 (13-for-31) with two triples, 6 RBI and four walks over that stretch…he also has five stolen bases in that timeframe, bringing his season total to 19, third most in MLB behind OAK Esteury Ruiz (27SB) and ATL Ronald Acuña Jr. (22SB)… on the year, Franco’s 3.5 bWAR lead the majors, ahead of TEX Marcus Semien (3.2).

In addition to ranking second among major league shortstops in average (.298) and OPS (.844), trailing only TOR Bo Bichette (.338 AVG, .913 OPS) in both categories, Franco leads all SS in defensive runs saved (9), according to FanGraphs…he trails only TOR Kevin Kiermaier (10) for most defensive runs saved among all fielders.

Franco has also been one of the majors’ best contact hitters — his 13.1 pct. whiff rate is third lowest in the AL and sixth lowest in MLB.

I AM SPEED — The Rays have stolen 21 consecutive bases without being caught dating back to 5/22, matching the longest such streak in club history…they have stolen 21 consecutive bases on two other occasions: 6/3-27, 2007 and 7/1-3, 2010…on the season, Tampa Bay leads the majors in both steals (73) and stolen base attempts (89) while ranking eighth in stolen base pct. (82.0%)…the Rays have been successful on 35 of their last 37 stolen base attempts overall since 5/14.

Tampa Bay’s 73 stolen bases are the most by any major league club through 56 games since the 2009 Rays (90SB)…prior to that, the last team with 73+ steals through 56 games was the 2003 Florida Marlins (73SB).

The Rays have an MLB-best six players with 6+ SB; Cleveland, Cincinnati and Milwaukee are next closest (4 each)…they also have the most players with 10+ SB (Wander Franco – 19SB, Taylor Walls – 14SB, Josh Lowe – 12SB), ahead of Baltimore (2).

Franco, Walls and Lowe have combined for 45 stolen bases, more steals than the season totals of 24 of the 30 major league clubs.

Per Elias, no club has led the majors outright in both homers and stolen bases at the end of May since the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (61HR, 21SB)…the Rays (101HR, 73SB) currently pace MLB in both categories, ahead of Atlanta/Los Angeles-NL (90HR each) and Pittsburgh (58SB), respectively.

INTERLEAGUE RUNDOWN — The Rays 13-6 (.722) mark against NL clubs ties Milwaukee (13-8) for the most Interleague wins in MLB and signals the fourth-best Interleague winning percentage, trailing Miami (7-2, .778), New York-AL (9-3, .750) and Detroit (11-5, (.688)…following a seven-game losing streak from 6/28-8/10, 2022, Tampa Bay has won 15 of its last 21 Interleague matchups dating back to 8/30/22.

Rays hitters are slashing .273/.341/.495 with 35 homers against the NL…they pace the majors in Interleague slugging pct., OPS (.836) and home runs while ranking third in runs per game (5.89).

CLOSE SHAVES — Seventeen of Tampa Bay’s last 25 games have been decided by two or fewer runs, including 14 one-run games in that span…the Rays are 14-11 overall in that stretch, including 6-8 in one-run games and 1-2 in two-run games…this comes after just six of Tampa Bay’s first 31 games were decided by two or fewer runs.

On the season, Tampa Bay is 10-9 in one-run games — only Cleveland (11-14) has more one-run wins among AL clubs.

THE BAY BOMBERS — The Rays have hit a major league-best 101 home runs, tied for the fourth-most long balls through a club’s first 56 games in MLB history (since 1901), trailing only the 1999 Seattle Mariners (110HR), 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers (107HR) and 2019 Minnesota Twins (106HR)…they reached 100 homers in their 54th game of the season, becoming the fifth-fastest team to reach the milestone in MLB history (since 1901).

The Rays have an MLB-best 29 multi-HR games, ahead of New York-AL (28G); they are 24-5 in those contests…this includes 16 games with 3+ homers, most in the majors ahead of Los Angeles-NL (15G); they had 13 games with 3+ HR in 2022.

WRIGLEY WRAP-UP — The Rays and Cubs meet for the second consecutive season after Tampa Bay took two of three games at Wrigley Field from 4/18-20, 2022…Tampa Bay has won three of its last five games against Chicago-NL, outscoring the Cubs, 24-13 (+9) in that span…the Rays are 6-6 at this venue all-time, including 2-1-1 in series play.

Manuel Margot is a .322 hitter (19-for-59) with seven extra-base hits, 6 RBI and an .846 OPS in 16 career games against Chicago-NL…it marks his fourth-highest average against any opponent in his career.

TONIGHT’S STARTER: LHP SHANE McCLANAHAN (8-0, 1.97)

SUGAR SHANE — The southpaw makes his 12th start tonight at Chicago NL including his sixth on the road…his 1.97 ERA is second lowest through
a pitcher’s first 11 starts of a season in club history, trailing Tyler Glasnow in 2019 (1.92)…ranks among AL leaders in wins (1st, 8), ERA (2nd) and strikeouts (7th, 75)…is looking to become the first Rays pitcher to begin a season 9-0.

LAST TIME OUT — McClanahan improved to 8-0 on 5/25 vs. Toronto… he matched a season high with 7.0 innings (also 5/19 vs. MIL), allowing one run on four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts…it marked the second time in his career he has thrown 7.0+ innings in consecutive starts (5/11-5/17, 2022 and 6/26-7/2, 2022)…he has never thrown 7.0+ innings in three consecutive starts.

WRIGLEYVILLE — McClanahan will be making his second career start against the Cubs, both of which will have come at Wrigley Field…he did not factor into the decision on 4/18/22 after throwing 6.0 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts.

In six starts opposite NL Central opponents, McClanahan is 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA (40.0IP, 4ER), striking out 52 batters against six walks w
while holding batters to a .169 average (24-for-142).

INTERLEAGUE TALK — McClanahan is 7-0 with a 1.93 ERA (65.1IP, 14ER) in 11 career Interleague starts since 5/15/21…min. 60.0 IP, McClanahan’s 1.93 Interleague ERA since the beginning of the 2021 season paces the AL and trails only LAD Clayton Kershaw (1.48) for the MLB lead.

BUCKLE DOWN — He has not allowed a hit this season with runners in scoring position and two outs, limiting batters to 0-for-20 with eight strikeouts…with runners in scoring position, McClanahan is holding the opposition to a .114 (5-for-44) average with 13 strikeouts against one walk.

MR. 400 — On 5/19 vs. Milwaukee, McClanahan’s fourth-inning strikeout of Willy Adames marked the 400th of his career…he became the fastest pitcher in club history to reach 400 strikeouts by both games (63G) and innings pitched (343.1IP), per Elias…the previous record holders for each respective category were Scott Kazmir (68G) and Blake Snell (373.1IP).

COLLECTING W’S—The Rays won each of McClanahan’s first eight starts
of the season…McClanahan’s personal eight-game winning streak since
3/30 is the longest of his career, ahead of a six-game streak from 5/5-6/9,
2022…with a win tonight, McClanahan will match the longest winning
streak by a starter in franchise history, joining Matt Moore (9GS, 9/29/12-
5/19/23) and Blake Snell (9GS, 8/10-9/23, 2018).

WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK — McClanahan’s 7.88 runs of support per 9.0 IP rank third in the majors behind TEX Martín Pérez (9.43) and MIN Joe Ryan (8.26)…last season, his 3.73 run support average ranked 20th among AL qualifiers.

A MODEL OF CONSISTENCY — McClanahan opened the season with eight straight starts of 5.0+ innings with two or fewer earned runs…it marked the longest such streak to open a season in Rays history, ahead of Tyler Glasnow’s seven-start run to open the 2019 campaign…from 10/1/22- 5/8/23, he strung together nine consecutive such starts, the third-longest streak in club history behind Blake Snell (10GS, 8/10-9/29, 2018) and McClanahan’s own 14-start run from 5/5-7/26, 2022.

