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MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (10-6) at Boston Red Sox (8-9)

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MLB Preview: Minnesota Twins (10-6) at Boston Red Sox (8-9)

MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:

THE TWINS: Have gone 2-2 through four games on their seven-game, eight-day roadtrip, winning the first two games in Yankee Stadium on Thursday and Friday, followed by con- secutive losses on Saturday and Sunday…tonight the Twins will continue the trip with the first of three against the Red Sox at Fenway Park…after Thursday afternoon’s series finale, he Twins will travel back to Minneapolis to begin a 10-game homestand with three games against the Nationals (April 21-23), three games against the Yankees (April 24-26) and four games against the Royals (April 27-30).

Twins are looking to avoid a season-long three-game losing streak tonight.

TWINS CAN’T SLOW DOWN THE COLE TRAIN: The Twins were shut out on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium by Gerrit Cole and the Yankees by a final score of 2-0…Pablo López (1-1) was the starter and loser, allowing two runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings pitched, with one walk and seven strikeouts…the offense recorded just two hits on singles from Donovan Solano and Michael A. Taylor…they also struck out 10 times, walked once and put just one man in scoring position…it marked the Twins’ second time being shut out this season, the other coming on April 4 at Miami (Sandy Alcantara CGSO).

SEEING RED: The Twins went 4-3 against the Red Sox last season, going 2-2 at Fenway Park from April 15-18 and 2-1 at Target Field from August 29-31…it marked their first season series victory over Boston since going 5-2 in 2015…the Twins outscored the Sox 36-32 and won three of their last four.

The Twins’ last game at Fenway was the Patriot’s Day game the morning of the Boston Marathon exactly one year ago, winning by a score of 8-3.

Carlos Correa is hitting .314 (53-for-169) with eight doubles, 10 home runs, 26 RBI, 36 runs scored, 31 walks, a .420 on-base percentage, a .538 slugging percentage and a .958 OPS in 45 career regular season games against the Red Sox…he is hitting .311 (28-for-90) with seven home runs and a .980 OPS in 23 career games at Fenway.

Donovan Solano has hit safely in six of seven career games vs. Boston, hitting .391 (9- for-23) with a 1.075 OPS in those games.

Twins manager and former Red Sox outfielder (2009) Rocco Baldelli, has a career managerial record against Boston of 9-11 (since 2019), 5-5 at Fenway Park…the Woonsocket, Rhode Island native grew up approximately 49 miles southwest of Fenway Park… he attended Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick, RI…he grew up a Red Sox fan, watching Wade Boggs, Ellis Burks, Roger Clemens, Mike Greenwell, et al.

HOMECOMING KING: Christian Vázquez was selected by the Red Sox in the ninth round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft and played parts of eight seasons in Boston, hitting .262 (610-for-2329) with 124 doubles, 54 home runs, 266 RBI and 275 runs scored…he made his major league debut on July 9, 2014 vs. Chicago-AL at Fenway Park…did not record his first career Fenway hit until his fifth game here (12th career game), doubling off Mark Buehrle (TOR).

Vazquez has played 343 career games at Fenway, his last coming on July 31, 2022 vs. Milwaukee, going 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

He still ranks fifth on the Sox all-time list in games caught (651), trailing Jason Varitek (1488), Carlton Fisk (990), Sammy White (967) and Rich Gedman (858).

Hit walk-off homer for Red Sox in 13th inning of 2021 ALDS Game 3 vs. Tampa Bay…caught final pitch of the 2018 World Series, a swinging third strike to Manny Machado.

Earned the Unsung Hero Award from the Boston Chapter of the BBWAA following the 2017 season.

CHRISTIAN ROCKS: Christian Vázquez is slashing .333/.415/.417 with an .831 OPS in 12 games…he has reached base safely in nine of 12 games played…among all catchers in baseball, he ranks first in batting average, fourth in on-base percentage and eighth in OPS.

He also has three defensive runs saved, tied for third among all MLB catchers.

He has a catcher ERA of 2.20, which ranks second best in baseball, trailing Tampa Bay’s Francisco Mejía (2.08).

SOUTHPAW STORIES: The Twins are facing a left-handed starter for just the third time this season, the previous two being Jesús Luzardo on April 5 at Miami (5-2 loss) and Nestor Cortes on April 14 at New York-AL (4-3 win)…the Twins have the second-fewest at-bats against left-handed pitchers in the league with just 87, trailing only New York-AL (78).

Twins are slashing just .218/.281/.402 with four home runs vs. lefties (Correa, Gallo, Garlick and Larnach).

Carlos Correa is hitting .357 (20-for-56) with a 1.191 OPS against left-handed pitching in his last 28 games, since August 9, 2022.

SOLANO SMOKING: Donovan Solano has hit safely in 11-straight games, the longest streak by a Twin this season…the streak is tied for third- longest active streak in baseball with Xander Bogaerts, trailing Bryson Stott (16) and Mauricio Dubón (12)…his career-high is 17, done with San Francisco from July 25-August 15, 2020…a hit tonight would tie for the second-longest of his career (8/17-29/12)…during his current stretch, he is hitting .366 (15-for-41) with two walks, a .409 on-base percentage and an .873 OPS in that span.

STARTING PITCHER – SONNY GRAY 54
Will face Red Sox for the 11th time in his career, is 1-7, 6.80 ERA (43.2 P, 33 ER) with 14 walks and 38 strikeouts…last faced Boston on April 16, 2022.

250th career appearance, 241st career start.

Making fourth start of the year, second on the road…is 41-39, 3.23 ERA (663.2 IP, 238 ER) with 246 walks and 638 strikouts in career on the road.

Acquired by the Twins on March 13, 2022 in a trade with the Reds, along with right-handed pitcher Francis Peguero, in exchange for right-handed pitcher Chase Petty.

LAST START: Was the winner in the rubber match against the Chicago White Sox on April 12 at Target Field, opposite Lucas Giolito…pitched 5.0 scoreless innings with three hits, two walks issued and five strikeouts… relieved by Jorge Alcala to start the sixth inning as the bullpen combined to pitch 3.2 scoreless innings until Jhoan Duran gave up a solo home run to Lenyn Sosa in the ninth inning…Twins won 3-1, securing the series victory to finish the homestand.

TWO STARTS AGO: Did not factor into the decision for the Twins home opener against the Houston Astros on April 7, opposite José Urquidy…pitched 7.0 innings, with one run over four hits and one walk issued…struck out a career high 13 batters…his previous record was 12 batters, which he last reached on July 3, 2019 against Milwaukee…struck out five of the first 10 batters he faced…relieved by Griffin Jax to start the eighth inning as the bullpen combined to pitch 2.0 scoreless innings in relief of Gray, before Jorge López allowed a an unearned run in the 10th inning…Twins secured the 3-2 victory via a walkoff RBI single by Kyle Farmer.

Gray’s 13 strikeouts were the most by a Twins starter since Francisco Liriano’s 15 strikeouts July 13, 2012 vs. Oakland.

AGAINST BOSTON: Gray is facing the Red Sox for the 11th time in his career, going 1-7, 6.80 ERA (43.2 IP, 33 ER) with 14 walks and 38 strikeouts in his 10 previous appearances…last faced Boston on April 16, 2022 at Fenway Park…took the loss after pitching only 1.2 innings, surrendering two runs, five hits, one walk and striking out only one batter…left the game with hamstring tightness…placed on the 10-Day IL the next day with a strained right hamstring and would not return until May 7.

Made one relief appearance as a Yankee against the Red Sox on September 29, 2018 when he pitched 2.0 innings…allowed only one hit and fanned three batters.

His 6.80 ERA against the Red Sox is the highest against any team in his career…has a 10.80 ERA against the Red Sox since becoming a Twin.

RETURN TO THE ROAD: After his first road start of the year, Gray is 0-0, 0.00 ERA (5.0 IP, 0 ER) with four walks and one strikeout…is one of only nine pitchers in the American League yet to allow an earned run (or a run) on the road (min 5.0 IP)…Gray went 4-3, 3.63 ERA (52.0 IP, 21 ER) with 11 walks and 39 strikeouts in 11 starts on the road in 2022…is now 41-39, 3.23 ERA (663.2 IP, 238 ER) with 246 walks and 638 strikeouts in his career on the road…has the second highest ERA in his career at Fenway Park at 8.02, trailing only Globe Life Field (9.64).

LEFTIES AND RIGHTIES: So far this season, Gray has seen more success against right-handed hitters as opposed to lefties…in his first three starts, Gray has held righties to .146/.205/.220 (6-for-41) with 18 strikeouts as opposed to lefties who are slashing .211/.348/.263 with just one strikeout.

Ranks fifth among American League pitchers in opponent batting average against righties… is tied for eighth in all of baseball with teammate Joe Ryan and Tampa Bay’s Jeffrey Springs in strikeouts versus righties (min. 15.0 IP).

Since 2019, is holding left-handed hitters to a .202 (173-for-858) batting average, ranking third among major league right-handed pitchers (min. 750 AB) in that span, trailing Gerrit Cole (.188) and Zac Gallen (.196).

THE ARSENAL: Gray is currently using a six-pitch mix, per Baseball Savant…continues to use his curveball the most at 27.4 percent…has used the 4-seam fastball significantly less at only 15.1 percent this year compared to 28.3 percent last year…continues to exclusively use the slider against righties and has only used his changeup against lefties…two of his five strikeouts in his last start came from the cutter…here’s a look at his repertoire so far:

PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (# OF PITCHES, VS. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
Curveball (78.9)…………………………. 27.4% (71 pitches, 32/39)………………………….. .188 (3-for-16),1 2B, 3 K
Slider (83.0)……………………………….. 17.8% (46 pitches, 46/0)………………………… .071 (1-for-14), 1 2B, 11 K
Sinker (92.1) ………………………………. 16.2% (42 pitches, 36/6)……………………… .200(2-for-10), 1 2B, 3 K
4-Seam Fastball (92.6)……………….. 15.1% (39 pitches, 17/22)………………………….. .400 (4-for-10), 1 2B
Cutter (87.3) ………………………………. 14.3% (37 pitches, 36/1)………………………………. .000 (0-for-7), 2 K
Changeup (87.0)………………………….. 9.3% (24 pitches, 0/24)……………………………………… .000 (0-for-3)

Gray has recorded 11 of his 19 strikeouts with his slider and is tied for third in baseball for strikeouts off of a slider, trailing Dylan Cease (14) and Jacob Degrom (13)…his .071 opponent batting average against the slideris tied for 13th (min. 250 pitches).

BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:

STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox are 3-1 in their last 4 games…They have alternated series wins and losses this season: 2-1 vs. BAL, 0-3 vs. PIT, 3-0 at DET, 0-4 at TB, 3-1 vs. LAA. The Sox are in a stretch of 19 days without an off day from 4/8-26 (5-5 so far), their longest stretch of the season…They will not play on more than 10 consecutive days again until 8/15-30 (16 games). Each of the last 2 World Series champions was 8-9 or worse through 17 games: the 2022 Astros (8-9) and 2021 Braves (7-10).

WHAT A RELIEF: In their last 4 games, Red Sox relievers have posted a 0.98 ERA (2 ER/18.1 IP) while striking out 17 batters and walking only 2. Yesterday vs. LAA, Kutter Crawford allowed only 1 hit in 6.1 scoreless innings of relief…He was the first Sox pitcher to throw 6.0+ scoreless innings in relief since Tim Wakefield on 9/2/02 vs. KC (6.0 IP).

RED SOX PITCHERS WITH A RELIEF ERA BELOW 2.00
Pitcher Relief ERA IP ER
Kenley Jansen 0.00 5.0 0
Kutter Crawford 0.96 9.1 1
John Schreiber 1.13 8.0 1
Josh Winckowski 1.50 12.0 2

CLOSING TIME: In the 8th and 9th innings combined, the Red Sox lead MLB with a 1.20 ERA (4 ER/30.0 IP)…The Sox have outscored opponents in those innings, 19-5. The Sox are 6-0 when leading after 6 innings. The Red Sox are 1 of 3 teams in MLB without a blown save this season (5-for-5)…The other teams are TB (3-for-3) and MIA (3-for-3).

MOST SAVES IN MLB HISTORY
Rk. Pitcher SV

  1. Mariano Rivera …..652
  2. Trevor Hoffman …..601
  3. Lee Smith …………..478
  4. Francisco Rodriguez..437
    Rk. Pitcher SV
  5. John Franco………..424
  6. Billy Wagner……….422
    T7. Kenley Jansen .. 395
    T7. Craig Kimbrel ……..395

PACE OF PLAY: On Sunday vs. LAA, the Red Sox defeated the Angels in 1 hour and 57 minutes, tied for MLB’s shortest game of 2023 (also MIN at MIA on 4/4)…Those are the only 2 games played in 2 hours or less this season. Sunday marked the Sox’ fastest 9-inning game since 4/22/99 at DET (1:49, 1-0 loss), their fastest at Fenway Park since 10/1/89 vs. MIL (1:50, 5-1 win).

IT’S ALL RIGHT NOW: The Red Sox are scheduled to face a right-handed starting pitcher in each game of this series vs. MIN, after facing a left-handed starter in 8 of their previous 10 games. Left-handed starters are 1-4 with a 6.03 ERA in 9 games against the Sox (23 ER/34.1 IP), while righthanded starters are 4-1 with a 5.68 ERA in 8 games against them (24 ER/38.0 IP).

HOME COOKING: The Red Sox are 3-1 so far on their 7-game homestand vs. LAA (4 games) and MIN (3 games). In home games, the Sox rank 3rd in the AL in runs (55) and OBP (.340) and 4th in OPS (.769). The Sox sold 34,000+ tickets to each of their 4 games vs. LAA: Friday (36,680, sellout), Saturday (36,594, sellout), Sunday (34,790), and Monday (34,942).

CLOSE SHAVES: 13 of the Sox’ first 17 games have been decided by 3 runs or fewer…The only team in MLB with more such games is CLE (14). The Red Sox’ 6 games decided by 1 run are tied for 3rd most in MLB behind CLE (9) and LAA (7)…Their 4 losses by 1 run trail only CIN (5) for most in MLB. 7 of the Sox’ 9 losses have come by 3 runs or fewer, including 1 loss by 2 runs and 4 by 1 run. The Sox have come from behind in 6 of their 8 wins.

SLUGGING SOX: The Red Sox are tied with LAD for 3rd in MLB in runs scored (91), trailing TB (115) and BAL (94). The Sox also rank in the AL’s top 5 in various offensive categories (see below). The Sox rank 9th in the majors in OPS against starting pitchers (.787), compared to 18th in OPS against relief pitchers (.688). The Sox have been hit by a pitch 11 times, tied for most in the AL and 2nd most in MLB (NYM-14, TB-11).

RED SOX OFFENSIVE RANKINGS
Stat AL Rank
91 R………………………… 3rd
55 XBH…………………. T-3rd
21 HR ……………………… 4th
Stat AL Rank
.413 SLG …………………….. 5th
.736 OPS …………………….. 5th
21.1 SO%……………………. 4th

NINE IS FINE: Over their first 17 games, the Red Sox have scored 9+ runs 5 times (4-1 record), 4-8 runs 6 times (3-6 record), and 0-3 runs 6 times (1-5 record). The Sox’ 5 games with 9+ runs scored rank 2nd in MLB, trailing only TB (7). Since 1950, the only other seasons in which the Sox scored 9+ runs in as many as 5 of their first 17 games were 1995, 2012, and 2018 (also 5 games).

RUNNING RED SOX: The Red Sox are 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts…That is their longest streak of successful attempts to begin a season since 2015 (12-for-12). The only other teams that have not been caught stealing this season are the White Sox (13-for-13) and Royals (10-for-10).

FOREVER AND DEVERS: Rafael Devers leads the AL with 7 HR, 1 behind Pete Alonso (NYM) and Patrick Wisdom (CHC) for the MLB lead. Prior to Devers, the last Red Sox player to be leading the AL outright in HR entering play on 4/18 was Fred Lynn in 1979 (6 HR).

DEVERS’ AL RANKINGS
Stat AL
7 HR ……………………..1st
16 RBI…………………… T-4th
14 R……………………… T-4th
Stat AL
11 XBH……………………….. 3rd
43 total bases ……………… 3rd
.652 SLG …………………….. 3rd

EARLY AND OFTEN: The Red Sox have scored in either the 1st or 2nd inning in 10 of their 17 games (21 total runs). The Sox’ 12 runs in the 1st inning are tied for 4th most in the AL behind LAA (17), TB (15), and MIN (13)… Their 9 runs in the 2nd inning are tied for 3rd most in the AL behind BAL (12) and TB (10).

PINCH ME!: The Red Sox have used a pinch-hitter 19 times this season, going 7-for-16 with 3 RBI (2B, HR, BB). The Sox’ .438 AVG (7-for-16) in pinch-hit situations leads MLB…Their 7 pinch hits are 4 more than any other team…Raimel Tapia leads MLB in pinch hits (3).

TONIGHT’S STARTER: 41 CHRIS SALE – LHP
Is making the 99th start of his Red Sox career. Opponents are batting .188 vs. his slider (3-for-16) and .154 vs. his changeup (2-for-13), compared to .600 vs. his 4-seam fastball (6-for-10) and .438 vs. his sinker (7-for-16). Has struck out at least 6 batters in each of his 3 starts this season. Owns a 3.91 ERA (60 ER/138.0 IP) in 29 career games (21 starts) vs. MIN…Struck out 8 batters over 5.1 IP in his last start vs. MIN on 8/26/21 (2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, HR). Owns a 3.35 ERA (103 ER/277.0 IP) in 50 career games (47 starts) at Fenway Park. Has averaged 11.09 SO/9.0 IP (2,083 SO/1,690.0 IP) in his career, the highest rate in the Live Ball Era (min. 1,000 IP).

MLB Preview: Los Angeles Angels (8-8) at New York Yankees (10-6)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Los Angeles Angels (8-8) at New York Yankees (10-6)

LOS ANGELES ANGELS NOTES:

LEADING OFF: Today, the Angels play the fifth (1-3) of seven games on a road trip against the Boston Red Sox (1-3) and New York Yankees (April 18-20)…Halos went 2-3 on opening homestand of the year vs. Toronto (1-2) and Washington (2- 1)…LAA was 4-2 on first road trip of year against Oakland (2-1) and Seattle (2-1).

SHO OFF: Yesterday at Boston, Shohei Ohtani extended his franchise record streak to 11 consecutive pitching starts allowing two-or-fewer runs (Nolan Ryan had a nine game streak across the 1972-73 seasons for the previous record)… The 11-game streak is also the longest active streak in the Majors.

VS. NEW YORK (A.L.): Today is the first of six games this season against the Yankees…Halos are looking to snap a four-game losing streak in the Bronx…In addition to the current three game series, the teams will meet again at Yankee Stadium from July 17-19…Last year, Yankees won the season series 4-2.

HOMECOMING: The Angels trip to New York serves as a homecoming for several Angels players: Logan O’Hoppe (West Islip, NY), Mike Trout (Millville, NJ), Matt Thaiss (Jackson, NJ)…Additionally, the roster features several former members of the Yankees, including INF Gio Urshela, Manager Phil Nevin, Hitting Coach Marcus Thames and Bullpen Catcher Jason Brown.

LOCAL CATCH: In 23 career games at Yankee Stadium, Mike Trout is batting .326 (28/86) with 10 doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBI and 12 walks.

HIGHEST CAREER OPS AT (NEW) YANKEE STADIUM
(min. 100 PA)

  1. José Ramírez – 1.344
  2. Mike Trout – 1.106
  3. Aaron Judge – 1.027

EVERYTHING IS BASICALLY FINE: José Suarez is set to make his third start of the season tonight…In his last three games against the Yankees, is 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA (16.1 IP – 5 ER) and 17 strikeouts

WINS AND LOSSES: Halos snapped season-high three game losing streak yesterday afternoon in Boston…Halos have held leads in 15 of 16 games played this year and have scored first in 12 of the 16 games.

LEGENDARY COMPANY: Mike Trout recorded his 300th and 301st career doubles on Saturday and became the fourth player in MLB history with 300+ doubles, 300+ home runs and 200+ stolen bases by his age-31 season, joining Willie Mays, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.

