Stats Perform: A Look At Series That Open on Monday Night
ROCKIES (43-56) at ANGELS (49-49)
● The Angels have a .718 winning percentage all-time against the Rockies (28-11), second highest for any team against a single interleague opponent, minimum 30 games. Only the Marlins’ .750 mark against the Orioles (27-9) is higher.
● The Rockies dropped two of three games at Dodger Stadium over the weekend – but they improved their road winning percentage for the season to .217 (10-36). The Rockies are 4-3 in their last seven road games after opening the season 6-33 away from home.
● The Angels took three of four at Minnesota over the weekend, including victories on Saturday and Sunday. The Halos have not won three straight games since capturing four straight games from June 30 to July 4.
● Ryan McMahon has gone 26 straight games without a home run but continues to lead the Rockies in round-trippers with 16. This is the lowest total for any player who leads a team in homers this season; McMahon’s 50 RBI are tied for second fewest among team leaders.
● David Fletcher went 0-for-9 on Saturday and Sunday, but is tied for fourth in MLB with 115 hits in 2021. Only one Angel has ever finished in MLB’s top four in hits for a full season – Darin Erstad topped the majors with 240 hits in 2000.
● On June 12, German Marquez allowed eight earned runs in a June 12 loss at Cincinnati; in 10 other starts since May 21, Marquez’s ERA is 1.32. Shohei Ohtani went six scoreless innings his last start, his longest scoreless outing since 2018. As a hitter, Ohtani is homerless in nine interleague games this season.
BRAVES (48-50) at METS (52-44)
● The Mets lead the season series, 6-5, with wins in three of five games at Citi Field last month. The teams have already played a double-header this season, splitting on June 21. Seven total runs were scored in two games.
● The Braves split a four-game series in Philadelphia over the weekend. In the two wins, Atlanta amassed 22 runs; the Braves scored only two runs in the two losses. Atlanta is hitting .252 at home and .228 away from Truist Park.
● The Mets have won five of their last seven games. They took two of three at home against the Blue Jays over the weekend, including a 5-4 win on Sunday. New York is 20-16 in one-run games this season; only Seattle, with 23, has more one-run victories.
● Freddie Freeman went 0-for-4 on Sunday after collecting two hits in each of his previous three games. He leads the majors with a .403 average in July (Austin Riley is the second-highest Brave at .290). Freeman has 132 career home runs at home and 131 on the road.
● Pete Alonso is hitting .368 (14/38) in his last nine games with five home runs and 10 RBI; all of those homers and RBI came in the last six games. During his rookie season of 2019, he hit .329 (24/73) against the Braves. Alonso is hitting .115 (7/61) versus Atlanta since then.
● Kyle Muller is making his sixth career appearance and fifth start. His first career start came against the Mets on June 21; he allowed one run and no hits over four innings. Marcus Stroman tied his season high by going eight innings in his last start (Wednesday at Cincinnati), allowing zero runs.
NATIONALS (45-53) at PHILLIES (49-49)
● The teams have split eight games this season, with the Nationals winning three of five at Citizens Bank Park. The last two meetings have been one-run affairs, both won by Washington, 3-2 and 13-12. In the 13-12 game on June 23, Washington erased deficits of 5-0, 9-5 and, in the ninth inning, 12-11.
● The Nationals have lost four straight and are 5-15 in July. The team has a 6.14 ERA this month after posting a 3.40 mark in June. The bullpen has blown five saves this month after blowing seven in the first three months (78 games).
● The Phillies split a four-game home series against the Braves over the weekend. On Sunday, they won 2-1 and are now 10-22 this season when scoring two or fewer runs. They were 11-100 in games in which they scored two or fewer runs from 2018 through 2020, including 0-15 last season.
● Josh Bell has three homers and nine RBI in eight games against the Phillies in 2021. Prior to this season, Bell had three home runs in 23 career games versus Philadelphia.
● Bryce Harper is hitting .357 (10/28) with eight runs scored against his former team this season, with a hit in all seven games he has played. A year ago, Harper hit .200 (6/30) against Washington.
● Joe Ross last threw in a game on July 4, then spent time on the IL with right elbow inflammation. He threw over 100 pitches in three of his last five starts prior to being sidelined. Spencer Howard has gone five innings in just one of his 12 career starts. That occurred on August 31, 2020 at home versus the Nationals, as he earned his only win.
BLUE JAYS (49-46) at RED SOX (61-39)
● The Red Sox have a 7-4 record against the Blue Jays this season, including 3-3 at Fenway Park. Toronto scored 18 runs at Boston on June 13, the most by the Blue Jays this season and the most the Red Sox have allowed.
● The Blue Jays have lost four of five games after winning four straight. Toronto has eight wins in July and has scored 10 runs or more in five of them. The Jays have scored 10 or more runs 13 times this season, tied for second with Boston and trailing only Cincinnati’s 14.
● The Red Sox have won five of their last six games. They have similar records at home (31-20) and on the road (30-19) but are batting .272 at home compared to .241 away from Fenway Park.
● Bo Bichette is 5-for-8 in his last two games with four RBI and three runs scored. He is hitting .404 (19/47) in 11 games versus Boston this season and is a career .410 hitter at Fenway Park.
● Kike Hernandez has a six-game hitting streak with at least one run scored in five of those games and an RBI in four of them. He has six homers and 15 RBI in July after putting up five homers and 16 RBI in May and June combined.
● Thomas Hatch is making his 2021 debut after pitching in 17 games (one start) for Toronto in 2020. One of his three career wins came at Boston on September 6, 2020. Nick Pivetta is 8-4 this season, tying his career high in wins. He had eight victories as a rookie with the Phillies in 2017.