His 10 starts of 5.0+ IP with two or fewer ER this season are tied with CHC Marcus Stroman for the MLB lead.

CAN’T TOUCH THIS — McClanahan’s 34.7 pct. whiff rate ranks third in the majors behind ATL Spencer Strider (40.2%) and LAA Shohei Ohtani (35.6%)…opponents are swinging at 33.4 pct. of his pitches outside of the strike zone, the 10th-highest chase rate in baseball…McClanahan has also been effective on pitches inside the zone, recording the fourth-highest in-zone whiff pct. in MLB (24.9%), trailing only Strider (30.9%), Ohtani (26.1%) and CIN Hunter Greene (25.3%).

CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:

Cubs vs. Rays
The Cubs and Rays meet for a three-game set at Wrigley Field for the second-straight year as Chicago dropped two-of-three to Tampa Bay at the Friendly Confines, April 18-20 … prior to 2022, the teams had met in 2017 with the clubs splitting two-game sets both at Wrigley FIeld and
Tropicana Field.

THAT WAS A SHOW BY ‘STRO: The Chicago Cubs tonight play the second of three games against the Rays after Marcus Stroman yesterday carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and went on to toss a complete-game one-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay … Miles Mastrobuoni knocked in the game’s lone run with a sac fly in the fourth inning.

Elias reports that Stroman is the first pitcher to toss a complete game one-hitter or no-hitter against the team with the best record in the majors at the time since Roy Halladay did so against the Yankees while with the Blue Jays, Sept. 4, 2009.

Ed Hartig notes that Stroman’s one-hit complete game shutout was just the Cubs’ fourth since 2000, joining: Jon Lieber vs. Cincinnati on May 24, 2001, Kerry Wood vs. Milwaukee on May 25, 2001, and Jake Arrieta vs. Cincinnati on Sept. 16, 2014.

THE PROFESSOR HAS TENURE: Kyle Hendricks is just the 12th Cub to pitch at least 10 seasons for the organization, joining Charlie Root (16 seasons), Guy Bush (12), Rick Reuschel (12), Kerry Wood (12), Bill Lee (11), Carlos Zambrano (11), Mordecai Brown (10), Lon Warneke (10), Bob Rush (10), Fergie Jenkins (10) and Greg Maddux (10).

CURRENT EVENTS: This is the eighth contest (3-4) of a nine-game homestand that started with a series win against the New York Mets (2-1) before a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds (0-3).

Following this series, the Cubs have Thursday off before a 10-game California swing at the Padres (4 games starting Friday), Angels (3 games starting next Monday) and Giants (3 games beginning June 9).

After the game on April 21, Chicago was 12-7 and 1.5 games behind the division lead … since, the club is 11-23 and enters today 5.0 games behind the division-leading Brewers, sitting at 28-25.

AT THE PLATE: The Cubs have drawn 203 free passes this season, third-most in the majors behind the Dodgers (236) and Padres (224) … that’s contributed to a .333 team OBP that ranks third in the majors and a .748 OPS that is fifth in the N.L.

Following 10 runs on 12 hits May 19 in Philadelphia, the Cubs have batted .189 (53-for-281) with 27 runs scored in their last nine games.

Ian Happ’s .390 OBP is ninth in the N.L. … his 37 walks are fifth-most in baseball.

Dansby Swanson’s 30 walks are tied for ninth in the N.L.

Nico Hoerner’s 12 stolen bases are seventh in the Senior Circuit.

Patrick Wisdom’s 14 homers are fifth in the N.L. while his .556 slugging percentage is eighth.

MULTIPLICITY: Patrick Wisdom on Sunday recorded his eighth career multi-homer effort and his third of the 2023 campaign … since the start of 2021, Wisdom has averaged one homer every 14.30 at-bats, the third-best mark in the N.L. in that span behind Kyle Schwarber (12.75) and Pete Alonso (14.02).

MONTHLY MATTERS: Chicago is 9-17 in May after opening the year with a 14-13 record in March/April … here’s a look at the numbers

2023 AVG OBP SLG R/G BB SO ERA IP ER BB SO
Mar/April .276 .347 .448 5.4 95 224 3.64 239.2 97 91 249
May .232 .319 .380 3.7 108 264 4.98 229.1 127 69 197

STINGY IN VICTORY: The Cubs have allowed two or fewer runs in 16 of their last 17 victories dating to April 14 … the lone win in that span in which Chicago allowed more than two runs came in a 10-4 win vs. the Cardinals on May 10.

PLAYING THE MARGINS: Chicago is 17-15 (.531) in games decided by three or more runs … however, the team is just 6-15 (.286) in games decided by two or fewer runs, the lowest winning percentage in the majors in those contests … that includes a 3-10 (.231) mark in one-run games.

Yesterday marked Chicago’s first one-run victory since April 16 at the Dodgers (3-2) … the team had dropped its last eight one-run decisions prior to yesterday.

SOMETHING OF QUALITY: Marcus Stroman yesterday tossed Chicago’s 25th quality start of the season, tied for the most in the N.L. with Pittsburgh and tied for sixth-most in the majors.

Stroman leads the majors with 10 quality starts this season … teammate Justin Steele is tied for fourth in baseball with eight quality starts.

ABOUT THE RELIEF ARMS: Chicago’s bullpen posted a 2.32 ERA (16 ER/62.0 IP) in 17 games from April 25-May 12 with a 0.97 WHIP, 18 walks and 44 strikeouts … following play on May 12, the Cubs bullpen had posted a 3.42 ERA (53 ER/129.1 IP), the eighth-best mark in the majors.

Since May 13, Chicago’s bullpen has posted an 8.05 ERA (45 ER/50.1 IP) in the team’s last 14 games, pitching to a 2.09 WHIP.

RUMINATIONS REGARDING RUNS: Chicago this season has surrendered two or fewer runs in 22 games, tied for the fourth-most such games in the majors behind only Seattle (23), Tampa Bay (23) and Texas (23).

Chicago’s six shutouts are tied for third-most in the majors behind Toronto (8) and Tampa Bay (8).

The Cubs have allowed 10 or more runs in four of their last 15 games since May 13 after not doing so in the team’s first 38 contests to begin the season.

Starting Pitcher – #28 RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 6.23)

Last Time Out
Kyle suffered the loss in his season debut on May 25 vs. the Mets (3 ER/4.1 IP) … made his first major league start since July 5, 2022 at Milwaukee … became the 12th pitcher in Cubs history to pitch for the Cubs in at least 10 seasons (last Kerry Wood).

Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
5/25 NYM L, 1-10 4.1 6 5 3 2 5 86-56 1-4, 2 on
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 0-1 6.23 1 1 4.1 6 5 3 2 5
Road – – – – – – – – – –
AVG vs. LHB: .364 (4-for-11) / AVG vs. RHB: .286 (2-for-7)

Kyle will make his second start of the season, both coming at Wrigley Field … has made 33 career interleague starts, going 9-11 with a 3.29 ERA (70 ER/191.1 IP) … since the start of the 2022 season, has made 10 starts at Wrigley Field, going 2-4 with a 5.02 ERA (29 ER/52.0 IP).

Made five rehab starts with Triple-A Iowa, going 2-1 with a 5.75 ERA (13 ER/20.1 IP) … allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last three rehab starts, posting a 1.69 ERA (3 ER/16.0 IP) during those outings.

Began the season on the 15-day injured list, as he rehabbed from a capsular tear in his right shoulder that he suffered in July 2022.