RECENT ROSTER MOVES: Sunday, the Angels recalled RHP Andrew Wantz from Triple-A Salt Lake and placed RHP Ryan Tepera (right shoulder inflammation) on the 15-day injured list…Saturday the Angels selected the contract of INF Zach Neto…In corresponding moves, INF David Fletcher has been optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake and RHP Chris Rodriguez was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

NETO IN THE SHOW: Zach Neto is ranked by Baseball America as the Angels #2 overall prospect (behind Logan O’Hoppe)… In seven games this season for Double-A Rocket City, Neto batted .444 (12/27) with 10 runs scored, one double, three HR, 10 RBI, six walks, three stolen bases and a 1.374 OPS… At the time of his promotion, he led the Southern League in average, OPS, hits and runs, while reaching base 19 times across seven games.

ROOKIE RAKING: Logan O’Hoppe has driven in a run in seven of his 13 starts this season…His four home runs lead the team and his 11 RBI rank second, behind Hunter Renfroe (15).

ON WITH THE SHO: On Sunday, Shohei Ohtani’s career-best streak of reaching base safely (via hit, walk, or HBP) in 36 consecutive games came to an end…It was the longest active streak in the Majors and finishes tied for the third-longest in Angels history:

WELCOME TO THE RENAISSANCE: Angels have had three lineups this season with Anthony Rendon, Hunter Renfroe & Luis Rengifo hitting consecutively in the order…On Opening Day, the trio hit in the 4-6 spots, marking the first lineup in franchise history to feature three straight players who have the same first three letters of their last name…The last MLB occurrence was by Detroit on July 20, 2015 (Victor Martinez, J.D. Martinez, Jefry Marte).

THE SHUTOUT: Last Tuesday night, Shohei Ohtani, José Quijada and Carlos Estévez combined on a one-hit shutout of the Nationals…It marked the 26th one-hit shutout in franchise history and the first at Angel Stadium since June 5, 2018 vs. Kansas City.

ROYALS ON DECK: Following the current series against the Yankees, the Angels will return to Southern California and open the next homestand with a three game series against the Kansas City Royals…Last year, the teams split the season series 3-3…Since 2018, the Angels hold a 17-8 record vs. KC, including a 9-3 mark at The Big A.

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – LHP JOSÉ SUAREZ
0-1, 10.80 ERA
In last three games vs. Yankees, is 2-1 with a 2.76 ERA (16.1 IP – 5 ER) and 17 strikeouts

• TODAY’S GAME: Making third start of the season and second on the road…Is in fifth Major League season with Angels…Made Opening Day roster for second consecutive season.

• LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor in decision in last start on April 10 vs. Washington after tossing 4.0 innings and allowing four earned runs on 10 hits with one walk and two strikeouts; the 10 hits allowed tied single-game career high (also, Aug. 6, 2019 at CIN)

• VS. NEW YORK (A.L.): In four career games (two starts) against the Yankees, is 2-1 with a 5.21 ERA (19 IP – 11 ER) and 20 strikeouts…Last season won only start vs. New York (A.L.) on Aug. 29 at Angel Stadium (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO).

• AT YANKEE STADIUM: In three career games (one start) at Yankee Stadium, is 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA (13 IP – 9 ER)…Today marks first appearance at the ballpark since Aug. 16, 2021…Earned the win on June 28, 2021 in the Bronx in relief (5.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO).

• FIRST TIME THROUGH: This season, opponents are batting .278 (5/18) the first time through the order…After the first time through, opponents are batting .520 (13/25).

• SPRING RECAP: Totaled three starts for Angels during Cactus League season and went 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA (8.2 IP – 4 ER) with six strikeouts…Was winning pitcher in each of last two spring starts.

• CHASING PERFECTION: Carried a perfect game through 5.1 innings in home start on Aug. 16, 2022 vs. Seattle, before allowing four consecutive singles and exiting the game.

• AVOID THE TOP: Last season, hitters in the top three spots in the opposing batting order hit .319 (51/160), while batters in the 4-9 spots batted .198 (52/263).

• GOOD NIGHT: Last season, made 13 appearances (12 starts) in night games and went 6-4 with a 2.96 ERA (67 IP – 22 ER), compared with a 2-4 record and 5.57 ERA (42 IP – 26 ER) in day games.

• THE COMPLETE GAME: Tossed first career complete game on Sept. 4, 2021 vs. Texas…Allowed one earned run on five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts…Carried shutout into 9th inning; only run allowed came on RBI groundout for second out of 9th inning…Marked first career winning decision at Angel Stadium (13th start)…Had not pitched more than 5.2 innings prior to that start.

NEW YORK YANKEES NOTES:

AT A GLANCE: The Yankees continue their season-high 10-game homestand tonight with the first game of a three-game series vs. Los Angeles-AL (through Thurs.)…are 2-2 on the homestand after splitting their four-game set with Minnesota…will also play a three-game set vs. Toronto (Fri.-Sun.).  Their +25 run differential is tied for the fourth-best in the Majors.

Their 10-6 (.625) record is tied for the second-best in the AL and tied for the fifth-best in the Majors.

WHERE WE LEFT OFF: The Yankees shut out the Twins, 2-0, on Sunday at Yankee Stadium…RHP Gerrit Cole (9.0IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 10K) tossed his fourth career shutout…did not allow a hit to his first 14BF (1BB) before surrendering a two-out single to Donovan Solano in the fifth inning…retired his final 11BF…3B DJ LeMahieu (2-for-4, 1R, 1HR, 2RBI) hit an RBI single in the third inning and his second HR of the season with a solo HR in the sixth inning…1B Anthony Rizzo (1-for-3, 1HP) and 2B Gleyber Torres (1-for-3, 1BB) both reached base twice… SS Anthony Volpe (1-for-4, 1SB) recorded his seventh stolen base of the season in the fifth inning.

SERIES BUSINESS: According to Elias, the Yankees have won or split each of their first five series of a season for just the fourth time in the last 67 years (since 1957)…went undefeated in their first five series in 2010, first nine series in 2003 and first six series in 1976.

PITCH PERFECT: Yankee pitchers have allowed just 49R in 16 games this season (3.06 R/G), their second-fewest runs allowed in their first 16 games of a season in the last 42 years since 1982 (44R in 2022).

Threw their third shutout of the season on Sunday…their three shutouts are their most within their first 16 games of a season in the last 20 years (since 2004).

Have not allowed a run in their last 11.0 innings (since the eighth inning on Saturday) and just 1R in their last 19.0 innings.

Have allowed 3R-or-fewer in 11-of-16 games this season and 2R-or-fewer in eight of those games.

Rank third in the Majors in opponents’ BA (.212), opponents’ OBP (.285), opponents’ OPS (.629) and WHIP (1.10), fourth in ERA (3.04), strikeouts (157), opponents’ SLG (.344), K/9.0IP (9.95) and K/BB (3.34).

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: INF Anthony Volpe has hit safely in each of his last five games, batting .313/.421/.563 (5-for-16) with 2R, 1 double, 1HR, 1RBI, 3BB and 4SB in that span…has reached base in 8-of-19 plate appearances over that stretch.

Is just the fourth Yankee in the last 34 years (since 1990) to record at least 7SB through the Yankees’ first 16 games of a season.

His 7SB are tied for the fourth-most in the Majors.

Is 7-for-7 in stolen bases attempts…joins Cedric Mullins (8- for-8) as the only two players in the Majors to be 7-for-7-orbetter in stolen base attempts.

BRONX BOMBERS: Yankees batters have homered in 15 of their first 16 games of a season for the first time in franchise history (previous: 14G, four times)…their 26HR are the third-most in the Majors, trailing only Tampa Bay (37HR in 17G) and Los Angeles-NL (30HR in 17G).

Their 26HR matches their sixth-most through their first 16 games of a season in franchise history.

Have hit multiple HR in eight of their 16 games this season.

ALL RISE: OF Aaron Judge has reached base in 15-of-16 games this season, batting .286/.388/.589 (16-for-56) with 13R, 2 doubles, 5HR, 8RBI, 10BB and 2SB.

Has hit .404/.543/.827 (21-for-52) with 12R, 1 double, 7HR, 14RBI, 17BB/3IBB, 1SF and 2SB in his last 16 games vs. the Angels (since 5/26/18)…has reached base in each of his last 17 games vs. Los Angeles-AL.

Has reached base in 48 of his last 49 games (since 8/29/22), batting .352/.493/.739 (58-for-165) with 45R, 10 doubles, 18HR, 30RBI, 47BB, 4SB and 1HP in that span…has reached base multiple times in 33 of those 49 games.

CENTURY MARK: Today marks the 100th Anniversary of the Original Yankee Stadium opening…on April 18, 1923, the Yankees defeated Boston, 4-1…starter Bob Shawkey recorded the win and Babe Ruth hit the park’s first home run, a three-run shot in the third inning…all guests in attendance for tonight’s game will receive a commemorative ticket.

TROPHY CASE: Prior to tonight’s game, INF DJ LeMahieu and C Jose Trevino will be presented with their 2022 Gold Glove awards…Trevino will also receive his Platinum Glove award.

COLE TRAIN: RHP Gerrit Cole was named the AL “Player of the Week” for 4/10-16 after going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA (16.0IP, 7H, 2ER, 3BB, 13K, 0HR) in two starts…he led the Majors in innings pitched and tied for first in wins (also tied for first in AL)…also ranked third in the AL in opponents’ OBP (.185) and opponents’ OPS (.365)…marked Cole’s second career “Player of the Week” honor (also 9/23-29/19)…was just the third Yankees starting pitcher (fourth time) to win the award since 2004, joining Corey Kluber (5/17-23/21 and 4/26-5/2/21) and Michael Pineda (5/4-10/15).

Tossed his fourth career shutout on Sunday vs. Minnesota (9.0IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB, 10K)…also tossed a CGSHO on 7/10/21 at Houston (9.0IP), Game 1 on 9/11/20 vs. Baltimore (7.0IP) and 5/4/18 at Arizona (9.0IP)…marked his seventh career complete game (first since 7/17/21 vs. Boston–6.0IP) and his fourth career nine-inning complete game (also 7/10/21 at Houston, 5/4/18 at Arizona and 7/27/16 vs. Seattle).

Is 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA (28.1IP, 3ER) and 32K in four starts this season…is the first Yankees pitcher in franchise history to record a sub-1.00 ERA and at least 30K through his first four appearances of a season (since ER became an official stat in 1913).

Is just the second Yankees starting pitcher in the last 65 years (since 1959) to post as low of an ERA through his first four appearances of a season, joining Tommy John (0.83 ERA in 1979)…Rob Gardner had a 0.90 ERA through his first four starts in 1972 but made relief appearances in between those starts.

Two of his four starts this season have been scoreless…has allowed 1R-or-fewer in three of his four starts.

Was the first Yankee to throw a shutout since Nestor Cortes threw a rain-shortened shutout on 9/25/22 vs. Boston (6.0IP)…is the first Yankee to throw a nine-inning shutout since his own shutout on 7/10/21 at Houston.

Was just the third Yankee (fourth time) in the last 22 years (since 2002) to throw a nine-inning shutout and allow three-or-fewer baserunners, joining Corey Kluber (1BB in his no-hitter on 5/19/21 at Texas) and Masahiro Tanaka (2H and 1BB on 6/17/19 vs. Tampa Bay and 3H on 4/27/17 at Boston).

Sunday marked his 58th career double-digit strikeout game and second of the season (also 11K on Opening Day)…also marked his 23rd double-digit strikeout game as a Yankee, tying Ron Guidry (23) for the most in franchise history.

Has recorded double-digit strikeouts in 44 games since the start of 2019, marking the most in the Majors over that span (next: Max Scherzer-28)…his 52 games with at least 10K since the beginning of 2018 are also the most in the Majors in that span (next: Max Scherzer-46).

Has recorded at least 8K in three of his four starts this season.

Has won his first four starts of a season for the second time in his career (also won his first four starts in 2013)…is just the third Yankees pitcher in the last 39 years (since 1985) to win each of his first four starts of a season, joining Mike Mussina (won his first seven starts in 2003) and David Cone (won his first four starts in 1995).

Is just the fourth Yankees pitcher in the last 42 seasons (since 1982) to toss at least 6.0IP and allow 2R-or-fewer in each of his first four starts of a season (Andy Pettitte won his first four in 2010, Darrell Rasner won his first four in 2008 and Orlando Hernández won his first four in 2002).

Has not allowed a home run this season…his 28.1IP mark the most among Major League pitchers who have not surrendered a HR this season.

LEMACHINE: INF DJ LeMahieu drove in both of the Yankees’ runs on Sunday, hitting an RBI single in the third inning and his second HR of the season with a solo HR in the sixth inning… is 4-for-10 (.400) with 1 double and 4RBI with RISP this season.

Has hit safely in 10-of-11 starts this season.

FAST AND FURIOUS: Yankees baserunners have 5SB in their last three games and 17SB in 16 games this season…matches their second-most stolen bases through their first 16 games of a season in the last 25 seasons since 1999 (18SB in 2010 and 17SB in 2016)…their 17SB are the fourth-most in the AL.

NOBODY BEATS THE RIZZ: INF Anthony Rizzo reached base twice on Sunday…has reached base in 14 of his first 15 games this season, batting .315/.406/.574 (17-for-54) with 8R, 2 doubles, 4HR, 9RBI, 6BB, 3HP and 1SF.

In 20 career games vs. the Angels, has hit .304/.385/.652 (21-for-69) with 18R, 6 doubles, 6HR, 18RBI and 9BB/1IBB.

Was hit by a pitch in the third inning on Sunday…marked his 204th career hit by pitch, tying Chase Utley for the eighth-most in Major League history.

FOR STARTERS: Yankees starters have tossed at least 5.0IP and allowed 2R-or-fewer in 10 of their 16 starts this season.

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP CLARKE SCHMIDT (0-0, 8.44 ERA)
RHP Clarke Schmidt will make his fourth start of the season in tonight’s series opener vs. Los Angeles-AL…the 27-year-old will make the start on extended five days’ rest due to Monday’s team off day…made his third start of the season on Wednesday at Cleveland, allowing 3ER in 4.0IP without recording a decision (6H, 1BB, 3K, 1HR)…made his second career Opening Day roster in 2023 (also 2022)…went 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA (19.2IP, 16H, 11ER, 4BB, 25K, 2HR, 1HP) in six spring games (five starts)…in 2022, went 5-5 with two saves and a 3.12 ERA (57.2IP, 46H, 23R/20ER, 23BB, 56K, 5HR) in 29 appearances (three starts) over four stints with the Yankees…in three starts, went 0-2 with a 4.63 ERA (11.2IP, 13H, 6ER, 2BB, 14K, 0HR)…as a reliever, went 5-3 with two saves and a 2.74 ERA (46.0IP, 33H, 17R/14ER, 21BB, 42K, 5HR) in 26 games…tossed at least 2.0 innings in 13 of his relief appearances and at least 3.0 innings in five of those relief appearances…was selected by the Yankees in the first round (16th overall) of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina.

LAST TIME OUT: Made his third start of the season on Wednesday at Cleveland, allowing 3ER over 4.0IP without recording a decision (6H, 1BB, 3K, 1HR)…issued RBI singles to Josh Naylor and Josh Bell in the first inning, and a solo HR to Amed Rosario in the third…retired nine of his final 12 batters faced.

VS. LOS ANGELES-AL: Has made one career appearance vs. the Angels, tossing 0.2 innings in relief in Game 1 on 6/2/22 at Yankee Stadium (2H, 1ER, 2BB, 2K).

Has made three career appearances (one start) vs. AL West opponents (all in 2022), going 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA (7.0IP, 5ER) and 11K…made his one start on 8/28/22 at Oakland (L, 4.1IP, 8H, 4ER, 1BB, 7K)…also tossed 2.0 scoreless innings in relief in Game 2 on 10/4/22 at Texas (2K).

HOME SWEET HOME: Has made 16 appearances (three starts) in his career at Yankee Stadium (one in 2023, 13 in 2022, one in 2021, one in 2020)…has gone 2-2 with one save and a 3.89 ERA (34.2IP, 29H, 17R/15ER, 17BB, 35K, 5HR).

Made his 2023 debut on 4/1 vs. San Francisco at Yankee Stadium, allowing 3ER over 3.1IP without recording a decision (5H, 1BB, 5K, 2HR).

In 13 games (one start) at home in 2022, went 2-1 with one save and a 2.49 ERA (25.1IP, 16H, 8R/7ER, 12BB, 22K, 3HR)…allowed 1R-or-fewer in 12 of those appearances…tossed at least 2.0 innings in eight appearances and 3.0 innings in four of those games (all of which were scoreless).

FOR STARTERS: Will be making his ninth career start…over his first eight career Major League starts (three in 2023, three in 2022, one in 2021, one in 2020), is 0-3 with a 6.16 ERA (30.2IP, 40H, 24R/21ER, 12BB, 31K, 4HR).

Has posted an 8.44 ERA (10.2IP, 10ER) and 11K without recording a decision in three starts in 2023…has tossed 4.0IP-or-less in each start.

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

THE RIGHT STUFF: Right-handed batters are hitting just .176/.211/.353 (3-for-17) vs. Schmidt this season and .200/.286/.288 (34-for-170) in his career.

MLB Preview: Baltimore Orioles (9-7) at Washington Nationals (5-11)

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MLB Preview: Baltimore Orioles (9-7) at Washington Nationals (5-11)

BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK: The Orioles rallied from a 4-0 first-inning deficit to beat the White Sox, 8-4, in the rubber game of the three-game series on Sunday in Chicago…Cedric Mullins tied a career high with four RBI, finishing 3-for-5 with a triple, a walk, and a stolen base while Gunnar Henderson scored a career-high three runs after going 2-for-4 with a walk.

The Orioles drew seven free passes on Sunday and walked 26 times in the three-game series against the White Sox; the 26 walks tie the most in a three-game series in O’s history (since 1954) for the fourth time, last done from September 13-15, 1996 at Detroit; the Birds have drawn at least seven walks in three straight games for the fourth time since 1982.

AGAINST THE NATIONALS: The O’s and Nationals meet for the first time this season with two games tonight and tomorrow at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Baltimore and Washington will play four times in 2023 with the Orioles hosting the Nats from September 26-27…The Birds went 3-1 against the Nationals last season, including winning both games in D.C. from September 13-14…The teams split a two-game set at Oriole Park from June 21-22.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Orioles have a scheduled off day on Thursday before opening a six-game homestand with the Tigers from April 21-23 and Red Sox from April 24-26.

ON THE ATTACK: Baltimore is batting .260/.357/.450 (140-for-538) with 32 doubles, two triples, 22 home runs, 94 runs scored, 91 RBI, and 78 walks in 16 games to start the season…The O’s rank second in the AL and MLB in runs scored after finishing 10th in the AL and 20th in MLB with 674 runs scored in 2022…The team leads MLB in on-base percentage while ranking second in the AL and third in MLB in OPS (.807), second in the AL and fifth in MLB in slugging percentage, tied for second in the AL and tied for sixth in MLB in total bases (242), and leads the AL and is third in MLB in walks.

The Orioles lead the AL and rank second in MLB with 4.09 pitches-per-plate appearance this season, trailing only the Cincinnati Reds (4.10); the O’s have three players in the top 12 in the AL in pitches-per-plate appearance – Anthony Santander (10th, 4.34), Adley Rutschman (11th, 4.32), and Adam Frazier (12th, 4.30).

NEED FOR SPEED: The O’s 24 stolen bases are second-most in MLB behind the Guardians (25)…The 24 stolen bases through their first 16 games of the year are the most in O’s history (since 1954) to open a campaign…Baltimore and Cleveland are the first teams since 2000 with at least 24 steals through the first 16 games…The O’s have only been caught stealing twice for a 92.3 percent success rate…Jorge Mateo and Cedric Mullins are tied with each other for the AL lead while the pair are tied behind Chicago-NL’s Nico Hoerner (9) for the MLB lead…The duo’s 16 combined stolen bases are more than 22 MLB teams while nine teams have eight or fewer steals to start 2023.

BIG TIME RUTSCH: Adley Rutschman has set a career high by reaching base safely in 13 straight games since April 3 after reaching base three times on Sunday in Chicago…He’s reached at a .492 clip with 15 hits and 15 walks during that stretch… Rutschman’s career-high eight-game hitting streak was snapped on Saturday…He slashed .462/.611/.885 (12-for-26) with two doubles, three home runs, seven runs scored, eight RBI, and 10 walks during the streak.

