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NHL Preview: Buffalo Sabres (39-32-7) at New York Rangers (47-21-12)

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NHL Preview: Buffalo Sabres (39-32-7) at New York Rangers (47-21-12)

BUFFALO SABRES NOTES:

LAST GAME
Saturday, April 8
Carolina 3 at Buffalo 4
Goals: Mittelstadt (2), Dahlin, Thompson
Goalie: Levi (31 saves/34 shots)
PP: 1/4; PK: 2/2; Shots: Carolina 34 – Buffalo 30

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 145)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Craig Anderson (upper body, March 31) – 5 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST SEVEN DAYS
N/A

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, April 11: Buffalo at New Jersey, 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 13: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, April 14: Buffalo at Columbus, 7:30 p.m.

TODAY’S GAME
SABRES AT RANGERS
• This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Rangers this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New York 3-2 (OT) in Buffalo on March 31.
• The Sabres are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games against New York; 1-8-1 on the road.
• This is the 199th game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo has a 86-73-39 series record.
• The Sabres are 34-43-21 on the road against the Rangers all-time.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Each of the last three meetings between the Rangers and Sabres have been decided in overtime.

• A win in tonight’s game would give Buffalo 40 wins in a single season for the first time since the team won 43 games in 2010-11.

• Tage Thompson has recorded 43 points (20+23) in his last 42 games, including 24 points (11+13) in his last 23 games.

• Thompson has earned four points (2+2) during his current three-game point streak and a point in tonight’s game would give him a four-game point streak.

• A goal in tonight’s game would give Thompson his sixth goal streak of three or more games in 2022-23.

• Alex Tuch has notched 19 points (11+8) in his last 18 games, including nine points (5+4) in his last eight games.

• In his last seven games, Casey Mittelstadt has recorded 11 points (2+9), two more points than he has recorded in any other seven-game span in his career.

• Dylan Cozens has six points (3+3) in his last five games and a point in tonight’s game would give him a four-game point streak.

• Rasmus Dahlin is riding a five-game point streak (1+6) and an assist in tonight’s game would give him at least one an assist in six consecutive games for the first time in his career.

• Owen Power has earned seven assists in his last six games.

• With an assist in tonight’s game, Power would become the second Sabres rookie defenseman to record eight assists in a seven-game span and the first since Housley in 1982-83 (Feb. 18 to March 1).

• Jeff Skinner has registered five points (2+3) in his last five games.

BACK-TO-BACK
• Today’s game opens Buffalo’s 14th of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which concludes with a road matchup with the Devils in New Jersey. The Sabres are 7-5-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 5-7-1 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in back-to-back sets this season is: four points (5), three points (0), two points (2), one point (2) and zero points (4).

NEW YORK RANGERS NOTES:

LAST GAME
New York Rangers 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 0 – April 8, 2023 – Nationwide Arena
NYR Goals: J. Vesey (11), C. Kreider (36), N. Mikkola (1), V. Trocheck (22)
CBJ Goals: N/A
NYR Goalie: I. Shesterkin (W – 20/20)
CBJ Goalie: M. Hutchinson (L – 24/28)
NYR Shots: 28
CBJ Shots: 20
NYR PP: 0/2
NYR PK: 2/2
RECAP/NOTES: The Rangers closed out their road slate with a shutout victory against Columbus on Saturday night. The Rangers finished their regular season road slate with a 24-9-8 record for 56 points. In franchise history, the Blueshirts’ 56 road points rank tied for second and 24 wins are tied for the fifth most. In the win, Niko Mikkola scored his first goal as a Ranger.

RANGERS RUNDOWN

  • The New York Rangers begin a two-game homestand to finish the regular season when the Buffalo Sabres come to Madison Square Garden (7:00 PM ET – TV: MSG Network – Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM). Tonight, the Steven McDonald Award winner will be announced in a pregame ceremony.
  • The Blueshirts have clinched a spot in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the 62nd time in team history they have made the postseason. New York’s 14 playoff appearances since the 2005-06 season are tied for the second most in the NHL.
  • The Rangers have reached the 100-point plateau for a second consecutive year and 12th time in team history. The Blueshirts’ 106 points are the seventh most in franchise history while their 47 wins are tied for the ninth most.
  • New York has points five-straight contests (3-0-2), 15 of its last 17 games (12-2-3) and wins in 10 of its last 14 contests. Since March 9, the Rangers’ two regulation losses are tied for the second fewest in the NHL behind Edmonton (1).
  • At home, the Rangers have won seven of their last eight and 12 of their last 15. The Blueshirts are 15-5-0 in their last 20 home games.
  • Since December 5, New York is 36-11-7 for 79 points. In the NHL in that span, the Rangers rank second in points, points percentage (.731), tied for second in wins, third in goals per game (3.57), and fourth in power play percentage (25.5).
  • New York is currently riding a 12-game point streak against the Sabres (10-0-2) and are 13-2-2 in its last 17 contests against them. At home against Buffalo, the Rangers have won six in a row and 10 of their last 11 contests.
  • New York’s plus-58 goal differential and plus-28 differential in the third period ranks fourth in the NHL.
  • With a 2.64 mark, the Rangers have allowed the fourth fewest goals against per game in the NHL.
  • The Blueshirts have 21 comeback victories this season, tied for the fourth most in the NHL. New York is 15-2-5 when tied after two periods – their 15 wins are the most in the NHL.
  • When scoring four or more goals, New York is 33-0-0 and the only team in the NHL to have a perfect such record.
  • The Rangers defensemen group has compiled 192 points, the fourth most in the NHL.
  • Mika Zibanejad has 20 power play goals on the year. The Rangers are the first team since the 1992-93 & 1993-94 Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins to have a different player score 20+ power play goals in back-to-back seasons as Chris Kreider had 26 last year.
  • Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin are the third pair of teammates in Rangers history to simultaneously post consecutive 80-point campaigns following Rod Gilbert and Steve Vickers (1974-75 – 1975-76) as well as Gilbert and Jean Ratelle (1971-72 – 1972-73).
  • For the fourth time (2022-23, 2015-16, 2010-11 and 2006-07) in the past 20 years, the Rangers have five different 20-plus goal scorers (Panarin, Zibanejad, Chytil, Trocheck, Kreider).

LAST FIVE GAMES
DATE OPPONENT RESULT
Apr. 8 at Columbus W, 4-0
Apr. 6 at St. Louis OTL, 3-2
Apr. 5 Tampa Bay W, 6-3
Apr. 2 at Washington W, 5-2
Mar. 31 at Buffalo OTL, 3-2

ALL-TIME RECORD 87-79-25-7 (206 PTS)
2022-23 1-0-1
2021-22 3-0-0
NYR HOME 49-31-15-3 (116 PTS)
NYR AWAY 38-48-10-4 (90 PTS)

LAST FIVE MEETINGS 4-0-1
LEADING SCORER(S) – CURRENT RANGERS IN CAREER G: Kane (12) – A: Panarin (19) – Pts: Panarin (29)
LEADING SCORER(S) – ALL-TIME IN GAMES W/NYR G: Gilbert (17) – A: Leetch (38) – Pts: Leetch/Gilbert (41)

2022-23 SEASON SERIES
March 11 at Buffalo OTW, 2-1

SPECIAL TEAMS

  • On the penalty kill, New York has been perfect in 11 of its last 14 games.
  • The Rangers have scored four power play goals over their last three games and have tallied a PPG in four of their last seven contests.
  • Since the trade deadline on March 3, the Blueshirts’ 88.6 PK percentage ranks first in the NHL.

MLB Preview: San Diego Padres (6-4) at New York Mets (5-5)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: San Diego Padres (6-4) at New York Mets (5-5)

SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:

Former Met, Seth Lugo, goes 6.0 innings and earns his 2nd win as Padres rout Braves 10-2 on Sunday Night Baseball

• DH Nelson Cruz had a 3-hit effort, finished a triple shy of the cycle, and logged 6 RBI as he led the Padres to their series victory over the Braves. Manny Machado also had 3 hits, and the Padres saw doubles from Jake Cronenworth, HaSeong Kim, Juan Soto, and Cruz and home runs from Cruz, Trent Grisham, and Kim…their 7 XBH were a season high.

• Starter Seth Lugo earned his 2nd win of the season after tossing 6.0 innings of 5-hit, 1-run ball…he punched out 5 and allowed 4 walks…Lugo has now worked 6.0 innings in back-to-back starts for the 4th time in his career (worked 7.0 IP on April 2 vs. COL), and it’s his 1st time doing so since 2017. Nelly Cruz: 42 years young!

• Last night @ ATL, Nelson Cruz, who will turn 43 on July 1, had his 2nd 3-hit game as a Padre and logged 6 RBI for the 10th time in his career…Cruz made his MLB debut with MIL on Sept. 17, 2005 vs. HOU (at 25 years old), and at 42 years and 282 days old last night, he was the oldest player to have a 3-hit game since Ichiro Suzuki with MIA in 2017.

• He became the 3rd oldest player in MLB history to have a 6-RBI effort, joining SF’s Barry Bonds (had 6 RBI on July 19, 2007 at 42 years and 360 days old) and CWS’ Carlton Fisk (had 6 RBI on Oct. 3, 1991 at 43 years and 281 days).

• Cruz also became the 2nd oldest to ever homer in a Padre uniform (Rickey Henderson was a day older at 42 years and 283 days on October 4, 2001 vs. LAD)… Cruz’s next homer any time after tonight’s contest will make him the oldest Padre to hit a home run. Padres take 3 of 4 in ATL for 1st series win of 2023; have won 6 of last 8 games

• San Diego split the 1st 2 series they played at home vs. COL (2-2) and vs. ARI (1-1), and they took 3 of 4 games from the Braves in Atlanta in their home opening series…the Braves hadn’t lost 3 straight games at home in all of 2022. In the series, the Padres lost a 1-run game, won two 1-run games, and then routed the Braves 10-2 last night on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

• The Padres have now won 3 straight games and 6 of their last 8.

Darvish vs. Scherzer
• Yu Darvish and Max Scherzer go head-to-head for the 1st time since Game 1 of the 2022 NL Wild Card series, which San Diego won 7-1…Darvish earned the win, tossing 7.0 innings of 1-run ball on 6 hits and 4 punchouts…Scherzer got the loss, getting tapped for 7 runs, 4 home runs allowed, and 7 hits. Tonight’s matchup is the 5th time that Darvish and Scherzer will go head-to-head (including the Postseason), previously on July 8, 2021, August 26, 2021, July 22, 2022, and Oct. 7, 2022.

Let’s reminisce, shall we…
• Tonight is the 1st time the Padres and Mets will face off since Buck Showalter requested the umpires search Joe Musgrove’s ears for illegal substances in the B-6th inning in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series. It was Musgrove’s 1stcareer Postseason start, tossing 7.0 scoreless innings with 1 hit allowed and only 2 baserunners. He struck out 5 and walked 1 in 89 pitches, sending the Padres to the NLDS against the Dodgers (which they won, 3-1).

STARTING PITCHER – YU DARVISH
Davish aims for continued success vs. Mets
36-year-old Yu Davish takes the mound for his 2023 road debut tonight vs. the Mets…Davish enters tonight’s matchup vs. the Mets with a 5-0 record, a 2.56 ERA (15 ER, 52.2 IP), 0.74 WHIP and 58 SO vs. 9 BB…he’s earned the win in each of his last 4 regular season starts vs. the Mets dating back to Aug. 27, 2019. and in each of his last 5 starts if you include Game 1 of the 2022 Wild Card Series at Citi Field last Postseason (7.0 IP, 6 H, ER).

Over his 8 career regular season starts vs. the Mets, he’s limited the opposition to a .162 AVG, the 5th-best mark for any active pitcher against any active team (min. 200 batters faced), trailing only Chris Sale’s .143 AVG vs. LAA), Max Scherzer’s .156 AVG vs. CIN, Shohei Ohtani’s .156 AVG vs. OAK and Jacob deGrom’s .161 AVG vs. COL.

Inside Darvish’s debut
Darvish made his season debut last Tuesday vs. ARI and left the contest in line for his 5th consecutive winning decision vs. the D’Backs after 5.0 innings of 1-run, 3-hit ball…but the Padres bullpen surrendered 7 runs as SD lost their opening homestand finale 8-6. Darvish hadn’t walked 4 batters since his 6.0 hitless innings in his Opening Day start @ ARI to kick of the 2022 season….he also hit multiple batters for the 11th time in his career, 1 shy of the career-high 3 he hit in his first matchup vs. the Mets last season on June 7 vs. the Mets at Petco Park.

A look at Yu’s Spring
Darvish made 3 appearances (1 start) for champion Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic this past March…he pitched 3.0 innings against Team Korea in the World Baseball Classic on Friday, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and no walks while striking out one batter on Friday March 11. He was brought on in relief for Japan’s Wednesday, March 16 win over Team Italy before pitching 1.0 inning in relief again in the WBC championship on Tuesday, March 21 vs. USA. He finished his offseason by throwing roughly 80 pitches across 5.0 innings in Arizona in an intra-squad game on Thursday, March 30.

Stick around a while, why don’t Yu
On February 29, 2023, the Padres signed Darvish to a new six-year contract through the 2028 season. During the press conference, Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager said: “If you see the work he puts in in the offseason, the attention to his craft, there’s no secret sauce for why he’s one of the best performers in the game. He’s incredibly curious, he loves the game, and he works like he’s the 26th man on the roster, when he’s as good as any pitcher in the game of baseball.” It’s been quite the decade Since his rookie 2012 season through ’22, Darvish ranked in the top 10 in a multitude of categories (min. 1,400 IP) including: total baserunners allowed (1,740, 1st), SO/9 IP ratio (10.81, 3rd), H/9 IP (7.23, 3rd), opponents’ AVG (.217, 3rd), XBH allowed (448, 3rd), BABIP (.282, 4th), and pitches thrown per game (99.4, 6th).

NEW YORK METS NOTES:

METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets fell to the Marlins, 7-2, in the series finale yesterday…The Mets finish their first homestand of the season, a six-game stand against the Marlins (2-1) and Padres (three games)…The Mets are off on Thursday before they head to the West Coast for their second road trip of the season, a 11- day, 10-game trip against the Athletics (three games), Dodgers (three games) and Giants (four games).

AW SNAP: The Mets committed their first error of the season yesterday…That snapped a nine-game errorless streak to start the season…The nine games to start a season without a mistake is a franchise record…The previous high was the 1985 Mets, who did not commit an error in their first seven games…Last year, the San Diego Padres did not commit an error in their first 17 games to start the season, which was the longest time since 1900.

LEGENDARY: Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander swapped places on the all-time strikeouts leaderboard all season long in 2022…Now teammates in 2023, the pair are neck and neck, with just three punchouts separating the two…With 169 more strikeouts this season, Scherzer can enter the top-10…Scherzer now ranks 12th all-time, having passed all-time greats Fergie Jenkins, Pedro Martinez, Bob Gibson, Curt Schilling, CC Sabathia and John Smoltz last season…See below for a chart of the No. 10-19 strikeout pitchers of all-time:

Rank Player Strikeouts

  1. Greg Maddux 3,371
  2. Phil Niekro 3,342
  3. Max Scherzer 3,201
  4. Justin Verlander 3,198
  5. Fergie Jenkins 3192

Rank Player Strikeouts

  1. Pedro Martinez 3,154
  2. Bob Gibson 3,117
  3. Curt Schilling 3,116
  4. CC Sabathia 3,093
  5. John Smoltz 3,084
    MOST STRIKEOUTS, ALL-TIME (NO. 10-19)

DOUBLE THE FUN: Scherzer is tied for third all-time with 110 double-digit strikeout games in his career, two more than Pedro Martinez…His next 10+ K game will break a tie with Roger Clemens, who also had 110 in his career…He’ll then need over 100 more to catch the top two: Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (212).

UNDER THE LIGHTS: The Mets are set to play their second night game of the season and their first at Citi Field this year…Last year, the Mets went 62-42 at night…The team went 33-17 at night in Queens.

CONNECT FOUR: Pete Alonso is on a four-game hitting streak, batting .375 (6-16) with four runs, four home runs, nine RBI and a walk in that span…This comes after he batted .136 (3-22) with for runs, a double, a home run, two RBI and four walks through the first six games.

Rank Player HR GAMES
5th Dave Kingman 154 664
6th Pete Alonso 151 540
7th Carlos Beltrán 149 839

Rank Player RBI GAMES
14th Todd Hundley 397 829
15th Michael Conforto 396 757
16th Pete Alonso 391 540
METS ALL-TIME LEADERS

FOR PETE’S SAKE: Pete Alonso has hit 65 home runs at Citi Field… That is the third-most in the history of the yard…Only Michael Conforto (66) and Lucas Duda (71) have hit more…Overall, Alonso has hit .247/.343/.497 in 265 career games at Citi Field.

WALKING THE WALK: The Mets rank third in the majors and second in the National League with 45 free passes this season… Brandon Nimmo ranks second in the majors with 10 walks, while Francisco Lindor is tied for 13th with seven…The Mets have recorded two walks with the bases loaded this season, which is tied for the third-most in the majors…In 2022, the team drew 10.

CITI SLICKERS: The Mets are now 2-1 at Citi Field this year…The team won 54 games at home last year…That their highest total at Citi Field in franchise history..,The last time the team won more than 50 games in New York was in 2000 when they went 55- 26…Overall, the Mets went 54-27 at Citi Field…The team’s .667 winning percentage was the fourth-highest in team history…Only the 1988 (56-24, .700), 2000 and 1986 teams (both 55-26, .679) had a better home winning percentage.

IN THE CITI: Tommy Pham is a .321 (18-56) hitter with eight runs, a double, three home runs, eight RBI, nine walks with a .415 OBP and a .500 SLG in 16 career games at Citi Field…Starling Marte has slashed .292/.351/.486 with 59 runs, 16 doubles, five triple, 12 home runs and 39 RBI in 89 games at Citi Field.

KING OF QUEENS: Jeff McNeil has hit .311 with 128 runs, 55 doubles, four triple, four triple, 25 home runs, 116 RBI and 76 walks in 265 career games at the yard…His .311 batting average is the second-highest by a Met at the ballpark (min. 100 PA)…Only Luis Castillo, .313, has a higher batting average in the history of the ballpark.

CANHA GET AN AMEN?: Mark Canha went 3-4 with a run and a double yesterday…He has recorded back-to-back multi-hit games…Overall, he is reaching base at a .357 rate with a .400 SLG.

CURTAINS FROM CURTISS: John Curtiss hasn’t allowed a run in his last 3.1 innings with four strikeouts and has yielded on run overall in 4.1 innings (1.69 ERA) in four outings.

MAX SCHERZER RHP #21

SCHERZER’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 44% 46% 43% 93.3 mph
Slider 24% 4% 39% 84.0 mph
Changeup 15% 22% 10% 83.3 mph
Curveball 11% 18% 6% 74.6 mph
Cutter 6% 11% 2% 88.5 mph

SCHERZER NEWS & NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: Allowed five runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings on April 4 at Milwaukee…
Surrendered back-to-back-to-back home runs for the second time in his career…It was just
the 16th time in 423 career regular season starts he gave up as many as three home runs.
VS. SAN DIEGO: Scherzer has made 17 regular season starts against the Padres in his
career…In the regular season, he is 6-3 with a 2.88 ERA lifetime vs. the Friars…He has 150
strikeouts in 109.2 innings, a ratio of 12.35 K/9, and has walked only 25 Padres batters across the 17 outings…He also started Game 1 of last year’s NL Wild Card Series against the club at Citi Field…Scherzer yielded seven runs on seven hits, including four home runs, in New York’s Game 1 loss last October.