MLB Preview: Kansas City Royals (17-38) at St. Louis Cardinals (24-32)

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MLB Preview: Kansas City Royals (17-38) at St. Louis Cardinals (24-32)

KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:

ST. LOUIS SHUTOUT: The Royals flirted with history in yesterday’s 7-0 win in St. Louis…they came within 6 outs of baseball’s rarest of feats, as opener Josh Staumont (1.0 IP) and bulk pitcher Mike Mayers (6.0+ IP) retired the first 21 batters before Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras led off the 8th inning with back-to-back singles…that spoiled the Royals bid for the 24th perfect game in Major League history and the first combined effort…the 21 batters retired to begin a game matched Bret Saberhagen (June 21, 1985 vs. Seattle) for the 2nd most in franchise history, trailing only Jorge López, who retired the first 24 batters on Sept. 8, 2018 at Minnesota…Taylor Clarke escaped the two-on, no-outs jam in the 8th and Amir Garrett went 1-2-3 in the 9th as Royals pitchers combined for their 2nd shutout of the season while allowing a season-low 2 hits.

The Royals offense pounded out a season-high-tying 16 hits, including a career-high-tying 4 hits by Nicky Lopez and 3-hit efforts by Nick Pratto and Vinnie Pasquantino…Bobby Witt Jr. and Michael Massey both homered in the 9th inning to give Kansas City its largest shutout win ever vs. the Cardinals.

After out-dueling his mentor, Adam Wainwright, who he pitched with in St. Louis from 2016-19, Mayers now owns a 1.35 ERA (2 ER in 13.1 IP) and 14 strikeouts (9.5 K/9) in 3 outings (1 start) with the Royals.

HBD, KRAFTY!: Royals Assistant Director of Media Relations, Ian Kraft, is celebrating his 27th birthday today, and shares this date of birth with former Royals outfielder Brett Phillips (29), 12-time All-Star Manny Ramírez (51) and Hall of Famer Amos Rusie, who was born on this date in 1871 and won the pitching triple crown with the New York Giants in 1894…Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, who was born in Wichita, attended Kansas and came to be known as the Kansas Comet, was born on this date in 1943, but passed away in 2020.

The Royals had won 8 consecutive games on this date before they lost, 7-3, in Cleveland last season.

On this date in 1987, Paul Splittorff and Cookie Rojas were inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame.

S YOU MAY KNOW: Tonight’s game will wrap up this 2-game set in St. Louis and conclude the month for the Royals, who are 10-16 in May after going 7-22 in March and April…the Royals have hit 36 HR in 26 games this month, which are tied with Minnesota for the 3rd most in the American League, trailing only the Yankees (50) and Rays (40)…Kansas City’s 36 HR are their most in any May in franchise history, 2 more than the previous record of 34 HR set in May 2017…that 2017 team set the single-season franchise record with 193 HR, and with 56 HR through 55 games this year, the Royals are on pace for 165, which would mark the 3rd most in club history.

The Royals have held a lead in 20 of 26 games this month—including each of their last 4 games—but they’re just 10-16 in May with 10 blown lead losses…for the season, the Royals 18 blown lead losses are the 3rd most in the Majors, 1 more than the Cardinals (17) and 1 fewer than the A’s and White Sox (19 each).

WALK THIS WAY: Royals pitchers yesterday did not issue a single walk for the fifth time this year, the 3rdmost such games in the American League, 1 shy of Texas and Seattle (6)…this is noteworthy for a few reasons, because the Royals 5 such games this year match their total from all of last season, when they had a Majors-low 5 games with no walks…it’s also odd because the Royals this year have issued the 3rd-most walks in the Majors.

Tonight’s starter Zack Greinke has issued 8 walks to the 236 batters he’s faced in 57.1 innings this season, and both his 1.3 BB/9 and 3.4 BB% rank 3rd in the Majors behind George Kirby and Anthony DeSclafani.

I-70 SERIES: The Royals began the 2023 edition of the I-70 series yesterday with a 7-0 win to mark their
4th shutout victory over the Cardinals in 121 all-time meetings, and the 1st since May 22, 2015 at Kauffman
Stadium…in fact, 3 of the last 4 games between the Royals and Cardinals have been shutouts, but Kansas
City was on the wrong side of 1-0 and 10-0 losses last May…with a win tonight, the Royals would clinch their
first series win at Busch Stadium since winning 2 of 3 here from May 21-23, 2018, and it would mark their first
sweep vs. the Cardinals in St. Louis since June 29-30, 2016…the Royals are seeking their first series win over
the Cardinals in any location since Sept. 21-23, 2020, when they won 2 of 3 games at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals have lost 22 of 31 games vs. St. Louis since 2017, in which they’ve been outscored 171-107.

The Royals are 7-12 in Interleague play this season, including a 6-7 record in National League ballparks.

ON DECK: Following tonight’s game, the Royals will return to Kansas City to enjoy back-to-back off days tomorrow and Thursday, which will mark their first scheduled back-to-back off days since April 6-7, 2016…the Royals will host a 3-game stay this weekend vs. the Rockies, which marks their first trip to Kansas City since 2017.

The Royals will continue a streak of four straight series vs. National League opponents with a 3-game visit to Miami to begin next week, and will conclude that trip with a 3-game set in Baltimore next weekend.

SALVY SPLASHES: Royals Captain Salvador Perez singled in the 5th yesterday and scored from first base on an MJ Melendez triple…his 9 home runs this month are 2nd most in the American League to Aaron Judge (11) and are tied with Gary Gaetti (1995) for the most by a Royal in the month of May…Salvy has actually been swinging a hot bat for five weeks now, a 28-game stretch since April 24 in which his 10 HR rank 2nd in the American League, his .649 slugging percentage ranks 3rd, his 25 RBI rank tied for 3rd and his 1.009 OPS ranks 4th.

Royals catchers have hit 14 HR this season—including 10 by Perez—which are the most of any position on the team and the highest total at the catcher position in the Majors, 2 more than the Braves catchers (12).

Perez is the franchise’s all-time leader in Interleague play with 36 home runs and 110 RBI and his 190 hits rank 2nd only to Alex Gordon (210)…in 34 career games vs. the Cardinals, Salvy has 9 HR and 23 RBI.

DUEL THREAT: Bobby Witt Jr. showed again yesterday why he’s one of the most dynamic players in the game, recording his 16th stolen base of the season in the 7th inning before hitting his 10th home run in the 9th…it marked the second time in 4 games that he’s recorded at HR and steal in the same game, and it was the 5th such game of his career, matching Kyle Tucker, Francisco Lindor, Adolis García and Thairo Estrada for most in the Majors since the start of last season…he’s the first player to have at least 5 games with a HR and a steal before his 23rd birthday since Fernando Tatis Jr., who had 10 such games before turning 23 in 2021.

His 16 steals rank 4th in the Majors behind Esteury Ruiz (27), Ronald Acuña Jr. (22) & Wander Franco (19).

With his 10th HR of the season in yesterday’s win, Witt Jr. became the 13th player in AL/NL history, according to Dave Holtzman, to record 10 HR and 15 steals before June…he’s the second Royal to accomplish this feat, following Bo Jackson in 1989, and he’s the only player to do it before his 23rd birthday.

TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP ZACK GREINKE (1-5, 4.55)
ZACK GREINKE is making his 12th start of the season and 526th of his career tonight vs. the Cardinals, and is 1 start shy of Jerry Koosman and Hall of Famer Jack Morris for 37th on the all-time starts list…it’s his 23rd career appearance (21st start) vs. St. Louis and 2nd since returning to Kansas City last year…Greinke, now in his 20th season in the Majors, is a six-time All-Star, a six-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner and was named the American League Cy Young Award winner in 2009 with the Royals.

He is one of three pitchers in Major League history with at least six Rawlings Gold Gloves and six All-Star selections, along with Greg Maddux and Bob Gibson.

Among active pitchers, Greinke ranks 1st in starts (525) and innings (3304.1), 2nd in wins (224) and 3rd in strikeouts (2,923)…he is one of three pitchers in Major League history to win a Cy Young Award, a Rawlings Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award, along with Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser.

LAST START: Greinke did not factor into the decision of Kansas City’s 6-4 loss to the Tigers last Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium, in which he allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk in 5.0 innings, with 5 strikeouts…following a 29-minute rain delay to begin the game, Zack retired 10 of his first 11 batters and didn’t allow a hit until the 4th inning, when with 1 out, Riley Greene hit a solo home run to put the Tigers ahead 1-0…Spencer Torkelson followed that homer with an 11-pitch at-bat which ended in a single, but Greinke stranded him with a groundout and a foul out…he stranded back-to-back 2-out singles in the 5th and exited after the frame in a 1-1 tie.