Rutschman leads the AL in walks (16) and on-base percentage (.481) while ranking among league leaders in OPS (4th, 1.055), hits (T-5th, 21), batting average (6th, .433), and total bases (8th, 35).

His 37 times reaching base safely this season lead the AL and rank second in MLB behind Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr.; Rutschman did not reach safely 37 times last year until his 32nd game on June 29; he is the only MLB player this season to reach safely at least four times in four different games.

He has hit four home runs this season, tied with Los Angeles-AL’s Logan O’Hoppe for the most among primary catchers; last year, Rutschman didn’t hit his fourth homer until his 38th game on July 7.

HAYS OF OUR LIVES: Austin Hays is slashing .467/.500/.833 (14-for-30) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, 11 runs scored, three RBI, and two walks in seven games since April 10…He has scored runs than any other big leaguer over that stretch…Hays is the first Oriole with 11 runs in a six-game span since Jonathan Villar from July 25-30, 2019…Ranks among AL leaders in runs scored (T-2nd, 15), extra-base hits (T-4th, 10), batting average (5th, .350), slugging percentage (5th, .633), total bases (5th, 38), hits (T-5th, 21), OPS (6th, 1.024), doubles (T-6th, 6).

Hays’ double off Jimmy Lambert in the eighth inning Friday night was 110.5 mph, the hardest-hit ball of his career, per Statcast; six of his seven hardesthit balls and 10 of his hardest-hit 15 balls in 2023 have come since April 10.

He scored a career-high four runs on April 11 vs. Oakland.

April 11 vs. Oakland marked his second game this year with four hits, joining a five-hit effort on April 1 at Boston; Hays and Adley Rutschman are two of the four MLB players with two games of at least four hits this season; since the start of 2022, Hays and Los Angeles-NL’s Freddie Freeman both have six games with 4+ hits, most in the majors.

HIP, HIP JORGE: Jorge Mateo is batting .500/.522/.833 (9-for-18) with three doubles, one homer, six runs scored, seven RBI, two walks, one hit-by-pitch, and three stolen bases in six games (5 GS) since April 11…Ranks among AL leaders in OPS (2nd, 1.082), batting average (3rd, .372), and slugging percentage (4th, .651) this season.

He’s driven in a run a career-high five straight games since April 12 (7 RBI).

Mateo’s single off Keynan Middleton on April 15 at Chicago-AL had an exit velocity of a career-high 112.4 mph, the hardest-hit ball by the O’s this year, per Statcast; four of the hardest-hit balls in his career have come since April 12.

MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle finished 1-for-17 in the White Sox series despite hitting eight balls with an exit velocity of 100.4+ mph…His 29 batted balls at 95 mph+ are tied for sixth-most in MLB, while his 12 barrels are tied for second-most in MLB… Mountcastle is tied for the MLB lead with 20 RBI with Houston’s Yordan Alvarez and he’s fifth in MLB with six home runs.

On Tuesday vs. Oakland, he became the third player in Orioles history with nine RBI in a game, tying Jim Gentile (5/9/61 at MIN) and Eddie Murray (8/26/85 at CAL) for the team record; his 12 RBI in the Oakland series were the most in one series by an Oriole since Rafael Palmerio from August 15-18, 1996 at Oakland (5G) and the most in a four-game series since Dan Graham had 13 RBI from July 21-23, 1980 at Minnesota.

STARTING PITCHER – #64 DEAN KREMER RHP

QUICK HITS: Slated to make his fourth start of the 2023 season against the Nationals tonight…Made a career-high 22 appearances (21 GS) in 2022, 11 appearances at home (10 GS), and 11 on the road…Owned an 8-7 record with a 3.23 ERA (45 ER/125.1 IP) and 87 strikeouts…Made six starts of 5.0-or-more scoreless innings, tied for seventh-most in the AL…Acquired by the Orioles along with 2B Breyvic Valera, RF Yusniel Díaz, RHP Zach Pop and 3B Rylan Bannon in exchange for SS Manny Machado on July 18, 2018…Originally selected by the Dodgers in the 14th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of UNLV.

LAST TIME OUT: Did not factor into the decision on April 12 vs. Oakland, allowing four runs on five hits (2 HR) with two walks, one punchout in 4.1 innings of work, and left with two runners on that were stranded…Threw 90 pitches, 52 strikes.

AGAINST WASHINGTON: Making his second career start against the Nationals… Earned the win in his only start against Washington on September 13, 2022, allowing three runs on eight hits with one walk and one strikeout in 5.0+ innings at Nationals Park…Threw 82 pitches, 57 strikes.

AGAINST THE NL EAST: Making his second career start against the NL East… Earned the win in his only career start against the division at Washington on September 13, 2022.

ROAD WARRIOR: Went 5-3 with a 3.63 ERA (25 ER/62.0 IP) and 37 strikeouts in 11 road starts in 2022…The Orioles owned a 7-4 record in those games…Allowed three earned runs-or-fewer in nine of his 11 starts away from home…Opposing batters slashed .285/.341/.460 (68-for-239) with seven home runs against Kremer on the road in 2022…Won three straight road starts from August 16 to September 13, 2022…Logged three of his eight quality starts away from Oriole Park…Went 0-4 with a 7.33 ERA (19 ER/23.1 IP) in six road starts in 2021.

‘KREM’ OF THE CROP: Had his career-high scoreless streak snapped at 22.2 innings on July 4 vs. Texas; according to Elias Sports Bureau and STATS, he does not get credit for the two outs he recorded in the fifth inning…Marks the longest scoreless streak by an Orioles starter since Mike Mussina pitched 27.0 scoreless innings from September 21, 1995 to April 2, 1996…The last Orioles pitcher with a scoreless streak of at least 22.2 innings was Steve Johnson, who tossed 25.1 scoreless frames across eight games (three starts) from August 25 to September 29, 2012.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:

BATTLE OF THE BELTWAYS
Following another off day on Monday, the Washington Nationals welcome the Baltimore Orioles to D.C. for a two-game series starting on Tuesday night.

ALL IT TAKES IS ONE
The Nationals topped the Cleveland Guardians, 7-6, on Sunday afternoon to avoid the three-game sweep… Trailing 6-3 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Nationals plated two runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to take the 7-6 lead…It was Washington’s largest come-from-behind win of the season and second comeback win overall.

• Joey Meneses’ RBI-single in the eighth proved to be the game winner…Jeimer Candelario recorded a season-high four hits, including his third home run of the season.

ETCHED IN STONE
Outfielder Stone Garrett is 9-for-16 (.563) with three doubles, one homer, five RBI, two walks and six runs scored in four games played this season…He’s produced multi-hit efforts in three straight games and in three of the four overall.

PLAYIN’ THE HITS
Washington ranks sixth in the National League with a .259 batting average and seventh hits (141)…The Nationals have recorded double-digit hits in five of their last nine games.

• Lane Thomas leads the club with 20 hits.

• Nationals hitters have struck out just 103 times, the fewest in Major League Baseball.

SPEAKING OF HITS…
These two players have collected a bunch of them the last few games:
• Luis García is 9-for-25 (.360) with a double, two homers, five RBI, two walks and five runs scored in his last seven games…He’s struck out just one time in 27 plate appearances over this span.

• Jeimer Candelario has posted multi-hit efforts in three of his last four games, going 9-for-17 (.529) with two doubles, one homer, three RBI, one hit by pitch and four runs scored.

5.0 ALIVE
Jim Hickey’s starters are tied for fourth in the National League lead in starts of at least 5.0 innings this season with 13…The rotation ranks tied for seventh in Major League Baseball behind the Minnesota Twins (15) and Kansas City Royals (15)…In 2022, the Nationals ranked 28th in Major League Baseball with 94 starts of at least 5.0 innings.

DEFENSE NOT RESTING
Thanks to strong infield defense so far this season, Nationals opponents have a .221 batting average on ground balls, fifth-best in the National League (MLB avg: .243)…In 2022, the Nationals had the third-highest opponents’ batting average on ground balls in Major League Baseball (.260).

• Washington has turned 18 double plays this season, tied for third in Major League Baseball.

• Third baseman Jeimer Candelario is tied for the National League lead in defensive runs saved (3) among third baseman, according to FanGraphs.com.

• Slick-fielding first baseman Dominic Smith is one of three National League first baseman to accumulate at least one defensive run saved along with Arizona’s Christian Walker and New York’s (NL) Pete Alonso, per FanGraphs.com.

OPPONENT
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
The Nationals and Orioles will meet four times in 2022 (2 in D.C., 2 in BAL)…Nationals manager Dave Martinez and Orioles manager Brandon Hyde were members of the same coaching staff in Chicago (NL) for three seasons (2015-17)…Hunter Harvey was drafted by the Orioles in the first round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft…Orioles reliever Austin Voth spent five seasons (2018-22) in D.C. before joining Baltimore in 2022.

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – #40 JOSIAH GRAY
Right-hander was acquired by the Nationals from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the 2021 Trade Deadline…Was Los Angeles’ No. 2 prospect entering 2021 and its Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2019…Was originally selected by Cincinnati in the second round (No. 72 overall) of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York…Was acquired by the Dodgers on his 21st birthday, Dec. 21, 2018…Is the Player Ambassador to the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.

LAST START
Allowed two earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in 5.2 innings of work on April 11 at Los Angeles (AL)…Despite his strong start, Washington was shutout, 2-0 and Gray suffered his third consecutive loss.

• After allowing five runs in 5.0 innings in his season debut, Gray has bounced back with two consecutive strong starts…He’s allowed three runs on 12 hits in 11.2 innings (2.31 ERA) and struck out nine over his last two starts, both coming on the road.

vs. BALTIMORE
Faces the Orioles for the first time in his career today…Of the players on the Orioles roster, Gray has only seen Adam Frasier…Gray faced Frasier last season while Frasier was a member of the Mariners.

THE STORY OF HIS CUTTER
As told to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post in a recent story: “At the start of spring training, Gray debuted a cutter he learned from Erasmo Ramírez, who drew his grip on a baseball Gray practiced with until he lost it at the gym during the offseason. Gray joked that some Florida teenager could be throwing Ramírez’s cutter in high school games. Yet by the time he misplaced the ball, Gray knew where to put his fingers. The pitch felt like a natural complement to his slider, moving more side-to-side while his gyroscopic slider drops almost straight down.”

MLB Preview: Tampa Bay Rays (14-3) at Cincinnati Reds (7-9)

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MLB Preview: Tampa Bay Rays (14-3) at Cincinnati Reds (7-9)

TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:

QUEEN CITY BLUES — The Rays dropped last night’s series opener in Cincinnati, falling by an 8-1 final…the Reds led, 4-0, before tacking on a pair of runs in both the seventh and eighth innings…RF Josh Lowe (2-for-4, HR, RBI, R) spoiled Cincinnati’s shutout bid with a lead-off homer in the ninth inning…the seven-run defeat marked the Rays’ largest loss since 9/10/22 at New York-AL (10-3).

LHP Jalen Beeks (3.0IP, H, ER, 2BB, SO) made his second start of the season and took the loss…3.0 IP marked his longest outing since 7/27/20 vs. Atlanta (also 3.0IP).

After having his contract selected from Triple-A Durham ahead of the game, RHP Cooper Criswell (4.0IP, 4H, 4ER, 7SO) pitched the final four innings for Tampa Bay, fanning seven…threw 82 pitches, his most in any outing since 9/23/21 vs. Sacramento as a member of Triple-A Salt Lake (93 pitches).

Despite the loss, Tampa Bay’s 14-3 mark is still the best 17-game start in the majors since Boston in 2018 (15-2)…since 2004, only the Rays and the 2018 Red Sox have won at least 14 of their first 17 games.

ROSTER MOVES — Prior to tonight’s game, the Rays recalled RHP Taj Bradley from Triple-A Durham and placed LHP Jeffrey Springs on the 15-day injured list…Bradley, the Rays No. 1 prospect (MLB.com), will be making his second career start this evening.

BOMBS AWAY — Tampa Bay has hit a major league-best 37 home runs, third most through a team’s first 17 games of a season in MLB history (since 1901) behind the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals (40HR) and 2019 Seattle Mariners (38HR)…the current record for homers through 18 games is 42 HR, held by the 2000 Cardinals, followed by the 2019 Mariners (39HR), 2009 Texas Rangers (38HR) and 1956 Cincinnati Reds (37HR).

Tampa Bay has homered in each of its first 17 games, the second-longest streak to open a season in MLB history (since 1901) behind only the 2019 Mariners’ 20- game run…marks the Rays’ longest streak at any point in a single season since an 18-game run from 8/19-9/8, 2017.

LOWE’S HOME (RUN) IMPROVEMENT — After entering the season with two homers in 181 career at-bats (90.5 AB/HR), Josh Lowe has belted four home runs in 43 at-bats in 2023 (10.75 AB/HR)…Lowe has also seen improvements in his whiff rate (2023: 23.9%; 2022: 32.6%) and strikeout rate (2023: 17.4%; 2022: 33.3%) thus far compared to his performance last season.

Lowe is batting .414 (12-for-29) with 3 HR against breaking and off-speed pitches this season compared to .203 (16-for-79) with zero homers in 2022.

He has reached base safely in each of his last six games, slashing .400/.444/.840 (10-for-25) with two doubles, 3 HR and 8 RBI in that span…Lowe’s 1.284 OPS during that stretch (since 4/9) ranks sixth in the majors (min. 25PA).

BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL — The Rays lead MLB in runs scored (115) while permitting the third-fewest runs (50)…Tampa Bay’s +65 run differential is tied for fifth-best through the first 17 games of a season in MLB history (since 1901) and is the best mark since the 2016 Chicago Cubs (+67)…the current record since 1901 through 18 games is +80, done by the 1905 New York Giants, followed by the 1918 Giants (+72) and 1993 Detroit Tigers (+67).

Tampa Bay’s 115 runs scored are its most through 17 games in club history, ahead of the 2010 Rays (98R)…the only other major league club since 2001 to reach that threshold through 17 games was Seattle in 2019 (124R).

The Rays’ 50 runs allowed are second-fewest through 17 games in club history, behind the 2019 team (42R).

ON THE MOUND — Tampa Bay’s 2.88 ERA is the second-best mark in the majors behind Minnesota (2.60)…this includes the second-best starter ERA (2.60) behind Minnesota (2.58) and sixth-best bullpen ERA (3.22)…Rays pitchers rank among MLB leaders in opponents’ OPS (1st, .572), opponents’ average (2nd, .200), WHIP (2nd, 1.07), fewest pitches per IP (2nd, 15.34), lowest average exit velocity (3rd, 87.7 mph) and first-pitch strike pct. (3rd, 63.6%).

Tampa Bay has allowed just eight home runs over 150.0 innings, good for an MLBbest 0.48 HR/9.0IP…marks the fewest homers permitted by any major league club through 17 games since New York-NL (6HR) and Chicago-AL (7HR) in 2016.

This success comes despite Tampa Bay using 18 different pitchers, tied for second most in the majors behind Seattle (19 pitchers).

IN THE BOX — Rays hitters rank among MLB leaders in runs scored (1st, 115), OPS (1st, .880), slugging pct. (1st, .529), extra-base hits (1st, 72), total bases (1st, 304), batting average (3rd, .277) and hard-hit pct. (4th, 44.9%)…Tampa Bay’s four games with 10+ runs are tied with Chicago-NL for most in the majors…the Rays have pushed across 7+ runs in 10 of their 17 games.

RAYS AND REDLEGS — The Rays and Reds meet this week in Cincinnati for the lone series between the two clubs this season…Tampa Bay was swept in a three-game set at Great American Ball Park last season (7/8-10, 2022) — the Rays most recent win in Cincinnati came on 4/12/14 (1-0)…the Rays have lost four straight to the Reds, their longest losing streak to Cincinnati since a seven-game skid from 6/10/03-6/27/11 to open the all-time series between the two clubs.

REWRITING HISTORY — Prior to Friday night’s 6-3 loss in Toronto, the Rays became the fourth team in MLB history to begin a season 13-0, joining the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers (13-0), 1982 Atlanta Braves (13-0) and 1884 St. Louis Maroons (20-0)…it marked the longest win streak in club history, surpassing a 12-game run from 6/9-22, 2004.

The Rays won each of their first nine games by 4+ runs, the second-longest streak to open a season in MLB history behind the 1884 Maroons (13 straight)… ties the fourth-longest overall streak of 4+ run wins in MLB history and marks the longest since the 1939 New York Yankees (10G, 8/20-28, 1939).

Tampa Bay pitching strung together a 32.0 scoreless inning streak from 4/8-11, the longest streak in club history and longest single-season streak in MLB since St. Louis from 8/5-9, 2015 (38.0IP)…the streak included a franchise-record three consecutive shutouts (4/8-10) — Tampa Bay became the first club to record three straight shutouts within a single season since Cleveland in 2017 (8/25-27, 2017).

SPREADING THE WEALTH — The Rays have an MLB-leading 11 players with multiple homers: Brandon Lowe (5HR), Yandy Díaz (4HR), Wander Franco (4HR), Josh Lowe (4HR), Randy Arozarena (3HR), Christian Bethancourt (3HR), Isaac Paredes (3HR), Luke Raley (3HR), Harold Ramírez (3HR), Manuel Margot (2HR) and Jose Siri (2HR)…the next closest team is San Francisco (9 players).

TONIGHT’S STARTER: RHP TAJ BRADLEY (1-0, 5.40)
TALKIN’ TAJ — Tampa Bay’s No. 1 prospect and the No. 18 prospect in baseball (MLB.com) will make his second career start tonight in Cincinnati, including his first on the road…went 7-4 with a 2.57 ERA (133.1IP, 38ER) over 28 starts between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham in 2022…was selected by the Rays in the fifth round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft.

BIG LEAGUE DEBUT — Bradley earned the win in his major league debut after tossing 5.0 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk with eight strikeouts…fanned Rafael Devers in the first inning for the first strikeout of his career…became the third player to make their big league debut for the Rays this season, joining RHP Kevin Kelly on 4/1 vs. Detroit and RHP Braden Bristo on 4/13 vs. Boston

ONE TO REMEMBER — Bradley’s eight strikeouts on 4/12 vs. Boston were second most by a Rays player in his major league debut in club history, trailing only Wade Davis’ nine punch outs on 9/6/09 vs. Detroit…since the beginning of 2020, only Cleveland’s Triston McKenzie (10SO, 8/22/20 vs. DET) and Washington’s Joan Adon (9SO, 10/3/21 vs. BOS) have fanned more batters in their debuts.

The current Rays record for most strikeouts through two career games is 15, done by Andy Sonnanstine (6/5-10, 2007).

DEBUT DERBY — Bradley became the second of three Rays to make their major league debut in 2023, along with RHP Kevin Kelly (4/1 vs. DET) and RHP Braden Bristo (4/13 vs. BOS)…he is the first pitcher to debut with the Rays as a starter since RHP Tommy Romero, who served as an opener on 4/12/2022 vs. Oakland.

The three debuts are tied with Milwaukee and Oakland for most in the majors this season…in 2022, nine players made their MLB debuts with the Rays, tied for fourth most in a season in club history and most since a franchise-record 12 debuts in 2018.

CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:

RED HOTS
• The Reds today returned from a rehabilitation assignment and reinstated from the 15-day injured list RHP Lucas Sims (low back spasms)…optioned to Louisville RHP Kevin Herget.

• Sims went on the injured list on Opening Day…from 4/9-4/15 he made 3 official rehabilitation assignments for Louisville (0-0, 0.00, 3ip, 1h, 0r, 2bb, 3k, 1.00whip, .100baa)…Sun at Toledo he started for the Bats and after allowing a leadoff triple threw a scoreless inning (1h, 1k, 17 pitches)…the game was rained out in the middle of the third inning.

• Hunter Greene left last night’s game after the third inning with a right tibia contusion…in-game x-rays were negative…suffered the injury on a comebacker by Yandy Díaz that resulted in the first out of the top of the third…Greene finished the inning…will be evaluated again today.