DOUBLE THE FUN: Scherzer ranks tied for third all-time with 110 double-digit strikeout
games in his career, two more than Pedro Martinez…His next 10+ K game will break a tie
with Roger Clemens, who also had 110 in his career…He’ll then need over 100 more to catch the top two: Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (212).

LEGENDARY: Scherzer and Justin Verlander swapped places on the all-time strikeouts
leaderboard all season long in 2022…Now teammates in 2023, the pair are neck and neck,
with just three punchouts separating the two…With 169 more strikeouts this season,
Scherzer can enter the top-10…Scherzer now ranks 12th all-time, having passed all-time
greats Fergie Jenkins, Pedro Martinez, Bob Gibson, Curt Schilling, CC Sabathia and John
Smoltz last season…See below for a chart of the No. 10-19 strikeout pitchers of all-time

OPENING UP: Scherzer made his seventh career Opening Day start…Earned the victory as the Mets downed the Marlins, 5-3…Tossed 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and six punchouts…All three runs scored in the sixth inning after Scherzer tossed 5.0 scoreless frames to begin his day…Scherzer exited with the score tied, 3-3, then the Mets rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh to leave him in line for career victory No. 202…He improved to 2-3 in season openers and has a 2.96 ERA (15 ER/45.2 IP) in those games…He became the first pitcher ever to start both for and against the Mets on Opening Day…Madison Bumgarner (Arizona) is the only other active pitcher who has started for and against the same team on Opening Day in his career.

QUITE THE DEBUT: After signing a three-year deal with New York last offseason, Scherzer posted a 2.29 ERA (37 ER/145.1 IP) in his first season with the Mets…That is the lowest mark in a season in his career and the best all-time in a pitcher’s first season with the Mets (min. 140.0 innings)…His 0.91 WHIP was not just the best mark by a Met in his first season with the club, it was the best by any Met in club history (min. 140.0 innings)…Scherzer did not allow more than four runs in any of his 23 regular-season starts last season.

2022 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: Won his Mets debut on April 8 in Washington against his former team…Tossed 7.0 one-hit innings, allowing just one run while racking up 10 strikeouts in his Mets home debut vs. San Francisco on April 19…Threw 7.0 shutout frames, punched out 10 and allowed only two hits in his hometown at the Cardinals on April 25, setting the stage for New York’s five-run, ninth-inning comeback rally…Threw 6.0 scoreless innings and struck out a season-high 11 batters in his return from the IL on July 5 at Cincinnati…Blanked the Yankees over 7.0 innings on his 38th birthday, July 27, in a 3-2 Subway Series victory at Citi Field… Defeated Atlanta three times over an eight-start stretch (July 11, August 6 and August 17)… Earned his 200th career victory in the Mets’ playoff-clinching win at Milwaukee on September 19, throwing 6.0 perfect innings in his first start after a two-week stay on the IL.

ALWAYS IMPROVING: Scherzer set a career-best mark with a 2.29 ERA last season after posting what was then a career-best 2.46 ERA in 2021…No other pitcher since 1913 has thrown 130.0 or more innings and posted an ERA below 2.50 in both his age 36 and age 37 seasons…Only five pitchers have done that twice at any point after turning 36: Hoyt Wilhelm (three times – 1959, 1964-65), Eddie Plank (three times – 1915-17), Randy Johnson (2001-02), Dennis Martinez (1991-92) and Babe Adams (1919-20).

MLB Preview: Boston Red Sox (5-4) at Tampa Bay Rays (9-0)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Boston Red Sox (5-4) at Tampa Bay Rays (9-0)

BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:

STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox have won each of their last 3 games, sweeping the Tigers in a 3-game series at DET after being swept in a 3-game home series vs. PIT. BOS outscored DET over the 3-game series, 24-9. The Sox are 2-1-0 in their first 3 series of 2023. Boston won yesterday’s series finale at DET, 4-1… Kutter Crawford earned the win (5.0 IP, 5 H, R, 6 SO). Triston Casas (2-for-4, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) hit an RBI double and a solo HR.

LEADERS OF THE PACK: The Red Sox rank 2nd in the AL and 3rd in MLB in runs scored (59), trailing only TB (75) and LAD (60)…They rank 3rd in SLG (.473), 4th in OPS (.814), and T-5th in HR (15). Red Sox hitters have struck out in just 17.4% of their plate appearances (62 SO/356 PA), the 2ndbest SO% in MLB (TB-16.5%). The Sox also rank in the AL’s top 5 in various offensive categories (see below).

RED SOX OFFENSIVE RANKINGS
Stat AL Rank
59 R……………………….. 2nd
35 XBH…………………… 2nd
15 HR …………………… T-3rd
148 total bases…………. 4th
Stat AL Rank
.259 AVG…………………….. 4th
.473 SLG ……………………. 2nd
.814 OPS ……………………. 2nd
17.4 SO%…………………… 2nd

HOT START: The Red Sox have scored 59 runs through their first 9 games for the 8th time in club history and the 5th time in the last 80 seasons (also 2003, 1994-95, and ‘78). The Sox’ 15 home runs are 1 behind their most through a season’s first 9 games (16 HR in 2002 and 1973). Boston’s offense has averaged 6.6 runs/game (59 R), 9.0 hits/game (81 H), and 6.9 strikeouts/game (62 SO).

INNINGS OF INTEREST: The Red Sox have scored in either the 1st or 2nd inning in 7 of their 9 games. They have scored 8 runs in the 1st inning, 2nd most among AL teams and tied for 5th most in MLB. They have scored 9 runs in the 2nd inning, tied with TB for most in the AL and 2nd in MLB. The Red Sox have outscored opponents in the 8th and 9th innings, 11-3. They Sox have scored 4+ runs in 4 innings this season, trailing only TB (5) for most such innings in MLB.

WHAT A RELIEF: Over the last 6 games (since 4/3), Red Sox relievers have posted a 2.16 ERA (6 ER/25.0 IP). Dating back to the 7th inning on Opening Day vs. BAL, 31 of the 37 innings started by Red Sox relievers have been scoreless. 5 of the 8 relief pitchers the Red Sox have used this season have allowed 1 or 0 earned runs (see below).

RED SOX RELIEVERS TO ALLOW 1 OR 0 RUNS
Pitcher IP R
Chris Martin 5.0 0
Kenley Jansen 3.0 0
Josh Winckowski 7.0 1
Zack Kelly 6.2 1
John Schreiber 5.0 1

ON THE MEND: James Paxton yesterday made a rehab start for Triple-A Worcester in Game 2 of a doubleheader at Buffalo…He struck out 3 batters over 3.0 scoreless innings (2 H, 2 BB, 58 pitches, 34 strikes). rayan Bello is scheduled to make a rehab start for Worcester tomorrow vs. Columbus…He threw 72 pitches over 5.0 innings in an intra-squad game at Fenway South on 4/5. Garrett Whitlock made a rehab start for Double-A Portland vs. Binghamton on 4/6 (6.0 IP, H, R, BB, 8 SO)…He also started for Triple-A Worcester on 3/31 (4.0 IP, 6 H, R, BB, 6 SO).

SOX & RAYS: Tonight marks the 1st of 11 scheduled meetings between the Red Sox and Rays in 2023. The Rays will visit Fenway Park for 4 games in 3 days from 7/2-4…The Sox will return to Tropicana Field for 3 games from 9/4-6. The Red Sox went 7-12 vs. TB in 2022, including 1-9 at Tropicana Field…They swept TB at Fenway Park over the final 3 games of 2022, from 10/3-5.

ROAD TRIPPING: The Red Sox are undefeated so far on their 7-game road trip to DET (3-0) and TB (4 games). The Red Sox are currently in a stretch of 19 games in 19 days, from 4/8-4/26 (3-0 so far).

DUV-ALL ABOUT IT: Adam Duvall leads qualified players in SLG (1.030), OPS (1.544), RBI (tied, 14), XBH (10) and total bases (tied, 34).

ADAM DUVALL’S OFFENSIVE RANKINGS
Stat AL/MLB Rank
14 RBI…………T-1st/T-1st
11 R…………………. 2nd/2nd
4 HR ………………T-1st/T-3rd
10 XBH …………… 1st/1st
Stat AL/MLB Rank
.455 AVG………………. 2nd/3rd
.514 OBP………….. T-3rd/T-6th
1.030 SLG………….. 1st/1st
1.544 OPS………….. 1st/1st

FOREVER AND DEVERS: Rafael Devers ranks T-3rd in MLB in HR (4), T-4th in hard-hit balls (95+ MPH, 18), T-5th in total bases (28), T-6th in XBH (7). Devers and Adam Duvall are tied with Wander Franco, Aaron Judge, and Luis Robert Jr. for the AL lead in home runs (4; T-3rd in MLB).

MACHO MAN: Masataka Yoshida has hit from the 4th spot in the lineup in each of his 8 career games…He is the first player since Jack Hoey in 1906 to bat 4th for the Red Sox in each of his first 8 MLB games. Prior to Yoshida, the last players bat 4th in each of their first 8 MLB games were Kris Bryant (2015 with CHC) and Tim Salmon (1992 with CAL).

TONIGHT’S STARTER: 37 NICK PIVETTA – RHP
Allowed 3 runs (1 ER) over 5.0 IP last Tuesday vs. PIT (3 H, 3 BB, 6 SO, 2 HR)…Held the Pirates to 1-for-9 (BB) over his last 10 batters faced.

Owns a 3.38 ERA (8 ER/ 21.1 IP) in 4 career starts at Tropicana Field…Allowed 1 run on 2 hits over 5.0 IP in his last start at the venue, on 9/7/22 (3 BB, 3 SO).

In 2022, set career highs in wins (10), starts (33), and innings pitched (179.2)…Led the Red Sox in each category, as well as in strikeouts (175).

Tied for the MLB lead in starts (33)…Ranked among AL leaders in innings (13th), strikeouts (14th), complete games (T-3rd, 1), and fWAR (17th, 1.5).

Made 30+ starts for the 3rd time in his career and 2nd consecutive season (also 32 in 2018, 30 in ‘21).

TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:

HOW SWEEP IT IS — The Rays recorded their second consecutive 11-0 shutout win over Oakland on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field to cap off a three-game series sweep of the Athletics…2B Brandon Lowe (2-for-4, 2R, BB, HR, 5RBI) belted his third career grand slam in the fourth inning while SS Wander Franco (1-for-4, R, HR, RBI) and DH Harold Ramírez (3-for-5, 3R, BB, 2B, HR, 2RBI) also produced homers for Tampa Bay…Rays starter RHP Drew Rasmussen (7.0IP, H, 0R, 8SO) sat down 21 of the 22 Oakland hitters he faced to claim his second consecutive win.

The Rays have recorded back-to-back shutout wins by 11+ runs for the first time in club history…Tampa Bay is just the fourth team in MLB history to accomplish the feat, joining the 2019 Baltimore Orioles (2G, 6/28-29, 2019), 1936 Detroit Tigers (2G, 9/22, 1936) and 1885 New York Giants (3G, 5/25-28, 1885) (Sarah Langs, MLB.com).

Overall, Rays pitching has turned in consecutive shutouts within a single season for the first time since 8/28-29, 2020…Tampa Bay has never strung together three straight shutout victories.

ON CLOUD NINE—The Rays are the first club to open a season with nine consecutive wins since the 2003 Kansas City Royals started 9-0…since 1901, Tampa Bay is the 13th team to start 9-0 or better — the last club to open a season with a 10-game win streak was the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, who started an MLB-record-tying (since 1901) 13-0.

Tampa Bay’s nine-game win streak is its longest since an 11-game run from 5/13- 24, 2021.

The Rays’ six-game win streak at Tropicana Field is their longest to open a home slate in club history, surpassing three-game runs by the 2002, 2012 and 2022 clubs.

The club’s three-game road win streak is its longest to begin a season since a seven-game road streak to kick off the 2010 season.

NEVER IN DOUBT — Per STATS LLC, the Rays are the first major league team to win each of their first nine games of a season by 4+ runs since the 1884 St. Louis Maroons (13G)… no other clubs in MLB history have begun a season with a streak of more than four such wins…the last team to win nine consecutive games by 4+ runs at any point in a season was the 1939 New York Yankees (10G, 8/20-28, 1939).

The Rays have yielded only 18 runs, fewest through nine games in club history, ahead of the 2019 squad (19 runs)…marks the fewest runs allowed through nine games by any club since the 2013 Atlanta Braves (also 18 runs)…the Rays record for fewest runs allowed through 10 games is 19, also done in 2019.

Tampa Bay’s 75 runs scored are its most ever through nine games, ahead of the 2009 Rays (46 runs)…marks the most runs scored by an MLB team through nine games since the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals (also 75 runs)…prior to this season, the fastest the Rays have reached 75 runs in a season was 14 games (2006 & 2007).

BLAST OFF — The Rays have hit a major league-best 24 homers, ahead of Los Angeles-NL (18HR)…marks the second most long balls through nine games in MLB history, trailing only the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals (25HR)…the Rays have hit six more home runs than their total number of runs allowed (18 runs).

The Rays would need four home runs tonight to match the current MLB mark for most homers through 10 games, also done by the 2000 Cardinals (28HR)… Tampa Bay has already registered a pair of 4+ homer games (4/4 at WSH, 4/7 vs. OAK) after recording only one such contest in 2022 (6/21/22 vs. NYY).

NO FLY ZONE — Rays pitchers have allowed just four home runs across 81.0 innings, good for an MLB-best 0.44 HR/9.0IP…marks the second-fewest homers allowed through nine games in club history, behind the 1998 Rays (3HR)…the fewest home runs allowed through the first 10 games of a season in franchise history is four, also accomplished in 1998.

Overall, Tampa Bay’s pitching staff has produced an MLB-leading 1.89 ERA, including the best starter ERA (1.90) and second-best bullpen ERA (1.86) behind only Milwaukee (0.84).

BOSOX IN THE BAY — The Rays open the 13-game season series against Boston tonight at Tropicana Field…in 2022, Tampa Bay won the season series for the fourth consecutive year, winning 12 of 19 matchups…since 2019, the Rays are 42-25 (.627) against the Red Sox, their second most wins against any opponent in that span behind only Baltimore (46-21).

Tampa Bay has won nine straight home games over Boston, the longest streak in club history, ahead of a pair of seven-game runs (last: 6/23-8/31, 2021).

Despite the recent run of success, Tampa Bay is looking to snap a three-game losing streak to Boston dating back to 10/3/22…the Rays have not dropped four straight games to the Red Sox since a five-game skid from 9/13/20-6/22/21.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS — Wander Franco has hit safely in 17 straight home games dating back to 6/29/22, tying the sixth-longest home hit streak in Rays history… marks the longest such streak since Wilson Ramos produced a 20-game run from 4/14- 6/12, 2018…Franco is slashing .375/.423/.641 (24-for-64) with eight doubles, 3 HR and 11 RBI during the streak.

Franco’s streak ties the eighth-longest in Tropicana Field history…Johnny Damon holds the current record, a 25-game run from 5/13/1998-9/9/2002.

A STREAK OF MY OWN — Randy Arozarena owns a 10-game hit streak dating back to 10/5/22, tied with St. Louis’ Nolan Arenado for the fourth-longest active stretch in the majors…Arozarena has produced a .387/.477/.622 (14-for-37) clip with three doubles, 2 HR and 11 RBI during his current run.

Marks the third-longest hit streak of Arozarena’s career, trailing 11-game (8/2-19, 2021) and 12-game (6/3-17, 2021) runs…he has also hit safely in 11 straight home games since 9/21/22, batting .419 (16-for-38) with 17 RBI in those contests.

TONIGHT’S STARTER: LHP JOSH FLEMING (0-0, 15.00)
SINK OR SWIM — Last season, Fleming used his sinker for 54.7 percent of his pitches…his ground ball rate of 63.8 percent ranked eighth in the
majors among pitchers with at least 35 innings.

In 2021, he used his sinker for 45.7 percent of his pitches…his ground ball rate of 55.7 percent ranked third in the AL behind Houston’s Framber Valdez (70.3%) and Houston’s Lance McCullers Jr. (56.9%) (min. 75.0IP).

RAMPING UP — In six Grapefruit League outings, Fleming pitched to a 4.91 ERA (14.2IP, 8ER) while holding opponents to a .214 average (12-for-56)…after allowing six runs on 2/25 at Minnesota, Fleming pitched to a 1.32 ERA (13.2IP, 2ER) while holding opponents to a .125 average (6-for-48) over his remaining five appearances.

LAST TIME OUT — Fleming did not factor into the decision on 4/4 at WSH after throwing 3.0 innings, allowing five runs on 10 hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

His 10 hits allowed were tied for the second most of his career (also, 10H on 6/4/21 at TEX) and one shy of matching his career high (11H on 8/11/21 at BOS).

SEEING RED — Fleming is 1-3 with a 9.59 ERA (25.1IP, 27ER) in six career appearances (4 starts) vs. the Red Sox…in his last start against Boston on 10/5/22, he took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

Red Sox hitters have batted .398 (47-for-118) off Fleming in his career, including a 10-hit, 11-run output on 8/11/21 at Fenway Park…the 10 hits and 11 runs both mark single-game career highs for Fleming.

FAMILIAR FOE — In 17 career appearances (5 starts) against AL East opponents, Fleming is 6-5 with a 5.95 ERA (65.0IP, 43ER)…he has pitched to a 8.87 ERA (22.1IP, 22ER) as a starter, compared to a 4.43 ERA (42.2IP, 21ER) as a reliever.

TAKING A LOOK BACK — In 2021, Fleming tied Shane McClanahan for the team lead with 10 wins and tied for second among major league rookies behind Houston’s Luis Garcia (11)…on 6/13/21 vs. Baltimore, Fleming became the fifth pitcher in club history to make a hitless relief appearance of four innings or more and the first since Álex Torres on 5/18/13 at Baltimore.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW — Fleming was selected from the alternate training site on 8/23/20 and made his major league debut that night…he earned the win over Toronto after throwing 5.0 innings of two run ball, allowing four hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Ê Fleming became the third Rays pitcher to start and win each of his first three major league appearances, joining Jake Faria in 2017 and Jeremy Hellickson 2010.

From 8/23/20 through season’s end, his five wins tied Tyler Glasnow and Seattle’s Marco Gonzales for the major league lead.

He became the second Rays rookie to finish a season with five wins or more and no losses, joining Jalen Beeks (5-0) in 2018.

MVP HONORS — In 2019, Fleming was named Most Valuable Player for Double-A Montgomery by the Rays baseball operations department.

His 11 wins for Montgomery tied for the Southern League lead while his 3.31 ERA (127.2IP, 47ER) ranked fifth.

Fleming earned SL Pitcher of the Week honors for 7/22-28, 2019 after tossing back-to-back nine-inning complete games.

Earned a mid-August promotion to Triple-A Durham and combined to go 12-7 with a 3.57 ERA (148.2IP, 59ER) between the two levels during the 2019 campaign.

MLB Preview: New York Yankees (6-3) at Cleveland Guardians (6-4)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: New York Yankees (6-3) at Cleveland Guardians (6-4)

NEW YORK YANKEES NOTES:

AT A GLANCE: The Yankees will continue their first road trip of the season with the first game of a three-game set at Cleveland (through Wed.)…are 2-1 on the road trip after winning two-of three at Baltimore this past weekend…return home on Thursday to begin a season-long 10-game homestand vs. Minnesota (Thurs.-Sun.), Los Angeles-AL (4/18-20) and Toronto (4/21-23).

