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MLB Preview: Miami Marlins (23-21) at San Francisco Giants (20-23)

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MLB Preview: Miami Marlins (23-21) at San Francisco Giants (20-23)

MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:

MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins today play begin a three-city, 10-game road trip with the first of three at San Francisco. Following this weekend, the trip continues with four games at Colorado, and wraps up back in California with three games at Los Angeles (AL). Are coming off a six-game homestand in which Miami took the final of three vs. Cincinnati before sweeping a three-game series against Washington.

  • The Marlins have won 6 of their last 7 series finales.
  • Miami is in a current stretch of 13 straight days with games until their next off day on Memorial Day (May 29).

YESTERDAY’S RECAP
Miami won their fourth straight game on Thursday afternoon with a 5-3 victory over Washington to secure their second sweep of the season. RHP Eury Perez earned his first Major League win after 5.0 innings of 1 run ball with 6 strikeouts, allowing just 3 hits. The Marlins scored 1 run in five different innings, including 3 2-out RBI from CF Xavier Edwards (2×4), 1B Garrett Cooper (1×3) , and C Nick Fortes (2×4). LF Bryan De La Cruz (1×4) extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games with a solo homer, and 3B Jean Segura (1×4) continued his season-high hitting streak to 5 games. RHP Dylan Floro notched his fourth save.

FISH OUT OF WATER
Miami now stands at 23-21 through the club’s first 43 games, improving to a .522 winning pct. Marks the latest in a non-shortened season the club has owned a winning record since August of 2017.

DE LA CRUZIN’
OF Bryan De La Cruz extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games yesterday. In this 12-game span, is batting .362 (17×47) with 8 runs scored, 4 doubles, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 walks, and a .974 OPS. His 10 multi-hit games rank 2nd on the team behind only Arraez’s 16.

  • Has hits in 13 consecutive starts dating back to May 2.

CLIMBING THE LADDER
RHP Sandy Alcantara has recorded 677 strikeouts in 118 starts as a Marlin, passing Anibal Sanchez for the fifth most in club history. Marked the fastest in Marlins history to record 670+ many strikeouts through as many starts; A.J. Burnett had 663 through 118 starts.

  • Alcantara sits at 12th in club history at 35 wins in his Marlins career, trailing Tom Koehler’s 36.
  • Also has pitched 759.0 innings with the club, just 0.2 innings behind Ryan Dempster’s 759.2 innings which currently rank 8th in club history.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
The Marlins secured their fourth sweep of the Nationals since the start of the 2022 yesterday and have won six of their last seven series vs. Washington with an 18-4 record over this span.

  • Marked Miami’s second series sweep of the season (other, 3 gms vs. CHC, April 28-30).
  • Became just second team in MLB, alongside Tampa Bay, to sweep Washington in a three-game series.

HE’S HERE AND HE’S PERFECT
RHP Eury Perez made his second Major League start yesterday vs. Washington, earning his first career win after going 5.0 innings in which he allowed 1 run on 3 hits with 6 strikeouts. Became the youngest starter in MLB to win a game since LAD’s Julio Urias at 19 years and 321 days on June 28, 2016. Marks the fourth-youngest pitcher to earn a win in the Majors since 1993, behind SEA’s Felix Hernandez (19 yrs and 123 days on Aug. 9, 2005), Urias, and LAD’s Edwin Jackson (20 yrs and 0 days on Sept. 9, 2003).

  • Made his Major League debut last Friday at 20 years and 27 days, becoming the youngest pitcher in Marlins history. The previous youngest pitcher was Jose Fernandez, who debuted at 20 years and 250 days.
  • Became the second youngest player (position / pitcher) to debut with the Marlins in club history, behind only INF Edgar Renteria who debuted at 19 years and 277 days.
  • Became the youngest Dominican-born starting pitcher to debut in MLB, and the third-youngest DR-born pitcher (reliever / starter) at the time of his debut behind Elvis Luciano (TOR, 2019, (19 yrs, 44 days) and Jose Rijo (CIN, 194, 18 yrs, 328 days).

GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS
2B Luis Arraez leads MLB with his .378 batting avg. (56×148), ranks 3rd with his .433 on and 56 hits, and is tied for 3rd with 16 multi-hit games. Has struck out only 9 times in 164 PA (.054 K/PA), the lowest mark in MLB among qualified batters.

  • Is the highest average through 40 games to a season since Cody Bellinger’s .394 avg. through 40 games with the Dodgers in 2019.
  • With two hits on Wednesday night, reached the 500-hit plateau, becoming the seventh active player to reach 500 hits within their first 428 career games. Joined Bo Bichette (407), Mookie Betts (408), Mike Trout (423), Jose Altuve (426), and Whit Merrifield (426), and Jose Abreu (428).

DANCING ON A THIN LINE
Thus far in 2023, Miami is 22-2 when limiting opponents to 4 runs or less and has gone 1-19 when allowing 5 or more runs.

PODER SOLER
DH/OF Jorge Soler failed to reach in yesterday’s game but has hit safely in 10 of his last 13 games, including 4 multi-hit efforts. Is still batting .300 (15×50) with 6 home runs and 14 RBI in this span. With home runs on Tuesday and Wednesday vs. Washington, marked the 16th time in his career he has homered in back-to-back games, just the second time as a Marlin, and the first time since May 14-15, 2022.

  • 7 of his 11 home runs this season have tied the game or given the Marlins the lead.

DON’T LOOK NOW
3B Jean Segura reached safely in the all 6 games of the past homestand and has recorded a hit in his last 5 starts. During this stretch, is batting .350 (7×20) with 1 run, 1 triple, 2 RBI, 5 walks, and a .930 OPS.

  • His fifth inning triple on Wednesday was the 46th of his career (8th most among active players) and first since July 9, 2021 at BOS.

GROWING THE GAME
The Miami Marlins, the Miami Marlins Foundation, and City of Hialeah today held a special ceremony at Babcock Park in Hialeah, announcing the location as the Marlins Youth Academy programming headquarters. The partnership will add programming to the services already provided by the City of Hialeah Parks and Recreation Department at Babcock Park. The Marlins will introduce their plan for new educational programs for participants in the youth baseball and softball offerings that give children a place to learn, a place to play the game of baseball and softball, and a place to develop social and emotional competencies. The Marlins will continue with their extensive Youth Baseball and Softball satellite programming throughout Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

TODAY’S STARTER – #22 SANDY ALCANTARA

  • The reigning NL Cy Young Sandy Alcantara will make his seventh career start (8 apps.) against the San Francisco Giants tonight. Will mark his ninth start of the season.
  • In his last start vs. San Francisco on June 2, 2022, earned a win, tossing 7.0 innings and allowing 0 runs on 3 hits with 8 strikeouts on 111 pitches (73 strikes).
  • In his most recent start on Saturday, May 13 vs. Cincinnati, went 7.2 innings and allowed 6 runs on 7 hits with 9 strikeouts.
  • Alcantara’s fourth career shutout on April 4th marks the fourth time in club history that a Marlins pitcher has thrown a complete game shutout in the first six team games of the regular season (Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett, 2005 and Brad Penny, 2002).
  • Since the start of the 2022 season, has gone 5-6 with a 3.51 ERA (125.2 IP/49 ER) and 117 strikeouts in 19 starts away, while posting a 2.16 ERA (154.1 IP/37 ER) with 139 strikeouts in 21 starts at home.
  • Alcantara currently has 118 starts with the Marlins, the ninth-most in club history (9th on Marlins’ all-time list behind R. Dempster – 121).
  • Alcantara finished his historic 2022 season with 32 starts going 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 228.2 innings, along with 6 complete games, a 0.98 WHIP, and a .212 opponents’ batting average in 32 starts. He led Major League Baseball in innings pitched and complete games and led all NL pitchers with an 8.1 WAR (Baseball Reference). During Alcantara’s entire life (born Sept. 1995) only two pitchers reached the same statistical totals since the 1996 season: Felix Hernandez, SEA (2010) and Pedro Martinez, MON (1997).
  • Won Baseball Digest’s MLB Pitcher of the Year Award. Became the second Marlin to win this honor (Dontrelle Willis, 2005). Was named the second an

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:

DUEL OF THE FATES: The Giants are back from an off day and host the Marlins to resume this seven-day, six-game homestand…SF looks to even out the season series against Miami after dropping the first two games of a three-game series at loanDepot on April 17-19…the Giants are 3-0 so far in the homestand after sweeping the Phillies from Monday-Wednesday.

MOVEMENTS IN THE FORCE…: C Patrick Bailey (#14) and RHP Ryan Walker (#74) were selected from Triple-A Sacramento this morning…OF Cal Stevenson was designated for assignment and OF Heliot Ramos was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento and placed on the 60-day IL with a right oblique strain…additionally, C Joey Bart was placed in the 10-day IL (retroactive to May 18) with a left groin strain and RHP Ross Stripling was placed in the 15-day IL (retroactive to May 18) with a low back strain.

YOU MUST LEARN THE WAYS OF THE FORCE: With the two new selections in Bailey and Walker, SF could have six rookies make their debuts before the end of May with Beck, Sabol, Schmitt and Wisely having done so already…last year, the Giants saw a total of nine players make their MLB debuts (Sean Hjelle, Bryce Johnson, Jason Krizan, Yunior Marte, Michael Papierski, Ford Proctor, Heliot Ramos, David Villar and Cole Waites).

YOUNG PADAWAN: Bailey, who started the year with Richmond, made just 14 appearances at the Double-A level before earning a swift promotion to Triple-A on April 26…the 23-year-old hit .276 with four homers, 16 RBI and 13 walks in 28 games between Richmond and Sacramento this season.

THE NOT SO PHANTOM MENACE…: Since 2015, the Giants have gone 22-27 (.449) vs. the Marlins, the club’s third-lowest winning percentage against a National League opponent in that span…SF has only fared worse against the Cardinals (21- 30, .412) and Dodgers (65-81, .445) in that stretch.

RETURN OF THE JEDI: Giants starters given up 102 runs this year, tied with the Astros for fourth-fewest in MLB behind the Rays (67), Twins (90) and Braves (93)…coincidentally, Marlins have the third-fewest amount of runs scored off their opponents’ starting pitchers this year with just 94, trailing Detroit (91) and Cleveland (93) (Stats, LLC).

ORACLE PARK IS KINDA LIKE KAMINO?: The three-game sweep of the Phillies put the Giants at 13-10 at Oracle Park this season compared to a 7-13 record on the road…the winning home record is also due to the fact that the Giants have won 11 of their last 15 contests on the shores of McCovey Cove dating to April 22…during this stretch of solid home play the Giants have averaged 4.6 runs per game…in its first eight home games, SF was 2-6 and averaged 3.0 runs per game.

EASY AS DUNKING A MON CALAMARI: No team scores more of their runs via the long ball than the Giants this season, with 53.2% of SF’s runs coming via the homer…the percentage is highest in the Majors ahead of the Dodgers (52.7%) and Braves (52.2%)…last season, the Giants scored 41.6% of their runs from home runs, which ranked 13th in MLB (Stats, LLC)… SF has 63 homers this year, second-most through the team’s first 43 games behind the 2000 Giants (64)…the Giants’ 63 homers in 2023 are sixth-most in MLB.

A NEW HOPE: IF Casey Schmitt notched his 15th career hit with a single on Wednesday, the third-most hits by a Giant in their first nine career games…Schmitt has at least one hit in eight of his first nine career games and has successfully hit in each of his five home games…according to Stats, LLC, since moving to SF in 1958, the longest Giants home hit streak to start a career is seven games, done by Pablo Sandoval (2008) and Willie McCovey (1959)

Giants, Most Hits Through First Nine Games of Career – Since 1901
Player Hits
Al Gallagher (1970) 17
Sammy Strang (1901) 16
Casey Schmitt (2023) 15
Player Hits
Jim Davenport (1958) 15
Willie McCovey (1959) 15
Mike Schemer (1945) 15

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THAT TRIP TO MOS EISLEY’S CANTINA: Tonight’s game starts another 13-game stretch with no days off for SF…the club’s next off day is June 1 here at home… SF is in a stretch where they are playing 26 games in 27 days from May 5-May 31…thus far, the Giants are 7-6 in the first 13 games of this run.

WHAT IS LaMONTE’S MIDICHLORIAN COUNT?: IF LaMonte Wade Jr. is hitting .308 (24-for-78) with 16 runs scored, three doubles, one triple, six homers, 12 RBI, .a 432 OBP and a 1.034 OPS since April 20…his .435 OBP this season is second-best in the Majors behind ATL’s Ronald Acuña Jr. (.437) while his 162 wRC+ is tied for seventh-best in MLB and third-best in the NL behind Acuña (180) and STL’s Nolan Gorman (173).

TODAY’S STARTER – ANTHONY DeSCLAFANI RHP #26
2023 RECORD: 3-3, 3.06 ERA

TODAY’S OUTING: Gets the nod to make his ninth start of the season tonight against Miami…the veteran, who returns from an injury-plagued 2022, is in his ninth Major League season and third in a Giants uniform.

LAST TIME OUT: Suffered his second consecutive loss on Saturday at Arizona in SF’s 7-2 defeat to the Dbacks…matched a season-low 5.0 innings and allowed three runs on five hits with a walk…threw 77 pitches, his lowest since throwing 73 in his first start of the season (April 3 at CWS)…he was removed from the game due to injury after allowing the first three batters of the 6th inning to reach…it was revealed after the game that the nail on his left big toe was about to fall off and he’d been grinding through the pain for the first five innings…four weeks prior he was playing the piano with his son, Cru, and when he went to lift him off the piano bench the bench slammed directly down on his left big toe.

VS. MIAMI: Is slated to face Miami for the seventh time in his career tonight…the former Marlin is 2-2 with a 2.97 ERA and 36 strikeouts in the six career outings (33.1ip) against them…though originally drafted by Toronto in 2011, DeSclafani was traded to the Marlins on November 19, 2012 in a 12-player deal and made his MLB debut with Miami in 2014…he appeared in 13 games (five starts) for the Marlins that season, posting a 2-2 record with a 6.27 ERA…the right-hander was then dealt to Cincinnati at the end of that season and spent five years with the Reds before joining the Giants in 2021.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS: DeSclafani has been in control around the zone all season, issuing just five walks with 35 strikeouts in his first seven starts this year…his 0.90 walks-per-nine average is second-lowest in MLB behind SEA’s George Kirby (0.70), while his 7.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks fifth in the Majors and the third-highest by a Giant in their first eight starts of the season since 1901.

PRESSURE POINT: DeSclafani has been outstanding this season with two strikes, holding batters to 11 hits in 91 at-bats (.121) with just three extra-base hits and three RBI…opponents have a .334 OPS off him with two strikes.