• RHP Levi Stoudt (#58) is expected to start tomorrow in his Major League debut…in 3 starts for Louisville went 0-1, 4.09 (11ip, 8h, 5er, 9bb, 10k, 3hr). • RHP Luke Weaver (right forearm tightness) is expected to come off the 15-day injured list to pitch Thu at Pit…

TONIGHT’S GAME
• Is Game 2 (1-0) of a 3-game series vs Dave Wills’ Rays and Game 6 (3-2) of a 7-game homestand that included a 2-2 series split with the defending National League champion Phillies.

• Following this series the Reds will make a brief road trip to Pit for a 4-game weekend series vs the Pirates, then return to Great American Ball Park for a 3-game homestand vs Tex before heading to Oak (3g) and SD (3g).

SERIES NOTES
• The Reds and Rays are meeting for the seventh time overall and for the second consecutive season.

• The Reds are 14-5 all-time vs the Rays, including 3-0 here last season and 8-2 overall in Cincinnati.

• The Reds’ 19 games vs the Rays are tied for their fifth-fewest vs any opponent in the American League (Orioles 15, Angels 16, Red Sox 17, Mariners 18, Rangers 19).

• The Reds won 4 of the previous 6 series vs the Rays, including 3-game series sweeps in June 2003 at Tropicana Field, June 2005 at Great American Ball Park and July 2022 at GABP.

• Dating back to the 2014 season, the Reds have won the last 5 games vs TB at GABP, including last season’s 3-0 series sweep here in July.

• The Rays last won in Cincinnati on 4/12/14 (1-0 win).

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

PIRATES UP NEXT
• This weekend Reds will face the Pirates in a 4-game series at PNC Park.

• The Reds earned a 2-1 series win vs Pit in the series that opened this 2023 championship season.
• Beginning in 2021 at Great American Ball Park, the Reds are 14-8 vs Pit with a 134-78 advantage in runs scored… the Reds have won 22 of the last 41 games overall vs the Pirates, including 19 of the last 28 games vs Pit at GABP.

• The Reds went 14-29 at Pit’s PNC Park the previous 5 seasons, including an 11-game losing streak spanning 2018- 2019 and an 8-game losing streak there to begin the 2019 season.

LEADING OFF
• In the first inning, Reds batters lead the Major Leagues in on-base percentage (.423) while ranking second in batting average (.339, Atl .403), fourth in slugging percentage (.548) and T7th in runs scored (12).

• When leading off the Reds’ half of the first inning, Jonathan India is hitting .462 (.563obp, .846slg, 6-13, 2bb, 2 2b, 1hr, 6r).

• India’s 16 runs scored are tied for third-most in the Major Leagues.

• India’s 6 runs scored in the first inning are tied for second-most in the Major Leagues (NYY’s Aaron Judge, 7r).

Tonight’s Pitcher – #40 Nick Lodolo, LHP
• Tonight is making his fourth appearance and start of the season…will be his second career appearance vs the Rays.

• On 4/8 at Phi, his career-high 12 strikeouts were the most by a Reds lefthander since Amir Garrett had 12 strikeouts on 4/19/17 vs Bal…was Lodolo’s third career game with at least 10 strikeouts…became only the fourth Reds lefthander to record at least 7.0 scoreless innings with at least 12 strikeouts (Tom Hall on 5/14/72/g2 vs StL, Johnny Vander Meer 5 times, Rube Benton on 6/11/1915 vs Dodgers).

• Started the second game of the season and earned the 6-2 win vs the Pirates.

• In his 2022 Major League debut season received 2 third-place votes in the BBWAA’s Jackie Robinson Award voting for National League Rookie of the Year.

• In 2022 ranked among the National League rookie pitching leaders in ERA (4th, 3.66), wins (T5th, 4), strikeouts (3rd, 131), starts (T3rd, 19), innings pitched (5th, 103.1), opponents’ BA (4th, .235) and WHIP (3rd, 1.25).

• Led all Major League pitchers in hit batters (19), 4 shy of Jake Weimer’s 1907 single-season franchise record.

• Went 1-2, 5.52 in his first 3 career starts, but then from 4/28-7/4 missed 69 days and 61 games while on the injured list with a lower right back strain…was transferred from the 15- to the 60-day injured list on 6/21, when IF Donovan Solano came off the 60-day IL.

• Following 4 rehabilitation starts from 6/13-6/29 at ACL Reds (1gs) and Louisville (3gs), came off the injured list on 7/5 and finished the season 3-5, 3.35 over 16 starts.

• In his last 9 starts of the season beginning 8/17 went 1-3, 2.75 (55.2ip, 35h, 17er, 15bb, 67k, 6hr, .182baa, 0.90whip)…the Reds went 3-6 in those 9 starts.

• Beginning 8/17, finished the season ranked among the National League leaders in that span in starts (T3rd), innings pitched (T5th), ERA (8th), strikeouts (7th), opponents’ BA (4th) and WHIP (5th).

• On 9/9 at Mil (8ip, 0bb, 11k) and 9/14 vs Pit (6.1ip, 0bb, 11k) became only the second rookie since 1893, the year the pitching mound was moved to its current distance, to record in consecutive apps 0 walks and at least 11 strikeouts, joining Dwight Gooden (9/12 & 9/17, 1984, 16k vs Pit, 16k at Phi).

• Is only the third Reds rookie since 1900 to record in consecutive apps at least 11 strikeouts, joining Gary Nolan (6/1 & 6/7, 1967, 12k vs Cubs, 15k vs SF) and Bruce Berenyi (8/24 & 8/29, 1981, 12k vs NYM, 11k at NYM).

• Was selected by the Reds in the first round (7th overall) of the June 2019 first-year player draft…was signed by Paul Scott…was Texas Christian University’s highest-ever baseball draft pick.

MLB Preview: Texas Rangers (10-6) at Kansas City Royals (4-13)

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MLB Preview: Texas Rangers (10-6) at Kansas City Royals (4-13)

TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:

WINS AND LOSSES: Texas beat the Royals last night, 4-0, and club has a 3-1 record to open this 6-G, 6-day road trip to HOU (2-1) and KC (1-0)…TEX has won 2 straight, 3 of 4, and 6 of last 8 G for a 10-6 (.625), T2nd-best record in the A.L. (14-3: TB, 10-6: TEX/MIN/NYY) and T5th-best in MLB…Rangers’ 10 wins are also T2nd in A.L. and T5th in MLB…have a 7-6 record last 13 G since club’s 3-0 start to the season…team sits a season-high 4 games above .500 for the 1st time in over 3 1/2 years – since a win on 8/5/19 at CLE (58-54)…seeking to move to 5-over for 1st time since 7/16/19 (50-45)…Texas has been .500-or-better following every game in 2023…the current 10-6 record ranks as T6thbest 16-G start in club history and matches best 16-G start in last 11 years beg. 2013 (also 10-6 in 2013 and 2016)…a win tonight would mark Rangers’ best 17-G start since 2013(11-6)…TEX recorded its 10th win in 2022 on May 4…Rangers’ 3-0 start was team’s longest season-opening win streak since 2011 (6-0).

STANDINGS: The Rangers have sole possession of 1st place in the A.L. West for a 4th straight day and 9th day overall in 2023…have a season-best 2.0-game division lead over 2nd-place LAA, the team’s largest lead in the West since the end of the 2016 campaign (won division by 9.0 games)… since 1999, the only other years in which TEX held a lead of 2.0-or-more games in the West as early as 4/17 in a season came in 2011 (4/4) and 2012 (4/13)…the only MLB team with a larger division lead entering today was TB (+3.5 GA of NYY in A.L. East)…TEX has been alone or tied atop the division for 18 of the season’s first 19 days, including 9 straight to begin the year.

• From 2017-22, the Rangers had one day in which it held, or was tied for, 1st place in the West (1-0 on 7/24/20, tied for division lead).

SERIES STUFF: Texas could take this series in KC with a win tonight and/or tomorrow, this after winning last 2 series vs. KC (2-games-to-1) and at HOU (2-1)…since the start of 2021, the Rangers have won 3 consecutive series on one occasion: 3-0-0 from 4/29-5/9/21 vs. BOS/at MIN/vs. SEA… could also win back-to-back road series for 1st time since 9/7-12/21 at ARI/OAK…the Rangers 2-games-to-1 series win at HOU over the weekend was team’s 1st road series win of 3+ games since taking 3 of 4 G from 8/19-22/22 at MIN… TEX is 3-2-0 overall in series this year and 1-1-0 on the road.

VS. KANSAS CITY: The Rangers and Royals wrap the season series with this week’s 3-G set at The K…TEX leads season series 3-games-to-1, losing last week’s series finale on Wed. in Arlington…TEX has won 3 of 4, 6 of 8, 11 of 14, 14 of 19, 17 of 24, and 21 of last 29 against KC overall (beg. 5/25/18)…TEX has won 7 straight season series against KC (2015-19, 2021-22)…have a 33-11 (.750) mark vs. KC since the start of 2016, 3rd-highest win pct. for any team against any opponent (min. 25 G) over that span behind OAK (32-9, .780 vs. DET) and CLE (29-9, .763 vs. LAA).

• Rangers are 32-19 (.627) at The K since start of 2008, winning 9 of 13 and 13 of last 18, and going 17-4-2 in series here since start of 2004…overall, TEX leads all-time series 280- 265-1, but Royals have a 143-122 edge at this park since The K opened in 1973.
ON THE ROAD: The Rangers are 4-3 (.571) on the road this season, T4th-best away win pct. in the A.L…have won 2 straight and 4 of last 5 away games after a 0-2 start…team is seeking to win 3 straight road games for just 2nd time since start of last July (3-0, 8/20-22/22)…Texas is in a span of playing 7 of 10 games on the road…in fact, beginning with this trip, Rangers are scheduled to play 28 of 43 games from 4/14 through the end of May on the road.

THE WAITING: RHP Jacob deGrom was removed from last night’s start as a precaution with right wrist soreness…he was slated to be evaluated further today and the club will update his status prior to tonight’s game. THE 1: TEX pitchers Jacob deGrom (4.0 IP), Dane Dunning (4.1 IP), and José Leclerc (0.2 IP) combined for a one-hit shutout last night at KC…some notes:

• It was the 25th one-hitter in TEX history, 1st since 5/11/18 at HOU, a combined effort which was started by Cole Hamels and also included a José Leclerc relief app…it was the 30th game in TEX history in which the pitching staff allowed one-or-zero hits.

• It was the 4th MLB game in ‘23 in which a team posted a one-hitter (zero no-hitters), and TEX has been involved in 2 of them: TEX, last night at KC; LAA, 4/11 vs. WAS; TB, 4/9 vs. OAK; and BAL, 4/3 at TEX.

• Last night was Rangers’ 1st SHO of the year, 1st since 9/27/22 at SEA…it was the team’s 3rd SHO victory with one-or-zero hits allowed since 2000 (others 5/11/18 at HOU and 8/23/10 vs. MIN).

• deGrom and Dunning became just 2nd Rangers duo in last 40 years (beg. 1984) to each have at least 4.0 SHO IP in the same game…only other instance was 8/26/05 vs. MIN in which starter Kameron Loe (5.0 IP) combined with reliever C.J. Wilson (4.0 IP) on a 6-hit shutout…current Rangers GM Chris Young would start the series finale 2 days later.

A LOT WITH A LITTLE: There were just 5 total hits in last night’s game (TEX-4, KC-1), only 3 combined hits after Marcus Semien’s solo HR to lead off the 3rd inning provided the final 4-0 margin…it was the Rangers’ 4th win since the start of 2022 with 4-hits-or-less, also 7/13/22 vs. OAK, 6/16/22 at DET, and 4/30/22 vs. ATL.

GOING BIG: Josh Jung hit a 3-R HR in the 1st inning last night, his 1st start of the year batting cleanup…it was his 3rd HR in ‘23, tied for the team lead, all of which have given TEX a lead…Rangers rank T6th in A.L. with 18 HR, but lead MLB with 7 HR of 3-or-4 runs this season…only other team with more than 5 such HR is TB (6), and the Rays lead MLB with 37 HR overall on the year.

• Rangers hit 2 HR within the team’s first 10 PA’s last night, this after totaling 2 HR over the 1st 6 road games in ‘23.

MARCUS MARAUDER: Marcus Semien has hit HR in back-to-back games (grand slam in 7th on Sun. at HOU), joining Jonah Heim (4/10-11) as the only Rangers to HR in consecutive games in ‘23…marks just the 2nd time for Semien to hit HR in consecutive games as a Ranger, as he hit HR in 3 straight from 6/5-7(G2)/22…Semien in the 1st 4 G of this road trip?: .400 (6-15), 2 HR, 2B, 6 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB/1 SO.

WITH THE QUICKNESS: The Rangers’ 3-run first inning last night marked club’s most runs in any opening inning in 2023…it was the 6th time in 16 games for Texas to plate run(s) in the 1st inning, and the club has pulled the trick in 3 of the 4 meetings with Kansas City this year.

I’M PACING MYSELF, SERGEANT: Last night’s series opener was completed in 2 hours and 2 minutes, the shortest 9.0-inning Rangers game since 9/30/07 at SEA (1:57)…since 1993, the only other Texas win lasting 2:02-or-less (9 inn.) was a 2-0 win on 5/29/06 vs. SEA (2:00).

• Last night’s 2:02 finish was 3rd-shortest game in MLB in ‘23 to a pair of 1:57 contests: 4/4 MIN at MIA, 4/16 LAA at BOS.

I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU: Last night was the 4th game this season in which the TEX bullpen has posted 4.0+ SHO IP… with 5.0 scoreless innings last night, TEX relievers now have a 2.98 ERA for the year, 3rd-best in MLB to only NYY (2.36) and MIN (2.64).

SHORTS: Pitching staff has allowed 1 R-ER last 2 G/18.0 IP…Nathaniel Lowe’s hit streak ended last night at 11 games, longest by a Ranger in ‘23 and tying his career best…Rangers’ +24 run differential is 6th-best in MLB…Bruce Bochy’s 2013 career wins as manager rank 11th all-time…yesterday was 1st time Bochy had been at The K since Game 7 of the 2014 World Series.

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER – #17 Nathan Eovaldi, RHP (1-2, 6.32)

TONIGHT: The 33-year-old right-hander is scheduled to make his 4th start/appearance of the season tonight in game 2 of 3 here in Kansas City…will be facing the Royals for a 2nd straight outing, as he took his 2nd loss in as many starts in Texas’ 10-1 defeat on Wed. vs. KC (see ‘Last Start’)…has gone 0-2, 6.75 ERA (8 ER/10.2 IP) in last 2 outings after earning win in TEX debut on 4/1 vs. PHI (W, 5.0 IP, 3 R-ER)…has 19 strikeouts/3 walks this season, as he ranks 9th among A.L. leaders (min. 15.0 IP) in SO/9 (10.91) and SO/BB ratio (6.33)…Eovaldi (eeVAHL-dee) signed a 2-year free agent contract with the Rangers on 12/27/22… in 2022, his final season with Boston, went 6-3 with a 3.87 ERA (47 ER/109.1
IP) over 20 G/GS…ranked among A.L. leaders (min. 100.0 IP) in SO/BB (8th, 5.15) and BB/9 (9th, 1.65)…was slowed by a pair of IL stints: 6/9-7/14 (low back inflammation) and 8/19-9/28 (right shoulder inflammation)…the Texas native is seeking a return to his 2021 form, when he was an All-Star with the Red Sox and finished 4th in A.L. Cy Young Award voting…his Red Sox stint included a historic postseason stretch during the team’s 2018 World Series run, as he appeared in 3 of club’s 5 games during that year’s Fall Classic…has 241 games/222 starts with LAD (2011-12), MIA (2012-14), NYY (2015-16), TB (2018), BOS (2018-22) and TEX (2023)…joined Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan as the only graduates of Alvin (TX) High School to reach the Major Leagues…TEX is 1-2 in his 3 starts this season.

LAST START: Took his 2nd loss in as many starts in Texas’ 10-1 defeat on Wed. vs. KC (L, 5.0 IP, 10 H, 6 R-ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR, 91 pitches/69 strikes)…permitted 2023 highs in hits, runs, and earned runs, allowing multiple scores in the 2nd (3) and 4th (2) frames…Vinnie Pasquantino’s solo HR in the 3rd inn. was the 1st HR surrendered by Eovaldi this season…struck out season-high 7 batters without issuing a walk, recording season-high 18 swing-and-miss strikes (Statcast)…still the 4th-highest single-game whiff total by a Ranger in 2023: 25-deGrom on 4/5 vs. BAL, 20-deGrom on 4/11 vs. KC, 19-Heaney on 4/10 vs. KC.

VS. KANSAS CITY: Eovaldi has gone 3-2, 4.62 ERA (19 ER/37.0 IP) over 8 G/6 GS vs. KC in his career, incl. 0-1, 6.30 ERA (7 ER/10.0 IP) in 2 G/GS at Kauffman Stadium…last faced Royals in previous start on Wed. at Globe Life Field (L, 5.0 IP, 6 R-ER), a 10-1 Rangers loss…his 2 career outings here at The ‘K’ came in starts for the Red Sox on 8/20/21 at KC (L, 4.0 IP, 4 R-3 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO) and 8/6/22 at KC (ND, 6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R-ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 2 HR)…permitted leadoff HR to MJ Melendez and 4th-inn. solo HR to Kyle Isbel in the latter appearance, with Boston suffering a walk-off, 5-4 defeat after reliever Garrett Whitlock allowed a game-ending solo HR to Nick Pratto in the 9th inning.

• Started the 1st of 2 exhibition games against the Royals at Globe Life Field on 3/27 (ND, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R-ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 2 HR, 80 pitches/55 strikes)…allowed 4 R-ER in his 4th and final tune-up outing of the spring, surrendering back-to-back HR to Michael Massey (2-run) and Hunter Dozier (solo) in the 4th inning.

ON THE ROAD: Tonight’s outing will be Eovaldi’s 2nd road start of the season… suffered a tough-luck loss in his 1st away appearance on 4/7 at CHC (L, 5.2 IP, 2 R-ER), as TEX was shut out 2-0…fared far better on the road (4-0, 2.64 ERA) than at Fenway Park (2-3, 5.26 ERA) in 2022, but has traditionally performed better at home (31-32, 4.01 ERA) than on the road (37-38, 4.01 ERA) in his career.

• His 2.64 road ERA (17 ER/58.0 IP) in 2022 finished as 9th-best in the American League (minimum 10 starts)…was 4-0 with a .229/.258/.395/.652 opp. slash line and 8 BB/62 SO in 10 G/GS and 58.0 IP in away tilts…of his 19 runs allowed on the road, 14 came via his 10 HR allowed in away games.

2023: Opponents have batted .323/.353/.523/.876 (21-65) with 9 extra-base hits (HR, 2 3B, 6 2B), incl. opp. BA of .343 (12-35) vs. LHB and .300 (9-30) vs. RHB… has 19 strikeouts/3 walks, as he ranks 9th among A.L. leaders (min. 15.0 IP) in strikeouts per 9.0 inn. (10.91) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.33)…current SO/9 figure would be the highest of his career, surpassing prev. high of 9.68 in 2020 w/ BOS…recorded season-high 18 swing-and-miss strikes (Statcast) on 4/12 vs. KC (L, 5.0 IP, 10 H, 6 R-ER), and his 37 whiffs in ‘23 are 2nd-most among Texas pitchers (68-deGrom)…has received one-or-zero runs of support in 2 of 3 GS (4.60 RS/G)…made Rangers debut in 16-3 Texas victory on 4/1 vs. PHI (W, 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R-ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 82 pitches/49 strikes)…became 1st Rangers starting pitcher to be awarded a win in his first start with the club since A.J. Alexy on 8/3/21 vs. COL…the Alvin, TX native became the 5th native Texan ever to earn a win in his TEX debut (last Kip Wells on 8/2/06 at MIN).

KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:

ONE-HIT WONDER: The Royals were shut out on 1 hit in last night’s 4-0 loss to the Rangers at Kauffman Stadium, falling to 4-13 overall and 1-10 at home…last night marked the fourth time Kansas City has been shut out through 17 games this season—most in the Majors—and it was the 26th time in franchise history that the Royals have been blanked on 1 hit…this last happened three years ago in a 7.0-inning game on Aug. 19, 2020 vs. Cincinnati’s Trevor Bauer…the last time it happened in a 9.0-inning game was June 5, 2018 at Anaheim vs. Andrew Heaney…the Royals drew 2 walks on offense last night and their only hit was a 1-out single up the middle by Matt Duffy in the 5th inning…Jordan Lyles completed 8.0 innings for the fifth time in 218 career starts, becoming the third Royals pitcher in the last three seasons to throw 8.0 innings in a game…the 1st inning began with back-to-back errors by third baseman Hunter Dozier, and two batters later, Josh Jung hit a 3-run home run…after the game, all 3 of those runs were marked unearned, lowering Lyles’ season ERA to 3.91.