Have won six of their first nine games for just the third time in the last 20 years since 2004 (8-1 in 2020 and 6-3 in 2010)…with a win today, would mark just the third time in that same span the Yankees have won at least seven of their first 10 games (8-2 in 2020 and 7-3 in 2010).

Have won each of their first three series for just the third time in the last 20 years (since 2004)…also won their first four series in 2020 and first five in 2010.

Have scored in the first inning in five of their nine games…have scored first in six of their nine games (are 5-1 in those games).

YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Yankees clinched a series win over the Orioles with a 5-3 victory at Baltimore on Sunday…LHP Nestor Cortes (5.1IP, 4H, 2ER, 2BB, 5K) started and earned his second win of the season…CF Aaron Judge (3-for-4, 3R, 2HR, 2RBI) recorded his first multi-HR game of the year with solo home runs in the third and eighth inning…DH Giancarlo Stanton (1-for-4, 1RBI) hit an RBI single in the first inning… RF Franchy Cordero (2-for-4, 1R, 1HR, 2RBI) hit his second HR of the season with a two-run shot in the fifth inning…1B Anthony Rizzo (2-for-4, 1 double) picked up his first multi-hit game of the season and extended his season-opening on-base streak to eight games…RHP Albert Abreu (1.0IP, 1H, 1BB, 2K), RHP Ron Marinaccio (0.2IP, 1K) and RHP Clay Holmes (SV, 1.0IP, 1K) were scoreless in relief…RHP Jimmy Cordero allowed a run in the eighth inning (1.0IP, 1H, 1ER, 1HR, 2K).

ON A ROLL: OF Franchy Cordero hit his second HR of the year on Sunday at Baltimore with a two-run shot in the fifth inning…has homered in back-to-back games for the fourth time in his career (also 2G from 8/26-28/22, 4/27-28/18 and 6/12-13/17)…is hitting .357/.400/.857 (5-for-14) with 3R, 1 double, 2HR, 7RBI and 1BB in four games this season.

PITCH PERFECT: Yankees pitchers have allowed just 25R over their first nine games (2.78 R/G), their second-fewest runs allowed through their first nine games of a season in the last 59 years since 1965 (allowed 24R in 2022).

Have allowed 3R-or-fewer in six of their nine games this year…have held opponents to 2R-or-fewer in five of nine games and allowed one-or-zero runs in four of their games.

Lead the Majors with 101 strikeouts and an 11.36 K/9.0IP ratio (101K/80.0IP)…have recorded double-digit strikeouts in seven of their nine games this season.

Rank third in K/BB (4.04) and WHIP (1.13), fourth in ERA (2.81) and opponents’ OPS (.611), fifth in HR/9.0IP (0.68) and opponents’ BA (.219).

NASTY NESTOR: LHP Nestor Cortes earned his second win of the season on Sunday after allowing just 2ER over 5.1IP (4H, 2BB, 5K)…is 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA (10.1IP, 3ER) in two starts this year.

Has allowed 3R-or-fewer in 40-of-44 starts since the beginning of 2021 and 2R-or-fewer in 34 of those starts…in 52 appearances (44 starts) since the beginning of 2021, has gone 16-7 with a 2.61 ERA (261.2IP, 76ER), 274K and a .203 (194-for-957) opponents’ BA…his 2.61 ERA in that span is the third-lowest in the Majors (min. 200.0IP), trailing only Max Scherzer (2.52) and Julio Urias (2.54).

GLEYBER DAY: Despite going hitless on Sunday, INF Gleyber Torres has still reached base in 19-of-37 plate appearances this season, batting .357/.514/.607 (10-for-28) with 6R, 1 double, 2HR, 6RBI, 9BB and 5SB.

Has reached base multiple times in seven of his nine games and has reached base at least three times in three games… has hit safely in seven of his nine games.

Is tied for second in the Majors in stolen bases (5, tied for second in AL), tied for fourth in walks (9, second in AL), tied for sixth in OBP (.514, tied for third in AL) and tied for eighth in plate appearance per strikeout ratio (12.33, fifth in AL)…ranks sixth in the AL in OPS (1.121).

Has 5SB in 9G this season…did not record his fifth stolen base in 2022 until his 74th game played on 7/7/22 at Boston.

Has walked nine times while striking out just three times in 37PA this season…did not record his ninth walk in 2022 until his 49th game of the year on 6/4/22 vs. Detroit.

NOBODY BEATS THE RIZZ: INF Anthony Rizzo has reached base safely in each of his first eight games this season, reaching base in 14-of-35 plate appearances (.400 OBP)… matches the third-longest season-opening on-base streak of his career (12G in 2020, 11G in 2012 and 8G in 2019).

ALL RISE: OF Aaron Judge recorded his first multi-HR game of the season and the 28th of his career on Sunday at Baltimore, hitting solo HRs in the third and eighth inning… his 28 career multi-HR games are the sixth-most by a Yankee in franchise history, trailing only Babe Ruth (68), Mickey Mantle (46), Lou Gehrig (43), Joe DiMaggio (35) and Alex Rodriguez (29).

His 28 career multi-HR games are the second-most in Major League history through 738 career games, trailing only Ralph Kiner (29).

His 224HR through 738 career games are the second-most by any Major League player through his first 738 career games, trailing only Ryan Howard (225HR).

With his 223rd and 224th career home runs on Sunday, surpassed Don Mattingly (222HR) for the 11th-most home runs in Yankees history…his 224 home runs also mark the third-most home runs by a Yankee who was drafted and signed by the club (Jorge Posada-275HR, Derek Jeter-260HR).

Owns a career-high 42-game on-base streak (since 8/29/22), batting .380/.519/.803 (54-for-142) with 40R, 9 doubles, 17HR, 29RBI, 42BB, 1HP and 4SB in that span…matches the longest on-base streak by a Yankee in the last 19 seasons since 2005 (also Luke Voit’s 42-game streak from 9/19/18-5/3/19 and Mark Teixeira’s 42-game streak from 6/6-7/26/10)…has reached base multiple times in 31 of those 42 games.

His 42-game on-base streak matches the third-longest onbase streak by a Yankee in the last 82 years (since 1942), trailing only Derek Jeter (57G from 1998-99) and Alex Rodriguez (53G in 2004)…Luke Voit (42G from 2018-19), Mark Teixeira (42G in 2010), Bernie Williams (42G in 2001), Paul O’Neill (42G in 1996) and Don Mattingly (42G from 1993-94) also recorded 42-game streaks…also matches the fourth-longest on-base
streak by a Yankee in the last 86 years since 1938 (in addition to the list above, Joe DiMaggio had a 74-game streak in 1941 and Bill Dickey had a 42-game streak from 1938-39).

His 42-game on-base streak is the third-longest by any Major League player since 2019, trailing only St. Louis’ Paul Goldschmidt’s 46-game streak from 4/22-6/10/22 and Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco’s 43-game streak from 7/25-9/29/21.

Has reached base safely in each of his first nine games this season, batting .364/.436/.758 (12-for-33) with 8R, 1 double, 4HR, 7RBI, 5BB and 2SB.

The Yankees have gone 147-49 in his career when he homers…since 2020, the Yankees are 75-20 in those games.

His 4HR this season are tied for the most in the AL and are tied for the third-most in the Majors…also ranks eighth in the Majors in SLG (.758, third in AL) and OPS (1.193, fourth in AL).

EN GARD!: The Yankees will face the Guardians for the first time since defeating them in the ALDS last season…went 5-1 vs. Cleveland during the regular season before going 3-2 in the ALDS…since 2021, are 9-4 vs. Cleveland in 13 regular season games…including the postseason, are 14-6 against Cleveland since 2020.

CENTRAL PERK: The Yankees went 25-8 (.758) vs. the AL Central in 2022…are 36-12 in their last 48 games vs. the division (since 6/23/21) and 49-18 in their last 67G (since 9/12/19).

Have won 19 of their last 22 series vs. the AL Central (since 9/10/19)…have won or split 22 of their last 25 series (going 20-3-2 since 6/13/19) and 25 of their last 29 series (going 23-4-2 in series since 4/18/19).

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

BRONX BOMBERS: Yankees batters have homered in each of their first nine games of a season for just the fourth time in franchise history (first 12G in 2020, first 10G in 1999 and first 9G in 2001).

Have hit 16HR in nine games this season, the fourth-most in the Majors, trailing only Tampa Bay (24HR in 9G), Los Angeles-NL (18HR in 10G) and San Francisco (17HR in 9G).

Marks just the sixth time in franchise history that the Yankees have hit at least 16HR through their first nine games of a season (also 20HR in 1932, 2019 and 2020; 19HR in 2003; 18HR in 2011).

Have scored at least 4R in eight-of-nine games this season…have scored at least 5R in six of their nine games.

Have had nine different players homer this season, tied for the third-most in the Majors (San Francisco-11, Tampa Bay11, Los Angeles-NL-9).

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP DOMINGO GERMÁN(0-1, 7.71 ERA)
RHP Domingo Germán will make his second start of the season tonight at Cleveland…the 30-year-old will start on extended five days’ rest…made his season debut on Tuesday vs. Philadelphia and took the loss, allowing 4ER over 4.2IP (4H, 0BB, 8K, 2HR)…his 8K were his most in a game since recording 10K on 7/25/21 at Boston…in 2022, went 2-5 with a 3.61 ERA (72.1IP, 65H, 31R/29ER, 19BB, 58K, 11HR) in 15 games (14 starts) with the Yankees…allowed 3R-or-fewer in a career-high 12 consecutive starts from 7/27-9/30/22…missed the first 93 games of the season with right shoulder impingement syndrome…in five seasons with the Yankees, has gone 26-22 with a 4.41 ERA (418.1IP, 205ER) and 437K in 93 games (71 starts)…was signed by the Yankees as a minor league free agent on 12/11/15…was originally acquired by the Yankees from the Miami Marlins along with RHP Nathan Eovaldi and INF Garrett Jones in exchange for RHP David Phelps and INF Martín Prado on 12/19/14.

LAST TIME OUT: Made his season debut on Tuesday vs. Philadelphia and took the loss, allowing 4ER over 4.2IP (4H, 0BB, 8K, 2HR)…marked his fourth career start with at least 8K and 0BB allowed (9K, 0BB on 4/18/19 vs. Kansas City; 9K, 0BB on 6/19/18 vs. Seattle; 9K, 0BB on 6/9/18 at New York-NL)…his 8K were his most in a game since recording 10K on 7/25/21 at Boston…allowed 1BB-or-fewer for the ninth time in his last 12 starts (since 8/6/22 at St. Louis)…allowed 4ER for a second straight start (4ER on 10/5/22 at Texas, his final regular season start in 2022)…marks the fourth time in his career he’s allowed 4ER-or-more in consecutive starts.

VS. CLEVELAND: Has made four career starts against Cleveland, going 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA (22.0IP, 12ER) and 27K…made his last start vs. the club on 4/22/21 at Progressive Field (W, 6.0IP, 7H, 3R/2ER, 1BB, 6K).

Has recorded 6K-or-more in each of his four career starts against Cleveland.

Made his first career Major League start vs. Cleveland on 5/6/18 and did not allow a hit or run in 6.0IP (2BB, 9K)…retired his first 11 Batters faced before walking José Ramírez with two outs in the fourth inning…overall, retired 18-of-20 batters and did not record a decision, exiting the game tied at 0-0…was the fourth Yankee ever to record at least 9K in his first career start, joining Hideki Irabu (9K in 6.2IP on 7/10/1997 vs. Detroit), Dan Tripple (10K in 9.0IP on 9/25/1915-G2 vs. Cleveland) and Russ Ford (9K in 9.0IP on 4/21/1910 at Philadelphia-AL).

ON THE ROAD: In 48 career games (37 starts) on the road, is 14-13 with a 4.84 ERA (219.1IP, 118ER) and 215K.

Will make his first road start of the season…in 2022, went 0-4 with a 3.46 ERA (39.0IP, 37H, 16R/15ER, 9BB, 30K, 6HR) in eight road appearances (seven starts).

Allowed 2R-or-fewer in a career high four consecutive road starts from 7/27-8/27/22…allowed 1R-or-fewer in three consecutive road starts from 8/6-8/27/22, tied for the longest such streak of his career (also recorded three such starts from 4/28-5/20/21).

In 16 career road starts against AL East opponents, is 7-4 with a 4.19 ERA (81.2IP, 75H, 42R/38ER, 24BB, 75K, 12HR). 2022: Went 2-5 with a 3.61 ERA (72.1IP, 65H, 31R/29ER, 19BB, 58K, 11HR) in 15 games (14 starts) with the Yankees…opponents hit .236 (65-for-275, 11HR); LH .230 (31-for-135, 5HR); RH .243 (34-for-140, 6HR).

Surrendered 3R-or-fewer in 12 of his 14 starts, including 2R-or-fewer in eight starts and 1R-orfewer in four starts.

Allowed 1BB-or-fewer in nine of his 14 starts in 2022.

Missed the first 93 games of the season with right shoulder impingement syndrome (4/8-7/21-G1).

Surrendered 3R-or-fewer in a career-high 12 straight starts from 7/27-9/30 (previous: nine straight starts from 4/22-6/6/21)…also allowed 2R-or-fewer in four straight starts from 7/27-8/12, tying the longest streak of his career (also four straight starts from 5/9-27/21).

Allowed 1R-or-fewer in back-to-back starts from 8/6-12…marked the fourth time in his career he has accomplished the feat (also from 5/15-20/21, 7/3-12/19 and 9/29/18-4/1/19).

Tossed at least 6.0 innings in four consecutive starts from 8/22-9/7-G1…matched the second-longest such stretch of his career, trailing only a five-start stretch from 4/7-5/5/19…also did so in four straight starts from 6/7-7/18/19 and 6/4-19/18.

Did not record a decision on 8/27 at Oakland despite tossing a career-high 7.2 scoreless innings (3H, 0BB, 5K, 0HR, 1HP)…did not allow a hit over his first 5.1IP and retired 16 of his first 17BF (1HP) before allowing an infield single to Nick Allen in the sixth inning.

Made his only relief appearance of the season on 9/16 at Milwaukee, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings (1H, 1BB, 2K)…marked his first relief outing since 10/1/21 vs. Tampa Bay…was his longest relief appearance since 7/11/21 at Houston (2.0IP).

Made just one postseason appearance — his first career postseason appearance — in ALCS Game 3 vs. Houston, tossing a scoreless inning of relief (2BB, 1K).

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Is 26-22 with a 4.41 ERA (418.1IP, 205ER) and 437K in 93 career games (71 starts)… has made three career Opening Day rosters (2019, ‘21, ’23).

Won 18 games in 2019, nine times as many wins as he totaled in 28 games (14 starts) in his first two Major League seasons (2017-18).

Has a 3.31 ERA (49.0IP, 18ER) in 22 career relief appearances.

Was signed by the Yankees as a minor league free agent on 12/11/15…was originally acquired by the Yankees from the Miami Marlins along with RHP Nathan Eovaldi and INF Garrett Jones in exchange for RHP David Phelps and INF Martín Prado on 12/19/14.

CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:

GUARDIANS WIN SEATTLE SEASON SERIES IN EXTRAS
The Guardians posted their first walk-off win of 2023 in Sunday afternoon’s series finale against Seattle, rallying for a 7-6 victory across 12 innings at Progressive Field…club is coming off a 5-2 road trip thru Seattle (3-1) and Oakland (2-1) to start the season… Cleveland (6-4) has won 6 of last 9 and holds sole possession of 2nd-place in the AL Central standings, one half-game behind Minnesota (6-3).

The wild back-and-forth finish saw the two clubs combine for 10 runs after the conclusion of the 8th inning, as Cleveland posted three separate two-run rallies to knot the score in the 9th and 11th frames ahead of the club’s game-winning sequence in the 12th that included JOSH NAYLOR’s RBI-groundout and JOSH BELL’s game-winning fielder’s choice to plate JOSÉ RAMÍREZ, who drove in the Guardians’ first tally with a 1st-inning sac fly after Cal Raliegh gave Seattle an early 2-0 lift with a two-run shot in the 1st…both offenses would be held scoreless across innings 2-8… WILL BRENNAN sent the game to extras with his two-out, two-run double in the 9th and followed ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ’s RBI-double in the 11th with his third RBI on a single.

ZACH PLESAC rebounded from the 1st-inning damage to turn in a 7.0-inning quality start (7.0IP, 5H, 2R-ER, 1BB, 6SO, 1HR, 91 pitches) opposite Mariners starter George Kirby (6.0IP, 5H, 1R-ER, 0BB, 4SO, 96 pitches)…the 3-hour, 48-minute contest featured 14 pitchers, 5 wild pitches and 6 intentional walks.

THE BRONX BRIEFING
From Monday to Wednesday, the Yankees come to Cleveland for a 3-game set…Cleveland will then head to New York for another trio of games in the Bronx from May 1-3 to cap the season series… the two clubs last squared off in the 2022 ALDS when New YorkAL won the series 3-2 to advance to the ALCS…New York-AL won game one only to have Cleveland take the following two games, featuring a walk-off 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run single from OSCAR GONZALEZ in the bottom of the 9th in game 3…the Yankees won Games 4 and 5 to advance.

The Guardians went 3-8 against the Bronx Bombers last season, going 2-3 at Progressive Field and 1-5 at Yankee Stadium… Cleveland’s last season series win against the New Yorkers came in 2019 when they went 4-3…the Guards have a 4-11 record in their last 15 regular season games against the Yankees…overall, Cleveland holds a 506-525 home record against New York-AL and an overall record of 909-1151-6 against the franchise since 1901.

EXTRAS EXTRAS READ ALL ABOUT IT!
After winning in 12 innings on Sunday, the Guards earned their MLB-leading fourth extra-inning win of the season…Cleveland is the second team in MLB history to go 4-0 in extra-innings in the first 10 games of a season, first accomplished by the 1979 Montreal Expos…the Guards are also the first MLB team with 4 extra-frame wins within the first 10 games of a season since the 1982 California Angels went 4-1…Cleveland has taken part in 4 of MLB’s 7 extra-inning games this season.

In 2022, the Guardians (13-6, .684) were 2nd in the AL in extra-inning win percentage, trailing the Mariners (11-5, .688)…Cleveland tallied the most extra-inning wins in MLB and ranked 4th in MLB in extra-inning win percentage last year.

JOSÉ BEING JOSÉ
With a single in Sunday’s game, JOSÉ RAMÍREZ extended his hit streak to a MLB-best 15 games among active players in 2023, dating back to last season…he is slashing .344/.423/.535 with 6 doubles, one triple, one home run and 12 RBI over his 15-game hit streak…he and HOU’s José Abreu are the only two MLB hitters to open the 2023 season with one-or-more-hits in each of their first 10 games…Ramírez leads MLB this season with 4 intentional walks.

Ramírez, who also opened the 2022 season on a 12-game hit-streak, became the second player in Cleveland history to begin multiple seasons with hit streaks of 10-or-more games…he joins Nap Lajoie, who opened the 1911 season on a 15-game hit streak and 1912 season on a 13-game streak.

Ramírez (293) is now 3 doubles away from tying Charlie Jamieson (296) for the 7th-most doubles in franchise history…his 192 career home runs rank T10th in club history with Al Rosen, needing one more to sit alone in 10th.

MYLES PER HOUR
MYLES STRAW recorded his MLB-leading 6th steal on Saturday night, making him 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts on the season… Straw is currently on pace for 97 stolen bases on the year…he stole a career-high 30 bases in 2021…Kenny Lofton set the franchise record for single-season stolen bases, swiping 75 bags in 1996.