FIRST AND FOREMOST: Hasn’t walked any of the 72 batters he faced in his first time through the lineup this year…is the only player in MLB to have faced as many hitters without issuing a walk

QUALITY…AND QUANTITY: The veteran has reached the 5.0-inning threshold in each of his starts this season, with five of his eight outings so far this year earning the quality start status.

LUCKY CHARM: Since joining the Giants in 2021, SF is 28-16 (.636) when DeSclafani takes the hill, winning 12 of his last 19 starts.

MLB Preview: Oakland Athletics (10-35) at Houston Astros (24-49)

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MLB Preview: Oakland Athletics (10-35) at Houston Astros (24-49)

OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:

ABOUT THE A’S: Lost two of three to the Diamondbacks to close out the last homestand and have lost nine of the last 11 games…are 4-12 (.250) in May after going 5-23 (.179) in April…are 10-35 (.222) overall, which is the worst record in the majors (Royals, 14-31/.311)…it is the worst record in Athletics history after 45 games and is tied for seventh worst by an AL, NL or FL team since 1901…it is the worst since the 2006 Royals also started the year 10- 35…the lowest winning percentage in American League history is .235 by the 1916 Philadelphia A’s (36-117)…are 1-13-0 in series play and have been swept six times…lost each of the first 10 series, won two of three at Kansas City from May 5-7, and have lost each of the last three series.

OFFENSE: The A’s have the fifth lowest batting average in the majors (.229), the seventh lowest OPS (.693), eighth lowest slugging percentage (.383) and ninth lowest on-base percentage (.311)…have the most strikeouts (424), are tied for the fourth fewest doubles (62), have the fifth fewest runs (173) and the ninth fewest extra base hits (121)…have the most sacrifice hits (11), the second most hit by pitches (27), are tied for fourth in intentional walks (7) and rank ninth in walks (156)…the seven intentional walks match the A’s season total from last year…have been shut out twice in the last seven games and six times overall, which is tied for third most in the majors (Mets and Royals, 7)…A’s pinch hitters are 10-for-39 (.256) with eight walks (.383 onbase percentage)…lead the majors in pinch walks and rank third in pinch hits.

PITCHING: The A’s have compiled a 6.08 ERA (98 er in 145.0 ip) in May after posting a 7.97 ERA in April…have a 7.13 ERA for the season, which is the highest in the majors (White Sox, 5.26)…according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the highest ERA by an AL or NL team since the earned run became an official stat is 6.70 by the 1930 Philadelphia Phillies…the A’s have allowed 334 runs, which is an average of 7.4 per game…are on pace to allow 1202 runs and the modern Major League record is 1199 by the 1930 Phillies…also have the highest opponents OPS (.882), batting average (.285), on-base percentage (.378) and slugging percentage (.504) in the majors this year…lead the majors in most walks (219) and hit batters (33), are tied for the lead in most wild pitches (24) and have the sixth fewest strikeouts (342).

THE LONG BALL: The A’s have allowed at least one home run in each of the last 21 games (36 home runs total), which is the longest streak in Athletics history (previous: 17, July 26-Aug. 14, 1964)…the longest in AL or NL history since 1901 is 26 (three times, last: Orioles from June 1-28, 2017)…have yielded 79 home runs for the season, which is the most in the majors (White Sox, 67)…have six grand slams, which are the most in the majors (three teams with 3) and tied for fifth most in a season in Athletics history (8 in 1993 and 1999, 7 in 1954 and 1997).

STARTING PITCHING: A’s starting pitchers are 0-7 with a 6.59 ERA (42 er in 57.1 ip) in the 11 games since recording their only two wins of the season on May 5 and 6 at Kansas City…are 2-23 with a 7.54 ERA for the season…the ERA is the highest in the majors (Reds, 6.21) and no other team has fewer than six wins from its starters…are tied for the seventh fewest innings pitched (219.2)…went 0-16 over the first 32 games.

THE BULLPEN: The A’s bullpen has a 6.62 ERA, which is the highest in the majors (White Sox, 5.54)…is 4-for-13 (30.8%) in save opportunities…has the lowest save percentage and fewest saves and the nine blown saves are tied for fourth most…has allowed 41-of-93 (44.1%) inherited runners to score, which is the fifth highest percentage…has the second most inherited runners (Reds, 95)…has 179.1 innings pitched, which is second most (Rays, 194.0).

ON THE BASES: The A’s are 42-for-52 (80.8%) in stolen base attempts…rank third in the majors in stolen base attempts and fourth in stolen bases…the 42 steals are the most by an A’s team over the first 45 games since 1992 (49)…A’s opponents are 38-for-53 (71.7%) in stolen base attempts, which is the ninth lowest success rate in the majors…the 15 caught stealings are second most (Rockies, 18) but the A’s are tied for the fifth most stolen bases allowed…A’s pitchers have four pickoffs, which is tied for third most in the majors (Brewers and Royals, 5).

HOME AND AWAY: The A’s begin a seven-game road trip to Houston (three games) and Seattle (four games) tonight…went 2-4 on the last road trip to Kansas City (2-1) and New York-AL (0-3) and are 5-15 (.250) on the road, which is the worst road record in the majors (White Sox, 7-16/.304)…went 2-5 on the last homestand against Texas (1-3) and Arizona (1-2) and are 5-20 (.200) at home, which is the lowest home winning percentage in the majors (Royals, 6-17/.261)…have compiled a 5.99 ERA at home compared to 8.73 (161 er in 166.0 ip) on the road…are hitting .212 with 82 runs in 25 home games (3.3 runs per game) compared to .250 (171-for-685) with 91 runs in 20 road games (4.6 runs per game).

WINNING LATE: The A’s have scored the winning run in their final at bat in seven of their 10 wins…have five wins when tied after seven innings, three when trailing after seven innings and two when leading after seven inning… lead the majors in wins when tied after seven innings and are tied for sixth in wins when trailing after seven innings…however, no other team has fewer than 11 wins when leading after seven innings…are 3-4 (.429) in extra inning games…are tied with the Mariners and Twins for the most extra inning games in the majors (7), are tied for the second most losses and rank fifth in wins…have four walk-off wins, which is tied for the most in the majors (Blue Jays, Red Sox)

RUN DIFFERENTIAL: Seven of the A’s 10 wins have been by one run and Oakland is 7-7 (.500) in one-run games…are tied for ninth in the majors in one-run games (14) and tied for 10th in wins and losses…however, have lost six games by 10 or more runs, which matches the A’s combined total from the previous four seasons and is the most since 2008 when they had eight such losses…have a run differential of -161, which is the lowest in the majors (White Sox, -63)…the lowest in Athletics history is -344 by the 1915 Philadelphia A’s and the lowest by an AL or NL team since 1901 is -349 by the 1932 Boston Red Sox.

NIGHT AND DAY: The A’s are 9-17 (.346) in night games and 1-18 (.053) during the day…are batting .259 (236-for-911) with 125 runs in 26 night games (4.8 runs per game), .183 (111-for-605) with 48 runs in 19 day games (2.5 runs per game)…have the lowest day batting average in the majors and the ninth best night batting average.

PLAYERS USED: The A’s have used 42 players, which is the most in the majors (Mets, 40)…Lucas Erceg would be the 43rd…employed a franchise record 64 players last year…27 of the 42 have been pitchers, which is also the most in the majors (Rays, 25)…tied an Athletics record with 34 pitchers last year…11 of the 42 are rookies after using an Oakland-record 34 rookies last year…six have made their Major League debuts…had 23 do that last year.

THIS AND THAT: The A’s placed Zach Jackson on the injured list today and have now used the IL 14 times, including 10 times for pitchers…currently have nine players on the IL, including seven pitchers…did not commit an error in the three-game series against Arizona after making a season-high four errors last Sunday against Texas…have 30 errors overall, which is tied for second most in the majors (Angels, 31)…have nine outfield assists, which is tied for second most (Royals, 10)…have an average time of game of 2:49, which is the longest in the majors by five minutes (Padres, 2:44)…however, have not averaged under 2:53 per game since 2010 (2:43).

A’S VS. ASTROS

  • The A’s lost the season series last year for the seventh time in the last eight years last year.
  • Are now 59-84 (.413) against Houston dating back to 2015 after winning each of their first four season series against the Astros (31-13,
    .705).
  • Have lost six of the last seven games, all of which have been at Minute Maid Park…have won three straight and four of the last five in Oakland.

Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-0 0-0
2022 4-5 3-7 7-12
Oakland History: 90-97
at the Coliseum: 50-46
at Minute Maid Park: 40-51

TODAY’S TIDBITS
Ryan Noda leads Major League rookies in on-base percentage (.400) and walks (30), ranks fourth in OPS (.821), sixth in runs (22), tied for sixth in doubles (8), tied for eighth in extra base hits (13), ninth in slugging (.421) and tied for 10th in RBI (14)…Brent Rooker leads the majors in OPS (1.042) and slugging (.624), ranks fifth in on-base percentage (.418) and tied for fifth in home runs (11)…Esteury Ruiz leads ML rookies in hits (49), stolen bases (20), doubles (12) and hit by pitches (10), ranks fourth in batting (.277), tied for fourth in RBI (22), tied for sixth in extra base hits (14), ninth in on-base percentage (.340) and 10th in OPS (.713).

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: Ken Waldichuk (1-2, 7.02 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season…took the loss in each of his first two starts, allowing 14 runs on 17 hits in 8.2 innings (14.54 ERA)…is 1-0 with a 5.01 ERA (18 er in 32.1 ip) in six starts since then… has walked 11 batters in his last two starts (10.0 ip) after issuing 12 free passes in his first six starts (31.0 ip).

RANKINGS: Is tied for third in the majors in home runs allowed (12) and tied for seventh in most runs (33)…based on a minimum of 40 innings pitched, he has the highest opponents OPS (.999) and slugging percentage (.601) in the majors, the third highest on-base percentage (.398), fourth highest ERA (7.02) and tied for the fourth highest batting average (.310).

OPPONENTS BATTING: His .310 opponents batting average breaks down to .227 (5-for-22) against left-handed hitters and .322 (47-for-146) against right-handers…his career splits are .176 (9-for-51) against lefties, .302 (75- for-248) against righties…11 of the 12 home runs he has allowed this year and 16 of the 17 in his career have been to right-handed hitters…has allowed a .386 (34-for-88) batting average with the bases empty compared to .225 (18-for-80) with runners on base…eight of the 12 home runs he has allowed have been solo shots…opponents are 11-for-48 (.229) with runners in scoring position…20 of the 33 runs he has allowed have scored on home runs… has a .241 (14-for-58) opponents batting average the first time through the order, .345 (38-for-110) after that.

HOME AND AWAY: Is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA (12 er in 21.1 ip) and .909 opponents OPS in four starts at home compared to 1-1 with a 9.15 ERA (20 er in 19.2 ip) and 1.098 OPS in four starts in the road…has surrendered eight of his 12 home runs on the road.

THIS AND THAT: Has been the starting pitcher in five of the A’s 10 wins…has left with the lead in three of his eight starts, only to have the bullpen blow the save (April 12, April 24, April 30)…the A’s have been shutout in two of his other starts…is scheduled to start on six days rest today…has just two starts on four days rest and is 0-1 with a 10.61 ERA (11 er in 9.1 ip) in those two starts…has tossed five innings or fewer in four of his eight starts and never more than 6.1 innings…has allowed one run in the first inning (8.0 ip, 1.13 ERA) but has yielded 11 of his 33 runs in the second inning (10 er in 8.0 ip, 11.25 ERA).

IN APRIL: Went 0-2 with a 7.26 ERA and .976 opponents OPS in six starts in April…had the highest opponents OPS (.976) and slugging percentage (.598) in the majors in April, the fourth highest on-base percentage (.378) and the fifth highest ERA and batting average (.307)…the ERA was the highest April ERA in Athletics history among pitchers with 30 or more innings…allowed 10 home runs, which were the most in the majors and matched Gil Heredia (2001) for the most home runs in April in Athletics history.

2023 DAY-BY-DAY: Allowed six runs on a career-high nine hits in his first start of the season on April 2 against Los Angeles (AL) and was the losing pitcher in the A’s 6-0 loss…surrendered a three-run home run to O’Hoppe in the fourth to snap a career-high 14.0-inning scoreless streak dating back to last year…allowed three home runs against the Angels and a career-high four in his next start on April 7 at Tampa Bay…the seven home runs in back-toback starts match the most in Oakland history by a pitcher over a two-game stretch…Mike Fiers (Sept. 3-9, 2019) is the only other one to do it over the last 25 years…allowed a career-high eight runs in a season-low 3.0 innings in the start against the Rays…tossed a season-high 6.1 innings April 12 at Baltimore but had a no decision in the A’s 8-4 win…left with a 4-2 lead but Familia blew the save…tossed 5.0 scoreless innings in his fourth start on April 18 at Chicago (NL) but had a no decision as the A’s were shutout 4-0…struck out a season-high seven batters in 5.2 innings on April 30 against Cincinnati…walked a career-high six batters and tossed a career-high 114 pitches on May 6 at Kansas City but picked up his first win of the season in the A’s 5-4 victory.

LAST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 9-7, 10-inning win over Texas last Friday in Oakland…had a 1-0 lead when he allowed a RBI double to Duran in the second…had a 2-1 lead before allowing a Grossman RBI double in the third and a Taveras sacrifice fly in the fourth…the A’s tied the game with a run in the bottom of the fourth, he allowed a Heim RBI single in the fifth, the A’s tied the game in the bottom of the fifth and he allowed a solo home run to Grossman in the sixth…left trailing 5-4 but the A’s tied the game in the eighth to get him off the hook.

HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Astros continue their 6-game home- stand tonight with the first game of a three-game set vs. the visiting Oakland A’s…RHP Brandon Bielak (0-1) will make his third start of the season as he takes on A’s LHP Ken Waldichuk (1-2)…tonight will be Bielak’s second career start and fifth overall appearance vs. OAK…his last start/app. vs. them 9/24/21 at OAK (loss, 3.0 IP, 3 ER)…the Astros defeated Waldichuk in his only career start/app. vs. them on 9/18/22 in HOU (11-2 final, 2.2 IP, 5 ER).

ALTUVE’S RETURN: Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is scheduled to be activated from the Injured List…Altuve has been on the IL since fracturing his right thumb on Mar. 18 while playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic…Altuve played in a combined five games for Triple A Sugar Land and Double A Corpus Christi during his rehab assignment…to make room on the roster for Altuve, IF David Hensley was optioned to Triple A Sugar Land.