PACE OF PLAY: The Royals and Rangers completed last night’s game in 2 hours and 2 minutes, marking the 3rd-fastest game in the Majors this season, trailing a pair of 1-hour, 57-minute games, including one on Sunday between the Angels and Red Sox at Fenway Park…last night matched the 3rd-fastest 9.0-inning game played at Kauffman Stadium since 2000, longer only than a 1-hour, 55-minute game 15 years ago on Sept. 20, 2007 vs. the White Sox, and a 1-hour, 58-minute game in Game 2 of the Aug. 14, 2005 doubleheader vs. Detroit.

The Royals and Rangers have played 582 games against each other since 1969, but only 12 of them finished in 2 hours and 2 minutes or less, and before last night, the last game that quick between these two teams came 39 years ago, in a 2-hour, 2-minute, 4-1 Royals win at what was then called Royals Stadium.

There have been 227 9-inning games in the Majors this season, and the average game time of those has been 2 hours, 37 minutes, with only 23 of those 227 games (10.1%) of those games lasting at least 3 hours.

The Royals 17 games this season have averaged 2 hours, 27 minutes, which is 10 minutes below the Major League average and is the 2nd-fastest average time this season, longer only than the Twins (2:25).

APRIL SHOWERS: The month of April has not been kind to the Royals in recent years, and that trend has continued in 2023…including their Opening Day loss—which took place on March 30—the Royals are 4-13 through 17 games, which marks the 2nd-worst record in the Majors ahead of Oakland (3-14), and is their worst 17-game start since 2018, when the Royals were 3-14 at this point…the schedule makers haven’t done the Royals any favors either, as their five opponents to this point have a combined record of 48-33 (.593), and three of those five teams are in 1st place in their division…that includes the American League West-leading Texas Rangers (10-6), who took two of three from the Royals last week in Arlington and are now in Kansas City for a 3-game set this week…unfortunately, the schedule doesn’t ease up much anytime soon, as two of the three opponents on the Royals upcoming road trip are in 1st place, including Arizona (10-7) and Minnesota (10-6).

RISPY BUSINESS: The Royals didn’t have many opportunities on offense last night, but they came up empty in those rare moments anyway, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position…the Royals rank 30th in the Majors with a .183 average in scoring situations, and nearly half of their 26 such hits this season came in 2 games, but they’ve been held to 1 hit or fewer with a runner in scoring position in 12 of their 17 games, including last night.

Situational hitting was an issue for this Royals offense early last season, when they hit .205 in scoring situations through 39 games, but hit .261 over their last 122 games, which ranked 11th in the Majors.

NEW DAY, NEW LINEUP: Tonight marks the Royals 18th game of the season, and they are playing with their 18th different lineup combination…they are one of four teams this season that entered today without fielding the same lineup more than once, along with the Astros, Marlins and Pirates…this approach from new Manager Matt Quatraro and his staff is much different than the one employed last year, when the Royals featured 137 different starting lineup combinations, which were the 8th fewest in the Majors…the Major League average last season was 145 different starting lineup combinations, and the Tigers led the league with 161 unique lineups.

VS. TEXAS: The Royals and Rangers are meeting for 3 games in Kansas City this week, after these two teams played last week in Arlington, where the Royals dropped two of three…following Wednesday’s finale, they will have played 6 games vs. each other over 10 days…in fact, the Royals 6-game season series vs. the Rangers will end before the Royals play a single game vs. three of their four division rivals, as they won’t see the White Sox until May 8, their 1st meeting vs. Detroit won’t come until May 22 and their 1st game vs. Cleveland is June 27.

The Royals have lost seven straight season series to the Rangers dating back to 2015, and are 1-3 vs. them this season entering tonight…that means the Royals must win tonight and tomorrow to salvage a split of the season series, which would end their drought of seven straight season series losses…the Royals are 14-36 (.280) vs. Texas since 2015, a stretch in which they’ve been outscored 256-172 (-84).

These two franchises have played each other in six different ballparks, including Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium (1969-72) and Kauffman Stadium (1973-present), and RFK Memorial Stadium, where the Washington Senators played from 1962-71…the franchise became the Rangers in 1972 and played in Texas’ Arlington Stadium through 1993, before Globe Life Park was introduced in 1994…that ballpark still stands across the street from the new Globe Life Field, which opened in 2020 and is now in its fourth season.

ON DECK: After the Rangers leave town tomorrow night, the Royals will enjoy an off day on Thursday, when they travel to Anaheim to begin a three-city road trip starting Friday night…that will start a stretch in which the Royals will play 26 games in 27 days through May 17, and the only off day during that time will come on May 1, which sits between their upcoming, season-long 10-game road trip and a season-long 10-game homestand…the upcoming trip will take the Royals to Anaheim (3 games), Arizona (3) and Minnesota (4), and after that off day on May 1, the Royals will host the Orioles (3), Athletics (3) and White Sox (4) from May 2-11.

STARTING SOMETHING: Through the first 17 games of the season, new Pitching Coach Brian Sweeney has made his mark on this pitching staff that finished near the bottom in several categories last season…walks were a major issue last season, as the Royals finished last in the American League with 589 walks and BB/9 ratio (3.74), and finished last in the Majors in K/BB ratio (2.02)…this year, the Royals rank 7th in the Majors with a 3.03 BB/9 ratio and 11th with a 2.82 K/BB ratio…Royals starting pitchers, specifically, have controlled the strike zone well, issuing 1 or no walks in 11 of 17 starts this season, tied with Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Cleveland and San Francisco for the most such starts in the Majors…likewise, Royals starters have posted a 2.23 BB/9 ratio, which ranks 5th in the Majors behind the Giants (1.59), Dodgers (2.00), Guardians (2.04) and Twins (2.10)…minimizing the walks has allowed Royals starting pitchers to go deeper in games, as they’ve completed at least 5.0 innings in a Majors-most 16 games out of 17 (94.1%), after doing so just 107 times (66.0%) in 2022

TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP BRAD KELLER (2-1, 2.12)

BRAD KELLER will make his 4th start of the season—and 109th start of his career— tonight against the Rangers…this marks his 5th career start (6th appearance) vs. Texas…he’s in his sixth Major League season after being acquired by Kansas City in a trade with Cincinnati, who selected him from Arizona in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft.

WINNER WINNER: Brad earned his 2nd straight win in his most recent start last Wednesday vs. these Rangers in Arlington, where he pitched 6.2 innings of 1-run ball and held Texas to just 3 hits and 1 walk with a season-high 7 strikeouts…the sole run he allowed came on a solo home run from Nathaniel Lowe with 2 outs in the 1st inning, which marked the 1st home run he surrendered since last Sept. 9 vs. Detroit, snapping a 17.2-inning homerless streak…he held the Rangers to just four baserunners from that point on, and exited in the 7th inning after issuing a 2-out walk in favor of Jose Cuas, who struck out Leody Taveras to end the threat.

His 6.2 innings pitched marked his most in an outing since last July 11 (7.0 IP).

Has held opponents to 3 hits in back-to-back starts, and his 11 overall hits allowed are tied for the 6th fewest in the AL among pitchers with at least 3 starts.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS: With a win in his start last Wednesday at Texas, Keller extended his streak of starts with a decision to 18—in which he’s 7-11—which is the longest run of starts with a decision by a Royal since Tim Belcher earned a decision in 21 consecutive starts from Sept. 2, 1996-June 20, 1997…it’s the longest streak in the Majors since Sonny Gray had a decision in 18 straight starts from June 20-Sept. 28, 2017, including a 4-3 record in 7 starts with Oakland before a Trade Deadline deal sent him to the Yankees on July 31, after which he went 4-7 in 11 starts for New York.

Royals Hall of Famer Dennis Leonard holds the club record with 26 straight starts with a decision (Aug. 26, 1997-June 23, 1978), over which he went 14-12.

NO TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE: Over his first 3 starts of the season, Keller has relied on his new curveball 25.1% of the time (according to Baseball Savant), which has yielded a 37.2% whiff rate and a 30.8% strikeout rate, as he has recorded 8 strikeouts in 26 plate appearances with the pitch…the 37.2% whiff rate on his curveball ranks 15th highest in the Majors off the pitch (min. 10 plate appearances) and it’s the 4th-best mark in the American League, behind only Houston’s Framber Valdez (51.4%) and Phil Maton (45.0%) and Tampa Bay’s Zach Eflin (38.1%).

Brad has induced 16 swings and misses on his curveball this season, which is the 6th most in the Majors off that pitch, trailing leader Nick Lodolo (29).

SEASONED VETERAN: Keller is pitching in his sixth Major League season, and since his debut in 2018, he leads all Royals in wins (37), starts (108), innings pitched (650.2) and strikeouts (491)…his 650.2 innings also rank 7th in the American League since the start of 2018, trailing only Gerrit Cole (896.0), José Berríos (834.1), Lucas Giolito (777.2), Marco Gonzales (776.1), Lance Lynn (743.2) and Shane Bieber (728.0).

Among pitchers who have made their Majors debut since 2018, Keller’s 108 starts rank 2nd, behind Bieber (115)…his 650.2 innings also rank 2nd among that group of pitchers—trailing Bieber—and his 37 wins are tied for the 5th most behind Bieber (55), Framber Valdez (42), teammate Ryan Yarbrough (40) and Dylan Cease (38), all of whom are older than Brad with the exception of Cease.

FROM THE GROUND UP: Keller has a career 52.5% groundball rate, which ranks T-3rd in the Majors since the start of his 2018 debut season (min. 600.0 IP), trailing only Dallas Keuchel (55.2%) and Marcus Stroman (54.9%)…likewise, his lifetime HR/9 rate of 0.83 (60 HR in 650.2 IP) ranks 4th in the Majors since 2018 (min. 600.0 IP), trailing Jacob deGrom (0.70), Zack Wheeler (0.75) and Max Fried (0.78)…his groundball percentage improved last season as he posted a 53.6% clip, however he allowed 17 home runs—just 1 short of matching his career high set in 2021—for a 1.10 HR/9 rate.

He’s induced 3 double plays in 3 starts this season and has an AL-leading 79 since the start of 2018, 2 more than Seattle’s Marco Gonzales (77).

HELP WANTED: Brad went 6-13 as a starting pitcher in 2022 despite recording 11 quality starts, 2nd by a Royal to only Brady Singer’s 14…the Royals supported him with a total of 35 runs in his 22 starts, including 2 runs or fewer in 17 of his 22 starts, 1 run or fewer 12 times and no runs seven times…he finished with a franchise-low 2.57 run support average as a starter, the lowest total in the Majors among pitchers who made at least 20 starts in 2022.

This trend continued over Keller’s first 2 starts of the 2023 season, as the Royals supported him with just 3 runs in 10.1 innings (2.61 RSA), however he exited in a 10-1 lead in his most recent start last Wednesday…his 10 runs of support in his start last week in Arlington are equivalent to 29.4% of the total run support (34 runs) provided over 17 starts for Royals pitchers this season, as they have averaged a 2.40 RSA over the remaining 16 starts.

LONG TIME NO SEE: He’s set to face the Rangers in back-to-back games, following his start last Wednesday in Arlington where he spun 6.2 innings and allowed just 1 run…this will mark the ninth time in his career in which he has faced an opponent in consecutive starts, and he has actually fared worse in the 2nd game of those previous eight instances, posting a 4.85 ERA (23 ER in 42.2 IP) as opposed to a 3.88 ERA (21 ER in 48.2 IP) in the 1st start… those results are somewhat skewed, however, from a May 27, 2022 game in which he yielded 6 runs in 4.0 innings in his 2nd straight start vs. Minnesota.

In 5 career appearances (4 starts) vs. Texas, he’s gone 1-2 with a 6.35 ERA (16 ER in 22.2 IP) and has struck out 16 batters with 5 walks allowed.

IN KANSAS CITY: Since the start of last season, he’s gone 3-9 and has posted a 4.54 ERA (38 ER in 75.1 IP) in 14 starts at Kauffman Stadium…he has not won a game at home since Aug. 7, 2022 vs. Boston, however that is largely due to his 2.15 run support average at home since the beginning of 2022 (18 RS)…he’s covered at least 6.0 innings in 9 of those 14 starts since last year and has allowed 3 earned runs or fewer in 10 of his 14 starts.

MLB Preview: San Francisco Giants (5-10) at Miami Marlins (9-8)

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MLB Preview: San Francisco Giants (5-10) at Miami Marlins (9-8)

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:

TODAY’S GAME: Winless in their first three games of this road trip, the Giants will try and get into the win column today and even up this series at a game apiece after losing last night… since 2015, the Giants have gone 21-26 (.447) vs. the Marlins, which is the club’s third-lowest winning percentage against a National League opponent in that span…SF has only fared worse against the Cardinals (18-29, .383) and Dodgers (65- 81, .445) in that stretch.

IS IT TRUE MOM? ‘FRAID SO…: Furthermore, the Giants are 8-16 (.333) in this ballpark since 2015…the .333 winning percentage is tied for SF’s second-worst in that span in any park they’ve played at least 20 games according to Stats, LLC. Giants, Worst Record at Any Ballpark – since 2015 (min. 20g) (Stats, LLC)

Ballpark W-L
Busch Stadium 7-15 (.318)
loanDepot Park 8-16 (.333)
Wrigley Field 8-16 (.333)
Ballpark W-L
Dodger Stadium 28-45 (.384)
Citizens Bank Park 9-13 (.409)

WAIT, FOR REALZ?: The Giants have gone 0-3 on this trip so far but have only trailed at the end of a complete inning in nine total innings out of a possible 31.0 innings in three games…five of those 9.0 innings came on Friday when SF trailed from the 2nd through the 7th innings before tying the game in the 8th inning and then never trailed again until Detroit hit its three-run walk-off homer in the 11th…on Saturday, SF never trailed in the game until Detroit won the game on its walk-off single in the 11th inning…yesterday, SF did not trail until Jorge Soler put Miami ahead with his two-out homer in the 7th inning.

RIGHT SIDE UP?: SF gets a righty starter tonight in Miami’s Edward Cabrera…as you can see from the breakdown below, the Giants have fared much better against right-handed pitching this season than lefties.

Giants vs. Left/vs. Right Hitting Rankings in MLB
vs. Left-Handed Pitchers
Stat Total MLB Rank
AVG .211 25th
HR 3 T-21st
RBI 11 25th
OPS .565 29th

vs. Right-Handed Pitchers Stat Total MLB Rank
AVG .263 7th
HR 22 3rd
RBI 61 T-5th
OPS .852 2nd

MIAMI VICE: Two of the former Mets on the Giants have really played well here in the 305 during their careers…IF J.D. Davis has a .990 OPS here, fifth-best among active players with at least 100 plate appearances here in Miami…in terms of just OBP, Davis’ .442 OBP vs. Miami is second-best among active players with 100 PA here behind only Juan Soto (.443)…OF Michael Conforto’s .976 career OPS at loanDepot Park is 8thbest.
Active Players, Highest Career OPS vs. Marlins (min. 100 PA) (Stats, LLC) Name OPS
Hunter Renfroe (LAA) 1.079
Ronald Acuna Jr. (ATL) 1.060
Kris Bryant (COL) 1.014
Juan Soto (SD) .996

Name OPS
J.D. Davis (SF) .990
Justin Turner (BOS) .982
Brandon Belt (TOR) .978
Michael Conforto (SF) .976

WALK SIGN IS ON: IF/OF LaMonte Wade Jr. walked yesterday to give him 13 walks in 50 plate appearances so far for a 26% walk rate…that rate is tops in the Majors among players with at least 40 plate appearances so far in 2023…for comparison, Wade’s walk rate in his breakout 2021 campaign was 8.7% and 10.4% when he wasn’t fully healthy in 2022…Wade’s overall .490 OBP is second in the Majors only to MIA’s Luis Arraez
(.508).

DEEEEEP CUTS: SF’s 25 homers are fourth-best in the Majors entering play today behind the Rays (37), Dodgers (30) and Yankees (26)…the Giants’ 25 homers through their first 15 games are most in franchise history…SF has been slightly homer-dependent this year with 58.3% (42 of 72) of their runs coming via the big fly, still most in the Majors ahead of the Dodgers (55%) and Marlins (51%) according to Sports Info
Solutions…on the flip side, when the Giants do not homer they are 0-4 in the early going.

STARTING STRONG: Despite posting a 1-6 record so far this season, Giants starters have a 3.30 ERA overall in the year, fifth-best in MLB…they have also struck out 81, walked a Major-League low 14 batters and posted a 1.15 WHIP, which is tied for fifth-best in MLB…SF’s starters have not walked a batter in each of their last two outings (13.1 innings total) and have only walked two in their last four starts combined (20.1 innings).

ROBERT ALEXANDER THE GREAT?: LHP Alex Wood gets the ball tonight for the Giants and he’s fared quite well against the Marlins in his career…he’s 8-5 with a 2.55 ERA (27er, 95.1ip) in 18 games (15 starts) vs. Miami…since 2015 though, Wood’s 1.65 ERA vs. the Marlins is best in the Majors (min. 50ip vs. MIA)…Wood has allowed three or fewer runs in each of his last 11 starts vs. Miami dating to August 31, 2014…according to Stats, LLC, that is tied for the second-longest streak all-time by any pitcher vs. the Marlins…only Cole Hamels had a
longer run (14 games from June 30, 2012-August 22, 2015).

Most Consecutive Starts vs. Miami Allowing 3 or Fewer Runs — All-Time(Stats, LLC)
Pitcher Consec. Starts Dates
Cole Hamels 14 June 30, 2012-April 22, 2015
Alex Wood 11 August 31, 2014-present
R.A. Dickey 11 April 3, 2021-August 4, 2017
Johan Santana 11 June 7, 2002-May 11, 2012
Randy Johnson 11 June 14, 1999-May 23, 2004

LIKE FISH OFF THE BARREL?: According to Sports Info Solutions LHP Alex Wood has been the best Giants starter at minimizing contact through his first two outings…he’s only allowed two barreled balls overall and only nine with an exit velo higher than 95 mph.

INTO THE RELATIVE UNKNOWN: Not many on the Giants active roster have gotten a look at tonight’s Marlins starter Edward Cabrera…IF J.D. Davis (1×2, k) and OF Michael Conforto (2×4, HR, 4 rbi) are the only guys on the active roster to have seen Cabrera…OF Joc Pederson has also faced him but he’s currently on the IL.

TODAY’S STARTER – ALEX WOOD LHP #57
2023 RECORD: 0-0, 1.17 ERA

WITH THE GIANTS: Is in his third season with the Giants…signed a two-year Major League contract with San Francisco on December 1, 2021 after spending the 2021 season in a Giants uniform… tonight will mark his 243rd game and 193rd start in his career.

LAST START: Faced the Dodgers at Oracle Park last Tuesday and did not factor in the decision…Wood fired 4.2 innings of one-hit, no-run ball against his former club while striking out five, walking three and hitting two in the 75-pitch outing…SF went on to win the game, 5-0.

I’LL TAKE AN EXTRA DAY…: Wood was scheduled to pitch the first game of this series yesterday but was pushed back a day after SF’s rainout in Detroit on Sunday…with that in mind, Wood is now making this start exactly a week after his last one…the lefty actually flew ahead of the team to Miami on Sunday so he didn’t incur the waiting around in Detroit that the rest of the team did.

VS. MARLINS: Has faced the Marlins 18 times in his career (15 starts) and has an 8-5 record with a 2.55 ERA (27er, 95.1ip) while allowing 82 hits, 85 strikeouts and 19 walks…last season he faced them only once and was charged with the loss in a 3-0 decision here at loanDepot Park…despite that loss, Wood has allowed three or fewer runs in 11 consecutive starts vs. Miami dating to August 31, 2014…that run is tied for the second-longest streak by any pitcher in MLB history vs. the Marlins…Cole Hamels has the longest streak at 14 consecutive games from June 30, 2012-April 22, 2015 (Stats, LLC).