Zack has completed at least 5.0 innings in 10 of his 11 starts this season.

GRE1NKE: Zack’s May 13 start in Milwaukee ended on a called third strike of Milwaukee’s Joey Wiemer in the 5th inning, which marked the 1,000th different batter Zack has struck out in his 20-year career…he’s the fifth pitcher in Major League history, according to Kenny Jackelen of Baseball Reference, to fan 1,000 different batters, joining Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens…he’s since added 4 more victims to run his total to 1,004 players struck out.

Among the 1,004 batters he’s struck out includes Hall of Famers Chipper Jones, Frank Thomas, Scott Rolen, Derek Jeter, Iván Rodríguez, David Ortiz and Jim Thome…he’s fanned 10 sets of brothers, one father/son duo—Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Jr.—and six current big league Managers, including Rocco Baldelli, Aaron Boone, Craig Counsell, Mark Kotsay, Phil Nevin & Skip Schumaker.

Greinke is 77 strikeouts shy of becoming the 20th pitcher to reach 3,000.

WALKING ON WATER: Zack’s pinpoint control has been on full display this season, his 20th in the Majors…the 39-year-old has issued only 8 walks to the 236 batters he’s faced through 11 starts (57.1 IP) for a 1.3 BB/9 and 3.4 BB%, both of which rank 3rd in the Majors behind George Kirby and Anthony DeSclafani…in 5 starts this month, Greinke has issued only 2 walks to the 101 batters he’s faced over 26.1 innings.

He’s had 4 starts this year in which he did not issue a walk over at least 5.0 innings, which trails only Framber Valdez, Patrick Corbin & DeSclafani (5 each).

The Royals have had 11 starts this year in which their pitcher recorded 5.0 innings without allowing a walk, which is tied with the Phillies, Dodgers and Mariners for the most starts in the Majors…they had only 23 such starts in 2022.

BACK IN BLUE: Zack returned in 2023 for the second straight year to Kansas City, where he spent the first seven seasons of his Major League career, after being selected by the Royals 6th overall in the 2002 Draft…Greinke is the 33rd player to play for the Royals, leave the organization and later return…he missed time due to two stints on the Injured List in 2022, limiting him to only 137.0 innings, the 4th fewest in his career behind the shortened 2020 season (67.0 IP), 2006 (6.1 IP) and 2007 (122.0 IP)…he did, however, rank 2nd among Royals starters with a 3.68 ERA (56 ER in 137.0 IP).

Tonight marks Greinke’s 207th start with the Royals, which ranks 7th most in club history, trailing Paul Splittorff (392), Mark Gubicza (327), Dennis Leonard (302), Kevin Appier (275), Bret Saberhagen (226) and Larry Gura (219).

Greinke’s 1,045 strikeouts with the Royals rank 7th in franchise history, 3 shy of Danny Duffy (1,048) for 6th and 12 shy of Splittorff (1,057) for 5th.

VS. CARDINALS: In 22 career appearances (20 starts) vs. St. Louis, Zack is 13-7 with a 3.48 ERA (52 ER in 134.1 IP), and has recorded at least 5.0 innings in all 20 starts vs. the Cardinals…he hasn’t beaten the Cardinals since July 3, 2018 with Arizona and is 0-2 in 2 starts since, including a loss here at Busch Stadium on May 2, 2022, a 1-0 defeat in which he allowed just 1 run—a Paul Goldschmidt home run—on 3 hits and no walks in 6.0 innings.

Zack’s 30 career wins in Interleague play rank 2nd among active pitchers behind Justin Verlander (39), but he’s winless in his last 7 Interleague starts, since a 7-4 win vs. San Diego (with Houston) exactly two years ago today, on May 30, 2021, in which he allowed just 1 run over 8.0 innings.

ROAD WORK: Zack is seeking his 1st road win since Aug. 13, 2021 at Angel Stadium, where he pitched 7.0 scoreless innings in a 4-1 victory with Houston…in 22 road starts since, he’s 0-12 with a 6.04 ERA (74 ER in 110.1 IP), despite holding opponents to 3 earned runs or fewer in 14 of those 22 starts…despite his road winless drought, he’s exited with a lead in 2 of his 5 road starts in 2023 and has allowed 2 runs in each of his last 2 road starts.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:

RECENT REDBIRDS: The St. Louis Cardinals and cross-state rival Kansas City Royals conclude their two-game I-70 interleague series/homestand tonight at Busch Stadium … The Cardinals recently went 3-4 over their seven-game tour (2-2 at Cincinnati, 1-2 at Cleveland) of the Buckeye State.

ROAD TRIPPING REDBIRDS: After consecutive off days Wednesday and Thursday, the Cardinals return to the road as the club continues a stretch of 13 of 15 games on the road (May 22-June 7) … Beginning Friday, the Cardinals begin a three-game weekend series at division-rival Pittsburgh (June 2-4) before making their inaugural visit to Globe Life Field for a three-game Interleague series with the Texas Rangers (June 5-7).

FLIGHT PATTERN: Winners of 14 of their last 22 games (May 7-present), the Cardinals entered today 5th in the NL Central, 5.5 games behind first place Milwaukee and 0.5 games behind fourth place Chicago … Tonight is the final game of a season-high stretch of 19 straight games without an off-day (11-7 record) … St. Louis began the season 10-24 before going on its current 14-8 run.

REDBIRD RESURGENCE: Since May 7, the Cardinals rank 2nd in MLB in total bases (342), home runs (38) and stolen bases (23); T-2nd in wins (14); 3rd in runs per game (5.77), slugging (.457), runs scored (127) and RBI (121); and 4th in MLB in win pct. (.636).

ZACK ATTACK: Nolan Arenado has faced Zack Greinke (80 at-bats) more than any pitcher in his career, while Greinke’s top two batters faced over his 20-year career have been Charlie Blackmon (83 AB) and Arenado … Arenado’s 22 hits off Greinke tie for his most off any pitcher (Clayton Kershaw), while those 22 hits are the most Greinke has allowed to any batter … In five career plate appearances off Greinke, Willson Contreras is 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and a walk.

LAUNDRY STOP: The Cardinals two-game series/homestand is their shortest regularly-scheduled homestand since a two-game stay in the midst of a 12 of 14 game stretch on the road in July of 2002 when they stopped by St. Louis for a two-game home set with the NL Champion San Francisco Giants (July 17-18 at Busch Stadium II) before hitting the road again.

MAY DAY: With a win tonight, the Cardinals (14-13) will have achieved a winning month of May for the 16th time since 2000 … The 2017 Cardinals went 13-13, while St. Louis sported losing Mays in 2000 (13-14), 2003 (14-15), 2007 (12-15), 2009 (13-24), 2012 (13-16) and 2019 (9-18).

WOODFORD BEGINS REHAB: RHP Jake Woodford begins an injury rehabilitation assignment with Memphis (AAA) tonight, starting for the Redbirds at the Omaha Storm Chasers (AAA-Royals) … Woodford has missed the previous 24 games due to right shoulder inflammation.

MISSOURI STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Since Interleague play began in 1997, the Cardinals .603 win pct. (73-48) against the Royals is the best across MLB among Interleague natural rivals and their 3rd-highest against any opponent behind Arizona (.615) and Miami (.607) … St. Louis has won the season series against Kansas City in 16 of 26 seasons between the Show-Me State rivals (1997-2022) and won 22 of its last 31 games over the Royals dating back to August 7, 2017. – Elias

THREE’S COMPANY: St. Louis has plated three or fewer runs in its last six games (2-4 record), its longest since seven straight games from July 3-9, 2022 (1-6 record). BUT SIX IS A SERIOUS NUMBER: The Cardinals have scored six or more runs in 18 of their last 23 wins over Kansas City.