QUEST FOR 2000 RESUMES: Jose Altuve enters today needing 65 hits to reach 2,000…he would be the third player in franchise history to reach this milestone, joining Craig Biggio (3,060) and Jeff Bagwell (2,314)…his 1,935 hits since entering the league are 2nd to Freddie Freeman’s 1,955 (Freeman has 229 more ABs in that span).

VS. THE A’s: The Astros are taking on the A’s for the first time in 2023…HOU was 12-7 vs. OAK last season with a 7-3 mark here at Minute Maid Park…excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Astros have won the season series vs. the A’s in seven consecutive years (2015-22).

RECENT STROS: The Astros have won four straight and seven of their last eight games…they are 3-0 on the current homestand.

LOTS OF LEFTIES: With the A’s scheduled to start three southpaws in the current series, the Astros are scheduled to face five consecutive left-handed starters (previous two starters in the Cubs series were left-handers)…per Elias, the Astros have not faced five consecutive left-handed starters since facing five straight, 5/24-28 of 2019 (3 vs. BOS, 2 vs. CHC, respectively)…HOU was 4-1 in that span…the opposing starters and end result in those five games were as follows: 5/24 vs. BOS-C. Sale (W); 5/25 vs. BOS-D. Price (W); 5/26
vs. BOS-E. Rodriguez (L); 5/27 vs. CHC-C.Hamels (W), 5/28 vs. CHC-J. Lester (W).

A GAME OF FIRSTS: In Wednesday night’s 7-6, comeback win over the Cubs, the Astros reached a number of firsts for the season:

  • first walkoff win since 9/7/22 vs. TEX (4-3 win).
  • the win after trailing 6-1 marked the largest comeback since overcoming a 5-0 deficit in a 7-6 win on 7/4/22 vs. KC.
  • first time scoring 4 or more 9th-inning runs in a comeback win since scoring 6 in the 9th inning of an 8-7 win on 7/11/21 vs. NYY.
  • Tucker’s GW, 2-run single in the 9th was his 3rd career walkoff hit and his 1st since an RBI-single on 5/22/22 vs. DET.

SWEEPSTAKES: With the Astros sweep over the Cubs earlier this week was their second sweep of the season (other was a 3g sweep in ATL, 4/21-23)…it was also the Astros first sweep vs. the Cubs since taking a three-game series in Houston, 5/21-23 of 2012.

AT THE HELM: Astros skipper Dusty Baker is in his 26th season as a manager and his fourth in Houston…Baker, who ranks ninth all-time in managerial wins with 2,117, has an outside shot of moving up to sixth all time by seasons end…he immediately trails Hall of Famer Joe McCarthy (2,125) for eighth place on that all-time list.

PITCHING IN: The Astros have the lowest team ERA in the Majors with a 3.36 clip…the Astros also lead the Majors in strikeouts per 9.0 (9.81).

Lowest Team ERA – MLB

  1. Houston: 3.36
  2. Tampa Bay: 3.38
  3. Minnesota: 3.41

BULLPEN WEAPONS: RHP Phil Maton and RHP Bryan Abreu have been outstanding this season…Maton has allowed just nine hits and two runs in his first 18 appearances (21 IP) for a 0.86 ERA…opponents are hitting just .127 (9×71) against him, including a .125 (5×40) average by left-handers and a .129 (4×31) average by righties…meanwhile, Abreu has tallied 36 strikeouts in his 21.1 IP while allowing just three earned runs for a 1.27 ERA, and also posting a .151 opponent average (15.10 SO/9IP ratio ranks 3rd in the AL).

LATE ATTACK: The Astros offense has come alive late in games this season, producing a ML-best 81 runs in the 7th inning or later.

Most Runs – 7th inning or later

  1. Houston: 81
  2. Tampa Bay: 80
  3. Texas: 79

STREAKS SNAPPED:LF Yordan Alvarez had both of his streaks snapped in Wednesday’s 7-6 win over the Cubs:

  • his franchise-record streak of reaching base in 36 games to start a season was snapped…the last Major Leaguer with a longer start-of-season streak was OF Odúbel Herrera (41g) for the 2018 Phillies.
  • his career-long 13 game hit streak was snapped…during the streak, which ran from 5/2-16, he hit .354 (17×48) with 3 HR and 12 RBI while posting a 1.061 OPS (.646 SLG).

STUFF OF NIGHTMARES: LF Yordan Alvarez has been at his best in the big moments in his career, especially this season…he’s hitting .500 (15×30) with RISP, .588 (10×17) with RISP and two outs, .571 (4×7) with the bases loaded, and .375 (9×24) in close and late situations.

AMERICAN LEAGUE RANKINGS: Among AL players, LF Yordan Alvarez ranks second in RBI (39), fifth in OPS (.939) and sixth in SLG (.551)…3B Alex Bregman ranks third in walks (27) and third in plate apps. per strikeout (10.61)…additionally, 2B Mauricio Dubón ranks seventh in batting average (.309).

HECTOR’S HOT STREAK: RHP Hector Neris has not allowed a run in his last 14 appearances (12.0 IP)…that is the 2nd-longest streak of innings by an Astros hurler to RHP Luis Garcia’s 13.0-inning scoreless streak.

HOME-COOKIN: The Astros are 3-0 thus far on the 6-game homestand after sweeping the Cubs…after this 3-game series vs. OAK, they’ll hit the road for a 6-game trip to MIL (3g) and OAK (3g), respectively…HOU’s 13-8 (.619) road record is T-1st in the AL.

TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP BRANDON BIELAK
LAST START – 5/13 AT CWS in his 2nd start of the season, he allowed 1 run on 8 hits with 4 strikeouts in 5.0 innings…has allowed 2 earned or fewer in all 3 (2 starts) of his appearances 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)… continues to serve in a hybrid starter-relief role…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 11th career start in what is his 49th career MLB appearance…has gone 1-4 with a 5.59 ERA (23ER/327P) 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.

NWSL Match Preview: San Diego Wave FC (4-3-0) at Houston Dash (2-2-3)

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NWSL Match Preview: San Diego Wave FC (4-3-0) at Houston Dash (2-2-3)

Shell Energy Stadium | Houston, Texas – Saturday, May 20 at 8:30 PM ET

Players to watch:

Houston forward Ebony Salmon scored her first goal of the season with the game-winning goal against the Thorns. Since making her debut for the Dash on July 1 last season, only Debinha (13) has more NWSL regular season goals than Salmon. Salmon’s goal was the winner as well, with only teammate Diana Ordóñez scoring a game-winning goal this season (2-1 at Chicago). However, only attacker María Sánchez (2) has more than one goal on the year so far, also contributing an assist on the year. 

San Diego defender Christen Westphal delivered her fifth assist in all competitions for the Wave, setting up teammate Belle Briede’s second-half goal against Kansas City on Saturday. That assist put Westphal up with forward Alex Morgan for the most in the team’s history, but only Westphal is able to say that her five assists all came to different goalscorers. Speaking of Morgan, the U.S. star leads her team in scoring with five goals, and only teammate Jaedyn Shaw (3) has scored more than one goal for the club in the regular season.

Match facts: The Houston Dash welcome in San Diego Wave FC on Saturday night at Shell Energy Stadium, with Houston looking to capitalize on its first positive home result of the year last week, a 2-1 win over Portland. On the flip side, though, San Diego enters after earning its first win in three weeks after a 2-0 road victory over Kansas City. 

Houston overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat the Thorns at home on Saturday, 2-1, breaking its run of poor home results in 2023. In all NWSL competitions, the Dash had lost eight straight home games when trailing at half time and had not won any of their previous 18 home games when losing entering the second half, dating back to 2018. The victory over Portland was only the club’s second victory of the season (D3 L2), but their two losses have all come within the last three weeks.

San Diego scored twice in the first half of its 2-0 road win against Kansas City, marking the team’s first time scoring in the first half of a road game this season. Prior to Sunday’s win, the Wave had not scored a first-half goal in a road regular season game since September 10 of last season against Washington. Of its four matches away from home this season, San Diego has collected six points (W2 L2).

San Diego swept its two games against the Dash last season, including a 1-0 road win when the Wave visited Houston in last season’s league opener. That is one of the Wave’s seven regular season road shutouts since the beginning of last season, two more than any other NWSL team in that time.

NWSL Match Preview: Racing Louisville FC (1-2-4) at Kansas City Current (2-5-0)

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NWSL Match Preview: Racing Louisville FC (1-2-4) at Kansas City Current (2-5-0)

Children’s Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas – Saturday, May 20 at 8:00 PM ET

Players to watch:

Kansas City midfielder Debinha scored in the club’s 3-2 loss to Louisville in the Challenge Cup on Wednesday, her seventh goal against Racing in all competitions. Since Louisville joined NWSL in 2021, the only players with seven or more goals against a single club (all competitions) are Debinha (also 8 vs. Gotham) and Ashley Hatch (9 vs. North Carolina). The Brazilian leads the way in scoring for Kansas City with four goals, while former Racing forward Cece Kizer is right behind her with three of her own. 

Racing attacker Wang Shuang became the first Chinese goalscorer in NWSL history with her penalty kick just before halftime against Chicago. Prior to the goal, only Australia and Japan had produced an NWSL goalscorer among countries in the Asian Football Confederation. In the goals department, Wang Shuang is one of seven different goalscorers for Racing through its seven games played, and only midfielder Savannah DeMelo has scored more than once, with one of her two goals also coming from the penalty spot.

Match facts: After meeting Wednesday night in Louisville in the Challenge Cup, the Kansas City Current now return home to host the reverse fixture in the regular season, though the visitors Racing Louisville FC are who enter with momentum on their side. 

The Current attempted 20 shots in their 2-0 loss to San Diego, their second most shots ever in a league match (26 vs. NC in 2021). Fifteen of those 20 shots came in the second half, the club’s second most attempts in a single half (18 in second half vs. NC in 2021) of a league match. Kansas City has now also lost three straight in all competitions, falling 3-2 at Angel City a week prior to the San Diego match in addition to the midweek loss to Racing.

Louisville notched its first win of the season on Friday, scoring a 3-0 home win against Chicago. Racing’s goals included both an own goal and a penalty kick, marking the first time the team has scored on both of those types of goals in the same game. Though the club had not won any of its first six games matches, it managed to draw four of those six to lead the league in that category and help it avoid the bottom of the league standings. Louisville can also boast in the fact that it has succeeded in earning at least a point in each one of the games it has scored in. 

Racing Louisville defeated Kansas City, 3-2, in the Challenge Cup on Wednesday. It is the first time that Kansas City has ever played the same opponent in consecutive games (all competitions) in the same season, while Racing has done so once (vs. Gotham in October 2021).

NWSL Match Preview: Washington Spirit (4-0-3) at Orlando Pride (2-4-1)

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NWSL Match Preview: Washington Spirit (4-0-3) at Orlando Pride (2-4-1)

Exploria Stadium | Orlando, Florida – Saturday, May 20 at 7:00 PM ET

Players to watch:

Orlando midfielder Erika Tymrak made her 100th start in NWSL regular season play in the Pride’s scoreless draw over the weekend. Of the 56 players with 100+ starts in league history, Tymrak is the only one who has also made more than 40 appearances as a substitute (61). From an attacking standpoint, only forward Messiah Bright (2) has scored more than one goal on the year, though it is teammate Adriana who leads the league in chances created (17). The Brazilian is the only player in the side with at least one goal and one assist through seven games as well. 

Washington forward Ashley Hatch has scored nine career goals against Orlando in all NWSL competitions, including scoring in each of her last six regular season matches against the Pride. That’s the longest streak of appearances with a goal against a single opponent in NWSL history. Hatch leads the Spirit attack with five goals on the year, with teammate Trinity Rodman just behind her with three goals over her own. 

Match facts: The Orlando Pride welcome the Washington Spirit to Exploria Stadium on Saturday night as one of two games to kick off a six-game slate across the league this weekend. The Pride, who are tied for the lowest-scoring team in the league (5), have not lost in three straights and managed to pick up two wins those games, scoring four of their five then. On the other side, the Spirit have won two straight and are still without a loss in their first seven in total.

A 0-0 draw with Gotham moved Orlando’s unbeaten streak in league play to three consecutive matches (W2 D1), conceding just once in that span. It is the first time since May 2018 that the Pride have allowed one goal or fewer in a three-game span. Commendably, after four straight losses, Orlando’s seven points are among the best in the league in the last three games as well. 

The Spirit lead the NWSL with 15 points (W4 D3) as they are the lone remaining unbeaten team in league play. Washington is the sixth team in league history to have zero losses through the first seven games of a season but only three teams have made it to eight games unbeaten – North Carolina in 2018, Portland in 2016, and OL Reign in 2014.

Washington is unbeaten in its last eight games against Orlando across all NWSL competitions (W3 D5), including a 4-2 win in the Challenge Cup on May 10. All four goals in that game came from outside the box, the only time in NWSL history (all comps) a team has scored more than two such goals in a single game.

NWSL Match Preview: Angel City FC ( 2-3-2) at North Carolina Courage (3-3-1)

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NWSL Match Preview: Angel City FC ( 2-3-2) at North Carolina Courage (3-3-1)

WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, North Carolina – Wednesday, May 20 at 7:00 PM ET

Players to watch:

For the second time this season, North Carolina forward Tyler Lussi scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory for the Courage, doing so on Mother’s Day against the Reign after accomplishing the same feat against Houston earlier in the year. Both goals came with Lussi as a starter, with the forward entering 2023 with just one career regular-season goal as a starter (August 2017 for POR vs. HOU). However, Brazilian attacker Kerolin is who leads the Courage in scoring through its seven games played this season, though two of those goals have come from the penalty spot.

Angel City attacker Jun Endo had three chances created against Washington on Saturday, the most of any player on either team. For the season, Endo has created 16 chances now, putting her one shy of the league leader, Orlando’s Adriana (17). In total, Endo has one goal and two assists on the year with only forward Claire Emslie contributing more goals and assists (4 – 2G, 2A) than the Japan international. In the scoring department, forward Alyssa Thompson leads the way with three goals. 

Match facts: The North Carolina Courage host Angel City FC at WakeMed Soccer Park to kick off a full six-game slate across the league on Saturday and Sunday. An up and down start to the year for North Carolina has seen the side stretch an unbeaten run to three games (W2 D1) approaching this weekend’s match. Meanwhile, Angel City has won, drawn, and lost all in its last three games, most recently falling 1-0 to the Spirit in Washington.

North Carolina has won 20 of the 31 all-time home games it has played in the regular season when hosting teams from west of the Mississippi River (D4 L7). The Courage have allowed just five goals in those 20 victories (0.25 per game) compared to 22 in the 11 draws and losses (2.0 per game). This will be North Carolina’s last home match until June 18 with the club heading on the road for three straight after Saturday night. 