DOES THIS QUALIFY AS OWNAGE?: Since 2015, Wood has a 1.65 ERA vs. the Marlins (10er, 54.2ip) in nine starts…the 1.65 ERA vs. Miami in that span is lowest in the Majors (min. 50.0ip vs. the Marlins) according to Stats, LLC…Wood’s teams have gone 6-3 in those nine starts.

GET ‘EM BITING: Wood’s first pitch strike percentage is 52.6% after two games this season… batters are swinging at that first pitch 21.1% of the time and have an overall swing and miss rate of 25.0%…last year Wood threw a first pitch strike 63.5% with batters swinging at the first pitch 33.8% of the time…opposing batters had a swing and miss rate of 24.8% overall last season vs. Wood.

FLY AWAY: Since joining SF in 2021, Wood is 8-9 with a 4.87 ERA (68er, 125.2ip) in 26 road starts…SF is 14-12 in those 26 games…if you look at his last nine starts away from home, Wood is 3-4 with a 6.64 ERA (29er, 39.1ip) with a batting average against of .272 (43-for-158)…SF is 4-5 in those nine games.

LEFTOVERS: Wood dominated left-handed batters last season, holding them to a .193 average (23-for-119) with five walks and 36 strikeouts…he allowed just three extra-base hits against lefties (one HR and two doubles) all year and posted a .464 OPS overall…right-handers hit .283 (109-for385) with a .800 OPS.

MY SALES PITCH: His go-to pitch last season was the sinker, as he used the pitch 45.5% of the time…he recorded 68 of his 131 strikeouts last year with his sinker…that was in contrast to his first season with SF in 2021 where he still used the sinker
about the same percentage of the time (46.4%) but his main strikeout pitch was the slider as he recorded 91 of his 152 strikeouts (59.8%) that year.

ORDER UP…: In 2022, Wood limited opposing hitters to a .645 OPS and a .241 average the first time through the order…the second time through those numbers went up to a .706 OPS and a .256 average…the third time through opponents had a .941 OPS and a .326 average off Wood…after two starts this season opposing hitters have a .548 OPS and a .143 batting average and a .701 OPS and .313 batting average second time around.

PACING: Averaged 15.1 seconds between pitches when the bases were empty during the 2022 season, 25th-quickest in the Majors last year (league average is 18.1 seconds)…with runners on however, Wood slows it down a bit, averaging 21.3 seconds between pitches…that rate was still well under league average (23.3 seconds).

MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:

MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins today continue a six-game homestand, their second ‘stand of the year, with the second of three games vs. San Francisco after going 2-1 in the first leg vs. Arizona. Later this week, will travel to Cleveland for three games from Apr. 21 – 23 and on the first of two trips to Atlanta for a four-game set from Apr. 24 – 27.

MONDAY’S RECAP
Miami took their second consecutive series opener last night with a come-from-behind 4-3 win over San Francisco. The Giants grabbed the early lead, scoring 3 runs on 6 hits off LHP Jesus Luzardo who exited with 1 out in the fifth inning. Miami tacked on 1 run in the third inning on CF Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s (2×4) RBI single and another in the sixth, courtesy of 2B Luis Arraez’s (1×4) RBI single. In a pinch-hit situation in the seventh inning, OF Jorge Soler delivered a 2-run homer to straightaway centerfield to put Miami ahead. The bullpen consisting of LHP Andrew Nardi, RHP Matt Barnes, and RHP Dylan Floro, shut down the Giants’ offense combining to throw 3.2 innings scoreless innings. LHP A.J. Puk allowed 1 hit in the ninth but escaped from trouble to record his second save as a Marlin.

TURNING THE TRENDING TIDE
The Marlins are 5-0 in one-run games this season, marking the second time in franchise history the Marlins have won their first five games decided by one run – also, 2008 (started 5-0 in one-run games).

• Miami played 64 games decided by one run in 2022, the most such games in the Majors last season. Miami’s 40 one-run losses were the most in a season in club history, the most since the 1975 Houston Astros (41), and just three shy of the single-season record for one-run losses during the Live Ball Era (since 1920) held by the 1968 White Sox (44).

SEEMS FAMILIAR
Starting with this series against the Giants, Miami will play 10 games (3 vs. SF, 3 at CLE, 4 at ATL) against the three franchises they faced in the 1997 Postseason, en route to the club’s first World Series win. The Florida Marlins swept the San Francisco Giants, 3-0, in the NLDS and won 4 of 6 games against the NL East Division Champion Atlanta Braves before advancing to the Fall Classic where they won their first ring in an extra-inning extravaganza during Game 7 on October 26, 1997.

DANCING ON A THIN LINE
Through 17 games this season, Miami is 9-0 when limiting opponents to 4 runs or less and has gone 0-8 when allowing 5 or more runs.

CUBANO GIGANTE
OF/DH Jorge Soler has already collected 6 doubles and 5 home runs in his first 15 games of the year. His 11 extra-base hits are tied for most in the National League.

• His pinch-hit HR yesterday was the 28th pinch-hit HR in franchise history occurring in the seventh inning or later to give the Marlins the lead and the first since Curtis Granderson on Sept. 26, 2019 at Mets. Was just the seventh to occur with two outs, also: Cliff Floyd (July 20, 2000 vs. Atlanta-G2), Charles Johnson (May 13, 2001 at San Diego), Derrek Lee (June 21, 2001 at Atlanta), Joe Dillon (May 21, 2005 vs. Tampa Bay) and Donnie Murphy (July 19, 2010 vs. Colorado) and Tyler Moore (May 14, 2017 vs. Atlanta).

• Soler’s 5 home runs through 15 games are the most by a Marlin since Marcell Ozuna in 2017 (also, 5). Only three players in club history have exceeded this mark through their first 15 G: Derrek Lee, 6 HR in 1998; Miguel Cabrera, 6 HR in 2004; and Mike Jacobs, 6 HR in 2008.

• Four of his five HRs this season have tied the game or given the Marlins the lead and owns 8 such homers as a Marlins (18 HR total).

• The Marlins are 4-0 when Soler homers.

PEN TALES
Dating back to last Tuesday, Apr. 18 at Philadelphia, the Marlins bullpen ranks first in Major League Baseball with a 0.82 ERA (22.0/2) and 0.68 WHIP, is tied for least hits (9), and is one of three teams to not allow a home run in the stretch (also, CHW and TEX).

• RHP Dylan Floro has allowed just 3 baserunners (1 H and 2 BB) in 7 appearances (7.2 innings) with 8 strikeouts. Dating back to July 3 of last season, has posted a 1.45 ERA (43.1/2) with 49 strikeouts. 39 of 44 appearances have been scoreless.

• LHP Andrew Nardi has stranded 8 of 8 inherited runners this season and has not allowed a hit in his last 5 appearances (5.1 innings), with 7 strikeouts in this stretch.

GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS
2B Luis Arraez has 25 hits in his first 16 games of the year (14 starts), with 8 multi-hit games. Is the third-most hits in the NL and his .455 batting avg. (25×55) is tops in the Majors among all qualified hitters.

• Is the most hits by a Marlins player through the first 16 games of the season in club history, beating the previous mark of 24 set by Dee Strange-Gordon in 2015. His batting avg. also ranks first in club history through 16 games (min. 50 plate appearances), edging out Christian Yelich’s .396 (21×70) mark in 2016.

• 2B Luis Arraez last week became the first player in Marlins history to hit for the cyle, coming in the 4,700th game in franchise history during the 30th anniversary. Was baseball’s first cycle since St. Louis’ Nolan Arenado last July 1 vs. Philadelphia (with Skip Schumaker serving as Cardinals bench coach). There had been 111 cycles in the Majors since the Marlins franchise began play in 1993.

WATCH HIM SOR-IANO
RHP George Soriano made his Major League debut on Sunday out of the Marlins bullpen, going 3.0 scoreless innings with just 1 hit allowed. Soriano was signed by Miami as an International free agent in 2015, making him the longest tenured Marlin across all levels of the organization.

• Joins a small group of Marlins pitchers who went at least 3.0 innings, allowed 2 hits or less, and did not allow a run in their Major League debuts; the last to accomplish the feat was LHP Trevor Rogers on Aug. 25, 2020. The other four: Josh Beckett on Sept. 4, 2001; Ricky Nolasco on Apr. 5, 2004; Adalberto Mendez on Aug. 23, 2010; and Brandon Leibrandt on Aug. 23, 2020.

TODAY’S STARTER – #27 EDWARD CABRERA
• Edward Cabrera, 25, made 14 starts at the Major League level last year after being recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on May 31, 2022.

• Walked 6 batters and allowed 2 runs in 4.0 innings on his first start of the season vs. New York Mets.

• Ranked in the top three among rookie starters in several categories, including his .177 opponents batting average, 1.074 WHIP, and 3.01 ERA.

• His .177 avg. against was the lowest by a rookie starter with at least 10 GS. Among all MLB pitchers, ranked fourth behind Christian Javier (.170), Tony Gonsolin (.172), and Jacob deGrom (.175).

• In 7 starts at home in 2022, went 3-3 with a 4.58 ERA (35.1 IP/18 ER). Posted a 1.49 ERA (36.1 IP/6 ER) in 7 starts away, allowing 10 less hits than at home.

• Was named to MLB.com’s All-Rookie Second Team.

• Made four consecutive scoreless outings (22.2 IP) after returning from injury from Aug. 1 until Aug. 22, becoming the second pitcher in franchise history to make four consecutive scoreless starts, joining Chris Hammond in 1994.

• Set a new career-high with 8.0 innings pitched at Oakland on Aug. 22, 2022.

• In his first start back in almost 2 months on Aug. 5, 2022 tossed 5.0 no-hit innings against Chicago Cubs.

• Was the first pitcher in club history to pitch 6.0 innings or more and allow two hits or less in each of his first two starts of a season.

MLB Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (6-10) at Chicago White Sox (6-10)

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MLB Preview: Philadelphia Phillies (6-10) at Chicago White Sox (6-10)

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:

GAME #16 RECAP: With nine runs in the 1st inning, the Phillies rolled to a 14-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds at GABP … Starter Aaron Nola (W, 1-2) went 6.0 innings and allowed 3 runs (2 ER) on 5 hits with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts … The Phillies had 23 hits on the day (7 XBH) with 5 walks and 4 strikeouts … They tagged Reds starter Luis Cessa for 11 runs and 14 hits.

THUMBS UP: Philadelphia’s nine runs in the 1st inning Sunday were their most in any single inning since exactly four years ago to the date when they scored 10 runs in the 1st inning against the Mets on April 16, 2019, at Citizens Bank Park … Philadelphia’s 23 hits in Sunday’s game are tied for the third-most by a Phillies club this century (also: 7/13/2007 vs STL), trailing only a 26-hit game on July 17, 2007 at LAD and a 24-hit game on August 31, 2022 vs ARI … The Phillies scored 14 runs in the game, yet left 15 on base, which marked only the fourth time since LOB data was first tracked in 1974 that a Phils club did so (last: 5/19/90 at LAD, 15 R/16 LOB) … The last ML club before the Phillies on Sunday to score 14+ runs yet leave 15 or more on base were the Washington Nationals on May 14, 2021 at ARI (17 R, 15 LOB) – of note, Trea Turner, Josh Harrison and Kyle Schwarber were all in the starting lineup for the Nats that day.

SNOW DAY: Due to high winds and cold temperatures in the Chicago area, last night’s game against the White Sox was postponed and will be made up as part of a straight doubleheader starting today at 3:10pm CT … The second game of today’s doubleheader will begin approximately 30-45 minutes following the conclusion of Game 1, but not before 6:10pm CT … Both games of today’s doubleheader will be broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia and 94 WIP … Temperatures last night in the Chicago area at 6:10pm CT were 38 degrees with sustained winds of 22 MPH and a 27-degree wind chill … Over the last 30 years, the only Phillies regular season game with a temperature below 38 at first pitch was on April 8, 2003, against Atlanta at Veterans Stadium (37* at first pitch).

FEELING SLG-ISH: The Phils enter play today with 62 extra-base hits (41 2B, 6 3B, 15 HR) which ranks T-2nd in MLB (with LAD), trailing only the Rays (71 XBH) … Philadelphia’s .464 SLG ranks 2nd in MLB behind only the Rays (.529) … The Phillies have 41 doubles this season which leads MLB and is the most by a Phillies club through 16 games in the modern era (since 1900) … Philadelphia’s 62 extra-base hits are the second most ever by a Phillies club through the first 16 games of a season in the modern era (since 1900), short of only the 2019 club who had 63 extra-base hits through 16 games … Philadelphia’s .464 team SLG ranks 2nd through 16 games for a Phillies club in the modern era, behind only the 1976 club who put up a .477 SLG … The Phillies have hit at least one double in each of their first 16 games which is the second-longest streak to open a season for a Phils club in the modern era, behind only a 22-game double streak to open the 2002 season.

GREAT STOTT!: INF Bryson Stott has hit safely in all 16 games this year and he has tied the Phillies modern day franchise record for consecutive games with a hit to begin a season – Puddin’ Head Jones also hit safely in 16 straight games to begin the 1950 season … The last ML player to hit safely in 16 straight games to begin a season was Brian Dozier (17 G), March 29-April 23, 2018 … This season, Stott has multiple hits in 10 of his 16 games, including six of the last nine (since 4/8) – over the last 90 seasons (since 1934), the only other Phillies player with 10+ multi-hit games within the first 16 games of a season was Pete Rose in 1981 (also 10) … Since last year’s All-Star break, Stott has played 79 games and is slashing .303/.344/.432 in 315 plate appearances.

RIPPING HEATERS: Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh has seen 54 fastballs this season at 95+ MPH – he is 5-for-13 at the plate (.385 AVG) in plate appearances ending with a 95+ MPH fastball … Marsh has a .692 SLG % on 95+ MPH heaters this year which ranks 19th among 110 players in MLB (min. 10 PA) … Last season, Marsh saw 264 fastballs at 95+ MPH and was 10-for-56 (.179 AVG) with a .393 SLG … Overall, Marsh enters today’s doubleheader slashing .378/.440/.756 with a 1.196 OPS in 50 plate appearances …. Dating back to last season, since Aug. 30, 2022, Marsh is slashing .336/.377/.606 with a .983 OPS in 146 plate appearances over his last 41 games played … This season, Marsh leads all qualified Phillies players in pitches per plate appearance (4.30) after averaging 3.92 P/PA last season.

WHEELS UP: In 72 regular season starts with the Phils, Zack Wheeler is 30-20 with a 2.86 ERA (144 ER, 453.0 IP) and 481 strikeouts to 103 walks (4.67 SO/BB ratio) … Among all starters in MLB since 2020, Wheeler ranks 5th in OPP SLG at .339 (min. 400.0 IP), 6th in ERA (min. 400.0 IP) & OPP OPS at .616, T-6th in CG (3), 7th in innings pitched, 8th in SO/BB ratio and 9th in WHIP at 1.06 (min. 400.0 IP) … Wheeler made his postseason debut last year with the Phillies – in six starts, he posted a 2.78 ERA (11 ER, 35.2 IP) with a 0.73 WHIP … He faced 135 batters last postseason and held them to a .153/.222/.226 slash line … In any single postseason in MLB history, among all pitchers to face at least 100 batters, Wheeler’s .448 OPS in the 2022 playoffs ranks 6th all-time behind only Mike Mussina in 1997 with BAL (.406 OPS), Madison Bumgarner in 2014 with SF (.407 OPS), Curt Schilling in 2001 with ARI (.435 OPS), Orel Hershiser in 1988 with LAD (.439 OPS) and Randy Johnson in 2001 with ARI (.439 OPS).

STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO, GOOD LUCK: Wednesday against the Marlins at CBP, LHP Jose Alvarado became the first major league relief pitcher in the expansion era (since 1961) to strike out 11 consecutive batters in a single season … Eric Gagne (2003) and Chad Green (2019) were the only two to reach 10 straight, prior to Alvarado … Alvarado has multiple strikeouts in each of his last 13 appearances (since 9/13/22), and in that span, has 32 strikeouts to just one walk in 14.0 total innings pitched with a 65.3% strikeout rate (49 batters faced) … Alvarado has faced 23 batters this season – he has struck out 16 of them without allowing a walk.

50 SCHWARBOMBS: On 4/13 at CIN, Kyle Schwarber hit his 50th career home run as a Phillie (regular season only) and became the fastest in franchise history to reach 50, doing so in his 168th game … Schwarber eclipsed Jim Thome’s previous franchise record of 50 HR in his first 172 games with the club … Ryan Howard (50 HR in 182 G) ranks 3rd, Rhys Hoskins (50 HR in 192 G) ranks 4th and Chuck Klein (50 HR in 195 G) ranks 5th … Of Schwarber’s 50 regular season home runs with the Phillies, 47 have been hit with an exit velocity north of 100.0 MPH (94%) and 16 of those 50 have been hit over 110.0 MPH (32%)

TODAY’S GAME 1 STARTER – ZACK WHEELER • RHP #45
LAST START: 4/12 vs MIA: 6.0 IP, 3 H, R, ER, 3 BB, 6 SO … Wheeler vs Cabrera … The Phillies fell to the Miami Marlins, 3-2, in extra innings at CBP in South Philly … Jose Alvarado followed Wheeler and after striking out his 11th consecutive batter, he allowed a game tying solo home run to Jorge Soler … Bryson Stott had another multi-hit game as did Trea Turner.

TODAY’S START:
• Ace True Value: Since joining the Phillies in 2020, Wheeler’s 13.8 fWAR is the 2nd-highest in MLB, trailing only Corbin Burnes’ 14.6 and is more than half a win over the 3rd place pitcher (Aaron Nola, 13.2) … Since 2020, he ranks 6th in MLB ERA (2.86, min. 400.0 IP) & BB% (5.7%), 7th in & IP (453.0), 8th in SO/BB (4.67) & 9th in WHIP
(1.06)

• Pair Of Sox: Wheeler has faced CWS twice in his career – on 6/25/13 in his second career start in the majors, and on 8/1/19 … All 3 of his career starts again CWS counting today will have come in Chicago … He tossed 7.0 scoreless IP with 4 hits and no walks in his last start against CWS … Today is only his 7th career start against any AL Central team

• Battery Operated: Wheeler has made 58 starts with J.T. Realmuto behind the plate, more than any other catcher who has caught him … His 4.65 SO/BB ratio with Realmuto behind the dish is the highest among all catchers who have caught Wheeler for at least 10 games, and his 2.81 ERA (114 ER, 365.2 IP) is 2nd (best: Kevin Plawecki, 2.19 in 12 starts)

• Ramping Up: Wheeler’s average 4-seam velocity was up to 96.5 mph in his last start, topping at 98.0 mph… It was 95.7 mph in his first two starts of the season … His 7 fastest pitches of the season and 11 of his fastest 13 came in his last start

• Couldn’t Have Done It Without Ya: In the 2022 postseason, Wheeler set a Phillies record and tied the ML record for most starts in a postseason with 6, done by 7 other pitchers … Wheeler had a quality start in each of his first 4 postseason starts, becoming the first pitcher in MLB to start his postseason career with 4 straight quality starts since Michael Wacha in 2013

• vs AL Central: 2-2, 4.15 ERA (16 ER, 34.2 IP) in 6 starts

• vs Interleague: 9-10, 4.32 ERA (87 ER, 181.1 IP) in 32 starts

ROAD:
• 2023: 0-1, 8.31 ERA (4 ER, 4.1 IP) in 1 start

• Career: 38-27, 3.52 ERA (228 ER, 583.1 IP) in 98 starts

CHICAGO WHITE SOX NOTES:

WHITE SOX AT A GLANCE
The Chicago White Sox have lost four of their last five games and seven of 10 as they continue a six-game homestand today against defending National League champion Philadelphia.

RHPs Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito are scheduled to start today’s doubleheader for the White Sox, who are tied with Detroit for third place in the American League Central, 4.0 games behind Minnesota and 3.0 behind Cleveland.

The Sox and Phillies were postponed yesterday due to inclement weather … the White Sox opened the homestand by losing two of three games to Baltimore, including a 8-4 defeat on Sunday after holding an early 4-0 lead.

Following this series and Thursday’s off day, the White Sox take a six-game trip to Tampa Bay (4/21-23) and Toronto (4/24-26).