For the 13th time in franchise history and first time since 1998, Cleveland has 15-or-more bases in the first 10 games of a season… the Guards rank T2nd in MLB with 15 stolen bases behind Arizona (17) and have only been caught stealing twice in 15 attempts (86.7%)…the Guards are tied with Baltimore for the AL lead.

BELIEVELAND BREAKTHROUGHS
After scoring four runs in the most recent series, ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ leads MLB with 12 runs scored…this is the second straight season in which a Guardians hitter has scored 12-or-moreruns in the first 10 games of a season as MYLES STRAW recorded 13 runs in 2022…the last time this happened in consecutive seasons in club history was Grady Sizemore in 2007 (12 runs) and Travis Hafner (15 runs) in 2006…Giménez now

With a two-out double in the 9th and a single in the 11th, WILL BRENNAN notched his first two career game-tying hits and first two hits in the 9th inning or later…he also became the first Cleveland hitter with two game-tying hits in the 9th-inning-or-later since at least 1973.

STEVEN KWAN maintains his MLB lead with 211 pitches faced this season, 10 pitches ahead of ATL’s Matt Olson and Austin Riley.

TONIGHT’S STARTER – 57 SHANE BIEBER RHP
BIEBER’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 0-0 0.00 2 2 12.0 9 3 3 1 10
Career 54-26 3.16 115 113 715.0 627 270 251 154 841

BIEBER AT HOME
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 0-0 0.00 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0
Career 20-15 3.70 51 50 304.1 298 135 125 71 355

THE ACE RETURNS
The 27-year old right-hander is set to make his third start of the season in his 2023 Progressive Field debut on Monday night against New York-AL…it’s his fourth career start against the Bronx Bombers and his first since a loss on April 4, 2021…he has two straight quality starts to begin the year, posting a 2.25 ERA (3ER/12.0IP) with 10 punchouts and one walk… is making this appearance on an extended 5 days’ rest after his last outing on Tuesday in Oakland; is 20-8 with a 2.51 ERA (73ER/261.1IP) across 39 starts on exactly 5 days rest.

LAST START
Bieber last got the nod in a 4-3 loss on April 4 at Oakland, the middle installment of a 3-game series vs. the A’s…he did not factor into the decision, allowing 3R/ER over 6.0 innings, striking out 7 and walking one…he retired the first six batters he faced before giving up 2 runs (earned) in the 3rd inning, highlighted by an RBI-double from Esteury Ruiz…another run scored via a wild pitch in the bottom of the 6th… Oakland would win the game on a walk-off single from Tony Kemp.

BIEBER VS. THE BRONX
This will be his fourth regular season start against the Yankees, all coming here at Progressive Field, owning a 1-1 record with a 5.74 ERA (10ER/15.2IP) with 19 strikeouts and 7 walks across his 3 previous starts…he has gone 7.0 innings in two of those starts, but only lasted 1.2 innings in his start against New York-AL on June 9, 2019, tied for his shortest start of his career (also 7/24/2018 vs. PIT)… in 23G/22GS against the AL East he has an 11-8 record with a 3.88 ERA (62ER/143.2IP), his highest ERA against any AL Division.

He has faced the Yankees twice in the Postseason during his career, going 0-1 with a 7.84 ERA (9ER/10.1IP) in those outings… faced New York-AL in 2022 ALDS Game 1, allowing 2R/ER in 5.2 innings with 7 strikeouts and 3 walks.

HIGH QUALITY
After beginning the season with 2 consecutive quality starts, Bieber has a made quality start in 13 of his last 15 starts, including an 11 start-streak from July 29-September 22, 2022…with his 23 quality starts in 2022 he finished T3rd in the American League and T5th in MLB…he has made 78 career quality starts.

AL QUALITY START RANKINGS, 2022
NAME TEAM QS
Framber Valdez HOU 26
Alek Manoah TOR 25
Shane Bieber CLE 23
Martín Pérez TEX 23

WINS WITHOUT WALKS
His 4.6% walk rate posted in 2022 was a career-low…the righty was 11-2 with a 2.15 ERA (36ER/151.0IP) since the start of 2022 when walking one-or-fewer batters, and 2-6 with a 4.16 ERA (31ER/67.0IP) when issuing base on balls to two-or-more hitters…through 10.0IP this season he has only issued one walk, a 2.2% walk rate.

THE PITCH, NOT THE MASCOT
Bieber’s slider has been working for him through his first two starts, holding hitters to a .190 average (4-for-21) with 7 of his 10 strikeouts coming by way of the pitch…in 2022, his most effective pitches were his slider and curveball, both of which held hitters to a .191 batting average…nearly 85% of sliders thrown (718/849) were to righthanded batters, and over 85% of curveballs thrown (439/514) were to left-handed batters.

LEADING THE LAND
Bieber led Cleveland’s starting rotation in ERA (2.88), innings pitched (200.0), and strikeouts (198) in his 31 starts during the 2022 season…he became the first Cleveland pitcher since Sam McDowell 1964-66, 1968-70) with multiple qualified seasons with a sub-3.00 ERA before age 28.

Among 2022 AL pitching leaders, Bieber ranked 1st in fewest-pitches-per-IP (14.4), 3rd in innings pitched (200.0), 5th in walk rate (4.6%), 6th in strikeouts (198), 6th in whiff rate (29.7%), 7th in ERA (2.88), 7th in WHIP (1.04), 9th in opposing batting average (.230) and 9th in strikeout rate (25.0%).

MLB Preview: Cincinnati Reds (4-4) at Atlanta Braves (6-4)

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MLB Preview: Cincinnati Reds (4-4) at Atlanta Braves (6-4)

CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:

RED HOTS
• In 2022, the Reds didn’t earn their fourth win of the season until the 26th game (5/7)…began last season 3-22 to become only the third team in modern Major League history to begin a season with as few as 3 wins over the first 25 games (1988 Orioles 2-23, 2003 Tigers 3-22).

• Reds manager David Bell missed Friday’s game at Phi following the removal of a cyst from his neck/shoulder area…the procedure was performed in Cincinnati…returned to the Reds’ bench on Saturday.

TONIGHT’S GAME
• Is Game 1 of 3-game series vs Jeff Lombardi’s Braves and Game 4 (1-2) of the Reds’ first road trip of the season, a 7-day, 6-game jaunt that
included a rainout followed by a 2-1 series loss at Phi.

• Following this series the Reds return to Great American Ball Park for a 7-game homestand vs the Phillies (4g) and Rays (3g), who will play in Cincinnati for a second straight year (3-0 Reds sweep from 7/8-7/10).

• The Reds opened this season with a 3-2 homestand vs the Pirates (2-1) and Cubs (1-1, 1ppd).

SERIES NOTES
• The Reds are 25-23 vs Atl in the last 48 regular season games, including 3-4 in 2022, and went 4-2-1 in the previous 7 season series.

• The Reds went 2-1-2 in their previous 5 regular season series at SunTrust/Truist Park, including a 5-3 win on 8/18/17 in their inaugural game at the new ballpark.

• The Reds also suffered a 2-game series sweep loss at Truist in the 2020 Wild Card Series.

• The 7-6 loss in the second game of the 2022 season, at Truist Park, was the Reds’ 1,000th loss to the Braves since 1900.

• From 1997-2016 the Reds went 27-42 at Turner Field and didn’t win a series at that park after 9/4-9/6, 2009 (0-3-4 in 7 series, 8-14 in 22 games).

PHILLIES UP NEXT, AGAIN…
• The Reds and Phillies will meet for the second consecutive weekend, this time at Great American Ball Park…the Reds are 34-40 all-time vs Phi at GABP, including 1-2 last season.

…FOLLOWED BY THE RAYS
• The Reds are 13-5 all-time vs TB, including 7-2 in Cincinnati.

• Overall the Reds won 4 of the previous 6 series vs the Rays.

• Dating back to the 2014 season, the Reds have won the last 4 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).

REHABBING
• 1B Joey Votto is with Louisville on a rehabilitation assignment (7g, 6gs at 1B, 1gs at DH, 4-28, .143, 1 2b, solo HR, 3rbi, 3bb, 17k)…began his rehab on 4/1 at Nashville and hit a solo HR off Caleb Boushley on the first pitch he was thrown… on 8/19/22 had surgeries to repair the left biceps and torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder.

• IF/OF Nick Senzel is with Louisville on a rehabilitation assignment (5g, 2gs in CF, 2gs at 3B, 1gs at DH, 5-17, .294, 2 2b, 2rbi, 1sb, 4bb, 5k, 1hbp, .867ops)…on 11/14/22 had surgery to repair a sesamoid fracture in his left great toe.

• RHP Tony Santillan is rehabbing with Louisville (2g, 2ip, 1bb, 3k)…threw a perfect seventh inning in Fri’s 5-3 loss vs Indianapolis (1ip, 1k, 11 pitches)…is recovering from a low back Pars stress fracture.

• RHP Luke Weaver (right elbow flexor strain) is with Louisville on a rehabilitation assignment…started and threw 4.0 hitless innings in yesterday’s 8-1 loss vs Indianapolis (2bb, 4k, 14bf, 61 pitches).

• RHP Lucas Sims (low back spasms) is with Louisville on a rehabilitation assignment…threw a scoreless fifth inning in yesterday’s 8-1 loss vs Indianapolis (1h, 0bb, 1k, 4bf, 12 pitches).

2022: A SEASON OF RECORDS
• 66 players appeared in at least 1 game for Reds, a new club record for number of players in a season…the previous franchise record was held by the 2003 Reds (57 players).

• 38 players pitched in at least 1 game for the Reds, a new club record for number of pitchers in a season and including position players Matt Reynolds (2g), Max Schrock (1g) and Alejo Lopez (3g).

• 17 pitchers started at least 1 game for the Reds, tying the 2003 club record for number of starters in a season.

• Reds pitchers hit 110 batters, a new Major League single-season record (2021 Cubs pitchers, 98hbp)…the previous club record for batters hit by Reds pitchers in a season was 80 in 2005.

• 10 Reds pitchers recorded at least 1 save (Ross Detwiler, Alexis Díaz, Buck Farmer, Ian Gibaut, Joel Kuhnel, Dauri Moreta, Tony Santillan, Lucas Sims, Hunter Strickland, Art Warren), tying the 2021 single-season franchise record.

2022 YOUNG GUNS
• In 62 combined starts, Reds rookie starting pitchers RHP Hunter Greene, LHP Nick Lodolo and RHP Graham Ashcraft went 14-26, 4.34 (334ip, 161er)…all 3 made their Major League debuts in 2022.

• 6 times in 2022 the Reds started rookie pitchers in 3 straight games (last, 7/31-8/2, Lodolo, Greene, Ashcraft).

• In LHP Reiver Sanmartin (Game 2), Greene (Game 4) and Lodolo (Game 6), in 2022 the Reds used as many as 3 rookie starting pitchers in the first 6 games of a season for only the second time in their history…the 1902 Reds staff used 3 rookie starting pitchers in their first 5 games, and 4 of their first 6 games that season were started by rookie pitchers (Bob Ewing 2 starts, Len Swormstedt, Martin Glendon).

Tonight’s Pitcher – #51 Graham Ashcraft, RHP
• Tonight is making his second appearance of the season and his first career appearance vs the Braves…never has faced any of the Braves’ hitters.

• Started the third game of the season and earned the 3-1 win vs the Pirates.

• In his last start of spring training, on 3/22 vs SD, allowed 1 hit while recording 10 strikeouts without a walk in 6.0 innings…time of game was 1:52.

• In 2022, in his Major League debut ranked among the National League rookie pitching leaders in starts (T3rd, 19gs), innings pitched (4th, 105.0), ERA (7th, 4.89), strikeouts (11th, 71), opponents’ BA (8th, .281) and WHIP (1.42, 8th).

• From 8/23-9/23 missed 32 days and 31 games while on the 15-day injured list with right biceps soreness.

• In 16 starts prior to the injury went 5-3, 3.97…in his last 5 starts prior to his injury went 1-1, 2.67 (33.2ip, 32h, 10er, 8bb, 24k, 3hr, .252baa), lowering his ERA from a season-high 4.70 to 3.97.

• After 2 rehab apps for Chattanooga and Louisville (5.2ip, 15h, 10r, 5er, 1bb, 11k, 123 pitches), finished the season 0-3, 12.00 in his last 3 starts for the Reds.

• Hunter Greene threw 7.0 scoreless innings (0bb, 8k) in the 7-0 win on 6/6 vs Ari and Ashcraft followed with 6.0 scoreless innings (0bb, 4k) in the 14-8 victory on 6/7 vs Ari…for the first time since 1900, Major League rookie starting pitchers in consecutive games threw at least 6.0 shutout innings without a walk.

• Greene & Ashcraft comprised the third set of Reds rookie pitchers since 1901 to make consecutive starts of at least 6.0 scoreless innings, joining Mike Regan & Hod Eller in 1917 and Sal Romano & Robert Stephenson in 2017.

• Made his Major League debut in the 3-2 win on 5/22 at Tor…replaced in the rotation scheduled starter RHP Connor Overton, who following the previous day’s game was scratched with a stress reaction in his lower back…Ashcraft already was with the team as a substitute player for the series in Toronto.

• In 2021 was an MiLB.com Organization All-Star, MLB.com’s Reds Pitching Prospect of the Year, the Reds’ Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June and a 3-time league Pitcher of the Week.

• His fastball, slider and curveball all have been rated by Baseball America the best among Reds minor league pitchers.

• Was selected by the Reds in the sixth round of the June 2019 draft…was signed by Jonathan Reynolds.

ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Braves and Reds tonight open a three-game series with the first of six scheduled meetings between the two teams this season…The teams will play again, June 23-25, for three games at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

• Atlanta has gone 4-3 against Cincinnati in each of the past two seasons…Prior to 2021, Atlanta had not won the season set with Cincinnati since going 5-2 in 2014…From 2015-2019, the Braves went 15-19 (.441) against Cincinnati.

• The Braves are 8-9 against the Reds here at Truist Park since the facility opened in 2017, and have won just one of the five series here between the clubs…The two teams split four games in 2022 and 2019, while the Reds won three-game sets in 2017 and 2018…Neither club has swept the other here.

• Since 2017, the two teams are 17-17 against each other in 34 total games…Cincinnati has outscored Atlanta by just one run, 159-158, in these games.

• RH Bryce Elder has never faced the Reds…. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound right-hander made his season debut on April 5 at St. Louis, and pitched
6.0 scoreless innings to earn the win, 5-2…Elder pitched to a 2-4 record with a 3.17 ERA (19 ER/54.0 IP) over 10 appearances and nine starts
with Atlanta last season, including the only shutout by a Braves starter on the year.

• RH Graham Ashcraft has also never faced Atlanta, nor has he pitched against a member of the Braves’ current roster…The 6-foot-2, 245-pound native of Huntsville, AL pitched 7.0 innings of one-run baseball in his season debut, beating the Pirates, 3-1, on April 2…The right-hander made his major league debut last season and went 5-6 with a 4.89 ERA (57 ER/105.0 IP) over 19 starts for the Reds.

LOSS: Atlanta fell to San Diego, 10-2, last night for the Braves’ fourth loss of the season and their third in as many nights…Each of Atlanta’s eight hits last night were singles, the club’s first game of the season in which it did not collect an extra-base hit.

• The Braves’ eight-run loss was their largest setback of the season…Their most lopsided defeat last season was April 14 at San Diego, by a 12-1 score.

• Atlanta did not lose three straight home games at any point last season…The club lost at home on consecutive days just twice all year, with the final time coming on April 23-24 vs. Miami.

• The Braves last lost three straight here in Atlanta from August 12-24 of 2021, when they dropped the finale of a three-game series to Cincinnati and then lost two straight to New York-AL to open the next homestand.

• Atlanta has not lost four straight at home since a five-game skid here in May, 2021.

• Atlanta never held a lead last night and has trailed throughout in all four of its losses this year…The Braves are one of five teams in baseball this season to win every game in which it has led.

NO LONG LOSING STREAKS?: Atlanta has lost three straight games, matching its longest losing streak for all of last season…The Braves have not lost four straight games since dropping two apiece to Colorado and San Francisco, August 14-18, 2021.

• The Braves’ three straight losses game in games No. 8-10.

• Atlanta was the final team in the majors to suffer through a three-game skid last year, with the club’s first coming August 6-7, games No. 108-110… Last season marked the deepest a team has gone into a season without a three-game skid since 2001, when the Mariners did not suffer through their first until games No. 147-150 (a four-game streak).

• Last season marked the deepest by games played the Braves had ever gone into a season without losing three games in a row.

• The Braves did not have a losing streak longer than three games last season, and only lost three straight four times… The last Braves team without a losing streak longer than three games was the 2004 club.

• The Braves went the entire season without being swept last year, becoming just the sixth team since 1990 to go an entire season without being swept and the first team in a full season to do so since the 2004 Braves.

OUTFIELD ASSISTS: Ronald Acuña Jr. threw out Manny Machado at second base last night, the right-fielder’s third outfield assist of the season…His three assists are tied for second most in the majors, trailing just Philadelphia’s Nick Castellanos (4).

• Acuna’s Jr.’s first two assists came in the same game, April 4 at St. Louis…He is the first Braves outfielder with two assists in a single game since he did so himself on June 21 of last season vs. SF.

• Acuña Jr. is one of two outfielders in baseball with multiple multi-assist games since the start of last season…Teoscar Hernández did so three times last season for Toronto.

• Last season, Acuna Jr.’s 97.9 mph average on throws from the outfielder was hardest by a right fielder in baseball, and trailed just KC’s Nate Eaton (98.1 mph) for hardest overall.

BULLPEN: The Braves’ bullpen covered 4.2 innings last night against San Diego, the sixth time this season it has worked at least 4.0 frames.

• Those six occurrences are tied for the third most by major league bullpen, behind only Boston (9) and Houston (7).

• Additionally, the bullpen’s 40.1 innings pitched overall are the most in the National League and stand as fourth most in the majors.

• Despite its frequent usage, Atlanta’s ‘pen maintains the second-best ERA in the National League (2.90) and the fifth-best in baseball.

• Milwaukee (0.84) is the only N.L. club with a better bullpen ERA.

Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #55 Bryce Elder
Tonight’s Game
• Set to make his 11th career start, 12th appearance and his first outing against Cincinnati.

• This will mark his second appearance against the NL Central…the first was his last outing against St. Louis

• Held the Cardinals to two hits and three walks over 6.0 scoreless frames in his last start.

• Pitching to 1.40 ERA with a 2-1 record over his last six starts after being recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett, dating to August 14, 2022.

• His 1.40 ERA is tied for the third lowest in baseball among pitchers with at least five starts during that span.

• In that stretch, Elder is averaging 6.1 innings pitched per outing, tied for the fourth highest rate in the majors.

• Through 10 career starts, Elder has pitched 57.2 innings.

• His 57.2 frames tossed through his first 10 starts are tied for the thirteenth-most in Atlanta franchise history and the most since Tommy Hanson’s 61.0 innings pitched in 2009.

• His career innings pitched rank T-13th most among Atlanta-era pitchers through their first 10 starts.

2022 Recap
• Made nine starts and pitched in 10 total games during his debut season, compiling a 2-4 record with a 3.17 ERA (19 ER/54.0 IP)…Surpassed his rookie innings limit in his final start of the season, but was rated as Atlanta’s No. 4 prospect during the season.

• Made his major league debut, April 12, and beat the Nationals, 16-4…Pitched 5.2 innings with six hits, three runs and four strikeouts…Allowed a pair of home runs.