Angel City has played just two road games so far this season in league play, a 2-1 win over Orlando and a 3-3 draw with Portland. The five goals are the team’s most ever over a span of two road games and the second most by any NWSL team in a two-game span on the road this season (Thorns – 7). 

The home team has won each game between Angel City and North Carolina with ACFC winning 2-1 last April and the Courage taking a 1-0 win in September. All four goals in the fixture’s history have been scored by international players (Brazil’s Debinha & Kerolin, Japan’s Jun Endo, and Canada’s Vanessa Gilles). 

MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (24-20) at Los Angeles Angels (23-22)

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MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (24-20) at Los Angeles Angels (23-22)

MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:

THE TWINS: After completing their six-game homestand with a record of 4-2 (2-1 vs. San Diego and 2-1 vs. Chicago-NL), the Twins began their six-game, seven-day road-trip with a series loss at Dodger Stadium…tonight, the Twins will continue the trip with the first of three in Anaheim over the weekend…the Twins have gone 14-8 at Target Field and 10-12 on the road.

BASES LOADED, STILL A PROBLEM – ON BOTH SIDES: The Twins lost to the Dodgers on Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles by a score of 7-3, dropping the three-game series 2-1, making them 7-6-1 in series play, 1-5-1 on the road…Sonny Gray was the starter but did not factor into the decision, allowing two runs on five hits in 4.0 innings pitched…Emilio Pagán allowed five runs to score with two outs in the seventh inning, two of which were inherited from José De León…the dagger was a James Outman grand slam to centerfield…the offense recorded eight hits, including home runs from Byron Buxton (9) and Joey Gallo (10)…Minnesota was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left the bases loaded with nobody out in the sixth inning.

TWINS ADD GARLICK: The Twins have placed utility player Nick Gordon on the 10-day Injured List with a right tibia fracture (retroactive to May 18)…Gordon, who sustained the injury after fouling a pitch off his leg in the fifth inning of Wednesday afternoon’s game at Dodger Stadium, played in 34 games for the Twins this season, hitting .176 (16-for-91) with five doubles, one triple, two home runs, seven RBI, 13 runs scored and one walk…to replace Gordon on the 26-man roster, the Twins have recalled outfielder Kyle Garlick from Triple-A St. Paul…Garlick, who will be making his second stint with the Twins this season, recently played in 18 games for the Saints, hitting .197 (13-for-66) with two doubles, one triple, three home runs, 10 RBI, 12 runs scored, 13 walks and a .329 on-base percentage…he played in three games for the Twins from April 13-19, going 1-for-7 with one home run.

TWINS-ANGELS: Tonight marks the first of six meetings with the Angels this season…after this weekend, the Twins will host the Angels for three from September 22-24…Twins went 2-4 vs. Los Angeles last season, going 1-2 at Angel Stadium (August 12-14) and 1-2 at Target Field (September 23-25).

Carlos Correa is hitting .302 (103-for-341) with 24 doubles, 17 home runs, 68 RBI, a .374 on-base percentage, a .522 slugging percentage and an .896 OPS in 91 career games against the Angels…the 68 RBI are his most vs. any opponent and the 17 home runs are his second most (Texas – 20)…additionally, his 68 RBI are tied for fifth most among actives.

Jorge Polanco made his major league debut in this ballpark as a 20-year-old, 10 days before his 21st birthday…he entered the game as a pinch hitter for Pedro Florimón, drew a walk against Ernesto Frieri and eventually scored…Twins first base coach Hank Conger was the starting catcher for the Angels in that game, going 0-for-4.

Angels manager Phil Nevin played 16 games for the AL Central Champion Twins in 2006… Nevin was acquired by the Twins via trade with Chicago-NL (for RHP Adam Harben) at the trade waiver deadline on August 31 and hit .190 (8-for-42) with one double, one home run, four RBI, 10 walks and a .340 on-base percentage down the stretch.

WEST FRIENDS: The Twins are playing an AL West opponent for just the second time this season…their only series vs. this division was a three-gamer vs. Houston at Target Field to open the home portion of their 2023 schedule from April 7-9, taking two of three…the Twins went 13-19 vs. the AL West last season, going 0-6 vs. Houston, 2-4 vs. Los Angeles, 5-1 vs. Oakland, 4-3 vs. Seattle and 2-5 vs. Texas.

JOE CY-AN: Through eight starts, Joe Ryan has gone 6-1, 2.16 ERA (50.0 IP, 12 ER) with seven walks and 57 strikeouts, while holding opponents to a .190 (35-for-184) batting average… below are his ranks among AL starting pitchers in a few notable categories:

ERA OPS SLG WHIP FIP WAR
Gray – 1.64 Ryan – .507 Gray – .282 Wells – 0.79 Gray – 2.01 Eovaldi – 2.3
Cole – 2.01 Rodriguez – .523 Ryan – .283 Ryan – 0.84 Gausman – 2.40 Gray – 2.2
Rodriguez – 2.06 Wells – .560 Rodriguez – .291 Rodriguez – 0.86 Eovaldi – 2.46 Gausman – 2.1
Ryan – 2.16 Gray – .564 Ohtani – .307 Germán – 0.90 Ryan – 2.53 Ryan – 1.8
McClanahan – 2.34 Ohtani – .572 Cole – .309 Ohtani – 0.91 Kirby – 2.55 Cole – 1.8

OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS: After eight more hits on Wednesday afternoon, the Twins now have totaled 63 hits (13, 18, 13, 11, 8) in their last five games…below are the Twins first 39 games from March 30-May 12 and their last five games since Saturday:

AVG R/G H 2B HR RBI BB K OBP SLG OPS
FIRST 39 .218 4.2 281 58 47 157 131 367 .298 .381 .679
LAST 5 .317 8.6 63 14 13 41 19 55 .385 .583 .968

NOTE: Since Saturday, the Twins lead baseball in hits (63), batting average (.317), on-base (.385), slugging (.583) and OPS (.968).

BUCK TRUCK, U.S. TOUR: Byron Buxton homered in the three-game series finale at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, marking just his second road homer of the season after hitting 13 last season…his final road homer of 2022 came in this ballpark on August 14, off Tucker Davidson…that homer was the final one in a stretch of 10-straight road series with a homer.

Buck finished the three-game series with the Dodgers hitting .385 (5-for-13) with two doubles, one home run, two RBI, two walks and two stolen bases.

HOOK, LINE AND DINGER: After hitting two home runs on Wednesday afternoon, the Twins have now hit 13 homers in their last five games… they have homered 60 times on the season, the third most in the AL and seventh most in baseball…50 of their home runs have come in their last 32 games since April 13…since that date only the Rays (57) have hit as many among AL teams.

KIRILLOFF THE HOOK: Since being recalled from Triple-A St. Paul on May 5, Alex Kirilloff has hit .333 (12-for-36) with six walks, a .455 on-base percentage and an 1.010 OPS in 11 games…in his last 21 games between Triple-A (April 18-May 4) and Minnesota (May 6-17), he has combined to hit .324 (24-for-74) with four doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI, 12 walks, a .444 on-base percentage and a 1.026 OPS.

THE LEFTORIUM: The Twins are scheduled to face back-to-back lefties in Anaheim, which will mark the first time facing two southpaws in a series since September 30-October 2, 2022 at Detroit (Tyler Alexander and Joey Wentz)…the last time they faced lefties in back-to-back games was September 24-25, 2022 vs. Los Angeles-AL (Reid Detmers and José Suárez)…tonight marks the ninth time Minnesota has faced a lefty, the previous eight being Jesús Luzardo on April 5 at Miami (5-2 loss), Nestor Cortes on April 14 at New York-AL (4-3 win), Chris Sale on April 18 at Boston (5-4 loss), Patrick Corbin on April 23 vs. Washington (3-1 win), Cortes again on April 25 (6-2 win), Logan Allen on May 6 at Cleveland (4-3 loss), Drew Smyly on May 12 vs. Chicago-NL (6-2 loss) and Clayton Kershaw on Tuesday (5-1 win)…the Twins have the fifth-fewest at-bats in baseball vs. left-handed pitching at just 317.

Twins are slashing .221/.290/.375 with 11 homers vs. lefties, compared to .234/.315/.417 with 49 homers vs. righties.

Jorge Polanco is hitting .350 (7-for-20) with a .950 OPS against left-handed pitching this season.

In his last 41 games against left-handed pitching (since August 9, 2022), Carlos Correa is hitting .313 (25-for-80) with six doubles, one triple, six home runs, 15 RBI, 13 walks, a .396 on-base percentage, a .638 slugging percentage and a 1.033 OPS.

STARTING PITCHER – JOE RYAN 41
2023: 6-1, 2.16 ERA CAREER: 21-10, 3.30 ERA
Making his ninth start and appearance of 2023 and his sixth road start of the year…also his 41st career start and appearance.

Facing Los Angeles-AL for the second time in his career…last faced September 24, 2022 at Target Field (ND; 4.0 IP, 3 R/ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K).

Owns most strikeouts (238) and second-most wins (21) through a pitcher’s first 40 career games in Twins history (since 1961).

LAST TIME OUT: Earned his team-leading sixth win in the Twins 11-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on May 13 at Target Field…recorded his sixth-straight quality start, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings with four hits allowed, one walk and a season-high-tying 10 strikeouts…allowed four hits in the first three innings, then retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced from the top of the third inning through the top of the sixth…struck out six of the last nine hitters he faced, including striking out the side in his final inning of work…threw a season-high 102 pitches, his most in a game since throwing 106 pitches vs. Kansas City on September 13, 2022…recorded 10-or-more strikeouts for the fourth time in his career and the second time vs. the Cubs (career-high 11 K at Chicago-NL on September 22, 2021)…was relieved by Jovani Moran to begin the top of the seventh inning with Minnesota leading 7-0…received seven runs of support, bringing his season total

LAST TIME OUT: Earned his team-leading sixth win in the Twins 11-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on May 13 at Target Field…recorded his sixth-straight quality start, tossing 6.0 scoreless innings with four hits allowed, one walk and a season-high-tying 10 strikeouts…allowed four hits in the first three innings, then retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced from the top of the third inning through the top of the sixth…struck out six of the last nine hitters he faced, including striking out the side in his final inning of work…threw a season-high 102 pitches, his most in a game since throwing 106 pitches vs. Kansas City on September 13, 2022…recorded 10-or-more strikeouts for the fourth time in his career and the second time vs. the Cubs (career-high 11 K at Chicago-NL on September 22, 2021)…was relieved by Jovani Moran to begin the top of the seventh inning with Minnesota leading 7-0…received seven runs of support, bringing his season total to 46 runs of support, third most in baseball…the Twins offense recorded 13 hits, including a season-high five home runs, as Moran and Cole Sands combined to hold the Cubs to one run over the final 3.0 innings to seal the win.

Has pitched 6.0-or-more innings in each of his last nine starts, dating back to September 30, 2022…marks the longest streak of Ryan’s career and the longest active streak in baseball.

Current streak of six-straight quality starts also marks the longest streak of his career and the longest by a Twin since José Berríos recorded seven-consecutive quality starts in 2019…Ryan’s streak is tied with Texas’s Nathan Eovaldi for the third longest in baseball this season, trailing only Houston’s Framber Valdez (7) and Seattle’s George Kirby (7).

Has not allowed a home run in his last four starts…matches his career-long streak of four games without allowing a homer, done twice previously (September 13-20, 2022; April 21-May 10, 2022)…last allowed a homer in the sixth inning on April 19 at Boston to Kiké Hernández.

TWO STARTS AGO: Took his first loss of the 2023 season and snapped his career-long streak of eight- consecutive winning decisions on May 7 at Cleveland in a 2-0 Twins defeat…pitched 6.0 innings, allowing two runs and a season-high eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts…allowed both runs in the first inning on four singles; infielder José Ramírez and designated hitter Josh Bell each recorded RBI singles against Ryan…retired 15 of 17 batters from the bottom of the first inning to the bottom of the sixth…stranded two runners in the sixth inning by striking out outfielder Will Brennan to end his outing…Emilio Pagán and Brock Stewart each recorded scoreless innings out of the Twins bullpen but Minnesota had only one hit against three Guardians pitchers in the shutout loss…marked Ryan’s first loss since September 7, 2022 at New York-AL.

41 THROUGH 40: Ryan made his 40th career appearance and start on May 13 vs. Chicago-NL, earning his 21st career win in the Twins 11-1 victory…here are Ryan’s career numbers and how they rank in Twins history (since 1961) through a pitcher’s first 40 career games:

STATISTIC RYAN’S #’S TWINS RANK
Strikeouts……………………………………………… 238 ……………………………………………………………. 1st
Wins……………………………………………………… 21 …………………………………………………………….. 2nd
Win Probability Added …………………………….. 2.4 ………………………………………………………………5th
Quality Starts…………………………………………. 19 ………………………………………………………….. T-6th
Innings Pitched……………………………………. 223.2 …………………………………………………………. 13th

VS. THE ANGELS: Tonight is Ryan’s second career start vs. Los Angeles-AL…previously faced the Angels on September 24, 2022 at Target Field, taking a no-decision in an 8-4 Twins win; pitched 4.0 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits, with three walks and five strikeouts…allowed RBI hits to centerfielder Mike Trout and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani…threw a season-low 69 pitches and was relieved by Griffin Jax to start the fifth inning…the start matched four others for the shortest outing of his career and marked the only start of those five that the Twins won.

In six career starts vs. American League West opponents (SEA – 2, HOU – 2, TEX – 1, LAA – 1), Ryan is 1-4, 5.90 ERA (29.0 IP, 19 ER) with 17 walks and 31 strikeouts.

SMOOTH ROAD: Making his team-high sixth road start of the season tonight…is 3-1, 2.03 ERA (31.0 IP, 7 ER) with five walks and 30 strikeouts in five road starts this year…his 2.03 ERA away from Target Field in 2023 is the fourth-best road ERA in baseball (min. 25.0 IP), behind only SF’s Anthony DeSclafani (1.75), TEX’s Nathan Eovaldi (1.83) and SEA’s George Kirby (1.95)…making his first career appearance and start at Angel Stadium, marking his 13th different ballpark in his career; is 5-5, 4.96 ERA (61.2 IP, 34 ER) with 14 walks and 62 strikeouts in 12 previous starts when pitching at a new venue.

Ryan has gone 11-5 with a 3.28 ERA (107.0 IP, 39 ER), 24 walks and 106 strikeouts in 19 career road starts…has similar numbers in 21 career home starts, going 10-5, 3.32 ERA (116.2 IP, 43 ER) with 35 walks and 132 strikeouts.