ZEROS TO HEROES: The Cardinals are 3-2 in games following goose eggs this season (12-4 in 2022).

TOMMY BOY: Tommy Edman tonight makes his first career start and third overall appearance in center field in the regular season, previously appearing as a defensive replacement on July 12, 2019 vs. Arizona (1.0 IP) and May 21, 2022 at Pittsburgh (5.0 IP) … Edman also appeared in center in Game 4 of the NLCS at Washington (1.0 IP) … Overall this season, the former Gold Glove second baseman has appeared at shortstop (27g), second base (21g), and right field (7g).

BURGER PHONE HOTLINE: The Cardinals have used their dugout Burger Phone to place an order for 76 home runs this season, T-5th most in the MLB…they rank 3rd in homers for the month of May (44) to the Yankees (50) & Braves (49)…The Redbirds sport a 19-16 record in games when they go yard this season, but are 4-16 in homerless games … With a home run tonight, the Cardinals will have tied their single season homer mark for the month of May, matching the 45 blasts by the 2000 Redbirds (13 by Mark McGwire).

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP MILES MIKOLAS (2-1, 4.23)
TONIGHT’S GAME
NL Ranks: Games Started (11, T-1st), Innings Pitched (61.2, 7th), Hits Allowed (72, 1st), ER allowed (29, T-9th), Walks/9 IP (2.04, 9th).

  • The 2022 N.L. All-Star is making his team-high 12th start of 2023, 155th career appearance & 127th career start. Second career start vs. the Royals, threw a shutout in his first.
  • Two wins shy of 50 for his career and and 16 strikeouts shy of 600 career.
  • Has not walked a batter in his last 15.2 innings pitched.
  • Held his opposition to three runs or fewer in eight consecutive starts since April 16 (2.47 ERA, 47.1 IP) after starting the season with a 10.05 ERA in his initial three starts (14.1 IP).
  • Limited his opposition to one run or fewer in 4 of his last 6 starts (1.98 ERA, 36.1 IP) with the Cardinals posting a 5-1 record over that span.
  • Is 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA in five starts in May.
  • Ranks 2nd behind only Adam Wainwright (2,588.2 IP) in most innings pitched (693.1) among active Cardinals.
  • Leads Cardinals with three wins since April 27.
  • Received no more than three runs of support in 9 of his 11 starts this season.
  • Has allowed eight of his 30 runs in the 1st inning (6.55 ERA, .315 BA).
  • Since joining the Cardinals in 2018, Mikolas ranks 2nd in MLB (min. 600 IP) in fewest walks (125) behind only Justin Verlander (114). His 1.62 walks/9 IP in that span ranks 3rd behind Zack Greinke (1.62) and Verlander (1.60).
  • Was one of 10 MLB pitchers and two Cardinals (Wainwright) with a perfect 1.000 fielding pct. (31 total chances) in 2022. Hasn’t made an error since 8/2/18 vs. COL, and he’s 9th among MLB pitchers in fielding pct. (.986) since 2018. (min. 100 TC).
  • Is 3-0 with a 2.91 ERA (34.0 IP) and 25 strikeouts in six starts on the road.
  • Signed a two-year contract extension through 2025 on March 24.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Fired 7.0 scoreless innings of five-hit ball en route to a 2-1 win at Great American Ballpark. Was his 2nd straight 7.0-inning outing and has allowed one run or less in 3 of his last 4 starts.

DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
5/25 @CIN W 2-1 W-3 7.0 5 0 0 0 5 0 95-65

2023

  • Threw 7.0 scoreless innings at CIN (5/25), his longest scoreless outing of the season and second scoreless outing overall.
  • Posted his second straight start of allowing one run as the Cardinals rolled to a 9-1 win in a three-game sweep of Boston at Fenway Park (5/14). Did not strike out a batter of a start of 6.0 innings or more for the first time in his career and the 3rd pitcher to do that in 2023 (Kyle Gibson & Rich Hill).
  • Allowed at least 5 runs and 9 hits in each of his first three starts – first pitcher in MLB to begin a season with three such starts since Alex Cobb (2018, BAL). Became the 16th pitcher in Cardinals history to start a season allowing five or more runs in his first three starts and first since Brett Tomko (2003).
  • Received a no decision on 4/11 at COL, departing the game after 5.0 IP and trailing 6-2 after allowing three HR’s tying his career-high. Tied his season-high with 10 hits allowed
  • Recorded his 500th career strikeout in the National League on Opening Day.
  • Drew his 2nd career Opening Day start (3/30) and had a no-decision in the Cardinals 10-9 loss to Toronto that featured five lead changes.
  • Was a 3-0 with 0.00 ERA in three Grapefruit League starts this season, allowing just one unearned run in his 12.0 IP. 123 of his 133 pitches thrown this spring were strikes

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

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

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:

GAME #53 RECAP: The Phillies fell to the Atlanta Braves, 11-4, on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball from Truist Park … Starter Dylan Covey (L, 0-1) went 0.2 innings and allowed 7 runs (5 ER) on 6 hits … Brandon Marsh homered (Spencer Strider) and Kyle Schwarber went 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk …The Phillies split the four-game series, two games a piece.

I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN: 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).

KING OF QUEENS: In 47 career games against the New York Mets (163 AB, 190 PA), Kyle Schwarber is slashing .301/.395/.644 with a 1.039 OPS, 35 runs, six doubles, one triple, 16 home runs, 34 RBI and 26 walks to 52 strikeouts … 620 players in history have had at least 150 career at bats against the Mets and Schwarber’s 10.19 AB/HR average ranks 1st out of those 620 (next: Dave Kingman, 11.35 AB/HR).

THE CLUB’S HIGHEST HONOR: Today, the Phillies announced that Hall-of-Fame third baseman Scott Rolen, former General Manager John Quinn and former Owner/Team President Ruly Carpenter will be inducted into the Toyota Phillies Wall of Fame later this summer … Rolen, who played more games for the Phillies than any other club during his 17-year MLB career, was drafted by the Phillies in the 2nd round of the 1993 MLB Draft … He spent parts of seven seasons (1996-2002) with the Phillies where he won the 1997 NL Rookie of the Year Award and four Gold Gloves (1998, 2000-02) and racked up 29.2 of his 70.1 career bWAR, his highest total of any team played for.

RISP AND REWARD: Over their last nine games (since 5/20), the Phillies are 16-for-67 with RISP (.239 AVG), with a .232 BABIP (MLB average BABIP with RISP since 5/20 is .303), .360 OBP and .463 SLG (.823 OPS) … During this nine-game stretch, the Phillies have more walks with RISP (13) than strikeouts (12) and their 15.1% walk rate with RISP is 2nd-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 138.2 IP and has the lowest ERA in the National League at 2.86 (next: SD, 3.12) … That ranks 3rd among all relief corps in MLB, trailing only HOU (2.69) and BAL (2.74) … Philadelphia’s bullpen has faced 589 batters during this stretch and limited them to a .226/.298/.350 slash line with a .648 OPS that ranks 4th in MLB behind HOU (.606), SD (.616) and BAL (.628) … Per Statcast, since April 16, the Phillies bullpen is running the lowest hard hit rate of any bullpen in MLB (31.5%) 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).

ANGEL IN THE OUTFIELD: Center fielder Brandon Marsh has 24 walks in 176 plate appearances and is only four walks shy of reaching his career high total of 28 set last year in 461 plate appearances … Marsh has more than doubled his walk rate from 6.1% last season to 13.6% entering play tonight – his 7.5 spike in walk rate from year-to-year ranks 2nd out of 174 qualified players in MLB behind only Luis Rengifo (+8.0%)
… On the day he was traded to the Phillies last season, Marsh had 583 career plate appearances and was slashing .239/.299/.354 with a .653 OPS – since joining the Phillies at last year’s deadline, Marsh is slashing .280/.351/.468 with an .820 OPS in 314 plate appearances …Defensively, Marsh ranks T-4th among all MLB center fielders with 4 outs above average (OAA) this year and he trails only Luis Robert Jr. (6 OAA), Harrison
Bader (5 OAA) and Kevin Kiermaier (5 OAA).