• Pitched the first shuout of his career, September 26 at Washington, allowing just six hits and one walk…Struck out six…The Braves beat the Nationals, 8-0.

• The outing is the only shutout by a Braves pitcher on the season.

• Elder became the first Braves rookie to throw a shutout since Paul Marak in 1990.

• Started on August 14 at Miami…He pitched 7.0 innings in that start, allowing three hits and one run in the no-decision, and fanned a career-most 10 batters… The Braves beat the Marlins, 3-1.

• Became just the third Braves player in the live-ball era (since 1920) to log a double-digit strikeout effort within the first six games of his career…He joined LHP Mike Minor (12 strikeouts at the Cubs in his third career game) and RHP Ryan Weber (10 strikeouts vs. Washington in his fifth appearance).

• Was added as the 27th man for Atlanta’s doubleheader at New York on August 6, and pitched 2.1 innings of relief against the Mets in Game 1.

• Walked six batters in his start, April 24, and five in his start on April 17, after issuing zero bases on balls in his debut.

• The 11 walks are the most for any Braves pitcher in a two-game span since 2012, when Tommy Hanson also walked 11 between his starts on July 20 and July 25.

• Made 18 appearances and 17 starts for Triple-A Gwinnett on the season, and went 6-5 with a 4.46 ERA (52 ER/105.0 IP) and 97 strikeouts for the Stripers.

• Became the seventh pitcher in franchise history to debut with a start against the Nationals/Expos, and the first since Manny Banuelos pitched 5.2 scoreless innings on July 2, 2015 in his first career appearance.

• Including Elder, the seven pitchers combined to go 3-2 and compile a 3.23 ERA (14 ER/39.0 IP), including four starts of at least 5.0 innings and no more than two runs allowed.

• Atlanta improved to 5-2 in games in which a starting pitchers debuts against Washington, including wins in each of the last five such games.

Career
• Was originally drafted by Atlanta in the fifth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Texas…Was the fifth member of the 2020 draft class to debut, and the lowest-selected pick to do so.

• Of the first five members to play in the majors from the 2020 draft class, three were selected with the first 11 picks in the draft – Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson (No. 1 overall), the Angels’ Reid Detmers (No. 10) and the White Sox’s Garrett Crochet (No. 11).

• The other two were both selected by Atlanta, and chosen with the 126th (Spencer Strider) and 156th (Elder) overall selections.

• Made his professional debut during the 2021 season and pitched across three levels of the Braves’ farm system…Went a combined 11-5 with a 2.76 ERA (41 ER/133.2 IP) and 151 strikeouts in 24 games, all starts.

• Named the Double-A South Pitcher of the Week for July 5-July 11, and Double-A South Pitcher of the Month for July…In nine starts he went 7-1 with a 3.21 ERA (20 ER/56.0 IP).

MLB Preview: Miami Marlins (4-6) at Philadelphia Phillies (3-6)

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MLB Preview: Miami Marlins (4-6) at Philadelphia Phillies (3-6)

MIAMI MARLINS NOTES:

MARLINS MINUTE
The Marlins tonight begin a three-game series at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park. Is the second stop on their six-game road trip – the team’s first road trip of the season. Started the trip taking one of three against the Mets at Citi Field. Following this series, return home for a six-game homestand against Arizona (Fri-Sun) and San Francisco (Mon-Wed).

YESTERDAY’S RECAP
Miami took the series finale, 7-2, at the Mets. The Marlins improved to 11-7 all-time on Easter Sunday. LF Bryan De La Cruz hit his first homer of the year in the first inning, a three-run shot, and reached base in all four plate appearances (2×2, 2 walks). Matched his career high with 4 RBI (fourth time). DH Garrett Cooper (2×5) added a two-run homer in the fifth, his team-leading third home run of the year. LHP Braxton Garrett held the Mets to 2 runs in 4.2 innings of work, striking out 7.

JACKIE ROBINSON CLASSIC RETURNS
The Marlins and the Miami Marlins Foundation will host the second annual Jackie Robinson Classic on Wednesday, April 12 at loanDepot park. Presented by NIKE, this year’s Classic will pit two Broward County teams – Piper High and South Broward High – against each other for a regular season game. The Classic will celebrate Jackie’s legacy as each student-athlete will wear a customized Marlins shirt with the number 42 on the back along with one of Jackie’s nine values. The South Florida community is invited to cheer on the teams at the complimentary event and jam along with the high school bands! Courtesy of JP Morgan, the students and bands from each school will enjoy a ballpark hot dog, chips and a drink.

COOP-A-LOOP
1B Garrett Cooper has hit safely in seven of his nine games this season, going 11×34 (.324). Dating back to last season, he has hit safely in each of his last 8 road games.

• Only two National League players have more homers – Pete Alonso (5) and Bryan Reynolds (5)

• Owns a .333 (22×66) career average at Citizens Bank Park, his third-highest mark at any opponents ballpark in which he’s played at least two series (Busch Stadium – .450; Coors Field – .429).

GOOD FIRST IMPRESSIONS
INF Luis Arraez has 16 hits in his first 10 games of the year. Is tied with the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman for most hits among National Leaguers, with only Toronto’s Matt Chapman (19), Vlad Guerrero Jr. (18), and Bo Bichette (17) collecting more in the Majors. Among qualifiers, his .471 avg. (16×34) leads the NL and trails only Chapman (.485) in the Majors.

• Arraez’s 16 hits are the most for a player in their first 10 games with the Marlins since Emilio Bonifacio (17) in 2009. Only Cameron Maybin (18 in 2008), Juan Pierre (18 in 2003), and Bonifacio (17 in 2009) collected more hits in their first 10 contests with the Marlins.

• Became just the second player in Marlins history to reach base safely as the starting leadoff hitter in each of the first four games to start a season, joining Hanley Ramirez in 2006 (credit: Elias).

• Has struck out just 3 times in 39 plate appearances.

PHITIN’ THE PHILS
Of the 19 games played between the Marlins and Phillies last year, the Marlins had the lead at some point in 14 of the contests, but went just 7-12 vs. Philly. 11 of the contests between the teams were decided by two runs or less. The Marlins had 9 losses in ‘22 when tied or leading after the end of 7th inning – four of which came at Citizens Bank Park.

JUNIOR RBI’ers
On Thursday, the Marlins Jr. RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) season started up with the Marlins and loanDepot, hosting special Opening Day festivities for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade – Northwest Club at Coral City Park. A special first pitch was thrown by Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Oliver G. Gilbert, III. As part of its continued commitment to the Miami community and in collaboration with the Miami Marlins Foundation, loanDepot supports the growth of youth baseball and softball teams for kids at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade – Northwest Club.

• This year, nearly 50 teams across South Florida are taking the field in their Marlins uniform as part of the Marlins RBI program. Participants enjoy a free, fun, and instructional spring league in addition to clinics hosted by Marlins players and alumni. The Marlins provide uniforms, equipment, and umpires for the leagues.

HOMER TIME
The Marlins have scored 20 of their 27 runs this season via home runs. Have hit 11 homers total over the first 10 games, homering in eight of the contests, including each of the last five.

NOBODY MESSES WITH THE JESUS
LHP Jesus Luzardo held the Twins to 1 run over 7.0 innings of work for the win in his last start on Wednesday. Dating back to last season, has limited opponents to 1 run or no runs in each of his last 4 starts at loanDepot park. Over the stretch, owns a 0.73 ERA (24.2/2) in his home starts, striking out 38 batters.

FISH ON THE RUN
The Marlins stole 5 bases in yesterday’s win at the Mets (without being caught), their most since June 18, 2022, also at Mets. Their 7 stolen bases this year are fifth most in the NL. Since the start of 2020, the Marlins have stolen 155 bases on the road, the most for any team over the stretch.

RING THE BELL
Marlins General Manager Kim Ng and President of Business Operations Caroline O’Connor were joined by ADT Executive Vice President and CMO DeLu Jackson at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning to ring the Opening Bell. The opportunity was extended in recognition of the Marlins’ jersey patch partnership with ADT and to highlight the Marlins organization as the first to be entirely women-led.

TODAY’S STARTER – #22 SANDY ALCANTARA
• Sandy Alcantara (Al-CON-ta-ra), 27, finished his historic 2022 season with 32 starts going 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 228.2 innings, along with 6 complete games, a 0.98 WHIP, and a .212 opponents’ batting average in 32 starts. He led Major League Baseball in innings pitched and complete games and led all NL pitchers with an 8.1 WAR (Baseball Reference). During Alcantara’s entire life (born Sept. 1995) only two pitchers reached the same statistical totals since the 1996 season: Felix Hernandez, SEA (2010) and Pedro Martinez, MON (1997).

• Alcantara’s fourth career shutout on April 4th marks the fourth time in club history that a Marlins pitcher has thrown a complete game shutout in the first six team games of the regular season (Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett, 2005 and Brad Penny, 2002).

• Won Baseball Digest’s MLB Pitcher of the Year Award. Became the second Marlin to win this honor (Dontrelle Willis, 2005). Was named the second annual Juan Marichal Award recipient, an honor given to the league’s best Dominican player.

• His 14 wins were the most by a Marlins pitcher since Jose Urena in 2017 (14-7). The last Marlin to have more wins was Jose Fernandez, who won 16 games in 2016.

• Became the first pitcher since Chris Sale in 2016 to throw 6 CG. Only three pitchers in club history have recorded more CGs in a season – Livan Hernandez (9, 1998), A.J. Burnett (7, 2002) and Dontrelle Willis (7, 2005).

• Posted a 1.64 ERA (121.0 IP/22 ER) in 16 starts at loanDepot park in 2022. Marked the best home ERA by a Marlins starter with at least 15 starts since Jose Fernandez in 2016 and is the fourth-lowest mark in club history (J. Fernandez, 1.19 – 2013; J. Johnson, 1.57, 2010; J. Fernandez, 1.63 – 2016).

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:

GAME #9 RECAP: The Phillies fell to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-4, on ring day in South Philly … Starter Taijuan Walker (ND) went 4.2 innings and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits with 5 walks and 5 strikeouts … Alec Bohm homered, and Bryson Stott had 2 more hits to raise his season average to .429 … The Reds rallied for 3 runs in the 9th inning off Seranthony Dominguez to avoid a sweep in a series the Phillies won, 2-1.

EVERY TIME THE MOON SHINES I BECOME ALIVE: Tonight marks the first night game of 2023 at Citizens Bank Park … Last year, under the lights at CBP, the Phillies went 35-19 (.648 win %) with a +66 run differential (275-209) … Regular season only, the Phillies have won 14 of their last 16 at home under the lights (.875 win %, since 8/20/22), 19 of 22 (.864 win %, since 8/4/22) and 29 of 39 (.744 win %, since 6/1/22).

CITIZENS BANK SPARK: Since July 27, 2022, the Phillies have played 42 games at Citizens Bank Park (regular and postseason combined) – they have won 30 of them (.714 winning %) … Among all clubs since July 27, 2022, Philadelphia’s .714 winning percentage at home (regular and postseason combined) ranks 2nd in MLB to only ATL (24-9, .727 win %).

BEDLAM AT THE BANK: Friday marked the 20th home opener in the history of Citizens Bank Park (since 2004) … During the 2022 postseason, the Phillies went 6-2 in eight games (.750 win %) at CBP, outscoring the opposition 44-23 (+21 run differential) … The Phillies posted an .839 OPS in 284 combined plate appearances at home during the postseason and slugged 18 home runs (2.25 per game, .508 SLG) … Philadelphia’s 18 home runs at their home park rank T-1st in MLB history during the postseason with the 2017 Astros (2020 Rays hit 23 HR but games were held at neutral sites due to the COVID-19 pandemic) … Overall, there have been 138 teams in MLB history to play at least five postseason games in a single postseason at home – the 2022 Phillies rank 2nd out of those 138 clubs with an average of 2.25 home runs per game (HOU in 2020, neutral site, 2.40 HR/G) … Last year, the Phillies became only the eighth team in MLB history to win each of their first six postseason games at home … All-time in the postseason at CBP, the Phillies are 22-11 (.667 win %) with a +63 run differential (178-115) … Since Oct. 3, 2007, the day CBP hosted its first postseason game, Philadelphia’s .667 winning percentage during the postseason at home is best in MLB (min. 25 G) – the Astros at Minute Maid Park rank 2nd (.625), Red Sox at Fenway 3rd (.649), Giants at Oracle 4th (.643) and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium 5th .623).

SAINT NICK: Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos ranks T-2nd among all major league players with 3 defensive runs saved (DRS) this season … Castellanos, who leads the Phillies in DRS (next: Realmuto, 2 DRS), ranks T-2nd among all MLB outfielders in DRS as well (others: Mike Yastrzemski, Kyle Isbel and Joey Wiemer) and trails only SEA’s Teoscar Hernandez, who leads MLB with 5 DRS … At the plate, Castellanos is the only player in baseball this season with at least six doubles and six walks and he’s one of only four players with at least six extra-base hits and six walks (others: Matt Olson, Xander Bogaerts and Will Smith) … Castellanos has six walks through nine games while averaging 4.22 pitches per plate appearance – last season he drew his ninth walk in his 17th game and averaged 3.70 pitches per plate appearance over 558 PA’s for the year.

STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO, GOOD LUCK: Phillies LHP Jose Alvarado extended his career-best scoreless streak to 17.2 innings yesterday (18 G, since 8/26/22) … Over that stretch, he has struck out 34 of the 59 batters he has faced (57.6 %) while walking only three (5.1%) and holding opponents to a .073/.121/.073 slash line … This season, Alvardo has struck out 11 of the 13 batters he has faced (84.6%) including each of the last 10 … Per Elias, Alvarado is the first Phillies relief pitcher and only the third in MLB in the expansion era (since 1961) to strike out 10 consecutive batters within a single season, joining Eric Gagne (10 straight, 5/17-21/03) and Chad Greene (10 straight, 9/18-24/19) … Since Sept. 25, 2022, Alvarado has pitched 7.1 innings over 7 appearances – he has 19 strikeouts, 0 walks and only 2 hits allowed (both singles) in those 7.1 innings pitched … Starting with his last batter faced on 9/22/22 vs ATL, Alvarado has struck out 20 of the last 25 batters he has faced (80.0%), and in doing so, has joined Josh Hader (21 of 25, 9/3-21/18) as the only two relief pitchers in the expansion era to strikeout 20+ in a 25-batter span.

WELCOME BACK, JEAN: Prior to today’s game, former Phillie Jean Segura will be presented with his 2022 National League Championship ring … Segura spent four seasons with the Phillies (2019-22) and hit .281 with a .755 OPS over 427 games … In Game 1 of last year’s NL Wild Card Series against the Cardinals, Segura capped off a Phillies comeback with a 2-run , game-winning single on Oct. 8 at Busch Stadium … Per Elias, Segura had played in 1,328 career regular season games before debuting in the postseason – there are only three other players in MLB history with as many regular season games played who collected the game winning RBI in their first career postseason game: Carlos Delgado (1,711 games, 2006 NLDS Game 1 vs LAD), Ted Kluszewski (1,530 games, 1959 World Series Game 1 vs LAD) and Nick Markakis (1,365 games, 2014 ALDS Game 1 vs DET).

BBCIB: Tonight, Garrett Stubbs is scheduled to make his second start of the 2023 season … Since being acquired by the Phillies from the Astros on November 19, 2021 in exchange for OF Logan Cerny, Stubbs has started 33 games for the Phillies and is slashing .272/.348/.466 with an .814 OPS in 33 starts … Last season, Stubbs ranked 7th among 84 qualified catchers with an average pop time of 1.91 seconds from home to second base (best: Realmuto, 1.82 seconds).

NEW TONIGHT, AT (THE) 6: On 12/8/22, the Phillies signed SS Trea Turner to an 11-year contract, taking him through the 2033 season … Last year with LAD, Turner was selected as an All-Star for the second time in his career, was named All-MLB First Team and won his first career Louisville Silver Slugger Award after slashing .298/.343/.466 with a 121 OPS+ and 27 steals in 30 attempts … Per Statcast, his average sprint speed of 30.3 feet per second ranked 5th out of 582 qualified players … In 2021, Turner led the majors in AVG (.328) and hits (195), led the NL in stolen bases (32) and total bases (319) and posted a career-best 6.8 fWAR (FanGraphs) which ranked 3rd among all ML position players

TONIGHT’S STARTER – MATT STRAHM • LHP #25
LAST START: 4/4 at NYY: ND, 4.0 IP, H, BB, 3 SO … Strahm vs German … The Phillies defeated the New York Yankees, 4-1, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx … Kyle Schwarber blasted a 415-foot home run in the 1st inning and Brandon Marsh followed with a 436-foot shot in the 3rd … Andrew Bellatti (1.0 IP, 2 SO), Jose Alvarado (1.0 IP, 3 SO) and Connor Brogdon (2.0 IP, 1 SO) made scoreless appearances in relief of Strahm.

TONIGHT’S START:
• Not As Hard As It Looks: Two turns through the rotation, Strahm, who made his first start on 4/4 at NYY since August 2021, remains the only Phillie with a scoreless start this season, and has allowed the fewest baserunners (2) by an Phillie in a start in 2023

• Like Riding a Bike: Strahm is making consecutive starts for the first time since 6/26-7/2/19, the end of a streak of 15 straight starts for the lefty … Since then, 105 of his 108 appearances have been in relief

• Reverse Splits: 16 of the 17 batters Strahm faced in his debut were RHH … They went 1-for-15, BB, 4 SO … In his career, RHH are slashing .225/294/.389 as opposed to LHH slash line of .249/.327/.497 … Dating back to 9/11/22, the 44 RHH he has faced are hitting only .132/.250/.211 with 14 SO

• Welcome Aboard: Strahm is in his first year of a two-year contract with the Phillies after signing with the club as a free agent in December

• vs NL East: 3-2, 3.88 ERA (20 ER, 46.1 IP) in 22 games (6 starts)

HOME:
• 2022: 3-1, SV, 3.16 ERA (9 ER, 25.2 IP) in 25 relief appearances

• Career: 8-10, SV, 3.87 ERA (63 ER, 146.1 IP) in 96 relief appearances (9 starts)

• CBP: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (3.1 IP) in 3 relief appearances

2022 SEASON:
• Spent season with BOS as a relief pitcher

• Posted a 1.88 ERA (3 ER, 14.1 IP) over his first 17 appearances and a 2.95 ERA (13 ER, 39.2 IP) over his first 45 • On COVID-related IL, 5/30-31

• On injured list with a left wrist contusion, 7/13-8/18; included rehab assignment to Worcester (AAA)

• Averaged 10.48 SO/9.0 IP (52 SO, 44.2 IP)

• Surrendered just one home run to the 57 LHH he faced

MLB Preview: Houston Astros (4-6) at Pittsburgh Pirates (6-3)

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MLB Preview: Houston Astros (4-6) at Pittsburgh Pirates (6-3)

HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Houston Astros, the reigning World Series champions, will open a three-game series tonight in Pittsburgh behind their Opening Day starter LHP Framber Valdez, who’s making his third start of the young season…this is the Astros first visit to Pittsburgh since the 2016 season, meaning since their last visit, the Astros have won two World Series championships (2017, 2022) and have played in the ALCS on six occasions (2017-22).