Seeking his first career win at a ballpark in the Pacific Time Zone tonight…is 0-3, 11.93 ERA (14.1 IP, 19 ER) with four walks and 14 strikeouts in three career starts on the West Coast (SEA – 1, SD – 1, LAD – 1).

LEFT (AND RIGHT) OUT IN THE COLD: Left-handed hitters are batting just .181 (17-for-94) with a .480 OPS against Ryan this year…right-handed hitters are hitting .200 (18-for-90) with a .534 OPS… his .190 overall opponent batting average ranks sixth among all qualified American League pitchers this season, trailing LAA’s Shohei Ohtani (.145), NYY’s Domingo Germán (.165), BAL’s Tyler Wells (.168), TOR’s Chris Bassitt (.175) and DET’s Eduardo Rodriguez (.186)…over his career, Ryan has slightly better splits against left-handed hitters than righties, with lefties batting just .191 with a .597 OPS since his debut in 2021…right-handed hitters are hitting .211 with a .638 OPS off Ryan.

THE ARSENAL: Ryan has utilized a four-pitch mix in his first eight starts of the 2023 season…has leaned on his four-seam fastball and split finger, combining to throw the two pitches 86.1 percent of the time this year; the fastball-split duo accounted for 90 of his 102 pitches (88.2 percent) in his last start on May 13 vs. Chicago-NL…opponents are batting just .190 (32-for-168) with 51 strikeouts against Ryan’s four-seamer and split finger combined…here’s a look at Ryan’s repertoire, per Baseball Savant:

PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (# OF PITCHES, VS. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (92.5)………….58.7% (430 pitches, 210/220).. .189 (20-for-106), 3 2B, 3 HR, 38 K
Split Finger (83.3)………………….27.4% (201 pitches, 71/130)…………. .194 (12-for-62), 2 2B, 13 K
Sweeper (78.7)…………………………8.6% (63 pitches, 52/11)………………………….. .143 (1-for-7), 2 K
Slider (82.8)……………………………..5.3% (39 pitches, 30/9)………………….. .250 (2-for-8), 1 HR, 3 K

Ryan’s four-seam fastball has accumulated a run value of -10 this season, the second-best run value on a four-seam fastball in the majors (min. 50 PA), trailing NYY’s Gerrit Cole (-11).

LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:

LEADING OFF: Today, the Angels play the first of nine games on a homestand against the Minnesota Twins (May 19-21), Boston Red Sox (May 22-24) and Miami Marlins (May 26-28)…Halos went 3-4 on last road trip to Cleveland (1-2) and Baltimore (2-2)…LAA was 2-4 on last homestand against the Rangers (1-2) and Astros (1-2).

LONG HOMESTAND: The Angels current nine game (10-day) homestand is tied for the longest of the season…Halos will also host a nine game homestand immediately following the All-Star Break against the Astros (July 14-16), Yankees (July 17-19) and Pirates (July 21-23).

COUNTRY WEEKEND: This weekend is “Country Weekend” at the Big A…A postgame concert featuring Russell Dickerson will take place on the field following tomorrow night’s game.

BACK ABOVE .500: With a 23-22 record, Halos are back above the .500 mark on the season…LAA has been exactly .500 10 different times this season (1-1, 5-5, 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, 14-14 & 22-22).

DINGER DUO: Yesterday was the 25th time that Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani homered in the same game… It’s the fourth highest total among duos in Angels history (club record is 48 games – Trout/Pujols).

LEAD ASSISTANT: Hunter Renfroe is tied for the American League lead with five outfield assists this season…Sine 2017, his 61 outfield assists lead the Majors (Starling Marte is second with 51 assists).

LEAD OFF MICK: Mickey Moniak has hit leadoff home runs in two of his four starts for the Angels this season…He’s one of seven players in the Majors with multiple leadoff HR this year…He celebrated his 25th birthday on Saturday and became the first player in MLB history to make his season debut on his birthday and hit a leadoff home run…Additionally, he was the first player in Angels history to hit a leadoff homer on his birthday.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER SHO: Monday night, Shohei Ohtani became the first pitcher to reach base safely five times in a game since Mel Stottlemyre for the Yankees on Sept. 26, 1964 at Washington…He finished a double shy of becoming the first starting pitcher in MLB history to hit for the cycle.

MORE HISTORY: Shohei Ohtani reached the 400 career innings pitched threshold on Monday night… According to ELIAS, his 509 strikeouts in his first 400 innings as a starter are the second-most all-time (Corbin Burnes had 539 strikeouts through his first 400 IP for Milwaukee).

VS. MINNESOTA: Today is the first of six matchups this season between the Angels and Twins…In addition to the current series, the teams will meet again Sept. 22- 24 at Target Field…Last season, Halos went 4-2 against Minnesota to take the season series for a second consecutive year.

LEAGUE LEADER: Shohei Ohtani, leads the Majors in opponent batting average (.145), and ranks third in strikeouts (71) and sixth in WHIP (0.91).

PLAY FROM AHEAD: Halos have held leads in 37 of 45 games played this year.

SINGLE HANDED: Gio Urshela has hit 39 singles this year plus six extra-base hits (five doubles & one home run)…Urshela ranks second, behind Toronto’s Bo Bichette (42), for the American League lead in singles.

FRESH ARM: RHP Zack Weiss was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday and is looking to make his season debut with the Angels…He has appeared in 10 \games for the Bees this season.

ESTÉVEZ ENDING: This season, Carlos Estévez is pitching to a 1.35 ERA (20 IP – 3 ER) and has converted all 10 of his save opportunities…He is the first Angels pitcher to convert his first 10 save opportunities of a season since Ernesto Frieri converted his first 12 chances in 2012.

WALSH ON REHAB: Jared Walsh (headaches and insomnia) has played six games on his rehab assignment with Triple-A Salt Lake and is batting .500
(10/20) with eight runs scored, one double, one home run, five RBI, seven walks and a 1.343 OPS.

ALL OVER THE INFIELD: Gio Urshela is one of six players in the Majors to appear at all four infield positions this season…He has made 16 starts at first base, 13 starts at third base, eight at shortstop and one at second base.

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).

UNEARNED: Angels have allowed 26 unearned runs this season, which is the most in the Majors…Halos have committed 31 fielding errors this season, which is also the most in the Majors.

ON THE BOARD: Halos have not been shut out since Aug. 21, 2022 at Detroit…Current streak of 86 games without being shut out is the longest active streak in the Majors and fifth-longest streak in Angels history (fourth longest streak was 90 games in 1995).

NET-OW: Zack Neto has been hit by seven pitches this season, which is tied for fourth-most in the Majors… Since 1901, Neto’s seven HBP through his first 15 career games are the most in MLB…He also was the first player in Angels history to be hit a pitch in four consecutive games (April 18-21).

RED SOX ON DECK: Following the current series vs. Minnesota, the Angels will continue the homestand with a three game series against the Boston Red Sox… Angels went 1-3 against Boston during trip to Fenway earlier this season from April 14-17.

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP REID DETMERS
0-3, 4.89 ERA
Pitched 12th no-hitter in Angels history on May 10, 2022 vs. Tampa Bay

  • TODAY’S GAME: Making eighth start of the season today and fourth at home…Made Opening Day roster for second consecutive season…Is in third Major League season with Angels.
  • LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor in decision in last start on Saturday at Cleveland after tossing 5+ innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts…Began the outing with 5.0 scoreless frames…Exited the 6th inning after allowing a walk and an RBI double to open the frame…The bequeathed runner would ultimately score as well.
  • END THE STREAK: Has taken the loss in each of last three decisions, which is longest streak of career.
  • STAY UNFAMILIAR: This season, opponents are batting .243 (28/115) the first two times through the order, but are batting .458 (11/24) the third time through the batting order.
  • EARLY SUCCESS: Has a 2.57 ERA (21 IP – 6 ER) in the first three innings of games, compared with an 8.36 ERA (14 IP – 13 ER) from the fourth inning on.
  • GOING OFFSPEED: In 2023, is holding opponents to a .260 (25/96) average against off-speed pitches, but has a .326 (14/43) average against his fastball.
  • VS. MINNESOTA: In two career games vs. Minnesota, is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA (9 IP – 6 ER) and 11 strikeouts… Both starts came last season.
  • AT ANGEL STADIUM: In 18 career games at Angel Stadium, is 5-5 with a 3.87 ERA (97.2 IP – 42 ER) and 94 strikeouts…This year, is 0-1 with a 5.52 ERA (14.2 IP – 9 ER) in three home starts…Last season, was 4-3 with a 3.22 ERA (72.2 IP – 26 ER) in 13 home starts, including no-hitter on May 10 vs. Rays (seventh individual no-hitter in Angel Stadium history).

MLB Preview: Kansas City Royals (14-31) at Chicago White Sox (16-29)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Kansas City Royals (14-31) at Chicago White Sox (16-29)

KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:

BULLPEN DAY DUB: Seven different Royals pitchers contributed to a 4-3 win in San Diego on Wednesday to clinch their third series victory of the season and second in their last three sets…Carlos Hernández had 4 strikeouts over 2.0 scoreless innings and Mike Mayers—who was selected from Omaha before the game— allowed 1 run over 2.2 innings in his Royals debut…with the game tied at 1-1 in the 6th, Vinnie Pasquantino hit a go-ahead, 2-run home run off Yu Darvish and Maikel Garcia added an RBI double later in the inning en route to a career-high-tying 3-hit game…Josh Taylor was charged with 2 runs in the bottom of the 6th, but the trio of Aroldis Chapman, Taylor Clarke and Scott Barlow combined for 3.0 scoreless frames for the 2nd consecutive game to secure the series win and mark Kansas City’s 1st series-deciding victory of the season.

The Royals seven pitchers combined for 9 walks and 13 strikeouts, both of which fell 1 shy of the team’s season high…Wednesday marked just the 33rd game in franchise history in which Royals pitchers issued 9 walks and won, and it was their 1st such win since they did it twice within a span of 11 days in April 2021, including their 14-10 Opening Day win over the Rangers and a 4-3 win in 11 innings at the White Sox.

Royals pitchers held the Padres to 4-for-23 (.174) with runners in scoring position during the 3-game set.

ROSTER MOVES: The Royals announced today that right-handed pitcher Brad Keller has been placed on the 15-day Injured List (retroactive to May 16) with right shoulder impingement syndrome…in a corresponding move, right hander Max Castillo has been recalled from Triple-A Omaha…Castillo was optioned earlier this week after throwing 122 pitches in a four-day span, most recently pitching 2.1 scoreless innings on Monday night in San Diego…in 3 appearances with the Royals this season, Castillo owns a 2.89 ERA (3 ER in 9.1 IP).

ROYALS ON THE MEND: In his 4th rehab start and 3rd with Triple-A Omaha, left hander Daniel Lynch allowed 5 runs on 9 hits and no walks in 3.2 innings on Wednesday, with 8 strikeouts…he’s allowed 9 runs on 20 hits in 14.1 innings over his 4 rehab starts, but has issued only 4 walks with 19 strikeouts…Lynch has not pitched in the big leagues this season, after being placed on the 15-day IL on March 30 with a left rotator cuff strain.

Nicky Lopez went 2-for-5 with a double last night in his 2nd rehab game with Triple-A Omaha, and played the entire game at shortstop…Lopez was placed on the 10-day IL on May 2 with appendicitis.

Drew Waters, who suffered a strained left oblique during the first week of Spring Training, is 6-for-32 in 8 rehab games with Omaha…that includes a 4-hit, 2-RBI game on Wednesday and a 1-for-4 game last night.

MAY FLOWERS: The Royals have won back-to-back games for the fourth time and tonight they’re seeking their 3rd straight win for the first time this season…they are 7-9 through 16 games in the month of May, already matching their win total from all of March and April, when they went 7-22 in 29 games…the Royals are 6-5 in their last 11 games—including 3 wins over the White Sox in Kansas City last week—after starting the season 8-26.

The Royals offense has blossomed in the month of May, and that’s still true even after they were held to 9 runs over 3 games in San Diego…after a slow start in March/April which saw the Royals rank among the worst teams in the Majors in several offensive categories, including 29th in runs per game (3.3) and 30th in OPS (.624), the Royals have been among the best offenses in the league since the calendar flipped to May…they rank 4th in the Majors in May in extra-base hits (61), 7th in slugging percentage (.468), 8th in OPS (.797), 9th in runs per game (5.4), and 10th in both average (.259) and on-base percentage (.330).

In 16 games this month, the Royals rank 6th in the Majors with 24 home runs, already 4 more HR than the 20 they hit in 29 games during March/April…they hit only 1 HR in the 3-game series in San Diego, after beginning the month with 13 straight games with a HR, which marked the 3rd-longest streak in the Majors this season and the 2nd-longest HR streak in Royals history, trailing a 15-game run from April 6-22, 2001.

Royals catchers have hit 12 home runs this season, the most of any position on the team and the highest total at the catcher position in the Majors, 2 more than the Athletics and Braves (10 each)…Salvador Perez leads the Royals with 9 home runs, including 8 as a catcher…MJ Melendez has homered once as a catcher and Freddy Fermin has 3 home runs in 9 games (6 starts) as a catcher since his May 2 recall.

Vinnie Pasquantino has 18 career HR, 12 of which have given the Royals a lead (66.7%), including 5 of his 8 HR this season…his 5 go-ahead HR in 2023 are only 2 behind Aaron Judge for the Major League lead.

WHAT A RELIEF!: The bullpen continued its strong run in Wednesday’s win in San Diego, in which six relievers combined to allow 3 runs over 7.0 innings, with 9 strikeouts…over the last 11 games, Royals relievers have recorded a 2.74 ERA (15 ER in 49.1 IP), .213 opponents’ average (37-for-174) and 62 strikeouts (11.3 K/9)… ten different pitchers have thrown a pitch in relief during this 11-game run, including Carlos Hernández, who started Wednesday’s win in San Diego as the opener and pitched 2.0 scoreless innings to mark his 8th scoreless outing in his last 10, a stretch in which he’s pitched to a 1.32 ERA (2 ER in 13.2 IP) and .167 opponents’ average (8-for-48) with a whopping 20 strikeouts (13.2 K/9), only 4 walks (2.6 BB/9) and no home runs allowed.

Taylor Clarke pitched a scoreless 8th inning on Wednesday to run his scoreless streak to 7.1 innings over 6 appearances, during which he’s held opponents to a .200 average (5-for-25) with 11 strikeouts.

Scott Barlow has retired 20 of his last 21 batters, and the only exception during that stretch was a single by Oakland’s JJ Bleday on May 7…he’s recorded 10.2 scoreless innings over his last 10 outings since April 22, a stretch in which he has 5 saves, a .111 opponents’ average (4-for-36) and 16 strikeouts…his save on Wednesday was the 49th in his career, tying him with Wade Davis and Steve Farr for 9th in Royals history.