REDS (51-48) at CUBS (49-51)
● The Reds are 6-3 against the Cubs this season, but Chicago took two of three at Wrigley Field from May 28-30. Six of the nine meetings have been decided by one run. In the last series between the clubs, July 2-4 at Cincinnati, neither team scored more than three runs in any game, as the clubs combined for 13 runs in three contests.
● The Reds took two of three games over St. Louis at Great American Ball Park over the weekend, scoring five or more runs in all three. They are 34-13 this season when scoring five or more runs, including 3-0 against the Cubs.
● The Cubs took two of three at home against the Diamondbacks over the weekend. Chicago has gone 11 straight games without reaching double digits in hits and has reached nine hits just once in that stretch.
● Joey Votto is hitting .455 (10/22) in his last six games. He has homered in two straight contests and three of his last five after going deep only three times in his previous 29 games.
● On Sunday, Anthony Rizzo hit just his second home run in July after hitting five in June. He has 32 career homers against the Reds – but just one this season (May 2 off Tyler Mahle).
● Wade Miley has won his last two starts after winning just two in nine starts from May 14 to July 4. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 14 of 17 starts this season. Kyle Hendricks is tied for the MLB lead with 12 wins, and his 43 victories since 2018 rank third in the majors.
WHITE SOX (59-40) at ROYALS (42-55)
● The White Sox have taken six of nine games between the clubs this season, including all three in Kansas City. The South Siders swept a three-game set at Kansas City from May 7-9, outscoring the Royals by a combined 21-4.
● Chicago scored only five runs in its three-game weekend series at Milwaukee, but avoided a sweep with a 3-1 win on Sunday night. Sox pitching had allowed five or more runs in four straight games before Lance Lynn and two relievers scattered eight hits in the series finale.
● After winning only four times from June 23 to July 18, Kansas City has reeled off five straight victories to match the club’s longest winning streak of 2021. The Royals had two previous five-game winning streaks this season and seek their first six-game winning streak since last September.
● Tim Anderson went 1-for-12 in the Milwaukee series and has gone four straight games without scoring a run – on the heels of a 13-game stretch in which he scored in each. Anderson is one of six American Leaguers with 60 or more runs and 100-plus hits this season – and the only one not playing for Boston or Toronto.
● Whit Merrifield has been successful on 25 of 26 stolen-base attempts this season for a 96.2-percent success rate. He is on pace to rank eighth in AL history in single-season stolen-base percentage, minimum 25 attempts (the stat has been tracked since 1920 in the AL).
● After posting a 2.70 ERA in June, Dallas Keuchel has a 5.63 mark this month. Keuchel is 6-1 with a 2.48 ERA in his career versus Kansas City. At 7-8, 5.45, Mike Minor has the second-highest ERA in MLB among pitchers with seven-plus wins; teammate Brad Keller is 7-9 with a 5.84 ERA.
TIGERS (47-54) at TWINS (42-58)
● The Tigers swept a three-game home series over the Twins just after the All-Star break, shutting out the Twins twice. Just before the break, Minnesota swept a four-game series from Detroit in Minneapolis, as home teams have won nine of 12 games between the two clubs in 2021.
● On the heels of a seven-game winning streak, the Tigers dropped three straight in Kansas City over the weekend, surrendering a total of 20 runs. The Royals slugged seven homers in the three-game set; Detroit pitching allowed only one longball during the seven-game win streak.
● The Twins are 3-8 since the All-Star break, second worst in the majors (Texas is 0-10). Minnesota’s offense has produced fewer than four runs in seven of 11 games since the break, and the Twins have dropped six of those seven.
● In 33 plate appearances against Minnesota this season, Akil Baddoo has 11 hits and 12 RBI – and no walks. Baddoo’s 13 RBI since July 11 are tied for the most in the American League with Tampa Bay’s Austin Meadows.
● The Twins dealt Nelson Cruz to Tampa Bay on Thursday, though Cruz remains Minnesota’s 2021 leader in both home runs (19) and RBI (50). Jorge Polanco ranks second to Cruz in RBI with 49 and has driven in 14 runs in his last 12 games.
● Matt Manning was rocked for nine earned runs in June 28 start against Cleveland; in his five other outings this season, Manning has a 3.33 ERA. Michael Pineda fashioned a 2.62 ERA and .198 opponent batting in April and May; since June 1, his ERA is 6.65, and opponents have a .351 average against him.
ASTROS (61-39) at MARINERS (54-46)
● The Astros and Mariners last met in April, with Houston winning three of four games at home. Since the beginning of 2019, the Astros are 29-7 against the M’s, which is the best record by any team against a single division opponent over that span.
● The Astros swept a three-game series against the Rangers over the weekend. Houston’s season record against the AL West improved to 28-13, the best intra-division record in MLB.
● The Mariners took three of four games from the A’s in Seattle over the weekend, winning the last three games of the series by one-run margins. The M’s are 16-7 at home against AL West teams this season, the second-best home record against division opponents in MLB (Houston, 20-6). However, Seattle’s cumulative run differential in those games is just +3.
● Kyle Tucker led the Astros with four RBI in the weekend series against Texas. Tucker is slugging .661 in the month of July, which would be the highest by an Astro in a single month since September 2019 (Alex Bregman, .753, and George Springer, .725; minimum 50 plate appearances).
● Ty France is batting .400 in nine games since the All-Star break with at least one hit in eight of nine games. France has a .333 batting average in 12 career games against the Astros and has had multiple hits in six of those 12 games.
● Luis Garcia pitched 6.0 scoreless innings his last time out, allowing three hits and no walks against Cleveland on July 20. The only other start of Garcia’s career in which he allowed no runs, earned or otherwise, was the first start of his career, which came at Oakland on September 9, 2020 (he’s made 17 career starts).