THE FRAMCHISE: LHP Framber Valdez, a 2022 All-Star, has been one of the best pitchers in the Majors the last three-plus seasons (2020-23) as he leads the AL over that timespan in ERA (3.01), while ranking tied for second in wins (33). AL Wins Leaders (2020-23) AL ERA Leaders (2020-23) Gerrit Cole: 38 Framber Valdez: 3.01 Framber Valdez: 33 Dylan Cease: 3.11 Dylan Cease: 33 Gerrit Cole: 3.22

AT THE HELM: Astros skipper Dusty Baker is in his 26th season as a manager and his fourth at the helm in Houston…Baker, who ranks ninth all-time in managerial wins with 2,097 wins, has an outside shot of moving up to sixth all time by seasons end…en route, he’d have to surpass Joe McCarthy (8th, 2,125), Bucky Harris (7th, 2,158) and Sparky Anderson (6th 2,194). IN THE BOX: This season is the first for the Astros under General Manager Dana Brown, who was named the 14th GM in club history in January…this season is also the 12th for the Astros under Owner & Chairman Jim Crane, who purchased the club in November of 2011.

RIVALRY RENEWED: The Astros and Pirates are renewing their former NL Central rivalry this week with a three-game series… it’s been a minute since these two teams saw each other, with that last series falling from June 25-27, 2019, a three-game series in Houston (PIT won two of three)…only three players that played in that series are currently active for the Astros: LF Yordan Alvarez, 3B Alex Bregman and LHP Framber Valdez.

SUNDAY, FUNDAY: The Astros won the finale of their three-game series in Minnesota yesterday by a score of 5-1…rookie RHP Hunter Brown pitched like a man possessed in what was his fourth Major League start, tossing 7.0 innings of two-hit ball, while recording seven strikeouts en route to the win…he was backed by a huge game from leadoff man CF Chas McCormick (2×5, HR, 4RBI) and a strong bottom of the order that combined to go 7×16 (.438) from the 6th-9th place hitters.

CLEAN GETAWAYS: Going back to last season, the Astros have won 13 straight regular season games on ‘getaway days’ (travel days), including two this season…the last time they did not win on a getaway day was on Aug. 7, 2022, at CLE…looking at the 2022 postseason, the Astros also won all six of those getaway days, two in each round.

LEADOFF SPICE: CF Chas McCormick drove in four RBI yesterday in what was his 12th career start batting leadoff… that leadoff position for the Astros has been primarily manned by 2B Jose Altuve and CF George Springer over the years, making McCormick the Astros first leadoff hitter, other than those two, to record four RBI in a single game since LF Robbie Grossman had a four-RBI game as the Astros leadoff hitter on
Aug. 23, 2013 vs. TOR.

EARLY LEAGUE LEADERS:LF Yordan Alvarez ranks tied for first in the Majors in RBI (14), along with three others…Alvarez and RF Kyle Tucker both rank tied for sixth in the AL in homers (3), while Tucker ranks tied for seventh in walks (7).

EARLY RETURNS: Per Elias, 1B José Abreu is the first player in club history to begin his Astros career with a 10-game hitting streak, which is still active entering tonight…Abreu’s streak ties as the longest streak in the Majors this season and is the longest start of season streak in Abreu’s 10-year career.

RACKIN’ UP RBI: LF Yordan Alvarez (14 RBI) is just the fifth player in club history to post 14 RBI within the team’s first 10 games…he joins Glenn Davis (15 in 1988), Derek Bell (15 in 1998), Lance Berkman (14 in 2006) and Richard Hidalgo (14 in 2004) on that list.

SEÑOR CIEN:LF Yordan Alvarez connected for his 101st career homer on Saturday at MIN, which was also his third career grand slam…Alvarez became the quickest player to reach 100 homers in Astros history, doing so in his 372nd game, topping 1B Lance Berkman, who hit his 100th career homer in his 452nd game.

BOMBS AWAY: RF Kyle Tucker owns a share for the club lead with three home runs on the young season, which ranks tied for sixth in the AL…Tucker is looking to improve upon his career high of 30 homers, which he reached in 2021 and 2022.

MISSING PIECE: The Astros are playing without their leadoff man, 2B Jose Altuve, who suffered a right thumb fracture while playing in the World Baseball Classic…Altuve is expected to be sidelined from baseball activity for approximately two months… in his stead, the Astros have started IF Mauricio Dubón (6g) and IF David Hensley (4g) at the keystone, while SS Jeremy Peña (8g) and OF Chas McCormick (2g) have shared leadoff duties. FILLING IN NICELY: 2B Mauricio Dubón is off to a strong start to the season, as he’s hitting .304 (7×23) in six games,
which includes an active five-game hitting streak…Dubón, who started most of his games at shortstop and center field in 2022, has made all six of his starts at second base this season while filling in for the injured 2B Jose Altuve.

TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: LHP FRAMBER VALDEZ

LAST START – 4/4 vs. DET: produced one of the best starts from an Astros pitcher this season, tossing 7.0 innings and striking out 9 batters while allowing 1 run but received the losing decision in a 6-3 loss to the Tigers…were the most strikeouts from an Astros pitcher this season and matches RHP Hunter Brown for the longest start from the Astros this year.

AGAINST THE PIRATES: will face the Tigers for just the 2nd time in his career and the 1st time since 2019…will also be his 1st career start at PNC Park

• tossed 3.0 IP and allowed 6 runs on 8 hits and took the loss on 6/26/19 vs. PIT…is one of just 5 times out of his 100 career appearances he allowed 6+ runs.

ON THE ROAD: will be making his 1st road start of the season and has been productive on the road throughout his 6-year career, recording a 3.28 ERA (99 ER/271.2 IP) through 50 career road appearances.

• went 10-2 with a 2.27 ERA (29 ER/115.0IP) in 17 road starts in ‘22…were the most road wins of AL pitchers and was the 4th-lowest road ERA in MLB amongst qualifying starters.

• his career 3.28 ERA on the road is the 4th-lowest of AL pitchers since 2018 (min. 250 IP).

OPENING DAY STARTER: made his 2nd consecutive (and career) Opening Day start…is the first Astros pitcher to make back-to-back Opening Day starts since Justin Verlander (2018-21) • was the second Dominican-born pitcher to start Opening Day for the Astros, joining Wandy Rodriguez in 2012…was one of three Dominican-born pitchers to get Opening Day nod in ‘23, joining Marlins RHP Sandy Alcantara and Mariners RHP Luis Castillo.

• was the third LHP in Astros history to make back-to-back Opening Days, joining Dallas Keuchel (2015-17) and Dave Roberts (1973-74)

• became the first Dominican-born pitcher in Astros history to pick up a winning decision on Opening Day in ‘22…tossed 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing just 2 hits and striking out 6 batters to 1 walk, in a 3-1 win at LAA.

THE 2022 CAMPAIGN: tossed 25 straight quality starts from 4/25 to 9/18, setting the MLB record for the most consecutive quality starts in a single-season…streak also was the longest streak in MLB this year and tied for the 2nd-longest streak in MLB history when including multiple seasons…also extended the Astros franchise record (previously held by RHP Mike Scott (20g) in 1986).

• led the Majors with 26 quality starts and was 1st pitcher in MLB to record 23 consecutive quality starts since RHP Jacob deGrom made 26 consecutive quality starts from 5/18/18-4/3/19… among AL starters, was 1st in IP (201.1), 1st in home runs per 9 IP (0.52), 1st in GB percentage (67.3), 2nd in wins (17), 6th in opponent OPS (.600) and 6th in ERA (2.82).

• finished 5th in AL Cy Young voting, with teammate Justin Verlander winning the award.

• Made his first career All-Star game roster in ‘22 after being selected through the player vote to Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium…picked up the winning decision in a 3-2 victory for the American League, after tossing a perfect 3rd inning in relief…was the 1st Astros pitcher and 5th Dominican-born pitcher to collect ASG winning decision and 1st since Pedro Martinez in ‘99.

WITH THE ‘STROS: signed by the Astros as a 21-year-old international free agent from the Dominican Republic on March 18, 2015.

• the left-hander has gone 41-24 with a 3.33 ERA (195ER/526.1IP) and 510 strikeouts in 100 games (78 starts) in the Majors with Houston from 2018-23.

• has been one of the AL’s most prolific starters since 2020, ranks 1st in the AL in opponent OPS (.621), T-2nd in wins (33), 4th in opponent’s batting avg (.227), 6th in innings (418.2), 7th in pitcher’s WAR (4.8) and 8th in strikeouts (408).

• has been a groundball machine in his Major League career…owns a career 66.0% groundball percentage, which ranks as the lowest percentage in the Majors from 2018-22 (min. 300 IP)… the next closest player is LHP Brett Anderson (56.9 %) …since ground ball percentage started being tracked in 1987, Valdez career ground ball percentage is the highest ever posted by a starting pitcher (min. 250 IP).

• has held left-handed hitters to a .209 average (81×388) and a .601 OPS in the Majors…has allowed just five homers to left-handed hitters in his career.

• for his career in the postseason, he’s recorded a 3.41 ERA (26 ER/68.2 IP) in 12 career games (12 GS)…since ‘20 leads all MLB pitchers in postseason wins (7), strikeouts (75), IP (68.2) and quality starts (7).

PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:

THE PIRATES:…Have won each of their last two series since dropping two of three games against the Reds at Great American Ball Park to begin the season…Won a season-high four straight games from 4/3-7…Swept a three-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park from 4/3-5…Are off to their best start after nine games since winning seven of the first nine games of the 2018 season.

ROSTER MOVE: The Pittsburgh Pirates today placed infielder Oneil Cruz on the 10-day injured list with a left ankle fracture…Infielder Mark Mathias (pronounced muh-THIGH-us) has been recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis…Mathias will wear uniform No. 6.

ON THE MARK: The Pirates acquired Mark Mathias from Texas on March 8 for a player to be named (minor league pitcher Ricky DeVito)…Mathias was hitting .333 (10-for-30) with a double, home run and two RBI in nine games with Indianapolis at the time of his promotion today…Mathias has played six different positions in his big league career, making 10 appearances in right field, seven at second base, six in left field, four at first base, two at third base and one in center field.

REYNOLDS’ WEEK IN REVIEW: Bryan Reynolds was named the National League Player-of-the-Week today for the week of April 3-9..Reynolds went 12-for-25 (.480) with two doubles, a triple, four home runs, 12 RBI and a 1.584 OPS in six games last week…He is the first Pirate to take home National League Player-of-the-Week accolades since Adam Frazier from July 1-7, 2019.

ON THE BUMP TONIGHT: Roansy Contreras will make his 2023 PNC Park debut tonight in the opener of this three-game series against the Astros…Contreras won his season debut Tuesday night against the Red Sox after allowing one run in 5.2 innings.

ABOUT RO: Roansy Contreras ranked fifth among all National League rookies in ERA (3.89) and strikeouts (86) and third in batting average against (.225) in 2022…He also posted the seventh-lowest ERA (3.53) among all rookies in MLB with at least 50.0 innings pitched beginning with his start on July 7 through the end of the season while his .202 batting average against in that time ranked third among MLB rookies with at least 50.0 innings of work.

ALL-RIGHTY THEN: Tonight will be just the second time this season the Pirates are opposed by a starting lefthander… Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo is the only starting southpaw the Pirates have faced this year, which came on April 1 at Great American Ball Park…The Pirates went 22-33 in games started by lefthanders in 2022.

BUCCO BLANKINGS: Pittsburgh blanked the White Sox 1-0 yesterday afternoon for its fourth 1-0 win since the beginning of last season…In addition to yesterday, the Pirates also recorded 1-0 shutouts last year against the Reds on May 15 (were no-hit but won the game), July 23 vs. Miami and September 13 at Cincinnati.

PIRATING: The Pirates enter today second in the National League and tied for fifth in all of MLB with 11 stolen bases..The only National League team with more stolen bases coming into today are the Diamondbacks (17).

HOMETOWN HELLO: Tomball, Texas, native Ke’Bryan Hayes will play against him hometown team for the first time in his career tonight…Hayes is a 2015 graduate of Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, Texas, where he helped lead his team to the 2015 TAPPS state championship.

THE RENEGADE: David Bednar enters today tied for the Major League lead in saves with four along with Toronto’s Jordan Romano…He is one of six different Pirates (accomplished seven times total) to record four saves within the team’s first nine games of the season (the last to do it was Joel Hanrahan in 2011).

MAKE THAT A DOUBLE: Andrew McCutchen enters today with 294 career doubles as a member of the Pirates, which is tied with Bill Mazeroski for the eighth-most in club history…Dave Parker ranks seventh (296).

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Saturday night Andrew McCutchen’s ninth inning home run was his first as a member of the Pirates since going deep twice on September 26, 2017, against the Orioles here at PNC Park…McCutchen’s 94 career home runs at PNC Park are the most in the ballpark’s history…McCutchen ranks fourth in Pirates history with 204 home runs, trailing only Willie Stargell (475), Ralph Kiner (301) and Roberto Clemente (240).

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – #59 – RHP ROANSY CONTRERAS
ROANSY CONTRERAS: The 23-year-old righthander is making his second start of the season tonight…Won a 4-1 (5.2ip/1er) decision at Fenway Park in his season debut on 4/4.

vs. HOUSTON: Has never faced the Astros…Has gone 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA (27.1ip/13er) in five career starts during interleague play.

MLB Preview: Oakland Athletics (2-7) at Baltimore Orioles (4-5)

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MLB Preview: Oakland Athletics (2-7) at Baltimore Orioles (4-5)

OAKLAND ATHLETICS NOTES:
ABOUT THE A’S: The A’s have lost the first three series of the season for the fourth time in Oakland history (1979, 1987, 2001)…lost the first four series in 1987 and 2001…are 2-7 after nine games for the second time over the last 22 years (also 2021)…have not started the year 2-8 since 2010…this is the A’s 56th season in Oakland where they have won 17 American League West titles, four AL Wild Cards, six AL pennants and four World Championships… only the Atlanta Braves (22), New York Yankees (20) and Los Angeles Dodgers (20) have more division titles than the A’s…since the A’s moved to Oakland in 1968, only the Yankees (11), Cardinals (8) and Dodgers (8) have more league championships and only the Yankees have more world championships (7)… have a 4495-4182 (.518) record over the previous 55 seasons in Oakland… only four teams have won more games over that span (New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston, St. Louis)…this is the Athletics franchise 123rd season in the American League…since 1901, the A’s have 17 AL West titles plus 15 AL pennants and nine World Championships…only the Yankees (27) and Cardinals (11) have won more World Championships…the A’s are 9210- 9654 (.488) in their previous 122 seasons…that includes a 3886-4248 record
from 1901-54 in Philadelphia and 829-1224 from 1955-67 in Kansas City.

SHUTOUT: The A’s were shutout 11-0 in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday at Tampa Bay…it marks the first time the A’s have been shutout in consecutive games since Sept. 23-24, 2016…it is the fourth time since 1901 that an American League or National League team was shutout in back-toback games while allowing at least 11 runs in each game (last: Cleveland, June 28-29, 2019 at Baltimore)…have been shutout three times this year, which is tied with the Royals for the most in the majors.

OFFENSE: The A’s were held to one hit yesterday for the first time since May 30, 2018, also at Tampa Bay…extended their streak of consecutive games with at least one hit to 4,938, which is the third longest streak in American League history…have collected just four hits in the last two games and have been held to six hits or fewer in seven of the first nine games…are tied for the fewest runs scored in the majors (27), have the second lowest batting average (.192) and slugging percentage (.320), third lowest OPS (.584) and on-base percentage (.265) and are tied for the fourth fewest extra base hits (21)…are a perfect 7-for-7 in stolen bases attempts and are one of eight teams without a caught stealing.

PITCHING: The A’s allowed 11 runs in each of the final two games at Tampa Bay, which marks the first time they have yielded 11 or more runs in back-to-back games since May 21-23, 2017…have a 7.54 ERA over the first nine games, which is the highest in the majors…have the highest opponents on-base percentage (.382), slugging percentage (.497) and OPS (.879) and the second highest batting average (.283)…has the second fewest strikeouts (61) and fourth most walks (46)…are tied for the second most wild pitches (7) and tied for the third most home runs (17)…the A’s ERA breaks down to 10.04 by the starting pitchers and 4.99 by the bullpen…the starters ERA is more than 2½ earned runs higher than the next closest team (Tigers, 7.49)…the A’s and the Phillies are the only teams without a win by their starting pitchers.

HOME AND AWAY: The A’s 0-3 on their first road trip of the season, a seven-game trip to Tampa Bay (0-3) and Baltimore (four games)…went 31-51 (.378) on the road in 2022, which was the third worst road record in the American League…return home following the game Thursday for a six-game homestand against New York-NL (three games) and Chicago-NL (three games)… went 2-4 on the season-opening six-game homestand against Los Angeles AL (1-2) and Cleveland (1-2)…were 29-51 (.362) at home last year, which set an Oakland record for lowest home winning percentage…had the second worst home record in the majors to Washington (26-55, .321).

NIGHT AND DAY: The A’s are 2-2 in night games and 0-5 during the day…are one of three teams in the majors without a win in day games (Dodgers, 0-2; Tigers, 0-5)…are batting .271 (38-for-140) with 22 runs at night, .119 (18-for151) with five runs during the day…have a 5.50 ERA (22 er in 36.0 ip) at night, 9.20 (45 er in 44.0 ip) during the day.

THIS AND THAT: The A’s have committed nine errors over the first nine games, which is the most in the majors (Red Sox, 8)…both of the A’s wins have been one-run decisions and Oakland is 2-1 in one-run games…are tied for the fourth most one-run games in the majors…have a run differential of -45, which is the lowest in the majors (Tigers, -35)…are 2-3 when the opponent starts a left-handed pitcher, 0-4 when they start a right-hander…have played two of the seven extra inning games in the majors…are 2-2 in games decided in the last at bat…the A’s average time of game is 2 hours and 38 minutes… have not averaged under 2:43 per game since 1979 when they averaged 2:34

DURING THE SPRING: The A’s went 11-17-3 (.355) this spring, which was the worst record in the Cactus League and third worst in the majors ahead of Pittsburgh (9-18-4) and Miami (7-16-4)…it was the fifth lowest spring winning percentage in Oakland history…went 5-10-3 last spring and have back-to-back losing springs for the first time since 2016-18 when they had three straight…the A’s led majors in on-base percentage (.367), walks (153), hit by pitches (26) and lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.83)…the walks were second most by an A’s team during the spring since 1990, the earliest year spring stats are available (had 154 in 1997)…the hit by pitches were the most since 2009 (28) and the on-base percentage was the best since 2013 (.367)… tied for second in the CL in triples (9), ranked third in stolen bases (40), fourth in OPS (.783) and plate appearances per strikeout (4.45) and tied for fourth in runs (171) and doubles (64)…the stolen bases were the most by an A’s team during the spring since at least 1990, the first year spring stats are available…had the most grounded into double plays in the majors (32)…had the second fewest home runs in the CL (27) and the fifth lowest slugging percentage (.416)…the pitching staff had the highest ERA (6.35), opponents OPS (.849) and on-base percentage (.385) in the majors, the third highest batting average (.283) and fifth highest slugging percentage (.465)…the ERA was the highest by an A’s team during the spring since at least 1990 (previous: 6.22 in 1999)…also led the majors in runs (209), walks (171) and wild pitches (36)…the walks are the most by an A’s team during the spring since at least 1990…tied for the second most home runs allowed in the CL (40)…were one of two teams in the majors without a balk (Cardinals)…the A’s defense had the fourth fewest errors in the CL (23) and tied for fifth in outfield assists (4)…had the most passed balls (7).