Royals relievers lead the Majors with 207 strikeouts and a 10.9 K/9, which marks a big improvement over last year, when the Royals bullpen ranked 25th in the Majors with 552 strikeouts and 21st with an 8.5 K/9.

FOUR SCORE: The Royals are 12-11 this season when they score at least 4 runs, including 6-1 in their last 7 such games, after starting the season 6-10…their .522 win percentage when they score 4 runs—which is actually 2nd worst in the Majors—is more than 400 points higher than their 2-20 record (.091) when they score fewer than 4 runs, which is the 4th-worst record in the Majors, better than the Padres (2-21), Red Sox (1-12) and A’s (1-26).

The Royals are 6-5 in 1-run games this season and their .545 win percentage is 5th best in the American League…each of their last 3 wins have been by 1 run, including each of their last 2 games in San Diego.

VS. WHITE SOX: The Royals are visiting the White Sox this weekend for the first time this season, after hosting them in Kansas City last week, where they won 3 of 4 games and outscored the Sox 27-13…the Royals are 23-19 vs. the White Sox since the start of 2021, but they’re seeking their first series win here since April 2022.

After playing 7 games over a 14-day span, these teams won’t see each other again until September.

ON DECK: Yesterday’s off day ended a stretch in which the Royals played 26 games in 27 days, and was their first break in the schedule since May 1…yesterday also marked their first of four off days over a 15-day span, including one next Thursday at home and consecutive off days at home on May 31 and June 1, which will mark the first time the Royals will have scheduled back-to-back off days since April 6-7, 2016.

The Royals next two series, including this weekend in Chicago and a 3-game set next week in Kansas City vs. Detroit, will mark their only two American League opponents over a stretch of eight series, which includes upcoming sets with the Nationals, Cardinals, Rockies and Marlins.

TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP ZACK GREINKE (1-4, 5.01)

ZACK GREINKE is making his 10th start of the season and 524th of his career tonight vs. the White Sox, 3 starts behind Jerry Koosman and Hall of Famer Jack Morris for 37th on the all-time starts list…it’s his 33rd career appearance (30th start) vs. the White Sox and 2nd in two weeks…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 (523) and innings (3293.2), 2nd in wins (224) and 3rd in strikeouts (2,914)…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 figure into the decision of the Royals 4-3, walk-off loss last Saturday night in Milwaukee, in which he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and no walks in 5.0 innings, with 5 strikeouts…he retired the first six batters before Brice Turang singled to begin the 3rd and scored on a 2-out, 2-run home run by Christian Yelich…Zack retired six of the next eight batters, including a double play in the 4th, and exited with a 3-2 lead…Yelich tied the game with his 2nd HR of the night in the 6th inning off Josh Taylor, and Milwaukee walked off on a sacrifice fly in the 9th.

Zack has exited tied or with a lead in his last 3 starts, after exiting at a deficit in 5 of his 1st 6 starts…he’s completed 5.0 innings in 8 of his 9 starts this year.

GRE1NKE: Zack’s last start 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.

Among the 1,000 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 86 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 7 walks to the 194 batters he’s faced through 9 starts (46.2 IP) for a 3.6% walk rate and 1.4 BB/9, which rank 2nd and 3rd, respectively, among American League pitchers this season.

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 Zack’s 205th start with the Royals, breaking a tie with Danny Duffy for the 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).…his 1,036 strikeouts with the Royals rank 7th, 12 shy of Duffy.

VS. WHITE SOX: Tonight marks Greinke’s 33rd career outing (30th start) vs. the White Sox, and his 30 starts (including tonight) are tied with
Cleveland for his 2nd most vs. any opponent, trailing only the Rockies, vs. whom he has 36 starts…he’s 10-10 with a 3.84 ERA (83 ER in 194.2 IP) in his career vs. the Sox, including a no decision last week in a 12-5 Royals win in Kansas City, in which he was charged with 4 runs (3 ER) in 5.2 innings…Zack has not lost to the White Sox since Aug. 19, 2009 during his first stint with the Royals, and in 10 starts since, he’s 5-0 with a 3.20 ERA (25 ER in 70.1 IP)

CHICAGO WHITE SOX NOTES:

WHITE SOX AT A GLANCE
The Chicago White Sox have lost seven of their last 12 games and 18 of 27 as they continue a nine-game, 10-day homestand tonight with the series opener vs. Kansas City.

RHP Michael Kopech, who is looking for his first win at Guaranteed Rate Field this season, is scheduled to start for Chicago.

The White Sox have split the first six games of this homestand, winning two of three over Cleveland after losing two of three to Houston last weekend to open the homestand.

Following this series vs. the Royals, the Sox will take a seven-game trip to the Guardians (5/22-24) and Detroit (5/25-28).

The Sox went 3-4 on their last trip at Cincinnati (2-1) and Kansas City (1-3) from 5/5-11 and 3-4 on their last homestand vs. Tampa Bay (1-3) and Minnesota (2-1) from 4/27-5/4.

TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
The White Sox need two wins this weekend to clinch their first winning homestand of the season.

White Sox starters own a 3.21 ERA (15 ER/42.0 IP), .216 (33- 153) opponents average and 33 strikeouts over the last seven games … they have allowed three earned runs or less six times.

The Sox were outscored 27-13 in their four-game series loss to Kansas City from 5/-11, including seven and eight-run defeats.

Michael Kopech owns a 2.79 ERA (6 ER/19.1 IP), .179 (12-67) average, 0.98 WHIP and 15 strikeouts in fi ve career appearances (three starts) vs. the Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Jake Burger is hitting .339/.387/.911 (19-56) with three doubles, nine home runs, 18 RBI and a 1.298 OPS at home in 2023 … 17 of his 19 career homers have come at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Luis Robert Jr. has hit safely in 14 of 16 games in May, going 22-57 (.386) with six doubles, seven home runs, 15 RBI, five walks, seven multi-hit eff orts and a 1.321 OPS.

YESTERDAY’S RECAP
Cleveland limited Chicago to one hit over the final five innings and held on for a 3-1 win to avoid a series sweep.

The Sox were unable to convert on a bases-loaded, no outs situation in the second as Hanser Alberto popped out to first base before Seby Zavala and Jake Marisnick both struck out.

Seby Zavala gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead with a RBI single in the fourth but the Guardians answered with a run in the fifth and two runs in the seventh, all off starter Dylan Cease.

Cease suffered the loss despite allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts in 6.1 IP … Garrett Crochet worked a 1-2-3 ninth in his fi rst game since Game 4 of the 2021 ALDS.

Luis Robert Jr. recorded the White Sox only multi-hit effort … the Sox walked once, went 1-7 with RISP and left seven on base.

LONGBALL LOGISTICS
The Sox (Burger, Robert Jr.) are one of four MLB teams with multiple players to hit 10-plus home runs this season, joining Atlanta (Acuna Jr., Albies, Murphy, Olson), the Angels (Ohtani, Renfroe, Trout) and Tampa Bay (Arozarena, Díaz, Lowe).

The White Sox have homered in 14 of its last 17 games since 4/30 (24 total homers), and hit 27 in its last 20 games since 4/27.

The Sox have recorded nine multi-homer eff orts and been held without a home run just four times over the last 20 games.

Chicago is 14-17 when homering, 7-7 when hitting multiple homers and 2-12 when going homerless this season.

LONGBALL LOGISTICS, PART II
Luis Robert Jr. (T2nd, 12) and Jake Burger (T6th, 10) rank among the American League home run leaders this season.

Robert Jr. is tied for third in MLB with nine 400-plus foot homers in 2023, trailing Ronald Acuna Jr. and Pete Alonso (10 each) … he is averaging 407 ft. and 107.2 mph on his 12 homers, including max values of 430 ft. on 5/9 at K.C., and 113.6 mph on 5/14 vs. Houston.

Robert Jr. has recorded 400-plus foot distances on 34 of his 48 career home runs … he leads the Sox since the start of 2020 with homer averages of 412 feet and 107.6 mph exit velocity (min. 10 home runs).

Burger leads MLB with a 8.3 homers per at-bat this season (minimum 80 plate appearances) … he is averaging 405 feet on his 19 career home runs, and 13 have traveled an estimated 400-plus feet.

HOORAY FOR MAY
Luis Robert Jr. is hitting .386/.462/.860 (22-57) with six doubles, seven homers (averaging 421 ft. and 109.2 mph EV), 15 RBI, 17 runs scored, five walks and a 1.321 OPS in May (16 G).

He ranks among AL May leaders in on-base percentage (1st), slugging percentage (1st), OPS (1st), runs scored (1st), total bases (1st, 49), home runs (1st), extra-base hits (1st, 13), RBI (2nd), average (3rd), hits (T2nd) and doubles (T4th).

The last White Sox to win American League Player of the Month honors was 1B José Abreu in August 2021.

WHITE SOX VS. KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Kansas City won three of four from 5/8-11 at Kauffman Stadium in the fi rst matchup of the season between the clubs … following this series, the clubs don’t play again until September.

Chicago is hitting .212/.271/.333 with three home runs, owns a 7.29 ERA (27 ER/33.1 IP) with two quality starts and has been outscored by a 27-13 margin vs. the Royals this season.

The White Sox are 19-23 vs. the Royals since the start of the 2021 season (outscored 169-159), including a 9-9 home mark.

Chicago went 9-10 vs. Kansas City last season, going 5-4 at Guaranteed Rate Field and 4-6 at Kauffman Stadium.

CENTRAL DIVISION DYNAMICS
Chicago is 6-7 vs. the American League Central … it currently is in a stretch of 13 straight games vs. the division (2-1 record).

The White Sox went 37-39 vs. the AL Central in 2022 (18-19 at home; 19-20 on the road) after going 69-47 from 2020-21.

The Sox recorded three straight winning seasons vs. the division from 2019-21, their longest streak since 1997-2009.

REST WHEN YOU CAN
The Sox currently are in a stretch of 16 straight games without a day off and are 9-8 during the current stretch of 29 games in 30 days from 5/2-31 (only off days in May are 5/1 and 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 play six of seven series from 5/5-28 vs. teams below .500 (at Cincinnati, at/vs. Kansas City, vs./at Cleveland and at Detroit).

POSTING PUNCHOUTS
Chicago pitchers rank second in MLB with 422 strikeouts, trailing Minnesota (432) … White Sox starters rank second in the major leagues in strikeouts (255), trailing the Twins (280).

Lance Lynn is tied for sixth among American League starting pitchers with 61 strikeouts, and Reynaldo López is tied for sixth among AL relievers with 27 strikeouts.

SOUTHPAW SUCCESS
Chicago is 30-83 (.361) in the last 11 games vs. LHP.

The White Sox are batting .273/.339/.443 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, tied for fourth in OPS (.782) and sixth in slugging pct.

Tim Anderson owns a .350/.379/.555 (144-412) slash line vs. LHP since 2019, and Hanser Alberto is hitting .345/.364/.491 (172-499) … Anderson and Alberto rank 1-2 in MLB in average vs. left-handers since the start of 2019.

Luis Robert Jr. is 11-28 (.393) with three homers and seven RBI vs. LHP in 2023 and hitting .355/.417/.617/1.033 lifetime.

NO RISP, NO REWARD
The White Sox rank seventh in the American League and 13th in MLB with a .258 (92-357) RISP average.

The Sox are hitting .229/.310/.426 with 67 RBI and a .736 OPS with RISP over the last 25 games.

ANDREW, ANDREW … HE’S OUR MAN!
All five of Andrew Vaughn’s home runs this season have tied the game or given Chicago the lead, including a game-ending, three-run shot in the ninth inning on 4/30 vs. Tampa Bay.

Vaughn leads the White Sox with 18 contests with a hit and RBI, and 35 games reaching base safely (hit, walk or HBP).

Vaughn ranks seventh (.417) and Andrew Benintendi ranks 11th (.391) among American League RISP average leaders.

AS TA GOES, SO GO THE WHITE SOX
Since the start of the 2020, the Sox are 157-119 when Tim Anderson is in the starting lineup (68-85 when he doesn’t start).

During that span, the Sox are 129-79 when Anderson records a hit, 75-32 when he records a multi-hit effort, 96-47 when he scores a run and 27-3 when he homers.

Anderson ranks second in MLB since the start of 2019 with 53 three-hit games (Sox are 37-16), trailing Freddie Freeman (60). Anderson needs three homers to become the fourth player in White Sox history to record 100 homers and 100 stolen bases

STARTER – #34 MICHAEL KOPECH RHP
KOPECH AT A GLANCE
Is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season, fourth at home and first against the Kansas City Royals.

Has recorded 5.0-plus IP in six of his eight starts this season and 6.0-plus IP three times, allowing just one run in two of those outings.

Went 0-3 with a 7.01 ERA (20 ER/25.2 IP), 1.71 WHIP and .280 (28-100) opponents average in five April starts … the 7.01 ERA is his highest monthly ERA in his career.

Is limiting left-handed hitters to a .197 (13-66) batting average this season … his .197 batting average against lefties is the seventh-best in the American League among right-handed starters with at least seven starts.

Has received zero runs of support in four of his eight starts this season and more than three just twice … his four outings with zero runs of support are tied for second-most in the majors behind Ryan Yarbrough (5).

Has gone 8-14 with 4.03 ERA (85 ER/190.0 IP), .216 (150-695) opponents average and 184 strikeouts in 41 career starts … is 3-3 with 3.90 ERA (24 ER/55.1 IP), .225 (47-209) opponents average and 80 strikeouts in 40 career relief appearances.

Has recorded 100-plus strikeouts in each of his last two seasons (2021-22).

Spent his first full season in the major leagues in 2021, pitching out of the bullpen (40 games) while making four starts … opted out of the 2020 season for personal reasons … missed the entire 2019 season recovering from Tommy John surgery (performed on 9/18/18).

Was acquired by the White Sox from Boston with OF Luis Basabe, RHP Víctor Díaz and INF Yoán Moncada in exchange for LHP Chris Sale on 12/6/16.

LAST START
Suffered the lost on 5/12 against the Houston Astros, allowing two runs on one hit with a season-high six walks and five strikeouts over 4.2 IP … allowed one run in the third inning without a hit (Kyle Tuckers led off with a walk and scored on Jeremy Peña’s sacrifice fly) and one in
the fourth on an RBI double from Tucker.

Departed the game in the fifth with the White Sox trailing, 2-1 … threw 94 pitches (48 strikes) … the Sox lost, 5-1.