The Sox went 2-4 on their last trip to Pittsburgh (1-2) and Minnesota (1-2) from 4/7-12 and 1-2 on their first homestand vs. San Francisco from 4/3-6.

TODAY’S STORYLINES
White Sox starting pitchers own a 2.48 ERA (11 ER/40.0 IP) with 42 strikeouts and a .203 (30-148) opponents average and five quality starts over the last seven games. Through six home games, the Sox have posted a 7.85 ERA (48 ER/55.0 IP) with 48 walks allowed (7.9 per 9.0 IP) … they have walked seven-plus batters in fi ve of the six games.

RHP Lance Lynn is 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA (5 ER/19.0 IP) in three career starts against the Phillies, with his most recent outing coming on 7/25/13 with St. Louis.

Lance Lynn posted a ND in a quality start, allowing three runs on seven hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts … Lynn retired 13 of the final 15 batters faced (seven strikeouts) and recorded his 23rd career game with 10-plus strikeouts (fourth with the Sox) and fourth such outing with no walks.

Jake Burger has homered in a career-high three straight games, the longest streak by a White Sox since Eloy Jimenez from 9/7-9/22 (also three) … six of Burger’s seven hits in 2023 have gone for extra bases.

Andrew Vaughn has reached base safely in all 15 of his games this season, hitting safely in 12.

ROSTER MOVES
The White Sox have added RHP Nick Padilla from Class AAA Charlotte to serve as the 27th player for today’s doubleheader. Padilla, 26, is 0-0 with a 1.23 ERA (1 ER/7.1 IP), one walk, seven strikeouts and a .120 (3-25) opponents average over six relief appearances with Class AAA Charlotte this season.

LET’S PLAY TWO
The White Sox are playing their fi rst doubleheader of the season after playing six in 2022.

The Sox posted a 1-1-4 record in doubleheaders last season, including a sweep on 5/22 at Yankee Stadium and a split with Cleveland on 7/23 in their last twin-bill at home.

Below is additional White Sox doubleheader information:
Last White Sox DH: 8/9/22 at Kansas City (split)

Last White Sox DH at home: 7/23/22 vs. Cleveland (split)

Last White Sox DH vs. Philadelphia: N/A

Last time White Sox swept a DH: 5/22 at New York-AL

Last time Sox were swept in a DH: 4/20/22 at Cleveland

SUNDAY’S RECAP
Baltimore overcame an early 4-0 deficit to defeat the White Sox, 8-4, in the deciding game of the series.

The Sox scored all four runs in the first inning on a three-run homer by Baltimore-area native Gavin Sheets and a solo shot by Jake Burger off Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez, but were held scoreless on four hits over the final eight innings.

Dylan Cease posted a ND, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits with fi ve walks and fi ve strikeouts over 6.0 IP … Keynan Middleton pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but Aaron Bummer gave up three runs in the eighth without recording an out.

Sox pitchers issued seven walks, upping their total in the three-game series to 26 and 48 through six home games.

The start of the game was delayed by rain for 2:22.

WHITE SOX VS. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
The White Sox are 8-11 in the all-time series, including a 3-2 record in Chicago.

The Sox won two of three games in the most recent meeting from 8/2-4/19 at Citizens Bank Park and split a two-game set in the last matchup at Guaranteed Rate Field from 8/23-24/16.

Yasmani Grandal is a career .305/.406/.703 (39-128) hitter with 14 home runs and 31 RBI in 38 games against the Phillies.

INTERLEAGUE INSIGHT
The White Sox are 255-234 (.521) all-time in interleague play (131-112 at home), the seventh-best winning percentage in MLB.

The Sox are 2-4 this season after going 11-9 in 2022 and 14-6 in 2021 … they are 23-14 since 7/25/21.

The White Sox rank second all-time with 611 home runs, trailing only Toronto (647) and the Yankees (616).

SEARCHING FOR HOME˨FIELD ADVANTAGE
The White Sox are 2-4 at home this season after going 37-44 (.457) in 2022, the 12th-best winning percentage in the American League … by comparison, the Sox were 53-28 (.654) at home in 2021, the best record in the AL.

Through six home games this season, the White Sox have been outscored, 51-30, and outhomered, 15-5.

SOUTHPAW SUCCESS
The White Sox are batting .275/.340/.445 vs. left-handed pitching since the start of the 2019 season … during that span, the Sox lead MLB in average, rank second in on-base percentage and OPS (.785) and fi fth in slugging.

Tim Anderson owns a .353/.383/.564 (141-399) slash line vs. LHP since 2019, while Hanser Alberto is hitting .343/.362/.483 (170-495) … during that span, Anderson and Alberto rank 1-2 in MLB in average vs. LHP.

Luis Robert Jr. is a career .357/.407/.633 (70-196) hitter vs. lefties … Jake Burger owns a .617 slugging percentage vs. LHP.

Gavin Sheets (23 of 27) and Burger (11 of 13) have combined to hit 34 of their 41 career home runs at Guaranteed Rate Field

NO RISP, NO REWARD
The White Sox rank fourth in the American League with a .287 (41-143) average with runners in scoring position … over the last seven games, the Sox are hitting .220/.298/.415 (9-41) with RISP.

Andrew Vaughn is batting .462/.588/.769 (6-13) with nine RBI with RISP

FROM THE TRAINING ROOM
All-Star SS Tim Anderson (sprained left knee), LHP Garrett Crochet (Tommy John recovery), RHPs Matt Foster (right fl exor strain) Liam Hendriks (Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma treatment) and Joe Kelly (right groin strain) and 3B Yoán Moncada (lower back soreness) are on the injured list.

STARTER – #33 LANCE LYNN RHP
LYNN AT A GLANCE
Is scheduled to make his fourth start of the season, second at home and second during interleague play.

Has allowed six home runs this season, the most he has allowed over his first three starts of a season.

Is 7-5 with a 3.28 ERA (37 ER/101.2 IP), .234 (92-394) opponents average and 110 strikeouts in 17 starts since the 2022 All-Star Break.

Ranks among MLB active pitchers in HR/9.0 IP (7th, 0.93), SO/9.0 IP (8th, 9.08), opponents average (9th, .241), opponents SLG (9th, .382), wins (9th, 123), opponents OPS (11th, .693), IP (11th, 1,721.1), starts (T11th, 288), ERA (12th, 3.56), WHIP (12th, 1.26), opponents OBP (12th, .311) and strikeouts (12th, 1,736).

Signed a two-year contract extension with a club option with the White Sox on 7/17/21 … under terms of the extension, he will receive $18.5 million in both 2022 and 2023, with the Sox holding an $18-million option for 2024 with a $1-million buyout.

Is a two-time All-Star (2012 and 2021) … has finished fifth in the AL Cy Young Award voting in 2019, sixth in 2020 and third in 2021 … was a member of the 2011 World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Was acquired from Texas in exchange for RHP Dane Dunning and LHP Avery Weems on 12/8/20.

LAST START
Received a no decision on 4/11 at Minnesota despite recording his first quality start of the season … allowed three runs on seven hits (two home runs) with no walks and 10 strikeouts over 6.0 IP … surrendered a two-run homer to Byron Buxton in the first inning and a solo shot to Michael A. Taylor in the second … held the Twins scoreless from the third-sixth, allowing just two hits.

Left the game in the seventh with the White Sox trailing, 3-2 … threw 98 pitches (69 strikes) … the Sox would go on to lose, 4-3, in 10 innings.

Owned a 84.0 first-strike percentage and 16.3 swinging-strike percentage (18 swing and misses) vs. 25 batters … threw 41 four-seam fastballs (92.7 mph avg; 94.1 mph max), 18 sinkers (91.4 avg; 93.0 max), 17 cutters (89.0 avg; 90.6 max), 12 curveballs (81.6 avg; 82.7 max), eight
changeups (85.4 avg; 86.7 max) and two sliders (86.7 avg; 86.8 max).

GRAB SOME BENCH
Recorded his 23rd career double-digit strikeout performance and fourth with the White Sox in his last start on 4/11 at Minnesota.

Ranks 11th in the majors with 656 strikeouts since 2019 … teammate Lucas Giolito (719) ranks seventh.

Has struck out at least five batters in 81 of his 98 starts since 2019, tied with the Phillies Zack Wheeler for the 11th-highest total in the majors.

MONSTER OF THE MIDWAY
Is 11-7 with a 3.48 ERA (59 ER/152.2 IP), .217 (125- 577) opponents average, one complete game, one shutout and 174 strikeouts in 27 home starts since 2021… made one start in Dyersville, Iowa at the “Field of Dreams” Game on 8/12/21 vs. New York-AL.

Has gone 11-7 with a 3.35 ERA (55 ER/147.2 IP) in 26 starts at Guaranteed Rate Field since 2021.

Ranks among American League home leaders (min. 150.0 IP) since 2021 in opponents OBP (5th, .267), opponents average (11th) and ERA (13th).

ORTHODOX HITTERS
Owns a career .229/.284/.353 (791-3,460) opponents slash line against right-handed hitters.

His .229 opponents average vs. right-handers is the ninth-lowest mark among active pitchers in the majors.

VS. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES || INTERLEAGUE
Is scheduled to make his fourth career start against the Philadelphia Phillies, second at home, first at Guaranteed Rate Field and first since 7/25/2013 with St. Louis.

Has won each of his last two starts vs. the Phillies, allowing just one run on six hits over 14.0 IP.

Has gone 3-2 with a 3.92 ERA (18 ER/41.1 IP) and .222 (35-158) opponents average in seven interleague starts since 2021.

Is 11-16 with a 4.11 ERA (112 ER/245.1 IP), .234 (236-956) opponents average and 234 strikeouts in 43 career interleague games (40 starts).

MLB Preview: Cleveland Guardians (9-7) at Detroit Tigers (5-9) (Game 1)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Cleveland Guardians (9-7) at Detroit Tigers (5-9) (Game 1)

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:

DOUBLING IT UP IN DETROIT
Today marks the Guardians 1st doubleheader of the 2023 season…2022 saw Cleveland lead MLB with 11 doubleheaders played, tallying their most in a single season since 1984 (12DH)… CLE finished with an 11-11 record in 2022 doubleheader contests, including losses in 8 of their last 13 twin bill games (2-0 on April 20 vs. CWS, 1-1 on May 4 vs. SD, 1-1 on May 7 vs. TOR, 1-1 on June 7 vs. TEX, 1-1 on June 28 vs. MIN, 0-2 on July 2 vs. NYY, 0-2 on July 4 at DET, 1-1 on July 12 vs. CWS, 1-1 on July 23 vs. CWS, 1-1 on Aug. 15 vs. DET 2-0 on Sept. 17 vs. MIN)…the Guards went 8-6 against AL Central rivals in doubleheaders last season.

The Guardians are 241-209-8 (.535) against the Tigers all-time in doubleheaders…the Guards hold a 98-102-4 record in doubleheaders played in Detroit…the Tigers last hosted Cleveland in a twin bill on July 4, 2022 on a day that saw the Michiganders hosts sweep with a pair of victories…Detroit has won 4 of the last 6 doubleheader contests over the Guardians, last splitting with the Clevelanders on August 15, 2022 at Progressive Field (4-1, 5-7)… Cleveland’s last doubleheader sweep of Detroit came on Sept. 1, 2017 at Comerica Park.

TIGER TIE-UP
After going 2-1 against Washington, Cleveland will face their first AL Central opponent of the season to end a six-game road trip, as they head to Detroit for a three-game series from April 17-19…since TERRY FRANCONA took over in 2013, the Guardians are the only AL Central team with a .500+ record (54-37, .593) in Comerica Park…Cleveland holds a 106-73 record against Detroit since 2013, and is the only MLB team in that span with 100+ victories over the Tigers…the Guardians just barely tamed the Motor City Kitties in 2022, claiming the season series 10-9…Cleveland has now won the season series vs. the Tigers in each of the last seven seasons (2016-22)…the Guards posted just a 4-6 record in Detroit last year, their first sub-.500 campaign in the Motor City since going 4-5 in 2015…heading into this series, the all-time record between these two opponents is exactly 1,144-1,144 (.500) with each team averaging 4.5 runs per contest.

JOSÉ BEING JOSÉ
With his first home run of the season on Saturday, JOSÉ RAMÍREZ (193 career HR) broke a tie with Al Rosen for 10thmost HR in franchise history…he now trails Travis Hafner (200) for 9th-most HR…his blast to right field is the fourth home run off a 3-0 slider in the StatCast era (since 2015), last done by Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2019…Ramírez (295) remains just one double away from tying Charlie Jamieson (296) for the 7th-most doubles in franchise history.

Ramírez leads MLB this season with 4 intentional walks after tallying the most in baseball last year with 20…his 5 go-ahead RBI rank T1st in MLB this year with four others, and his 6 doubles rank T9th in the league…Ramírez also ranks 2nd in MLB with 15 plate appearances-per-strikeout and 12th in MLB/7th in the AL with 12 walks.

Since 2017, Ramírez has totaled 82 runs, 9 triples, 26 home runs, 92 RBI, 62 extra-base hits, 51 walks, 21 go-ahead RBI, 14 game-winning RBI and a .676 slugging percentage against the Tigers, leading all MLB hitters in each of those categories during that span…he also ranks 2nd with a .416 on-base percentage, T3rd with 119 hits, 3rd with 27 doubles and 6th with a .332 batting average against the Tigers in the last six years…Ramírez totaled 21 RBI in 19 games against Detroit last season.

ANDRRRRÉS
ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ has an MLB-high 17 runs scored through 16 games this season…the last MLB players to tally 17+ runs in 16-or-fewer games to begin a season were Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. (21 runs) and Oakland’s Mark Canha (18 runs), who both accomplished the feat in 2021…Giménez is also just the 7th hitter in franchise history to score 17 times in 16-or-fewer-games.

MOST RUNS BY CLE HITTER IN FIRST 16 GAMES OF SEASON PLAYER RUNS SEASON
Travis Hafner 23 2006
Hal Trotsky 20 1938
Matt Lawton 19 2002
Grady Sizemore 18 2007
ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ 17 2023
Kenny Lofton 17 1994
Vic Power 17 1959

GUARDIANS OF THE BASEPATHS
With another steal on Sunday, Cleveland maintains the MLB lead with 25 stolen bases, just one swipe ahead of Baltimore’s 24… this marks just the 7th time in club history and the first time since tallying 26 steals in 1994 that Cleveland has 25+ steals in the first 16 games of the season…the last team before the Guards to tally 25+ steals through the team’s first 16 games of a season was when the 1999 Dodgers swiped 29 bases.

MYLES STRAW ranks T4th in MLB with 7 stolen bases, trailing Chicago-NL’s Nico Hoerner (9) & Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins and Jorge Mateo (8)…the Guardians feature four players with 4+ SB (Straw, Ramírez, Giménez and Kwan) and three players with 5+ SB (Straw, Giménez and Kwan), both the most of any MLB team… Straw has also showcased his speed out of the batter’s box as he leads MLB with 6 infield hits this season.

7, 8, AND 9 ARE JUST FINE
Cleveland has seen consistent production this season from their 7-8-9 hitters who rank highly in a number of categories through 16 games…as of Tuesday, the Guards rank 1st in MLB with a .291 batting average and 16 doubles from their bottom three hitters… their 27 walks also rank 2nd in MLB/1st in AL, trailing Los AngelesNL’s 29…the Guardians 30 runs scored rank 3rd in both MLB and the AL, trailing Tampa Bay’s 35 and Baltimore’s 34…they also rank T4th in MLB/T3rd in AL with 48 hits.

TONIGHT’S STARTER – #70 HUNTER GADDIS RHP
TONIGHT’S START
» The 25-year-old right-hander is slated to make his fourth start, third on the road, in the first of a 3-game set with the Detroit Tigers and the opener of divisional play for Cleveland…he was added to the Guardians pitching rotation after Triston McKenzie suffered a right major teres strain in his final spring start on March 26 vs. Cincinnati…this will be his sixth career start after making 2 spot starts in 2022 and 3 starts to begin the 2023 campaign…this is his first career outing against Detroit… it’s his second career start against a divisional opponent after suffering the loss and allowing 7 earned runs across 4.0 innings in an 8-2 defeat against Chicago-AL on September 15, 2022.

LAST TIME OUT
Gaddis got the nod in Cleveland’s 11-2 defeat against the New York Yankees on Tuesday…he gave up 8 earned runs on 8 hits over 3.0 innings…got through the first 2.0 innings, allowing one earned run…the Yankees plated 5 earned runs in the 3rd frame, highlighted by a 3-run shot from Franchy Cordero…he exited with 0 outs in the top of the 4th after allowing back-to-back singles in his first career outing against an AL East foe…in all three career starts at Progressive Field, he has thrown 4.0-innings-or-fewer, allowed 7+ hits, 6+ runs and at least one home run.

ROAD WARRIOR
Has traditionally fared better on the road in his career… making two career starts away from home, boasting a 3.72 ERA (4ER/9.2IP) while striking out 8 batters against 3 walks with a .171 opposing batting average (6-for-35)…in comparison, he has a 20.03 ERA (23ER/10.1IP) with 8 strikeouts, 3 walks and a .434 opposing batting average (23-for-59) in his 3 starts at home…he has also gotten ample support in his road starts, seeing a 8.38 run support average on the road in his career, compared to a 3.48 mark at home.

His only road start of 2023 came on April 5 at Oakland…he put together his most complete MLB pitching performance to date (6.0IP, 1H, 0R/ER, 2BB, 4SO), delivering 6.0 shutout frames and allowing one-hit-or-fewer for the first time in his pro career since May 19, 2022 for AA-Akron against Binghamton (6.0IP, 0H, 0R/ER, 1BB, 11SO)…he became the first Cleveland pitcher to twirl a start of 6-or-more shutout innings and allow one-hit-or-fewer within their first four career games since Addie Joss (9.0IP, 1H, 0R/ER, 4BB, 5SO) on April 26, 1902.

THE ARSENAL
Utilizes 4 different pitches, mostly using his 4-seam fastball and cutter…his changeup is his putaway pitch as batters have 5 strikeouts and a .091 batting average (1-for-11) in at-bats ending with it…his 4-seamer has caused him the most trouble, with batters hitting .412 (7-for-17) with 3 doubles in at-bats ending with the heater…he has mixed in a curveball 6.5% of the time.

DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:

TIGERS-GUARDIANS POSTPONED ON MONDAY:
The Tigers series opener against the Guardians on Monday was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up today as part of a straight doubleheader with game one beginning at 1:10 and the second game starting 45 minutes after the conclusion of game one.

ROSTER MOVE: The Tigers have made the following roster move:
*Named RHP Will Vest as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader.

LET’S PLAY TWO: The Tigers today will play their first doubleheader of the season. In 2022, Detroit played nine twinbills, which was the third-most in the majors, behind Cleveland (11) and New York (NL) (10). The Tigers went 8-10 in doubleheader games last season.

MIGGY MAGIC: Miguel Cabrera provided the game-winning hit for the Tigers in Saturday’s game, knocking a pinch-hit single into center field to lift the Tigers to a 7-6 win. It marked his 15th career walk-off hit (last, May 26, 2022 vs. Cleveland) and his first in a pinch-hitting role. The hit was the 3,095th of Cabrera’s career, putting him 15 shy of tying Dave Winfield (3,110) for 22nd in MLB history.

BACK-TO-BACK WALK-OFF WINNERS: The Tigers won both of the games in the series against the Giants in walk-off fashion after Nick Maton’s three-run homer on Friday and Miguel Cabrera’s single on Saturday. It marked the first time Detroit has posted back-to-back walk-off wins since 2021 (September 12 vs. Tampa Bay and September 14 vs. Milwaukee).

BULLPENNING AT ITS BEST: The Tigers bullpen was excellent in Saturday’s game vs. San Francisco as five Detroit relievers combined to throw 7.0 shutout innings with only one hit allowed, three walks and six strikeouts. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first time the Tigers bullpen had thrown 7.0-or-more innings in a game and allowed no more than one hit since May 2, 2013 at Houston (also 7.0 IP, 1 H). During the Tigers current three-game winning streak, Detroit’s bullpen has allowed only three earned runs in 16.1 innings.

CARPENTER NAILS ONE: Kerry Carpenter hit his second homer of the season on Saturday, a solo shot in the second inning. The ball left his bat at 106.8 MPH, the third-hardest hit ball of his career and the second-hardest hit longball by a Tigers player this season, behind only Matt Vierling’s solo shot at 108 MPH on April 3 at Houston. Of Carpenter’s seven hits this season, five have gone for extra bases (three doubles, two home runs).