ROSTER NOTES: The A’s Opening Day roster featured seven players who returned from last years Opening Day roster, which matched the fewest returning players by an A’s team since Opening Day rosters are first available in 1992 (also 2012)…seven were signed as free agents, which are the most free agents on an A’s Opening Day roster since 1995 when they had eight…of the 26 players on the A’s Opening Day roster, only four played for Oakland in at least each of the previous three seasons: Ramón Laureano (2018-22), Seth Brown (2019-22), James Kaprielian (2020-22) and Tony Kemp (2020-22)… Seth Brown, who was drafted on June 10, 2015 has the longest tenure in the A’s organization…18 of the 26 players were acquired by Oakland since the conclusion of the 2021 season.

THE INJURED LIST: The A’s placed Seth Brown on the injured list today and now have six players on the IL (Blackburn, Piña, Rucinski, Snead, Tarnok)… began the season with five players on the IL after starting the season with three last year…used the IL 31 times last year, which broke the Oakland record of 27 set in 2016 and matched in 2021…however, used the IL nine times for Covid in 2022 and three times in 2021.

A’S VS. ORIOLES
• The A’s won the season series last year 4-3 and are 18-8 (.692) against the Orioles over the previous four years…that includes 10-3 in Oakland and 8-5 in Baltimore.

• The A’s are 1017-953 all-time against the Orioles/Browns/Brewers…the only other of the seven original American League franchises that
the A’s have a winning record against is the Twins/Senators.
Year Home Road Totals
2023 0-0 0-0 0-0
2022 3-1 1-2 4-3
Oakland History: 281-173
at the Coliseum: 143-138
at Camden Yards: 71-61
Athletics History: 1017-953

TODAY’S TIDBITS
Adrián Martínez has tossed at least 2.0 innings in each of his three relief appearances and his 7.1 innings pitched are tied for fifth most in the majors among relievers…teammate Adam Oller leads ML relievers with 9.2 innings

TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER: JP Sears (0-0, 5.79 ERA)
FOR STARTERS: Is scheduled to make his second start of the season…begins his second season in the majors and is on his second consecutive Opening Day roster…made his Major League debut with the Yankees last year and pitched in relief during his first stint.

LAST START: He had a no decision in the A’s 4-3 win over Cleveland last Tuesday in Oakland…tossed just 4.2 innings and allowed a career-high tying eight hits…logged a career-high 98 pitches…yielded two runs in the second inning, including an Arias solo home run…also allowed a RBI double to Ramirez with two outs in the fifth and was relieved by Jackson with the A’s trailing 3-2… Oakland tied the game in the sixth and won it on a Tony Kemp walk-off single.

SEARS’ CAREER STARTS VS. BALTIMORE
Career: 2-0, 1.50 ERA in three games, including two starts
Date Site Score Dec ERA IP H R ER BB SO HR #PIT
May 25, 2022 May 25, 2022 Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium 2-0 W 5.0 3 0 0 2 5 0 84
Sept. 2, 2022 Sept. 2, 2022 Camden Yards Camden Yards 2-5 – 6.0 6 2 2 1 5 0 81
Career Totals (3 games, 2 starts) Career Totals (3 games, 2 starts) 2-0 1.50 12.0 11 2 2 4 11 0
Coliseum (0 games, 0 starts) Coliseum (0 games, 0 starts) 0-0 — 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Camden Yards (2 games, 1 start) Camden Yards (2 games, 1 start) 1-0 2.57 7.0 8 2 2 2 6 0
2022 Totals (3 games, 2 starts) 2022 Totals (3 games, 2 starts) 2-0 1.50 12.0 11 2 2 4 11 0

• Picked up his first Major League win in relief at Baltimore on April 16 when he relieved Taillon with two outs in the fifth and the Yankees leading 4-2 (1.0 ip, 2 h, 1 bb, 1 so).

• His first Major League start came against the Orioles on May 25 and he combined with four relievers on a five-hit shutout in the Yankees 2-0 win.

OPPONENTS BATTING: Combined for a .256 opponents batting average, which broke down to .254 (54-for-213) with a .723 OPS against right-handed
hitters compared to .265 (13-for-49) with a .684 OPS against left-handers… yielded 17 of his 20 extra base hits to righties, including all eight of his home runs…opponents hit .256 with the bases empty, .255 with runners on…allowed a .226 average with runners in scoring position.

STARTING AND RELIEVING: Was 5-3 with a 4.27 ERA and .776 opponents OPS in his 11 starts compared to 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA and .501 OPS in six relief appearances…surrendered seven of his eight home runs as a starter…stranded both of his inherited runners in relief and first batters faced were 0-for-5 with a walk.

THIS AND THAT: Was 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA and .585 opponents OPS in eight games against AL West teams, 2-3 with a 5.81 ERA and .858 OPS in nine games against all other teams…had a 1.64 ERA in the first inning…allowed 10 of his 31 runs in the second inning for a 6.75 ERA…had a 3.64 ERA from the third inning on…combined for a 4-3 record and a 4.25 ERA in 10 games in the Coliseum and Yankee Stadium…was 2-0 with a 3.25 ERA in seven games on the road…allowed three hits or fewer in 10 of his 17 appearances and two runs or fewer 13 times.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES NOTES:

WHAT’S NEXT: The O’s continue their season-opening, seven-game homestand with four games against the A’s beginning tonight through Thursday…Baltimore opened the homestand by winning the Home Opener, 7-6, on Friday against the Yankees before falling 4-1 on Saturday and 5-3 yesterday.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Orioles will travel to Chicago to face the White Sox for three games from April 14-16, then have a scheduled off day before traveling to Washington, D.C. for two games against the Nationals from April 18-19.

AGAINST OAKLAND: The O’s and A’s meet for their first series of the year…Baltimore will play seven games against Oakland this season…The Orioles will travel to RingCentral Coliseum on August 18-20…The O’s went 3-4 against the A’s in 2022, dropping three of four games in Oakland from April 18-21 before taking two of three at Oriole Park from September 2-4.

LEFT-CLICK: Oakland is scheduled to start left-handers in the first three games in this series…Baltimore is 1-2 so far this season in games started by a lefty opponent while slashing .282/.371/.526 (22-for-78) with four doubles, five homers, 16 RBI, and 10 walks against left-handed pitching…Last year, the O’s were 27-23 when a lefty started against them and batted .224/.297/.366 against left-handers.

AD SPACE: Among AL leaders, Adley Rutschman ranks fourth with a .389 batting average (see chart at right), seventh with a .476 on-base percentage, and tied for seventh with 14 hits…He finished 4-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored yesterday against New York-AL, his second game with at least four hits this season, joining Opening Day on March 30 at Boston (5-for-5, HR, R, RBI, BB)…Rutschman is the first Oriole in team history (since 1954) with multiple 4+ hit games in a team’s first nine games of a season and the first MLB player to accomplish the feat since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2015.

His home run yesterday registered an exit velocity of 108.3 mph, the hardest-hit home run of his career, per Statcast.

YOUNG GUNN: Gunnar Henderson leads AL rookies with eight walks, which is tied for third among all AL hitters (see chart at right)…He is the sixth O’s player since 2000 with at least eight walks through his first eight games of a season and the first since Nick Markakis in 2010.

MOUNT UP: Ryan Mountcastle leads the AL and is tied for the MLB lead among first basemen with Chicago-NL’s Eric Hosmer with two Defensive Runs Saved, per Sports Info Solutions…Mountcastle compiled three DRS last season after having -6 DRS (-5 in LF, -1 at 1B) in 2021.

NEED FOR SPEED: Baltimore’s 15 stolen bases are tied for the AL lead with Cleveland and tied for second in MLB behind Arizona’s 17…The O’s have only been caught stealing once for a 93.8 percent success rate…Jorge Mateo is tied for second in MLB with five steals while Cedric Mullins is tied for seventh with four thefts…The nine combined stolen bases between the two are more than 22 MLB teams have this season while 10 teams have three-or-fewer steals this year.

STARTING WITH A BANG: The O’s opened the 2023 season by hitting multiple home runs in each of their first five games, tied for the third-longest streak to start a season by a team since at least 1901 and tied with the 1994 Orioles for the longest streak in club history; the O’s were the only MLB team to start the 2023 campaign with five consecutive multi-homer games…Marked the fifth time in club history that the Orioles homered in each of their first five games to start a season, and first since 2012 (also 5).

RISING TIDE: O’s affiliates are 13-4 to start the season, the most collective wins and winning percentage (.765) among MLB organizations…The Orioles are ranked as the No. 1 farm system by MLB Pipeline…Marks the fourth consecutive time between the preseason and midseason lists that the O’s are in the top spot…Since Pipeline began ranking systems in 2015, only one other organization has claimed the top spot four times in a row, and that was the Padres (2018 pre/mid, 2019 pre/mid)…Baltimore is also ranked as the No. 1 farm system by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, as well as in Baseball America’s preseason rankings for the first time since the publication began their Organizational Talent Rankings in 1984.

STARTING PITCHER – #48 KYLE GIBSON RHP
QUICK HITS: Slated to make his third start of the 2023 campaign tonight against Oakland…In 269 career appearances (263 GS), Gibson owns a 91-91 record with a 4.52 ERA (761 ER/1516.0 IP)..The O’s signed Gibson to a one-year contract on December 5, 2022…He has also spent time with the Twins, Phillies, and Rangers across 10 Major League seasons.

LAST TIME OUT: Earned his second straight win to start the season on April 4 at Texas, allowing two runs on six hits (2 HR) with fi ve strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work against his former team…Marked his fi rst win against the Rangers since the club traded him to Philadelphia, along with RHP Hans Crouse and RHP Ian Kennedy, in exchange for RHP Spencer Howard, RHP Josh Gessner, and RHP Kevin Gowdy on July 30, 2021…Also marked the second time Gibson won each of his fi rst two starts to begin a season; also won a career-high three straight starts to begin the 2014 season…Became the fi rst O’s pitcher to record a quality start this season.

AGAINST OAKLAND: Making his 11th career start against the Athletics…Owns a 5-3 record with a 4.05 ERA (27 ER/60.0 IP) in his first 10 career starts against the A’s…With the Phillies, he earned the win in his last start against Oakland on April 9, 2022, allowing two hits with 10 strikeouts in 7.0 shutout innings at Citizens Bank Park…Has logged six quality starts against the Athletics.

AGAINST THE AL WEST: Making his 60th career start against the AL West…Made three starts against the division in 2022, going 1-1 with a 4.32 ERA (8 ER/16.2 IP) and 17 strikeouts to just two walks…Owns a 19-17 record with a 3.91 ERA (149 ER/343.1 IP) and 32 quality starts through his first 59 career outings against the AL West…Earned the win in his last outing against the division on April 4 at
Texas.

RETURN TO THE CHARM CITY: Gibson’s home debut as an Oriole will be his seventh career start at Oriole Park…Earned the win in each of his last three starts in the Charm City, pitching to a 4.24 ERA (8 ER/17.0 IP) with 17 strikeouts to nine walks in those games…Owns a 3-1 record with a 4.13 ERA (15 ER/32.2 IP) in six career starts at Baltimore…With the Twins, he earned the win in his last start at OPACY on April 21, 2019, surrendering two runs on fi ve hits with six punchouts in 6.0 innings.

2022 HIGHLIGHTS: Went 10-8 with a 5.05 ERA (94 ER/167.2 IP) in 31 starts with the Phillies, the fifth time in his career making at least 30 starts in a season… Made his Phillies debut on April 9 vs. Oakland (W, 7.0 IP, 2 H, 10 K)…Made his 250th career start on July 27 vs. Atlanta…Retired the first 18 batters he faced on August 5 vs. Washington over 8.0 innings, the longest perfect game bid of his career…Struck out 11 batters on August 16 at Cincinnati, his second double-digit strikeout game of the season, the most in his career…Gibson’s final nine starts averaged 10.37 K/9… Had a career-best 3.00 K/BB ratio (144 K/48 BB).

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE: Appeared on his fifth career Postseason roster in 2022 with the Phillies and made his World Series debut in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park, working 1.0 scoreless inning out of the bullpen with one hit and one strikeout in Philadelphia’s 7-0 loss to the Houston Astros…In two relief appearances during the 2022 Postseason, he worked 2.1 scoreless innings,

MLB Preview: Chicago White Sox (4-6) at Minnesota Twins (6-3)

MLB Editor
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MLB Preview: Chicago White Sox (4-6) at Minnesota Twins (6-3)

CHICAGO WHITE SOX NOTES:

WHITE SOX AT A GLANCE
The Chicago White Sox continue a six-game trip this afternoon with the opener of a three-game series at Minnesota.

RHP Dylan Cease, who is 10-4 with a 1.74 ERA (18 ER/93.1 IP) and 122 strikeouts over his last 17 road starts dating back to 9/17/21, is scheduled to start for the White Sox.

The Sox opened the trip by dropping two of three games at Pittsburgh, including 1-0 loss in yesterday’s finale … they scored 20 runs in the first two games of the series.

Following this three-game series, the White Sox return home for six games vs. Baltimore (4/14-16) and Philadelphia (4/17-19).

The Sox went 1-2 on their first homestand vs. San Francisco (4/3-6) after opening the season by splitting four games at Houston from 3/30-4/2.

TODAY’S STORYLINES
The White Sox are playing their only series vs. an American League Central opponent in April.

Dylan Cease went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA (14.0 IP), 15 strikeouts and a .042 average (2-48) in two starts against the Twins in 2022.

Cease allowed one hit with eight strikeouts over 7.0 scoreless IP on 7/17/22 at Target Field, and threw a complete-game, one-hitter with seven strikeouts on 9/3/22 at Guaranteed Rate Field, no-hitting the Twins before Luis Arráez singled with two outs in the ninth inning.

The Sox have recorded 10-plus hits in eight of their first 10 games this season … by comparison, they did not collect their eighth 10-hit game last season until 5/14, the 32nd game.

The White Sox are hitting .292/.346/.469 (76-260) through seven road games this season, collecting 10-plus hits six times.

The Sox have allowed six runs over the last two games, compared to 44 in the previous four.

The White Sox are 13-13 in stolen-base attempts this season.

Jake Burger celebrates his 27th birthday today.

YESTERDAY’S RECAP
The White Sox were limited to six hits in a 1-0 loss at Pittsburgh in the deciding game of the series.

Michael Kopech suffered the loss despite allowing one run on two hits with fi ve strikeouts over 6.0 IP for the Sox second quality start of the season and first since Dylan Cease on Opening Day.

Jimmy Lambert and Jake Diekman each threw 1.0 IP in relief to complete the two-hitter.

Gavin Sheets collected three of Chicago’s six hits … the Sox went 0-4 with RISP and left six runners on base as they suffered their first 1-0 loss since 8/11/21 at Minnesota.

CEASE AND DESTROY
Dylan Cease, who finished second in the American League Cy Young Award voting last season, has gone 11-6 with a 1.51 ERA (25 ER/148.2 IP) and 174 strikeouts over his last 25 starts dating to 5/29/22.

During that stretch, Cease leads MLB in ERA and opponents average (.167) … he has allowed one or no earned runs in 20 of the 25 starts.

NEAR NO˨NO
A look back at Dylan Cease’s attempt at throwing the 21st no-hitter in White Sox history on 9/3/22 vs. Minnesota.

Second pitcher in White Sox history to lose a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth, joining Ken Brett on 5/26/76 vs. California (Elias/STATS) … Brett lost his no-hit bid on Jerry Remy’s infield single and went on to lose the game, 1-0, in 10 innings (he threw 9.1 IP).

First Sox pitcher to record a complete-game one-hitter while losing his no-hit bid in the ninth since Dennis Lamp on 8/25/1981 at Milwaukee.

First MLB pitcher since Pete Alexander in 1915 to record four games in a season with 6.0-plus shutout IP and no more than one hit allowed.

St. Louis’ Miles Mikolas also lost his no-hit bid with out one remaining on 6/14/22 vs. Pittsburgh.

SOX TRADE RUIZ TO D’BACKS
Chicago yesterday traded RHP José Ruiz to Arizona in exchange for cash considerations … Ruiz was DFA on Friday after allowing nine runs in 3.2 IP over four relief appearances in 2023.

SOUTHSIDE HITMEN
The White Sox lead the American League in doubles (26) and rank among the leaders in extra-base hits (2nd, 36), total bases (2nd, 161), average (3rd, .287), OPS (4th, .780), on-base percentage (4th, .340), and slugging (4th, .440).

The Sox offense after 10 games in 2023 and 2022:
Year AVG AB R R/G H 2B HR SB OBP SLG OPS
2023 .287 366 52 5.2 105 26 10 13 .340 .440 .780
2022 .228 294 38 4.2 67 14 10 9 .276 .384 .661

WHITE SOX VS. MINNESOTA TWINS
The White Sox and Twins play 13 times in 2023, down from 18-plus each full season from 2001-22 (not including 2020).

The Sox went 9-10 in the 2022 season series (4-6 at Target Field), winning nine of the last 14 games after losing the first five … they batted .261/.312/.414 with 4.38 ERA and outscored the Twins, 91-87.

The White Sox are 27-21 vs. Minnesota since the start of the 2020 season after going 20-37 from 2017-19.

SOX ON TARGET
Some notable White Sox career numbers at Target Field:

Andrew Benintendi: .385/.431/.670 (35-91) with seven home runs and 20 RBI in 22 games

Tim Anderson: .330/.367/.472 (58-176) slash line with 34 runs scored in 43 games.

Yoán Moncada: .306/.374/.523 (34-111) with 13 doubles and 20 runs scored in 27 games.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME
The White Sox are 47-41 (.534) on the road since the start of the 2022 season, the fi fth-best winning percentage in the American League.

The Sox rank third in the AL during that span with a 3.60 ERA (304 ER/760.2 IP), trailing Houston (3.07) and Cleveland (3.59).

NO RISP, NO REWARD
 The White Sox rank fourth in the American League with a
.302 (32-106) average with runners in scoring position … they
lead the AL in hits and at-bats with RISP.
 The Sox are hitting .385/.421/.519 (20-52) with RISP over the
last fi ve games despite going 0-4 on Sunday at Pittsburgh.

SOUTHPAW SUCCESS
The White Sox are batting .275/.340/.446 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 OPS (.786) and fifth in slugging.

Tim Anderson owns a .353/.383/.564 (141-399) slash line vs. LHP since 2019, while Hanser Alberto is hitting .344/.363/.484 (170-494) … during that span, Anderson and Alberto rank 1-2 in MLB in average vs. LHP.

Luis Robert Jr. is a career .359/.409/.636 (70-195) hitter vs. lefties … Jake Burger owns a .617 slugging percentage vs. LHP.

ELVIS BECOMES MR. 2,000
Elvis Andrus became the 290th player in MLB history to record 2,000 hits on Wednesday with a single off Logan Webb.

Andrus ranks fourth among active players with 2,002 hits, trailing only Miguel Cabrera (3,091), Joey Votto (2,093) and Nelson Cruz (2,019) … he has recorded 1,743 hits with Texas, 205 with Oakland and 54 with the White Sox

STARTER #84 DYLAN CEASE RHP
CEASE AT A GLANCE
Is scheduled to make his third start of the season, second on the road and first vs. the Minnesota Twins.

Has struck out 18 batters while allowing just three hits over his first two starts of 2023, becoming the first pitcher in White Sox history to strike out at least 18 while allowing three hits or less in his first two starts of a season.

Has not allowed a hit to a left-handed batter this season (0-15) while opponents are hitless against his four-seam fastball.

Established career bests last season in ERA (2.20), strikeouts (227), wins (14), IP (184.0), WHIP (1.11) and opponents average (.190).

Is approaching the following career milestones: four strikeouts for 600, eight games/starts for 100, 7.2 IP for 500.0 and three wins for 40.