Owned a 54.5 first-strike percentage and 5.3 swinging-strike percentage (five swing and misses) vs. 22 batters … threw 59 four-seam fastballs 95.9 mph avg; 97.9 mph max), 26 sliders (85.5 avg; 88.2 max), five changeups (89.9 mph avg; 91.8 max) and four curveballs (80.4 avg; 81.5 max).

WELCOME MAY
Has gone 2-2 with a 2.27 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, .134 (20- 149) opponents average and 40 strikeouts over eight career starts in May … his 2.27 ERA and .134 opponents average are career monthly bests.

Has allowed 11 runs as a starter in May, the least amount allowed in a single month for his career.

Went 1-1 with a 1.17 ERA (3 ER/23.0 IP), 0.78 WHIP, .103 (8-78) opponents average and 21 strikeouts over four May starts in 2022.

DAMAGE CONTROL AT RISK
Has limited the opposition to a career .201 (35-174) average with RISP and .213 (20-94) mark with RISP/two outs.

Opponents are batting a career-high .256 (10-39) with RISP and .360 (9-25) with RISP/two outs against him this season … in 2022, they hit .149 (10-67) with RISP and .125 (5-40) with RISP/two outs.

COMFORTS OF HOME
Has gone 3-8 with a 3.81 ERA (45 ER/106.1 IP), .191 (72-376) opponents average and 103 strikeouts over 22 career starts at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Is 0-1 with a 3.45 ERA (6 ER/15.2 IP), 15 walks and 16 strikeouts over his last three outings at home after allowing seven runs on eight hits over 4.2 IP in his first start of the season.

Went 2-5 with a 3.01 ERA (23 ER/68.2 IP), .157 (37- 235) opponents average and 52 strikeouts in 13 home starts (seven quality) in 2022 … allowed two runs or less eight times and one or fewer five times.

VS. KANSAS CITY ROYALS || A.L. CENTRAL
Is scheduled to make his fifth career start (11th appearance) vs. Kansas City and fourth (sixth) at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Has gone 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA (9 ER/16.0 IP), .207 (12-58) opponents average and 11 strikeouts as a starter … has allowed two runs or less in three of his four starts … did not make it out of the first inning in his last start on 8/22/22 (ND; 4 ER/0.0 IP).

Is 2-3 with a 3.66 ERA (29 ER/71.1 IP), .216 (56-159) opponents average and 75 strikeouts over 16 career starts against the American League Central.

MLB Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers (28-17) at St. Louis Cardinals (19-26)

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MLB Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers (28-17) at St. Louis Cardinals (19-26)

LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:

HOMERUN DERBY: The Los Angeles Dodgers were thumped last night, dropping the opener to the Cardinals 16-8 as St. Louis clubbed seven homers in the win. The Dodgers had their chances, scoring two runs in the first and five in the sixth, but a six-run third inning and a seven-run eighth inning by the Cardinals put the Dodgers away as they dropped their first game to St. Louis this season and snapped a five-game winning streak over the Red Birds. The Dodgers continued their road trip (0-1) with game two of the four-game series tonight at 7:15 p.m. Following the series conclusion on Sunday morning, the Dodgers will head south as they will have matchups with the first place Atlanta Braves (May 22-24) and Tampa Bay Rays (May 26-28). The nine homers last night set a new Busch Stadium record for homers in a game (previous high, 7, Cardinals vs. Reds on April 15, 2016). The Dodgers allowed 6+ runs in an inning twice last night, which was the first time they have allowed two 6+ run innings since May 14, 2014 vs. MIA.

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Dodgers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the lead did not hold as the Cardinals clobbered starter Julio Urías (3 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 1 K) for four homers in the third inning and chasing him out of the game. The four homers in the frame were the most allowed by a Dodger pitcher in the same inning since Ben Wade on May 28, 1954 at New York Giants (eighth inning). Down 9-2, the Dodgers showed signs of life in the sixth inning, scoring five runs, which were capped off by Freddie Freeman’s 300th career homer. His Grand Slam made it 9-7 in the sixth inning and Max Muncy clubbed his team-leading 15th homer of the year to make it 9-8 in the seventh inning. However, the Cardinals would score seven in the eighth and put the game away. The bullpen was forced to cover five innings of relief last night and they allowed a season-high 10 runs. Andre Jackson was solid was in his effort, tossing three scoreless innings before he was tagged for three runs in the eighth inning.

The right-hander was optioned this afternoon as the Dodgers selected the contract of Tyler Cyr. He appeared in 15 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City, posting a 2-1 record with a 4.86 ERA (9 ER/16.2 IP) and 24 strikeouts. Last season, the righty made 12 appearances in the Major Leagues with Philadelphia and Oakland, allowing four runs in 13.1 innings with 16 strikeouts. He posted a 1-0 mark with a 2.08 ERA (3 ER/13.0 IP) and 16 strikeouts with Oakland. In eight minor league seasons, he is a combined, 19-13 with a 3.08 ERA (102 ER/298.1 IP) and 358 strikeouts in 233 games (three starts). He was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 10th round of the 2015 First Year Player Draft out of Embry-Riddle University.

THE GLUE: Dodger catcher Will Smithwent 0-for-4 with a run scored yesterday and snapping his hitting streak at seven games. He batted .414 (12-for-29) with three homers, two doubles, seven RBI and three walks during his hitting streak. The Dodgers had their eight-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 20-7 (.741) when Smith is in the starting lineup this year. The backstop’s .741 winning percentage while in the lineup leads the National League and is third in the Majors:

Winning Percentage in the Lineup – MLB
Ryan McKenna BAL .750 (24-8)
Yandy Diaz TB .744 (29-10)
Will Smith LAD .741 (20-7)

FABULOUS FREDDIE: Freddie Freeman extended his hitting streak to eight games, finishing with two hits, four RBI and two runs. He is batting .444 (14-for-32) with three homers, three doubles, one triple, 13 RBI and seven runs scored during the streak and has hit safely in all but two games in May. Freeman is tied with Alex Verdugo for four in the Major Leagues with 36 runs scored, trailing just Ronald Acuña Jr. (40) and Marcus Semien (37). He clubbed his 300th career homer and became just the fifth player in franchise history to accomplish that feat in a Dodger uniform:

PLAYERS TO HIT HOME RUN NO. 300 IN A DODGER UNIFORM
DATE LOCATION PITCHER/TEAM
Duke Snider JULY 7, 1957 Ebbets Field Dick Drott, Cubs
Gil Hodges April 23, 1958 L. A. Coliseum Dick Drott, Cubs
Gary Sheffield July 21, 2001 Coors Field Denny Neagle, Rockies
Adrian Gonzalez Aug. 8, 2016 Dodger Stadium Junichi Tazawa, Red Sox
Freddie Freeman May 18, 2023 Busch Stadium Genesis Cabrera, Cardinals

LONG BALLS: The Dodgers connected for two more homers last night and have 74 on the season, which is tied for second in the Majors with Atlanta, behind only the Tampa Bay Rays (87). Los Angeles’ sixth Grand Slam of the campaign leads the Majors, ahead of Tampa Bay and Texas, who each have four. Los Angeles is also second in the Majors with 37 games with at least one homer, behind the Rays (40), who have homered in all but five games this season.

TONIGHT’S STARTER at CARDINALS: RHP TONY GONSOLIN (1-1, 1.42 ERA in 4 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:

  • 2022 All-Star tossed his first win of the season on Sunday against San Diego after firing five scoreless innings and giving up two hits, one walk, and tying a season-high six strikeouts
  • In his rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on April 20th, he hurled three innings, allowing one hit, two earned runs, two walks while sitting down seven
  • Made one Spring Training start, tossing 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on three hits, while walking two and striking out two

VS. CARDINALS:

  • Last faced St. Louis on July 13, 2022, tossing five innings and giving up seven hits, five runs, one home run and one walk while punching out six in the no decision
  • He is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA (6 ER/14.0 IP) and 16 strikeouts in three career games against the Cardinals

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:

RECENT REDBIRDS: The St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers play the second game of a four-game series tonight at Busch Stadium … St. Louis opened it’s seven-game homestand by taking two-of-three from division-rival Milwaukee for its third consecutive series win.

FLIGHT PATTERN: The Cardinals enter today in fifth place in the NL Central, 6.0 games behind first place Milwaukee and 1.0 game back of third place Cincinnati and Chicago … Since May 6, St. Louis has won nine of their last 11 to improve 4.0 games in the division … The Cardinals have been in last place for 23 straight days (April 25-present).

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE: The Cardinals (+17), Cubs (+22, 19-24 record), and Mariners (+19, 21-22 record) are the only three MLB teams with losing records but positive run differentials.

ANGRY BIRDS: Since May 7, the Cardinals sport MLB’s best record (9-2) while leading the league in runs scored (85), runs per game (7.73), RBI (81), OBP (.357), slugging (.547), OPS (.904), extra-base hits (48), and total bases (214) … St. Louis also shares the league lead in hits (110) and home runs (27) and ranks 2nd in batting average (.281) and stolen bases (14) over that span.

RBI GUYS: Nolan Arenado has homered in six of his last seven games while hitting safely and recording an RBI in 11 of 12 games (.327/.357/.769, 7 HR, 20 RBI) since May 5 … Arenado’s eight-game RBI streak (May 10-present) is MLB’s longest this season and matches his career best (8, Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2015) … The last Cardinal to drive in a run in nine straight games was Carlos Beltrán (June 22-July 2, 2012) … Ripper Collins (12, June 17-29, 1935) holds the Cardinals record.

BURGER PHONE: The Cardinals have homered in a season-best seven consecutive games (May 12-present), tied with the Rays for MLB’s longest active homer streak … The Cardinals rank 5th in MLB in home runs (65) this season and share the homer lead for the month of May (33) with the Yankees and Braves … This season, St. Louis sports a 16-13 record when it homers, but 3-13 mark in homerless games.

TRIPLE BURGERS: The Cardinals have gone yard 3+ times in six of their last 11 games (6-0 record) … Overall this season, St. Louis has connected on 3+ homers in 11 games (10-1 record), tied with the Braves for MLB’s 3rd-most behind the Dodgers (13) and Rays (14).

DIRTY DOZEN: The Cardinals’ 16-run explosion last night marked the 4th time this season St. Louis has plated 12+ runs in a game, tied with the Pirates and Cubs for 2nd-most in MLB behind the Rangers (6) in MLB … The quartet of 12-run+ games are the most by a Cardinals team through their first 45 games since 2016 (5) … The 1937 and 2000 Redbirds share the franchise record (6) through their first 45 contests.

STORMIN GORMAN: Nolan Gorman, who has hit safely in a career-high nine straight games (13-30, .433/.514/1.033), ranks among NL leaders in slugging pct. (.629, 1st), RBI (36, 2nd), OPS (1.014, 2nd), OPS+ (176, 2nd), wOBA (.424, 2nd), and wRC+ (173, 2nd) … Only Ronald Acuña Jr. has a higher OPS (1.050), OPS+ (180), wOBA (.444), and wRC+ (180) than Gorman in the NL … Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of Gorman’s Major League debut (May 20, 2022 at Pittsburgh).

THE HEAT IS ON: The Cardinals have swiped 19 consecutive stolen bases and now boast MLB’s top stolen base percentage (87.2, 34-for39), which currently is their best single-season mark in franchise history, topping the 2021 Redbirds (89-for-111, 80.2%).

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: LHP STEVEN MATZ (0-4, 5.62)
TONIGHT’S GAME
NL Ranks: Losses (4, T-9th), Hits (51, T-9th), Earned Runs (26. T-7th)

  • Makes his 165th career appearance (155th start) and 19th start as a Cardinal.
  • Facing the Dodgers for the first time since 2019 and first at Busch Stadium. Has made four of his last five starts at Dodger Stadium.
  • Ranks 10th in MLB in Pitch Tempo with bases empty (12.0 sec/pitch) and 41st with runners on base (16.7 sec/pitch), leading all Cardinals.
  • Limiting opposing left-handed batters to a .156 BA (5-32) with one home run.
  • Did not allow a home run in his last start, the second start this season without serving up a longball and the first after allowing one in five starts, one shy of a career-high.
  • Lifetime 9-7 with 3.41 ERA in May, his lowest ERA in any calendar month.
  • Since joining the Cardinals in 2022, is 5-7 with a 5.42 ERA in 23 appearances (18 starts) while leading Cardinals starting pitchers in strikeouts/9 IP (9.13).
  • Has not earned a winning decision as a member of the Cardinals since Sept. 17. 2022 vs. CIN, pitching one inning in relief. Last win as a starter was 7/23/22 at CIN.
  • Only win as a Cardinals starting pitcher at Busch Stadium came on May 2, 2022, a rescheduled game tossing 6.0 scoreless innings in a 1-0 win.
  • The Cardinals lost his first six games started this year, before posting a 12-6 win vs. Detroit (5/7).
  • Missed 102 games on the Injured List with a left shoulder impingement (5/23-7/16) and strained left knee (7/24-9/16). Was activated from his second stint in mid-September and was added to the bullpen where he made five appearances.
  • Prior to the 7/23/22 start at Cincinnati, Matz had missed approx. two months with a left shoulder impingement.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Pitched 5.1 innings allowing three runs on a two-RBI double by Rob Refsnyder and an RBI single by Rafael Devers. Did not allow a home run for the first time in five starts and has not allowed more than four runs in six straight starts.

DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
5/13 @BOS W 4-3 — 5.1 8 3 3 1 4 0 91-57

2023 SEASON

  • Has pitched 5.0 innings or more in 7-of-8 starts.
  • Suffered his 4th straight loss on 5/2 vs. LAA. All four of his runs allowed came in the opening frame, including a Taylor Ward 3-run homer.
  • Surpassed 800 career innings pitched in his start at SEA (4/21).
  • Surrendered a lead-off home run to Ke’Bryan Hayes, then settled in allowing just one run on two hits over the next 17 outs. Matched his career-high with five walks. Received a no-decision in a 6-3 Cardinals loss in 10 innings vs. PIT (4/15). Threw a season-high 110 pitches, 2nd most in MLB this season at the time (Ohtani, 111).
  • Allowed a season-high six runs on nine hits in a 7-4 loss at COL (4/10). Allowed only three doubles of his nine hits for extra bases.
  • Struck out a season-high seven batters over 5.1 innings in a 4-1 loss vs. ATL (4/4). Allowed a career-high 10 hits (6th time) for the first time as a member of the Cardinals. Surrendered two home runs, including a 479-foot blast to Austin Riley, the 2nd-longest opposing HR at Busch Stadium III in the StatCast Era.