HATS OFF TO YOU, THOMS: On Friday, the Phillies played their 162nd game since Rob Thomson took over as manager on June 3, 2022 … In those 162 games (6/3/22-5/26/23), the Phillies went 89-73 under Thomson with the fourth-best winning percentage (.549) in the National League, trailing ATL (.665), LAD (.663) and NYM (.578).

TONIGHT’S STARTER – RANGER SUÁREZ • LHP #55
2023: 0-1, 9.82 ERA Career: 25-16, 3.34 ERA

LAST START: 5/24 vs ARI: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, BB, 5 SO … Suárez vs Gallen … Down 2 runs with 2 outs in the 9th, Bryson Stott singled before
Trea Turner tied it with a 2-run home run … Alec Bohm walked it off in the 10th with a game-winning single to right … Five Phillies relievers made scoreless appearances in relief of Suarez.

TONIGHT’S START:

  • Road Warrior: Suárez has a 3.14 ERA (18 ER, 51.2 IP) in his last 10 road starts … Since the start of last season, Suárez’s 3.35 ERA on the road is ranks 13th among National League pitchers with at least 90.0 IP … In 9 of his last 10 starts, Suárez has allowed 3 earned runs or fewer
  • Trouble With the Curve: Suárez has thrown his curveball 33 times in 11 IP this season, after only throwing it 198 in 155.1 IP last year … He has not allowed a hit against his curveball yet and has struck out 6 batters with a whiff rate of 52.9%
  • Just Glovely: Ranger was selected as the 2022 Fielding Bible Award winner at pitcher… Suárez’s 9 defensive runs saved in 2022 were the most by any Phillies pitcher since 2002, when Fangraphs can track back to and most by any pitcher in MLB in 2022 by 3 (Taijuan Walker had 6) … He did not make an error in a career-high 44 chances over 155.1 IP and did not allow a stolen base
  • Start Your Engines: Since transitioning to a starter full time on 8/2/21, Suárez is 13-10 with a 3.34 ERA (86 ER, 232.0 IP) in 44 regular season starts … That ERA in that span is the 10thlowest among all NL starters with at least 230.0 IP (best: Max Fried, 2.18)

ROAD:

  • 2023: 0-0, 6.75 ERA (3 ER, 4.0 IP) in 1 start
  • 2022: 6-3, 3.20 ERA (32 ER, 90.0 IP) in 16 starts
  • Career: 11-9, SV, 3.24 ERA (61 ER, 169.1 IP) in 58 games (22 starts)

NEW YORK METS NOTES:

METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets enjoyed Memorial Day off yesterday…The team is returning home after a six-game road trip (2-4) to Chicago-NL (1-2) and Colorado (1-2)…Tonight, the Mets begin a six-game homestand against Philadelphia (three games) and Toronto (three games).

HOMER HAPPY: After the Mets went five straight games without a home run, the Mets have homered in season-high 12 straight contests, hitting 21 home runs in that span…The Mets are 22-13 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 is set to take the bump tonight…It will mark his 10th start and his fifth at home…Overall he is 4-3 with a 3.94 ERA with 31 walks and 61 strikeouts…In five starts at Citi Field, Senga is 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA (4 ER/23.0 IP) with 14 walks and 29 strikeouts… His 61 punchouts through 10 career starts are the fourth-most by a Mets pitcher…Only Dwight Gooden (80), Matt Harvey (70) and Nolan Ryan (68) recorded more…The 61 strikeouts are the seventh-most by a Japanese-born player in a player’s first 10 starts.

HOME, SWEET HOME: Jeff McNeil is batting .343 (23-67) with 10 runs, three doubles, a triple, one home run, nine RBI and 13 walks with a .451 OBP in 21 games at home this season…He has hit safely in seven straight games at home, batting .462 (12-26) with five runs, four RBI, two walks with a .944 OPS in that span…Brett Baty is hitting .340 (16-47) with seven runs, four doubles, four home runs, seven RBI, six walks with a .415 OBP and a .681 SLG in 15 games at Citi Field in 2023.

FOR PETE’S SAKE: Pete Alonso has homered in seven of his last 12 games…Overall, he 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

ITS’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.

ATTABOY ALVAREZ: Francisco Alvarez is on an eight-game hitting streak, the longest of his young career…He is batting .400 (12-30) in that span with seven runs, two doubles, five home runs, 13 RBI, one walk with a .455 OBP, a .967 SLG and a 1.421 OPS…The backstop is batting .303
(23-76) with six doubles, seven home runs, five walks with a .361 OBP and a .658 SLG against right-handed pitching this year…In 21 games in May, Alvarez is batting .309 (21-68) with 11 runs, six doubles, seven home runs, 17 RBI, six walks with a 1.087 OPS.

YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Francisco Alvarez has hit eight home runs this season…That puts him tied for the third-most by a rookie in the majors and tied for the second-most 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.

IN THE CITI: The Mets have played 21 games at Citi Field, the fewest home games in the majors this season…The team is 12-9 at Citi Field this year…The team won 54 games at home last year…That was their highest total at Citi Field in franchise history.

THE EAST IS A BEAST: The Mets are 9-8 against the division this year… They are 4-5 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 13-0 this season when the starter goes at least 6.0 innings and 4-0 when the starter goes at least 7.0 innings.

FIRST IS THE BEST: The Mets are 16-3 (.832) 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 97-19 when scoring first…Their .836 winning percentage is the best in the majors.

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

STEAL THIS BASE: The Mets lead the major leagues with a 86.0% stolen base success rate this season…Starling Marte has swiped 14 bags this year, tied for seventh in the majors and tied for third in the National League…His 328 career stolen bases rank second among active players… Elvis Andrus is the active leader with 340 steals.

EIGHT IS GREAT: The Mets are 24-0 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 119 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 54 games this year… That gives the team a .990 fielding percentage….Their .990 fielding percentage ranks second in the majors and in the NL…Their 18 errors are tied with the Padres for the fewest committed in the majors.

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – KODAI SENGA RHP #34
2023 STATS: 4-3, 3.94 ERA

SENGA’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 41.3% 43.4% 39.0% 95.9 mph
Forkball 21.2% 23.2% 19.0% 83.7 mph
Sweeper 13.3% 6.0% 21.2% 81.9 mph
Cutter 22.2% 24.9% 19.3% 90.3 mph
Curveball 1.2% 1.8% 0.5% 71.5 mph
Slider 0.8% 0.7% 1.0% 83.7 mph

LAST TIME OUT: Suffered his second career loss on May 24 against Chicago (NL)…Threw 5.0 innings, allowing three runs on six hits…Finished with a career-high five walks and six strikeouts…Recorded a career-high 106 pitches, his third game with 100-plus pitches.

STRIKE ‘EM OUT: Senga has 61 strikeouts through his first nine career major league games, the third-most in franchise history behind Dwight Gooden (73) and Nolan Ryan (71).

PUTTING THE K IN FORK: Senga’s “ghost fork” has accounted for 33 of his 61 strikeouts through nine starts…The pitch has a 57.3 percent whiff rate and a 27.3 percent putaway rate…Opponents have managed just six hits in 48 at-bats ending with the forkball, a .125 batting average.

ALL I DO IS WIN: Senga became the only Japanese-born pitchers to start their career 3-0 and is the fourth player in franchise history to earn the win in their first two career major league starts, joining Steven Matz, Mike Pelfrey and Gary Gentry…Additionally, he joins Kazuhisa Ishii, Hideki Irabu and Koji Uehara as the only Japanese-born pitchers to win each of their first two career major league starts…Senga fell just shy of becoming the second Mets starting pitcher ever to begin his career 4-0, a record held by Steven Matz.