TIGERS TIDBITS: Javier Báez hit a double in the eighth inning of Saturday’s game. Baez has hit a two-bagger in three straight games, equaling the longest streak of his career…Nick Maton went 1×5 on Saturday to extend his hitting streak to five games. Maton’s career-long hitting streak is six games from April 19-25, 2021.

CENTRAL FOCUS: The Tigers today will play their first games this season against an American League Central opponent. Detroit went 34-42 last season against divisional opponents. The Tigers have finished below .500 against AL Central foes in each of the last five 162-game seasons.

TIGERS AND GUARDIANS: The Tigers and Guardians begin their season series today. With the balanced schedule in place this season, Detroit and Cleveland will play 13 times this season, down from 19 in previous seasons. The Tigers went 9-10 against the Guardians last season, including going 6-4 at Comerica Park.

TIGERS ON THE IL:
• RHP Beau Brieske (right upper arm discomfort, 15-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)
• RHP Matt Manning (right foot fracture, 15-day IL on April 8, retroactive to April 7)
• OF Austin Meadows (anxiety, 15-day IL on April 12)
• RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
• RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
• LHP Tarik Skubal (left elbow strain, 60-day IL on March 14)

TODAY’S GAME 1 TIGERS STARTING PITCHER – Matthew Boyd • 0-1, 4.00 ERA (9.0IP/4ER)
• Boyd will make his third start of the season today in the first game of the doubleheader vs. Cleveland.

• Took the loss in his most recent start on April 9 vs. Boston, allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 4.2 innings.

• Has pitched against the Guardians 16 times, including 14 as a starter, posting a 4-7 record with a 3.98 ERA (83.2IP/37ER) and 71 strikeouts..in 73 career appearances, including 70 starts, at Comerica Park, he has a 22-25 record with a 4.08 ERA (395.1IP/179ER) and 346 strikeouts.

• Missed most of the 2022 season while rehabbing from an injury, but returned in September to pitch in 10 games and help Seattle to the playoffs…went 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA (13.1IP/2ER) and 13 strikeouts in his 10 outings with the Mariners.

• Is in his second stint with the Tigers…was with the organization from 2015-21, appearing in 147 games, including 143 starts, and compiling a 37-60 record with a 4.87 ERA (777.2IP/421ER) and 752 strikeouts.

NHL Playoff Preview: Seattle Kraken (0-0) at Colorado Avalanche (0-0)

NHL Editor
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NHL Playoff Preview: Seattle Kraken (0-0) at Colorado Avalanche (0-0)

SEATTLE KRAKEN NOTES:

CURRENT INJURIES (MAN GAMES LOST: 0)
JOONAS DONSKOI (upper body; IR) | 0 games | no timeline for return
ANDRE BURAKOVSKY (lower body; IR) | 0 games | week-to-week
JOHN HAYDEN (lower body; IR) | 0 games | week-to-week
DANIEL SPRONG (undisclosed) | 0 games | day-to-day

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
April 10, 2023: Signed F David Goyette to a three-year, entry-level
contract; Reassigned F Shane Wright to Coachella Valley (AHL)
April 11, 2023: Signed F Logan Morrison to a three-year, entry-level contract
April 17, 2023: Recalled F Tye Kartye from Coachella Valley (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
April 20, 2023: Seattle Kraken at Colorado Avalanche, 6:30 p.m. PT
April 22, 2023: Colorado Avalanche at Seattle Kraken, 7 p.m. PT
April 24, 2023: Colorado Avalanche at Seattle Kraken, 7 p.m. PT
April 26, 2023: Seattle Kraken at Colorado Avalanche*
April 28, 2023: Colorado Avalanche at Seattle Kraken*
April 30, 2023: Seattle Kraken at Colorado Avalanche*
*if necessary

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Tonight’s game is Seattle’s first Stanley Cup Playoff game in franchise history.

• If the Kraken were to win tonight, they would become the 13th expansion franchise in NHL history to win their first-ever playoff game. They would also be just the seventh team to do so while playing their first playoff game on the road according to NHL Stats.

• 2023 marks the first trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs for five Kraken players: Matty Beniers, Will Borgen, Cale Fleury, Jesper Froden and Jaycob Megna.

• The Kraken’s American Hockey League (AHL) and East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) affiliates also made the playoffs in their respective leagues this year. The Kraken are one of ten NHL organizations to qualify for the postseason at the NHL, AHL and ECHL levels, with the others being Boston, Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Florida, Los Angeles, New Jersey, NY Rangers and Toronto.

— The Coachella Valley Firebirds will face off against the Tucson Roadrunners in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. The three-game series is set to begin on April 19.
— The Kansas City Mavericks playoff run will also begin on April 19 when they take on the Allen Americans in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs.
— Stat courtesy of Patrick Williams who covers the AHL for NHL.com and TheAHL.com.

• Seattle owned a 13-4-6 record against the Central Division during the 2022-23 regular season.

• Nine veteran skaters set or tied their career highs in goals, assists and points during the 2022-23 regular season: Borgen, Dunn, Geekie,
Larsson, McCann, Oleksiak, Sprong, Tanev and Tolvanen.

SECOND TIME AROUND
• The Kraken concluded the 2022-23 regular season as one of the best, and most improved, second-year expansion teams in NHL history, dating back to the Original Six era (1967-68). No second-year expansion team had more wins or points than Seattle’s 46 and 100, respectively.

• The team’s 19-win and 40-point improvement both also set records for the greatest improvement from year one to year two for an expansion team since the Original Six era.

• Seattle’s leap from 2021-22 to 2022-23 not only set records for an expansion franchise but was one of the best year-over-year improvements in the NHL from last season to this season. Only the New Jersey Devils made a bigger jump from 2021-22 to 2022-23, winning 25 more games and earning 49 more points.

• After finishing their inaugural season with the third-worst record in the NHL standings, the Kraken concluded the 2022-23 regular-season with the 12th-best record in the league, catapulting 18 spots up in the standings. Only New Jersey (plus-25) made a bigger leap in the overall
standings from last year to this year.

REGULAR SEASON REFRESH
• The Kraken earned a point in each of the regular-season games they played against the Avalanche in 2022-23, posting a 2-0-1 record in three games. The five points Seattle earned against Colorado this year were the most any NHL team earned against the Avalanche this season.

— Seattle was one of nine teams without a regulation loss against Colorado this season, with the others being Boston, Edmonton, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Toronto.

— The Avalanche are also one of six teams the Kraken did not record a regulation loss to this year, the others being Arizona, Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

• Each of the three games the Kraken and Avalanche played against each other this season was decided by a one-goal margin. Seattle defeated Colorado 3-2 in regulation on Nov. 21, fell in the shootout 2-1 on Jan. 21 and won in overtime 3-2 on March 5.

• The Kraken won both games that they played in Colorado this season, going a perfect 2-for-2 when playing the Avalanche on the road. Seattle and Los Angeles are the only two teams this year to win two games at Ball Arena.

• Seattle went a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill against Colorado this season. The Avalanche are one of eight teams that the Kraken did not surrender a power-play goal to this year, with the others being Arizona, Boston, Detroit, Montreal, Nashville, NY Islanders and Pittsburgh.

• Jaden Schwartz was the Kraken’s leading scorer against the Avalanche this season, totaling four points (one goal, three assists) in two games.

• Each of the Kraken’s seven goals against the Avalanche this season were scored by different skaters: Ryan Donato, Yanni Gourde, Karson Kuhlman, Jared McCann, Schwartz, Brandon Tanev and Alex Wennberg.

• Philipp Grubauer started all three games the Kraken played against the Avalanche during the regular season – posting a 1.70 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage.

COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:

FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE

Date Time (MT) Location TV Radio
Tuesday, April 18 8 p.m. Seattle at Colorado Altitude, ESPN, SN360, TVAS 92.5 FM
Thursday, April 20 7:30 p.m. Seattle at Colorado Altitude, ESPN, SN360, FX, TVAS 92.5 FM
Saturday, April 22 8 p.m. Colorado at Seattle Altitude, TBS, SN360, TVAS 92.5 FM
Monday, April 24 8 p.m. Colorado at Seattle Altitude, TBS, SN360, TVAS 92.5 FM
*Wednesday, April 26 TBD Seattle at Colorado TBD
*Friday, April 28 TBD Colorado at Seattle TBD
*Sunday, April 30 TBD Seattle at Colorado TBD

TONIGHT’S GAME
GAME 1 – FIRST ROUND SERIES
COLORADO AVALANCHE vs. SEATTLE KRAKEN
8:20 p.m. – Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Altitude, ESPN, SN360, TVAS / 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche opens the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight against the Seattle Kraken in Game 1 of the First Round series at Ball Arena … The Avalanche are the Central Division champions while Seattle enters its first postseason as the top wild card in the Western Conference … The Avs are the defending Stanley Cup champions as they earned their third championship last spring … Colorado claimed its title by going 16-4 in the postseason, the sixth team to win a Cup with four or fewer postseason losses since 1987 when the NHL went to four rounds of best-of-seven … This is the first-ever playoff matchup between Colorado and Seattle, which leaves Winnipeg as the only Western Conference team who has never faced the Avalanche in the postseason … This is the fifth all-time playoff series between an NHL franchise making their postseason debut and a reigning champion, following the 2009 Conference Quarterfinals (CBJ vs. DET), 1983 Division Semifinals (WSH vs. NYI), 1980 Preliminary Round (HFD vs. MTL) and 1929 Quarterfinals (NYA vs. NYR) … Colorado finished the 2022-23 regular season 16-2-1 in its last 19 games, 23-5-2 in its last 30 contests and 31-7-4 in its last 42 games.

FIRST ROUND OPPONENT – SEATTLE KRAKEN
This marks the first-ever playoff meeting between the Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken … That leaves Winnipeg as the only Western Conference team who has never faced the Avalanche in the postseason … The Avs finished 1-1-1 against the Kraken during the 2022-23 regular season, with all three matchups decided by one goal (two went to overtime) … The Avs finished 2-1-0 against Seattle during the Kraken’s inaugural season in 2021-22 … This is the fifth all-time playoff series between an NHL franchise making their postseason debut and a reigning champion, following the 2009 Conference Quarterfinals (CBJ vs. DET), 1983 Division Semifinals (WSH vs. NYI), 1980 Preliminary Round (HFD vs. MTL) and 1929 Quarterfinals (NYA vs. NYR).

REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE vs. KRAKEN
Oct. 21 vs. SEATTLE (L, 2-3)
Jan. 21 @ Seattle (W, 2-1 SO)
Mar. 5 vs. SEATTLE (O, 2-3)
RECORD vs. KRAKEN

THIS SEASON 2021-22 ALL-TIME PLAYOFFS
Overall: 1-1-1 Overall: 2-1-0 Overall: 3-2-1 Series: none
Home: 0-1-1 Home: 1-0-0 Home: 1-1-1 W-L record: 0-0
Road: 1-0-0 Road: 1-1-0 Road: 2-1-0

PLAYOFF NOTES
PLAYOFF BOUND
The Avalanche are in the postseason for the sixth consecutive year, tied for the third-longest active streak in the NHL … The Avs are appearing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 19th time since relocating to Denver and 28th time in franchise history.

ACTIVE STREAKS MAKING THE PLAYOFFS
7 Boston since 2016-17
7 Toronto since 2016-17
6 Colorado since 2017-18
6 Tampa Bay since 2017-18

IMPORTANCE OF GAME ONE
The Avalanche won all four Game 1 matchups a year ago en route to winning the Stanley Cup … In fact, Colorado has won its last six series openers … The Avs are 21-6 in best-of-seven playoff series when winning the first game.

FIRST ROUND SUCCESS
The Avalanche swept their first-round playoff series in each of the past two postseasons and have won 10 straight first round games going back to 2020 vs. Arizona … Colorado is 16-1 in its last 17 first-round games since dropping the 2019 playoff opener to Calgary.

BACK FOR MORE
Eighteen (18) players from last season’s Stanley Cup championship team are on Colorado’s 2023 playoff roster: Bowen Byram, Andrew Cogliano, J.T. Compher, Pavel Francouz, Samuel Girard, Darren Helm, Erik Johnson, Jack Johnson, Artturi Lehkonen, Kurtis MacDermid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Josh Manson, Alex Newhook, Valeri Nichushkin, Logan O’Connor, Mikko Rantanen and Devon Toews … The list becomes 19 if you include injured captain Gabriel Landeskog … Helm has two Stanley Cups (2008 Red Wings) and Lars Eller won a Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018.

NHL Morning Skate: Stanley Cup Playoffs Edition – April 18, 2023

NHL Editor
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NHL Morning Skate: Stanley Cup Playoffs Edition – April 18, 2023

* Anze Kopitar and the Kings stunned the Oilers in Game 1 by authoring another multi-goal third-period comeback win after accounting for four of the NHL-record 56 during the regular season.
 

* Ryan Hartman called game by scoring the double-overtime winner against the Stars to cap the longest contest in Wild franchise history.


* Monday’s four Game 1s were either tied or within one goal for over 85% of total playing time, which included 41:39 of overtime. It marked the 12th opening night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs where multiple games required OT, with the full list featured in Monday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.

* The four remaining First Round Game 1s go Tuesday, with the slate bookended by the seventh all-time playoff edition of the “Hudson River Rivalry” and the Kraken making their postseason debut against the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

* NHL Central Scouting will release its Final Rankings presented by BioSteel for the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft on NHL.com and Media.NHL.com today at 11 a.m. ET.
 


KOPITAR, KINGS STUN McDAVID, OILERS TO TAKE 1-0 LEAD IN FIRST ROUND SERIES
Anze Kopitar (1-3—4) scored a tying goal with 16.7 seconds remaining in regulation and assisted on the overtime winner by Alex Iafallo as Los Angeles held 153-point scorer Connor McDavid off the score sheet and stunned Edmonton, which entered Game 1 as the hottest team in the NHL since March 1.

* Kopitar (59:43) scored the fourth latest game-tying goal in Kings playoff history, trailing only Steve Bozek (59:55 in Game 3 of 1982 DSF), Marian Gaborik (59:53 in Game 1 of 2014 R2) and Mike Richards (59:50 in Game 5 of 2013 CF).Bozek’s goal was in the “Miracle on Manchester,” when Los Angeles rallied past Edmonton and became the first team in NHL history to win a postseason contest after overcoming a five-goal deficit.

* The Kings earned a multi-goal third-period comeback win in the playoffs for the sixth time in franchise history (also Game 2 of 2014 SCF, Game 4 of 2001 CQF, Game 1 of 1990 DSF, Game 3 of 1982 DSF & Game 6 of 1976 QF). Game 1 of the 1990 Division Semifinals marked the only other instance where Los Angeles did so in a postseason opener.
 


HARTMAN CAPS LONGEST GAME IN WILD HISTORY WITH DOUBLE-OVERTIME WINNER
Ryan Hartman called game after more than an hour-and-a-half of hockey by scoring the winner at 12:20 of the second overtime to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead in its First Round series with Dallas. It marked the longest contest in Wild franchise history, eclipsing Game 1 of the 2003 Conference Finals against the Mighty Ducks (88:06).

* Kirill Kaprizov (10-2—12 in 14 GP) opened the scoring to record his 10th career playoff goal in just 14 games, while Filip Gustavsson became the fifth NHL goaltender with 51-plus saves in his postseason debut (since 1955-56 when shots on goal were officially tracked). He joined Roberto Luongo (72 in Game 1 of 2007 CQF), Jean-Sebastien Giguere (63 in Game 1 of 2003 CQF), Jose Theodore (56 in Game 4 of 1997 CQF) and Jiri Crha (55 in Game 1 of 1980 PRLM).
 


NEW PLAYERS HELP DIVISION-LEADING BRUINS, HURRICANES EARN GAME 1 WINS
Tyler Bertuzzi tallied two assists in his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut with Boston while Brent Burns and Stefan Noesen combined for three points in their first postseason game with Carolina as the Bruins and Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead in their respective First Round series:

* Bertuzzi (28 years, 52 days) became the oldest Boston player with multiple points in his first career playoff contest, eclipsing Eddie Shore (24 years, 124 days in Game 1 of 1927 QF). Of note, Frank Frederickson (31 years, 291 days) had 2-0—2 in that same Game 1 of the 1927 Quarterfinals, which marked his first postseason contest with an NHL team– Frederickson, however, competed in the 1925 and 1926 Stanley Cup Final with the Victoria Cougars prior to joining the Bruins.

* Brad Marchand climbed multiple franchise lists with his 50th career playoff goal – which stood as the game winner – while David Pastrnak moved into a tie with a trio of Bruins legends by scoring his 12th career postseason power-play tally. Marchand joined Cam Neely (55) as the second skater in franchise history with 50 career playoff goals and became just the eighth active NHL player to reach the milestone.
 


* Burns and Noesen connected on the winning goal as the Hurricanes edged the Islanders in front of a packed house of “Caniacs” at PNC Arena. Carolina earned its 26th win by a one-goal margin this season and vaulted past Vegas (25) for the most in the NHL (regular season & playoffs combined).

* Burns also had a first-period assist on a tally by Sebastian Aho, who moved past Rod Brind’Amour and into a tie with Eric Staal for the most postseason goals in franchise history. Burns (38 years, 39 days) became the oldest Hurricanes/Whalers defenseman to record a playoff point, passing Paul Coffey (37 years, 327 days in Game 2 of 1999 CQF).
 


QUICK CLICKS

* Brad Treliving out as Flames general manager after nine seasons
* Cale Makar ready to return for Avalanche in Game 1 against Kraken
* Rangers, Devils renew rivalry deeply personal for players, fans
* Lightning don’t consider themselves underdogs against Maple Leafs
* NHL unveils “First Kiss,” “Look Up” and “Built to Share” spots for 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs


FOUR MORE FIRST ROUND GAME 1s GO TUESDAY

The second night of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs will feature four more Game 1s, with each contest being carried on ESPN and TBS programming in the U.S. as well as on Sportsnet and TVA Sports programming in Canada.

* Registration for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge presented by GEICO will remain open until the brackets lock before puck drop for the first Game 2 on Wednesday. Fans can use the popular “Matchup Analysis” tool that debuted last year as well as the visuals below to compare team stats as they make their selections.


DEVILS, RANGERS SET TO REIGNITE “HUDSON RIVER RIVALRY” IN GAME 1

The First Round series between New Jersey and New York will mark the seventh all-time playoff edition of the historic “Hudson River Rivalry” and first since the 2012 Conference Finals, when the Devils defeated the Rangers in six games. New York yields an all-time series record of 4-2 in its six previous postseason rounds against New Jersey, including a victory in the 1994 Conference Finals when Rangers captain Mark Messier famously guaranteed a win in Game 6 with his team facing elimination.
 


MAPLE LEAFS, LIGHTNING SET TO CLASH IN FIRST ROUND ONCE AGAIN
Toronto and Tampa Bay will tangle in the second straight First Round series between the franchises, with the Lightning earning a win last year via a 2-1 victory at Scotiabank Arena in Game 7. Game 1 marks the beginning of the Lightning’s quest to reach a fourth consecutive Stanley Cup Final, while Toronto looks to foil Tampa Bay’s plans and earn its first series win since the 2004 Conference Quarterfinals.
 

GOLDEN KNIGHTS AIM TO RELIVE FIRST-YEAR GLORY VERSUS JETS
Vegas will welcome Winnipeg to T-Mobile Arena for Game 1, which marks the opening of the second all-time playoff round between the franchises following the 2018 Conference Finals. The Golden Knights earned a five-game triumph against the Jets in that series to reach the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.
 


KRAKEN SET TO MAKE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS DEBUT AGAINST REIGNING CHAMPIONS
Seattle will play its first postseason contest in franchise history when it visits Colorado, which is looking to return to the mountaintop after capturing the Stanley Cup last year. The Kraken and Avalanche will contest the fifth all-time playoff series between an NHL franchise making their postseason debut and a reigning champion, following the 2009 Conference Quarterfinals (CBJ vs. DET), 1983 Division Semifinals (WSH vs. NYI), 1980 Preliminary Round (HFD vs. MTL) and 1929 Quarterfinals (NYA vs. NYR).
 

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