MLB Preview: Seattle Mariners (21-22) at Atlanta Braves (27-16)

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MLB Preview: Seattle Mariners (21-22) at Atlanta Braves (27-16)

SEATTLE MARINERS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S TILT…the Mariners continue an 11-day, 9-game road trip (3-3) with the 1st of 3 games against the Atlanta Braves, the last leg of the road trip before returning home for a 10-game homestand… Seattle opened the road trip with a 3-game series win in Detroit (2-1), followed by a series in Boston (1-2)… tonight’s game will be televised live on Apple TV+ with Wayne Randazzo and Dontrelle Willis on the call, and Heidi Watney reporting from the field…the game will also be broadcast live on Seattle Sports (710 AM) and Mariners.com with Rick Rizzs and Aaron Goldsmith.

ODDS AND ENDS…the Mariners dropped Wednesday’s rubber game against the Red Sox by a score of 12-3…Seattle is 10-12 at T-Mobile Park and 11-10 on the road this season…the Mariners are 7-3 over their last 10 road games (4/30-c)…Seattle is 16-8 when scoring 4+ runs and 5-14 when scoring 3-or-fewer.

  • Instant Classic – The last time the Mariners and Braves met on Sept. 11, 2022, they provided one of the most memorable games of the 2022 season…both Julio Rodríguez and Eugenio Suárez homered twice, with Julio hitting a leadoff homer and a 117.2 mph game-tying home run in the 9th, while Suárez clubbed a walk-off blast later in the inning to seal a 8-7 Mariners win.
  • Recent Success Against the Braves – The Mariners have won 10 of their last 12 games against the Braves dating back to 2014, including winning 4 of their last 5 in Atlanta.
  • New Faces, Same Results – The Mariners pitching staff has been led by new faces this season, with players who had previously never pitched for Seattle combining to go 4-5 with a 1.78 ERA (19 ER, 96.0 IP), 85 strikeouts and 20 walks.
  • Consistent Crawford – J.P. Crawford has reached base safely in 14-consecutive games (4/30-c)…he and Ty France (15 G, 5/2-c) are 1 of 3 sets of teammates with active on base streaks of 12+ games.
  • Programming Note – Tomorrow’s game will air on FOX, with Jason Benetti and AJ Pierzynski on the call…the Mariners will return Sunday to regular programming on ROOT SPORTS, featuring former Mariners outfielder Mike Cameron in the booth.

THE BRYCE IS RIGHT…Bryce Miller will make his 4th career Major League start in tonight’s game… through his first 3 starts, Miller is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA (1 ER, 19.0 IP), 1 walk and 18 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .111 (7×63) batting average…he is 1 of just 2 pitchers in Mariners history to post a sub-1.00 ERA in his first 3 starts, joining Félix Hernández (0.86 ERA)…Miller’s WHIP of 0.421 is the lowest in MLB history through a pitcher’s first 3 career starts (min. 15.0 IP)…he is the first pitcher in MLB history to tally at least 6.0 innings and allow 3-or-fewer base runners in each of his first 3 starts, and his 8 total baserunners allowed through 3 starts are the fewest in MLB history (min. 15.0 IP).

TY’s HITTING STREAK MARCHES ON…Ty France went 1-for-5 in Wednesday’s game, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games (5/3-c)…he is batting .333 (20×60) with 7 runs, 4 doubles, 1 home run, 5 RBI and 2 walks during the streak, getting on base at a .375 clip and slugging .450 with an .825 OPS since May 3…the Mariners first baseman has 5 multi-hit games in that span…France and Nathaniel Lowe-TEX are the only players with multiple 10+ game hitting streaks this season…France also hit safely in 11 consecutive games from April 2-14…the current 14-game streak by France is the longest active streak in the Majors…with a hit in tonight’s game, France would become the first Mariners hitter with a 15-game hitting streak since Mitch Haniger (17 G, 8/18-9/5/2018).

CROSSING THEIR T’s AND DOTTING THE ZONE…the Mariners have the best pitching staff in the Major Leagues by fWAR (8.5), ranking ahead of 2nd-place Minnesota (7.2) by a wide margin…Seattle pitchers also rank T4th in the Majors in ERA (3.55), while leading the Majors in Fielding Independent Pitching (3.32), soft-contact percentage (19.1), fewest barrels (64) and barrel per plate appearance (4.0%)…they rank 4th in WHIP (1.19) and 2nd in SO/BB ratio (3.31) and tied for 1st in Outside the Zone Swing Percentage (34.4%)…Mariners starting pitchers are 2nd in the Majors in fWAR (5.8) trailing Minnesota (6.1)…Mariners relief pitchers rank 2nd in the Majors in fWAR (2.7) trailing Baltimore (3.1)…during the month of May, the Mariners pitching staff holds a 3.45 ERA, tied for 4th-best in the Majors (also: Colorado), trailing San Diego (2.69), Minnesota (3.29) and Cleveland (3.33).

FOR HE’S A RALEIGH GOOD FELLOW…Cal Raleigh went 1-for-3 with 1 double, 1 run scored and 1 walk in Wednesday’s game…over his last 6 games dating back to May 10, Cal is batting .350 (7×20) with 5 runs, 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 4 RBI and 4 walks, while getting on base at a .458 clip and slugging .750 (1.208 OPS)…overall this season, Cal ranks tied for 3rd among catchers with 7 home runs (also: Shea Langeliers-OAK, Adley Rutschman-BAL and Will Smith-LAD), trailing only Sean Murphy-ATL (10 HR) and Salvador Perez-KC (9 HR)…dating back to the beginning of the 2022 season, Cal leads all catchers with 34 home runs and ranks 2nd among American League catchers with 5.4 fWAR, trailing only Adley Rutschman-BAL (6.8 fWAR).

KELLING IT…Jarred Kelenic went 1-for-4 with 1 double and 1 walk in Wednesday’s game…overall this season, he is batting .282 (42×149) with 19 runs, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 8 home runs, 21 RBI, 6 stolen bases and 11 walks, getting on base at a .333 clip, slugging .537 with a .870 OPS…the 23-year-old outfielder ranks 6th among American League outfielders with a 141 wRC+, trailing only Brent Rooker-OAK (180), Randy Arozarena-TB (168), Aaron Judge-NYY (164), Yordan Alvarez-HOU (158) and Mike Trout-LAA (144).

SAVE A HORSE, RIDE WITH CABALLERO…Jose Caballero is batting .407 (11×27) with 6 runs, 2 doubles, 4 RBI and 5 walks in 11 games during the month of May, while getting on base at a .515 clip and slugging .482 (.997 OPS) during the month…overall since he joined the team on April 15, he is batting .298 (14×47) with 9 runs, 3 doubles, 5 RBI and 7 walks, while going 3-for-3 in stolen bases, getting on base at a .393 clip with a .755 OPS and a 122 wRC+.

WE’LL BE HOME SOON…the Mariners return for a 10-game homestand, beginning with 4 Value Games against the Oakland Athletics (May 22-25), including AANHPI Heritage Night on Tuesday, May 23… Seattle then welcomes the Pittsburgh Pirates for 3 games (May 26-28), featuring Sing- Along Fireworks Night on Friday, May 26, J.P. Crawford POP! Collectible Night on Saturday, May 27 and Little League Day on Sunday, May 28…the Mariners wrap up the homestand with 3 games against the New York Yankees from May 29-31…you can find tickets for all upcoming games at Mariners.com/Tickets.

AS YOU KNOW…Jose Caballero walked twice in Wednesday’s game, once after seeing 9 pitches and again after seeing 10, but, DID YOU KNOW?…that Caballero is the first batter in the Majors this season to draw multiple walks in the same game, each after seeing 9+ pitches in each plate appearance?…he is just the second Mariners hitter to accomplish the feat since at least 1988 (the start of the Pitch Tracking era), joined only by Dylan Moore, who did so on July 1, 2022 vs. OAK.

ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Braves and Mariners tonight open a three-game weekend series in what is the only scheduled matchup between the clubs this season…The two teams played three games in Seattle last season.

  • Seattle took two-of-three from Atlanta last season at T-Mobile Park, and the two clubs are playing in back-to-back years for the first time in history… Prior to last season, the Braves and Mariners had not faced each other since 2017.
  • The two have played just 19 times in total since the advent of interleague play in 1997, with Atlanta going 8-11 (.421) all-time against the Mariners… Dating to 2014, the Braves are just 2-8 (.200) against Seattle.
  • The Braves have not won a series against the Mariners since 2011, when Atlanta swept a three-game set in Seattle.
  • The two clubs have played just one here at Truist Park…Seattle took two-of-three games here in 2017, in the stadium’s inaugural season.
  • RH Bryce Elder has never faced the Mariners, nor has he pitched against a member of Seattle’s current roster…The 6-foot-2, 225-pound righthander has made eight starts for Atlanta this season, posting a perfect 3-0 record with a 1.94 ERA (10 ER/46.1 IP), third lowest in baseball…In five career interleague starts, he is 1-1 with a 3.12 ERA (9 ER/26.0 IP).
  • RH Bryce Miller is set to make just his fourth career major league start, and has never faced Atlanta…The 6-foot-2, 180-pound native of Mount Pleasant, TX, is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA over his first three career starts, allowing just seven hits, one walk and one run over his first 19.0 innings… Each of his last two starts have been scoreless, and he enters tonight with 13.0 consecutive scoreless innings.

WIN: Atlanta rallied with two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth Wednesday night to beat the Rangers, 6-5…It marked the Braves’ third win this season when trailing entering the eighth.

  • Atlanta improved to 3-12 (.200) when trailing after seven innings this season, tied for the third-best record in baseball…Only the Reds (6-20, .231) and Dodgers (4-15, .211) have been better…For reference, teams are 63-531 (.106) when trailing after seven innings in total.
  • Orlando Arcia broke a 5-5 tie in the top of the ninth inning with a solo home run…It marked just the third go-ahead home run in the ninth inning or later of his career.
  • The Braves improved to 8-9 in interleague play with the win, and are in the final three games of 14 consecutive games against the American League… Atlanta hosts Seattle at Truist Park this weekend before playing another N.L. team (Los Angeles).

ROSTER MOVES: The Braves today selected the contract of INF Charlie Culberson to Atlanta, returned INF Ehire Adrianza from his rehabilitation assignment and transferred him to the 60-day injured list with a left shoulder strain…Atlanta optioned INF Braden Shewmake to Triple-A Gwinnett yesterday.

  • Additionally, Atlanta today returned LHP Lucas Luetge from his rehabilitation assignment and reinstated him from the injured list, and placed LHP Dylan Lee on the 15-day injured list, backdated to May 17, with left shoulder inflammation.
  • Culberson appeared in 230 games for Atlanta from 2018-20, and hit .265/.314/.454 with the team… Recorded pinch-hit, walk-off home runs on May 28 and June 3, 2018, becoming the first player in Atlanta-era franchise history (since 1966) with two such homers in the same season…Only one other Braves player, Brian Hunter, has had two such homers in his entire Atlanta career…No Braves have hit a pinch-hit, walk-off homer since Culberson did so in 2018.

BRYCE VS. BRYCE: Bryce Elder starts for Atlanta tonight, while Bryce Miller is set to pitch for Seattle…Per Elias, tonight marks the first time in history two pitchers that go by Bryce will start against each other.

  • Just seven players in history have gone by the first name ‘Bryce,’ including four who are currently active.
  • In addition to the two tonight, OF Bryce Johnson has appeared in 15 games for San Francisco this season, while OF Bryce Harper is a 12-year major league veteran and two-time MVP, and has played 13 games for Philadelphia this season.

ACUÑA JR. STREAK: Ronald Acuña Jr. drove a 1-2 pitch in Wednesday’s sixth inning out to center field, and has homered in a majors-best four straight games.

  • Just one player in baseball has a longer homer streak this season, as St. Louis’ Nolan Arenado did so in five straight games last week…The Mets’ Pete Alonso has the second-longest active run, homering in each of his last three games.
  • Four of Acuña Jr.’s last six hits have left the ballpark, and he is batting .375/.474/1.125 over his last four games.
  • He has one longer homer streak in his career, doing so in five straight games in August of 2018…He is the first Braves batter to homer in four straight since Matt Olson did so from September 28 to October 2 of last year.
  • Acuña Jr. also stole second base on Wednesday, his N.L.-leading 18th stolen base this season…It marked his first game this season with a homer and a stolen base, and the 15th such game of his career…Since his debut season in 2018, only Christian Yelich (18 times) has more games with a homer and stolen base.
  • Acuña Jr.is currently on pace for 41 homers and 68 stolen bases this season…No player in history has reached both of those marks in the same year.

Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #55 Bryce Elder RHP
2023 Record: 3-0, 1.94 ERA • 2022 Record: 2-4, 3.17 ERA
vs. RHB: .258 (25-97), 1 HR • vs. LHB: .176 (13-74), 2 HR
Home: 0-0, 1.96 ERA (5 ER/23.0 IP) • Away: 3-0, 1.93 ERA (5 ER/23.1 IP)

Tonight’s Game

  • Set to make his first career start against Seattle and ninth on the season.
  • Enters play with 13 consecutive outings of at least 5.0 innings pitched.
  • His 1.94 ERA on the season is tied for the lowest in the National League and tied for the second lowest in the majors among qualified starters.
  • Trails only Minnesota’s Sonny Gray (1.64).
  • Elder’s 2.78 ERA with runners on base is the lowest in the majors among qualified starters.
  • Scattered five hits and one walk over 5.0 innings of two-run ball while fanning three hitters in his last start at Toronto.
  • His groundball rate of 56.8% of balls put in play is the fourth highest in the majors among qualified starters.
  • Has recorded an out on 64.8% of those grounders put in play, the fifth highest rate in baseball among qualifiers.
  • Elder’s 2.39 ERA through 17 career starts is the lowest in Atlanta franchise history to begin a career.
  • The 98.0 innings pitched through his first 17 games started are the most by an Atlanta player to begin their career since Michael Soroka in 2018-19.
  • His 26 earned runs allwed are also the fewest during that span.
  • He has five starts in his career of at least 6.0 innings without allowing a run, the most such games in Atlanta franchise history (since 1966) in a player’s first 15 starts…Larry McWilliams (’78) and Ian Anderson (’20-21) both had four such starts.
  • Is 4-1 with a 1.82 ERA over his last 13 games started after being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett, dating to his August 14, 2022.
  • In that stretch, Elder is averaging 6.0 innings pitched per outing, tied for the fourth highest rate in the National League (min. 10 starts).

2023 Recap

  • Elder has held opponents to one run or less in four of his six starts this season while pitching at least 5.0 frames in every outing.
  • His nine appearances of at least 5.0 innings pitched while holding opponents to one run or less are tied for the most through a player’s first 17 career games started with Michael Soroka.
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