MLB DEBUT NOTES: Senga became the 64th pitcher whose major league debut came in a start for the Mets…New York has had one pitcher make his MLB debut as a starter in each of the previous three seasons: José Butto in 2022, Tylor Megill in 2021 and David Peterson in 2020 (the Mets won each of those three games)…Senga allowed one run over 5.1 innings on three hits, three walks and eight strikeouts in his major league debut…His eight strikeouts were tied for the fourth-most by a Japanese-born pitcher in their major league debut and tied for the third-most by a Mets pitcher in their major league debut.

MLB Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (28-25) at Toronto Blue Jays (28-26)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (28-25) at Toronto Blue Jays (28-26)

MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 1 of a 7-game road trip to Toronto (3g) and Cincinnati (4g)….. the Brewers are coming off a 3-4 homestand against Houston (2-1) and San Francisco (1-3)…..following this trip, the team returns 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.

IN THE STANDINGS (61 days): The Brewers have spent the following number of days alone or tied at each position in the NL Central standings: FIRST: 40, SECOND: 19, THIRD: 2, FOURTH: 0, FIFTH: 0…..the team is currently in first place, leading the second-place Pirates by 2.0 games.

SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 8-9-0 in series play.
Game 1: 7-10, 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 12-13 on the road, going 3-5-0 in series play…..are 3-9 over their last 12 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: #37 – RHP ADRIAN HOUSER (4gs, 1-0, 2.25)
HOUSER AT A GLANCE: Adrian Houser, 30, will be making his fIfth start…..Houser last started last Wednesday vs. Houston in a 4-0 win (5.1ip, 2h, 1bb, 3k, 73 pitches)…..the team is 3-1 in his starts…..he has 1 quality start…..opponents are batting .269 (21-for-78, 1hr)…..he has tossed 11.1 scoreless innings over his last 2 starts, lowering his season ERA from 5.19 to 2.25…..Houser began the season on the 15-day injured list with a right groin strain…..he was sent to Triple-A Nashville on rehab assignment on April 14, where he made 4 starts…..Houser was acquired from Houston, along with LHP Josh Hader, OF Brett Phillips and OF Domingo Santana, in exchange for OF Carlos Gómez, RHP Mike Fiers and International Signing Bonus Slot #76 on 7/30/15.

LAST SEASON: Houser went 6-10 with a 4.73 ERA in 22 games/21 starts last season…..the team went 9-12 in his starts…..he made 6 quality starts…..opponents batted .258….. he posted a 2.98 ERA over his first 8 starts of the season (42.1ip, 14er) and a 6.17 ERA over his last 13 starts (58.1ip, 40er)…..he was on the 15-day injured list from 7/1-8/23 with a right flexor strain and from 9/28 through the remainder of the season with a right groin strain.

CAREER: Is 24-29 with a 3.90 ERA in 110 games/80 starts (448ip, 194er)…..is in his seventh Major League season, all with the Brewers (2015, 2018-23)…..has gone 19-29 with a 4.21 ERA as a starter (391.2ip, 183er) and 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA in relief (56.1ip, 11er)…..underwent “Tommy John” surgery on his right elbow on 7/21/16.

CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 9-14 with a 3.45 ERA in 56 games/39 starts (222ip, 85er)…..is 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA in 2 starts this season (9.1ip, 3er)

CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 15-15 with a 4.34 ERA in 54 games/41 starts (226ip, 109er)…..is 0-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 2 starts this season (10.2ip, 2er).

CAREER vs. BLUE JAYS: His only career outing vs. Toronto came in a start last season on 6/24 at American Family Field…..he took a 9-4 loss (6ip, 9h, 5r, 5er, 1bb, 3k).

TORONTO BLUE JAYS NOTES:

THE LATEST: The Blue Jays blanked the Twins, 3-0, in the final game of their weekend series in Minnesota on Sunday… Marked their 8th shutout of the campaign, tied with the Rays for the most this season…Are now 3-2 in rubber games and 7-10 in series finales. Toronto ended its season-long skid of three straight series losses, now 10-7-0 on the year (5-5-0 on the road)…Has won three of its last six games but is 4-10 across its last 14 contests…Has been outhit in just five of those 14 games.

MULTI-TALENTED: Bo Bichette picked up singles in the 1st and the 8th inning as he went 2-for-4 on Sunday…Marked his AL-best 23rd multi-hit game (2nd: Franco/Semien/ Yoshida – 19), tied with Freddie Freeman (23) for the MLB lead…His 169 multi-hit games since he made his debut on July 29, 2019 are tied with Trea Turner for the most in the Majors and lead all AL hitters, with teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. coming in at 2nd with 143 (courtesy Stats Perform). The 25-year-old has extended his hitting streak to eight games, going 17-for-36 (.472) with four extra- base hits and seven RBI over that stretch (1.209 OPS)…Leads all MLB hitters with 78 hits (2nd: Freeman – 73) and leads the AL with 124 total bases, one shy of Freeman (125) for the most in MLB…His .338 batting average ranks 1st in the junior circuit (2nd: Yandy \Díaz – .320) while he ranks 4th in SLG (.537), 5th in OPS (.912), and 9th in OBP (.376)…Now has 92 hardhit (95+ MPH) balls this season, tied with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the AL lead.

RIGHT ON TARGET: José Berríos worked 5.2 scoreless innings on Sunday as he improved to 5-4 on the year…Became the winningest pitcher in Target Field’s 14-year history, earning his 33rd career victory to break a tie with Kyle Gibson (32) for the most wins by any pitcher at the Twins’ home ballpark…Now has 427 strikeouts at the venue, also topping Gibson (425) for the all-time lead there.

KIRKY CONNECTING: Alejandro Kirk gave Toronto a 2-0 lead in the 2nd inning on Sunday as his bloop single plated two runs… Has gone 11-for-34 (.324) with two doubles and three RBI over his last 10 games.

SPRINGER HAS SPRUNG: George Springer singled, doubled, drew a walk, and scored a run as part of a 2-for-3 Sunday afternoon… Has gone 28-for-88 (.318) with four doubles, a triple, four home runs, 12 RBI, and a 12BB/13K ratio during his last 23 contests (.400 OBP, .923 OPS)…Has raised his season batting average by 44 points since May 2nd (from .216 to .260).

HARD-HITTING STUFF: Matt Chapman singled, walked, and was hit by a pitch as he finished 1-for-2 with a run scored on Sunday… Among AL batters, ranks 1st in doubles (19), T-2nd in extra-base hits, and T-8th in hits (57)…Ranks 2nd among MLB hitters with both a 61.3 hard-hit
percentage and a 13.7% barrel rate (1st: Aaron Judge 63.0 & 16.3).

A DASH AT THE DOME: The Blue Jays are on a brief three-game homestand against the Brewers…Have gone 13-9 this season at Rogers Centre…The .591 win% at home is 5th best in the AL…After this series, will head out on an equally brief road trip to Citi Field to visit the Mets (27- 27) for three contests over the weekend. Toronto batters rank 4th in the AL in home AVG (.260), while also 4th in home OBP (.333), 7th in home OPS (.726), and 10th in home SLG (.393)…The pitching staff ranks 1st among AL teams with a .205 home opponents’ average (2nd: SEA – .223), 2nd with a 3.20 home ERA (1st: HOU – 3.19), and 2nd with a 1.15 home WHIP (1st: SEA – 1.12).

INTERTAINMENT: Toronto is playing its 5th interleague series of the year…Has gone 7-4 vs. NL clubs so far…The .636 win% is 4th 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 .667 win% in Interleague Play (34-17) is 2nd best among all MLB clubs (TB – .678).
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 499 hits this season, trailing only Tampa Bay (512) for the most in MLB… Are currently 3rd in the AL in team AVG (.264), 4th in OBP (.332), 4th in OPS (.752), T-5th in XBH (166), and 6th in SLG (.421). With the Los Angeles Angels falling, 2-0, to the Marlins on Sunday, the Blue Jays are now one of two MLB teams to have scored in every game this season (also: ARI)…Have now gone 72 straight games without being shut out, the longest active streak in the Majors (2nd: ARI – 55G).