Ranks third in MLB since 2021 in SO/9.0 IP (11.74) and strikeouts (471) and seventh in opponents average (.202).

Was the 2022 AL Cy Young Award runner up and has been named American League Pitcher of the month twice in his career (June and July 2022).

LAST START
Earned the win on 4/5 vs. San Francisco, allowing one run on one hit with five walks and eight strikeouts … allowed a solo home run to J.D. Davis in the second inning … retired nine of the last 11 batters faced.

Departed the game in the sixth with the White Sox leading, 4-1 … threw 99 pitches (52 strikes) … the Sox would go on to win, 7-3.

Owned a 59.1 first-strike percentage and 14.1 swinging-strike percentage (17 swing and misses) vs. 22 batters … threw 41 sliders (86.1 mph avg; 87.8 mph max), 34 four-seam fastballs (95.3 avg; 96.7 max), 16 knuckle curveballs (78.5 avg; 81.8 max) and eight changeups (78.1 avg; 80.2 max).

THE 2023 OPENER
Was the 70th pitcher and 41st right-hander to start on Opening Day for the White Sox.

Became the first White Sox to start OD following a Top 2 Cy Young finish since Jack McDowell in 1994 … McDowell won the American League Cy Young in 1993.

Tied a franchise OD record with 10 strikeouts (also McDowell in 1991).

Joined Walter Johnson (1916), Mike Mussina (1998) and Jared Weaver (2012) as the only pitchers in MLB history to record 10-plus strikeouts and no walks on OD.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Is 7-3 with a 1.61 ERA (13 ER/72.2 IP) in his last 13 road starts, 10-4 with a 1.74 ERA (18 ER/93.1 IP) over his last 17 and 12-5 with a 2.15 ERA (29 ER/121.1 IP) in his last 22.

Ranks among MLB road leaders since 7/11/21 in ERA (4th, 2.15), strikeouts (5th, 160) and wins (T6th, 12).

LIGHTS OUT IN THE SUN
Is 9-4 with a 1.46 ERA (18 ER/111.1 IP), .176 (70-397) opponents average and 139 strikeouts (11.24 per 9.0 IP) over 19 day starts since the start of last season.

His 1.46 ERA in day games since 2022 is the fourth-lowest in baseball and lowest among starters with at least 10 starts during the day.

O’ SLIDER SLIDE
Posted a run value of -36 on his slider in 2022, the best mark among all pitchers’ pitch types in baseball … the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani’s sweeper and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara’s changeup ranked second with a -25 mark.

VS. MINNESOTA TWINS || A.L. CENTRAL
Is scheduled to make his 10th career start against the Twins and third at Target Field.

Has allowed three runs or less in six of his nine career starts against Minnesota.

Went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/16.0 IP), .042 (2-48) and 15 strikeouts in two starts vs. the Twins last season … threw a complete-game, one-hitter with seven strikeouts on 9/3/22 at Guaranteed Rate Field, no-hitting the Twins before LuisArráez singled with two outs in the ninth inning.

Is 21-11 with a 3.07 ERA (80 ER/234.1 IP), .231 (203-880) and 265 strikeouts in 43 career starts vs. the American League Central.

TOMORROW’S STARTER: RHP LANCE LYNN
RHP Lance Lynn (0-1, 9.00) is scheduled to make his third start of the season, second on the road and first vs. the Minnesota Twins.

Suffered the loss in his last start on 4/6 vs. San Francisco, allowing eight runs on nine hits (three home runs) with three walks and five strikeouts over 4.1 IP.

Is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA (22 ER/44.0 IP) in eight career starts against the Twins … has gone 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA (15 ER/15.0 IP) in his last three starts.

MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:

THE TWINS: Opened their 63rd season in Minnesota and 14th at Target Field with a three- game series win against the Astros over the weekend, winning the first two and losing the finale yesterday afternoon…today they will begin a three-game series against the White Sox through Wednesday afternoon.

EASTER SUNDAY, NOT SO FUNDAY: The Twins lost to the Astros yesterday afternoon at Target Field by a score of 5-1…Tyler Mahle (1-1) was the starter and loser, allowing four runs on eight hits in 6.0 innings pitched, with one walk and six strikeouts…the offense recorded just two hits, one being a single from Byron Buxton and one being an RBI-double from Donovan Solano… the Twins are now 2-1-0 in series play this season, 1-0-0 at home and 1-1-0 on the road.

TWINS AND SOX: Twins and White Sox are playing the first of 13 meetings this season…after this three-game series, their next series will be in three games from May 2-4 at Guaranteed Rate Field…the Twins went 10-9 against Chicago in 2022, going 6-4 at Target Field and 4-5 at Guaranteed Rate Field…Twins went 1-3 in their final four games of last season.

Since 2015, the Twins have gone 78-65 against the Sox, their most wins against any opponent in that span.

Twins pitchers posted a 2.66 ERA (61.0 IP, 18 ER) with a slashline of .204/.246/.302 in their last seven games against the White Sox.

Joey Gallo is hitting .324 (11-for-34) with four home runs, seven walks, and a 1.115 OPS in his last nine games vs. the Sox.

MEN IN THE MIDDLE: Through nine games, Twins starting pitchers have combined to post a 2.24 ERA (52.1 IP, 13 ER), with 14 walks, 68 strikeouts, while holding batters to a slashline of .185/.246/.304…below are their ranks among all starting staffs in Major League Baseball:

ERA BAA FIP WHIP HITS ALLOWED K’s OPS
TB – 1.90 MIN – .185 TB – 2.00 MIN – 0.92 MIN – 34 MIN – 68 TB – .507
MIN – 2.24 TB – .199 MIN – 2.92 TB – 0.92 MIA – 35 TB – 60 MIN – .551
NYY – 3.27 MIA – .201 NYY – 3.24 LAD – 1.09 NYY – 36 CWS – 57 NYY – .624
KC – 3.29 NYY – .224 HOU – 3.29 SF – 1.10 TB – 37 TEX – 55 MIA – .625
SEA – 3.35 LAA – .225 KC – 3.31 NYY – 1.14 2 tied – 40 HOU – 55 SEA – .658

CENTRAL HEATING: The Twins are playing a series against an AL Central opponent for the second time this season after sweeping the Royals in three games at Kauffman Stadium from March 30-April 2…they will play their division for just 52 games this season, compared to the previous 76 times…the Twins went 39-37 against the AL Central last season, with pitchers posting a 3.55 ERA, their lowest of an opposing division.

CLUTCH CITY: Twins are hitting .328 (22-for-67) with runners in scoring position, tied for third best in baseball with Chicago-NL, trailing Tampa Bay (.317) and Arizona (.333)…additionally, they are hitting .344 (11-for-32) with RISP and two outs, fourth best in baseball.

Notable individual with RISP: Ryan Jeffers is 2-for-3, Joey Gallo is 2-for-4, Donovan Solano is 3-for-5, Christian Vázquez is 3-for-5, Trevor Larnach is 4-for-9, Jose Miranda is 3-for-9 and Kyle Farmer is 3-for-7.

FARMERS ONLY: Kyle Farmer has seven hits in 22 at-bats this season (.315), including five hits in his last nine at-bats…he has seven RBI this season, tied with Joey Gallo for teamlead…Farmer was acquired via trade with Cincinnati on November 18, 2022 in exchange for right-handed pitcher Casey Legumina.

THE TRUTH ON TREVOR: Despite going 0-for-3 yesterday, Trevor Larnach drew a walk and has now reached base in all nine games to start the season, matching his career-best streak also done from May 23-June 2, 2021; has a .439 on-base percentage during his current run…his 11 hits on the season are tied with Byron Buxton for team-lead…additionally, he leads the club in walks (7)…his .439 on-base percentage ranks 10th in the American League.

DONNIE BARRELS: Donovan Solano has hit safely in four straight games, hitting .357 (5-for- 14) with two walks, a .438 on-base percentage and an .866 OPS in that span…he was signed by the Twins to a one-year contract on February 23.

C4-EVER MINNESOTA: Carlos Correa has reached safely in seven of eight games played this season, recording six hits with three walks…on January 11, Carlos Correa signed a six-year guaranteed contract through the 2028 season…the deal includes four team options covering the 2029 through 2032 campaigns, each of which can automatically vest based on performance in the previous season…the 28-year-old hit .291 (152-for-522) with 24 doubles, one triple, 22 home runs, 64 RBI, 70 runs scored, 61 walks, a .366 on-base percentage and an .834 OPS in 136 games for the Twins last season…he led all MLB shortstops in OPS (.834), while ranking second among that same group in slugging percentage (.467) and on-base percentage (.366), and third in batting average (.291) and RC/27 (5.84)…Correa also hit .310 (79-for-255) with an .880 OPS in 67 home games, the sixth-highest home average in the AL and 10th best in baseball; it was also the eighth-best home average in Target Field history (since 2010)…after the season, Correa was named winner of the Most Valuable Twin Award, the Bob Allison Award for leadership, the Jim Kaat Award as Twins Defensive Player of the Year, the Mike Augustin “Media Good Guy” Award and the Carl R. Pohlad Outstanding Community Service Award.

THIS AND THAT:
Through nine games, the Twins average time of game is 2:26 minutes, the fastest in baseball…last season, the Twins average time of game was 3:07, a difference of 41 minutes to this season.

Twins catchers have combined to hit .321 (9-for-28) with six walks and a .441 on-base percentage.

Twins have committed just three errors on the season, tied for fifth fewest in baseball.

On this day in 1982, the Twins acquired reliever Ron Davis and minor leaguers Greg Gagne and Paul Boris from New York-AL, in exchange for infielder Roy Smalley and pitcher Gary Serum…Davis ranks fifth on Twins all-time saves list with 108 while Gagne was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2010.

Low-A Fort Myers hitting coach Rayden Sierra is celebrating his 28th birthday today…he shares a birthday with Do-Hyoung Park, who celebrated his birthday early yesterday by spotting a Dennis Santana and Kyle Lohse jersey in the Thomson Reuters Champions Club.

STARTING PITCHER – KENTA MAEDA 18
Facing Chicago-AL for the sixth time in his career, first time since June 29, 2021…is 2-1, 5.47 ERA (24.2 IP, 15 ER), with nine walks and 24 strikeouts in five starts against the White Sox.

Second start of the year, first at home…will be his 13th start at Target Field.

Entering his fourth season with the Twins after being traded, along with Jair Carmargo, from Los Angeles-NL in exchange for Brusdar Graterol and Luke Raley.

CAREER NOTES
• Missed entire 2022 season recovering from Tommy John surgery on right elbow…

• Finished second in the 2020 American League Cy Young Award voting, accruing 92 total votes (Cleveland’s Shane Bieber was the unanimous winner).

• Named Joseph W. Haynes Award winner for Twins Pitcher of the Year in 2020, voted on by the Twin Cities Chapter of the BBWAA…also named the starting pitcher on 2020 All-MLB Second Team.

• Pitched 8.0 no-hit innings on August 18, 2020 vs. MIL before bid was broken up in the ninth…longest no-hit bid of career, and set Twins record with eight-straight K’s.

• Is the third Japanese-born player in Twins franchise history, after Micheal Nakamura (2003) and Tsuyoshi Nishioka (2011-12).

• Owns the fifth-most strikeouts in MLB history among Japanese-born pitchers.

• His 16 wins in 2016 were the second-most wins ever by a Los Angeles-NL rookie, behind only Rick Sutcliffe (17-10, 1979), and tied for the second-most ever in a single season by a Japanese pitcher.

• In 2016, led qualifying MLB rookie starting pitchers in starts (32), wins (16), opponents’ batting average (.229), WHIP (1.14), innings pitched (175.2) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.58).

• Named to the 2016 Baseball America Major League All-Rookie Team, and finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

NHL Morning Skate – April 10, 2023

NHL Editor
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0
NHL Morning Skate – April 10, 2023

* The Stanley Cup Playoffs start one week from today, but first the final five days of the regular season must determine the final three postseason teams, seven First Round matchups and 13 playoff seeds.

* There’s a new team atop the “Most Wins, Season” page on Records.NHL.com as the Bruins claimed their 63rd win of the season to break a record that last fell 27 years ago.

* The Avalanche recorded their 10th consecutive road win to set a new franchise mark while Mikko Rantanen became the ninth player, and second Colorado skater, to reach 100 points in 2022-23.

BRUINS SET ALL-TIME WINS RECORD, PASTRNAK HITS 60 GOALS
Sunday was one for the history books as the Bruins (63-12-5, 131 points) set a new NHL record for most wins in a season and moved within one point of matching the most standings points in a single season. They did so on the back of a hat trick performance from David Pastrnak (3-1—4), who reached 60 goals on the season and 300 for his career in the victory. 


 

* Boston also improved to 30-8-2 (62 points) as visitors in 2022-23 to become the third team in NHL history to record at least 30 road wins in a season, joining the 2005-06 Red Wings (31-7-3, 65 points) and 2018-19 Lightning (30-9-2, 62 points). The Bruins will have an opportunity to tie the NHL record in their season finale Thursday in Montreal.


* Pastrnak (60-49—109 in 80 GP) joined Connor McDavid as the second player to reach 60 goals in 2022-23, marking the ninth season in NHL history with multiple 60-goal scorers and first since 1995-96. After Auston Matthews became the first 60-goal scorer in a decade in 2021-22, the League has now seen three players hit the mark in a two-season span.

* Pastrnak became the third player in NHL history to record his 60th goal of a season with a hat trick tally, joining Mike Bossy (1980-81) and Wayne Gretzky (1981-82). He joined Phil Esposito (4x) as the second Boston player to produce a 60-goal season, became the eighth player to accumulate at least 300 goals in a Bruins uniform and recorded his 15th career hat trick to move ahead of Cam Neely (14) into sole possession of the second-most in Bruins history behind Esposito (26).

* All of these stats and plenty more on Pastrnak can be found in last night’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates.



* ICYMI: Jeremy Swayman (34 saves), who extended his personal winning streak to seven games, remembered his mentor Red Gendron in an emotional post-game interview. Gendron had passed away two years to the day on Sunday, and Swayman was in Philadelphia at the time of his passing as he was again yesterday. 

MACKINNON, RANTANEN HELP AVALANCHE TO 10TH STRAIGHT ROAD WIN
After giving up a multi-goal lead, the Avalanche (49-24-6, 104 points) rallied from a two-goal deficit to take sole possession of first place in the Central Division standings. Backed by multi-point performances from Nathan MacKinnon (2-1—3; OTW) and Mikko Rantanen (2-2—4), Colorado set a new franchise record by earning their 10th consecutive road win (10-0-0 dating to March 13).

* MacKinnon scored his 11th career regular-season overtime goal to extend his own franchise record and his fifth game-winning goal over Colorado’s last seven contests. The only other players in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) to score at least five game-winning goals in a span of seven team games are Patrik Elias (5 GWG w/ NJD in 1997-98) and Michel Goulet (5 GWG w/ QUE in 1983-84).

* Rantanen scored his 53rd and 54th goals of the season to tie Joe Sakic (54 in 2000-01) for the most by an Avalanche player since the team moved to Colorado ahead of the 1995-96 season. With the four-point effort, Rantanen (54-48—102 in 79 GP) also eclipsed the 100-point benchmark for the first time in his career.


QUICK CLICKS

* Connor McDavid talks maturing, Gretzky in Part 2 of exclusive Q&A
* Report: Jonathan Toews treating final two games as his last with Chicago

* Maple Leafs sign Matthew Knies to entry-level contract

* Bruins continue building on historic season with wins record

* NHL.com Trophy Tracker: Breakind down Calder Trophy race
 

WILD EYE HOME ICE, PANTHERS SEEK 7TH STRAIGHT WIN ON ESPN, ESPN+ AND HULU

With the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs starting in one week, ESPN will carry a national broadcast in the U.S. featuring the Wild (45-24-10, 100 points) who are looking to stay in the hunt for their second division title and first since 2007-08 (Northwest Division). After returning from a 13-game absence Saturday, Minnesota’s leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov (39-35—74 in 66 GP) can become the first player in franchise history to post multiple 40-goal seasons.


* The network’s coverage will begin before that though as former junior teammates Mitchell Marner and Matthew Tkachuk will clash when the Maple Leafs (47-21-11, 105 points) visit the Panthers (42-31-7, 91 points) on ESPN+ and Hulu (SNP, SNO & TVAS in Canada).

* Florida has picked the right time for its longest winning streak of the season (6-0-0 since March 29) as they currently pace the field of four teams competing for the final two playoff spots in the East.

* Marner (30-68—98 in 78 GP), who was drafted in Sunrise, Fla., in 2015, needs two points for his first 100-point season in the NHL – a feat Tkachuk (40-68—108 in 77 GP) has now achieved twice. In 2015-16, both players hit the milestone with the London Knights of the OHL before combing for 22 points at the Memorial Cup en route to winning the Canadian national junior championship together.

THE FINAL 40: LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FINAL GAMES OF THE REGULAR SEASON

The final five days of the season will include 40 games and determine 13 playoff seeds, seven First Round matchups, three division titles and the final three teams that will qualify for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs – which start one week from today.

* This is the first time since 2008-09 that at least seven First Round matchups are still “TBD” entering the final five days of the regular season.

* While Vegas and Edmonton have secured home ice in the Pacific Division, there could be movement Monday as Seattle (45-26-8, 98 points) will look to overtake Los Angeles (45-25-10, 100 points) into third place. The Kraken last ranked among the top three in the division through games of March 13 but have held the first Wild Card every day since (a span of 27 days entering Monday).

* For the first time since the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central and Pacific Divisions were introduced in 2013-14, the No. 1 seed in at least three divisions has a lead of two points or less entering the final five days of scheduled play. This excludes the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons whose schedules were paused or extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


* Winnipeg have been in a playoff spot for 165 consecutive days dating to Oct. 27 (when they had eight points) but hold a maximum advantage of three points in the three-team battle for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

* The Predators will go head-to-head against a club in the Western Conference Wild Card race for a second straight game following a defeat at the hands of the Jets on Saturday.


* Four players enter the final stretch of the 2022-23 season within six points of a 100-point campaign: Elias Pettersson (38-61—99 in 77 GP), Mitchell Marner (30-68—98 in 78 GP), Erik Karlsson (23-75—98 in 79 GP) and Jack Hughes (42-54—96 in 76 GP). Should they all hit the mark it would bring the season total to 13 – only five seasons in NHL history have seen 13+ players score 100 points (most recently 21 in 1992-93).

* Connor McDavid has a chance to become the first player in NHL history to record three separate point streaks of 15+ games in a single season. It would be the fifth such streak of his career, which would equal Peter Stastny (5x) for the third-most point streaks of 15+ games in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (19x) and Mario Lemieux (7x).


* A trio of players in reach of their first career 50-goal season could bump the League’s overall total in 2022-23 to seven, with Brayden Point (49 G), Tage Thompson (46 G) and Jason Robertson (45 G) looking to join Connor McDavid (64 G), David Pastrnak (60 G), Mikko Rantanen (54 G) and Leon Draisaitl (51 G). It has been 27 years since the NHL saw seven or more 50-goal scorers in one season (8 in 1995-96).
 
* All three players on the verge of 50 goals would end lengthy franchise droughts: Point would be Tampa Bay’s first 50-goal scorer in 11 years (Steven Stamkos in 2011-12); Thompson would be Buffalo’s first player to hit the benchmark in 30 years (Alexander Mogilny & Pat LaFontaine in 1992-93); and Robertson the first in Stars/North Stars history in 29 years (Mike Modano in 1993-94).

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