QUITE A STRETCH: The Blue Jays just completed a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, their most consecutive days with scheduled games this season…Went 7-10 over that span…Their opponents over the 17-game stretch (ATL, NYY, BAL, TB, MIN) have a combined record of 166-108 (.606). Toronto will now play 14 games in the course of 14 days, including only opponents currently sitting at .500 or better (MIL, NYM, HOU, MIN).

VS. THE BREWERS: All-Time: 122-165
2022: 1-2 Home: 65-79
Home: 0-0 Rogers Centre: 31-33
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 at Rogers Centre in 2017, dropping both contests…The gap of 2,239 days without a home game vs. MIL is 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 54 career games vs. MIL, batting .279 (48-for172 with eight doubles, nine homers, and 27 RBI along the way (.859 OPS). Alejandro Kirk went 6-for-10 (.600) with two home runs, five RBI, two walks, and three runs scored in the three-game series in Milwaukee last season. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had hits in all three contests vs. MIL last year, going 4-for-11 (.364) with a double, an RBI, and two walks.

STARTING PITCHER – Yusei Kikuchi, LHP #16
TODAY’S GAME:
Making his 11th start of the season and his 5th at home…Shouldered the loss his last time out, on 5/24 at TB, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks over 5.0 frames with 5 strikeouts…The outing was his 100th career start, becoming the 11th Japanese-born player to reach the century mark. With 2 strikeouts today, will become the 9th Japanese-born player to reach 500 career punchouts and 500.0 innings pitched in the Majors.

2023 HIGHLIGHTS:
Took his 1st loss of the year on 5/19 vs. BAL, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and a season-high 4 walks over 4.2 innings with 3 punchouts. Lasted 4.0+ frames on 5/14 vs. ATL, allowing 5R/4ER on 9 hits…Struck out 7 without issuing a walk. Improved to 5-0 on 5/7 at PIT, tossing 6.1 shutout frames with 4 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts…Marked his longest outing as a Blue Jay, and his 3rd quality start this season. Improved to 4-0 on 4/26 vs. CWS, throwing 5.2 frames of shutout ball while scattering four singles and a walk along with eight strikeouts…Has allowed one run or fewer in four of his five starts this year while the Blue Jays have won all five of his outings. Earned his 3rd win of the year on 4/21 at NYY, tossing 6.0 frames of one-run ball with 4 hits, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts…Has back-to-back starts of
6.0+ innings and 0-or-1 runs allowed for the first time since 6/18-25 of his 2021 All-Star campaign. Improved to 2-0 on 4/15 vs. TB, throwing 6.0 innings of one-run ball with 4 hits, a walk, and a season-high 9 strikeouts…Marked his most punchouts in a single game as a Blue Jay…Completed 6.0 frames for the 1st time since 6/30/22 vs. TB. Took a no-decision on 4/9 at LAA, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits and a walk over 4.1 innings with 6 strikeouts…Threw 99 pitches (59 strikes) on the day, his most pitches in a single outing since 7/28/21 vs. HOU (101). Picked up the win in his season debut on 4/4 at KC, tossing 5.0 innings of one-run ball with 3 hits, a walk, and 2 strikeouts…Was his 1st start since 8/15/22 vs. BAL, and his 1st win as a starter since 7/28/22 vs. DET.

Rangers reinstate RHP Dane Dunning from MLB paternity leave list; RHP Joe Barlow placed on 15-day injured list

MLB Editor
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Rangers reinstate RHP Dane Dunning from MLB paternity leave list; RHP Joe Barlow placed on 15-day injured list

Dunning is expected to start in tomorrow’s series finale at Comerica Park

Detroit, Mich. — The Texas Rangers today announced the following roster moves ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park:

  • Right-handed pitcher Dane Dunning reinstated from MLB Paternity Leave List.
  • Right-handed pitcher Joe Barlow placed on 15-day Injured List (retroactive to May 29) with an illness.
  • Right-handed pitcher Spencer Howard sent to Triple-A Round Rock on injury rehabilitation assignment.

Dunning, 28, has gone 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA (8 ER/43.0 IP) and 26 strikeouts/10 walks over 12 appearances/4 starts for the Rangers in 2023. He ranks among American League pitchers this season (min. 40.0 IP) in ERA (1st), opp. OPS (1st, .524), HR allowed (T1st, 0), and opp. BA (9th, .206). The right-hander is currently scheduled to start for Texas in tomorrow’s series finale against the Tigers at Comerica Park. He last pitched in a start for the Rangers on May 22 at Pittsburgh (ND, 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R-ER, 3 BB, 3 SO). Dunning was placed on the MLB Paternity Leave list on Friday.

Barlow, 27, has a 5.40 ERA (2 ER/3.1 IP) over 5 relief appearances since he was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on May 16 for his first Major League stint of 2023. The first date that he would be eligible to return to the active roster is June 13.

Following today’s transactions, the Rangers remain at the 40-man limit on the Major League roster, along with four players (Spencer Howard, Brett Martin, Jake Odorizzi, and Glenn Otto) on the 60-day Injured List.

HOWARD TO BEGIN REHAB ASSIGNMENT: RHP Spencer Howard, who has been on the Injured List all season with a right lat strain, has been sent to Triple-A Round Rock on injury rehabilitation assignment.  Howard is scheduled to pitch in tonight’s homestand opener against Sugar Land beginning at 7:05 p.m. CT.  It will be the first official game action for Howard this season after he was injured in Spring Training.  He opened the season on the 15-day Injured List and was transferred to the 60-day Injured List on April 10.

Orioles sign outfielder Aaron Hicks

MLB Editor
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Orioles sign outfielder Aaron Hicks

Outfielder Cedric Mullins placed on 10-day injured list

The Orioles today announced that they have signed outfielder AARON HICKS to a Major League contract. He will wear No. 34 and be active for tonight’s game. Additionally, outfielder CEDRIC MULLINS has been placed on the 10-day Injured List with a right groin strain. The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 40 players.

Hicks, 33, appeared in 28 games with the New York Yankees this season, making 15 starts in left field and five in center field. He slashed .188/.263/.261 (13-for-69) with two doubles, one home run, nine runs scored, five RBI, and seven walks. He ranked in the top 11 percent of the majors in Statcast Arm Strength with a 90.8 mph average on the top 10 percent of his throws.

Hicks has appeared in 898 games across 11 Major League seasons with the Minnesota Twins (2013-15) and New York Yankees, slashing .230/.329/.384 (661-for-2,878) with 113 doubles, 14 triples, 101 home runs, 428 runs scored, 356 RBI, 420 walks, and 65 stolen bases. He has appeared at all three outfield positions in his career, making 619 starts in center field, 104 in left, and 69 in right, and owns a career fielding percentage of .993 (13 E/1,811 TC). From 2013-15, he led Twins outfielders in assists (22) and games played in the outfield (243). He has made nine career Opening Day rosters (2013-14, 2016-18, 2020-23), including seven as a Yankee. From 2017-18, he posted an .838 OPS and a .368 on-base percentage, one of just eight American Leaguers over the stretch to reach both of those marks with at least 200 games played, along with Jose Altuve, Mookie Betts, Alex Bregman, Aaron Judge, J.D. Martinez, José Ramírez, and Mike Trout.

A native of San Pedro, Calif., Hicks was selected by the Twins in the first round (No. 14) overall of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, Calif. He made his Major League debut with Minnesota on April 3, 2013, after making his first career Opening Day roster. He was acquired by the Yankees from the Twins in exchange for catcher John Ryan Murphy on November 11, 2015, and signed a seven-year contract extending through the 2025 season with a team option for 2026 on February 25, 2019. He is a product of Major League Baseball’s Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif. Hicks played golf growing up and has participated in numerous charity golf tournaments.

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