Stats Perform: A Look At Weekend Series That Begin on Friday
From the offices of Stats Perform
RED SOX (47-43) at YANKEES (62-27)
● New York has won seven of the last eight matchups at Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox. Boston has won just one regular season series (out of 12 series played) at Yankee Stadium since 2018.
● The Yankees have recorded at least six hits in nine straight games but have lost four of their last five games. Despite struggling, New York still holds the best record in MLB when recording six or more hits in a game this season at 51-14 (.785).
● Jameson Taillon could become just the second Yankees pitcher since 2013 to win 10 games in his first 18 starts of a season with an ERA above 4.00 (Domingo German, 13 wins and 4.08 ERA in 2019).
● Boston has lost eight of its last 10 games, with the two wins coming against the Yankees on July 9 and 10 and have record 10 or more strikeouts in six of those last 10 games. The Red Sox have the third-worst record in MLB this season when recording at least 10 strikeouts in a game this season at 7-19 (.269).
● Chris Sale is scheduled to make his second start of the season after his first start of the season on July 12 against the Rays. Sale holds a 2.98 ERA in 18 career starts against the Yankees, but just a 6-8 record.
● Aaron Judge blasted his 31st HR of the season in Thursday’s extra-inning loss to the Reds. Judge is the first Yankees’ hitter to hit more than 30 HR before the All-Star break since 1961 (Roger Maris, 33 HR).
PHILLIES (46-43) at MARLINS (43-45)
● The Phillies have lost four in a row for the first time since Rob Thomson replace Joe Girardi as manager on June 3. They've scored three runs or fewer in six straight games for the first time since May 25-31, 2021.
● Kyle Gibson has one win in 11 starts since May 13 with a 5.23 ERA which is third-highest in the NL behind Kyle Freeland and Ian Anderson during that stretch. He has a 6.50 career ERA against the Marlins, his third-highest against teams he's faced more than twice.
● Kyle Schwarber has two hits, including one home run, and 10 strikeouts in his last 28 at-bats (.071). He's hit six homers in 12 career games at Miami's loanDepot Park.
● The Marlins are 23-12 at home against the Phillies since July 14, 2018. They've played a major league-leading 35 one-run games this year and are coming off back-to-back walk-off wins for the first time since September 19-20 last season.
● Sandy Alcantara has pitched at least seven innings in his last 12 starts, the majors' longest streak since 2014 (Clayton Kershaw, 17; Felix Hernandez, 16; David Price, 14). Miami is 7-1 in his last 12 starts during which he has a 1.24 ERA.
● Garrett Cooper is batting .175 in July with twice as many strikeouts (14) as hits (7). It would be the lowest one-month average in his career (minimum 40 plate appearances).
ORIOLES (45-44) at RAYS (49-40)
● The Orioles have won 10 in a row in one season for the first time since a 13-game streak in September, 1999. At 45-44, they own a winning record this late in the year for the first time since they were 71-70 on September 8, 2017.
● Orioles pitcher Tyler Wells has a 9.95 ERA in two starts against Tampa Bay this season and a 2.70 ERA against the rest of the major leagues. He's given up three runs on nine hits over 17 IP in his last three starts on the road (1.59 ERA).
● Orioles outfielder Austin Hays recorded his fourth four-hit game of the season on Wednesday but is batting .161 with one extra-base hit and nine strikeouts in nine games against the Rays this season and is a .136 career hitter at Tropicana Field.
● The Rays have won four in a row for the first time since a season-high six-game winning streak from May 2-7. Their nine-game home winning streak against Baltimore matches the longest in franchise history and they've won 32 of the last 38 meetings with the Orioles at Tropicana Field.
● Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi is hitting .350/.449/.475 in his last 12 games against Baltimore. He leads the major leagues with a .413 batting average with runners in scoring position (minimum 50 at-bats).
● Rays righty Jason Adam has stranded his last 20 inherited runners since May 8. He's 1-0 with a 0.93 ERA in 10 career appearances against the Orioles, allowing four hits and three walks with eight strikeouts over 9.2 IP.
ATHLETICS (30-60) at ASTROS (58-30)
● Oakland has lost five of the six matchups with Houston this season and have lost seven of its last eight games against the Astros since last season. The Athletics are hitting just .213 against Houston, which is its fourth worst batting average against any team in MLB since last season (minimum 300 ABs).
● The Athletics have reached 60 losses before the All-Star break for just the second time in franchise history, the first time since reaching 69 losses in 1979. The A’s finished that season with 108 losses, the third most losses in a season franchise history.
● Cole Irvin has reached 5.0+ IP in each of his 15 starts this season, which is the longest such streak to start any single season by an Athletics’ starting pitcher since Sonny Gray had 28 straight starts of 5.0+ IP in 2015.
● The Astros have allowed three or less runs to its opponents in five of the last seven games and have won four of those five games. Houston has the most wins in MLB this season (48) and the second-best record in MLB, 48-7 (.873), when allowing three or fewer runs.
● The Astros are 4-1 (.800) in Jose Urquidy’s last five starts, three of which resulted in wins for Urquidy. Despite his success, Urquidy has allowed at least one HR in 10 straight starts, which is the longest streak in MLB this season, while no Astros pitcher has allowed a HR in 11 straight starts since 2008. (Brandon Backe, 13 straight games). Despite hitting .136 in his last five games, Jeremy Pena still ranks third best among all qualifying rookies in MLB in batting average this season. Pena (.264 through 67 games) would be the first Astros rookie to hit .260+ in his first 70 career games since Yordan Alvarez (.314) in 2019.
REDS (34-55) at CARDINALS (48-44)
● The Reds and Cardinals will play six consecutive games against each other around the AllStar break, something the matchup hasn’t seen since August 1933. After posting a major league-worst 5.45 ERA through their first 82 games, Reds pitchers have a 2.71 ERA over the last seven.
● Reds right-hander Hunter Greene has surrendered a major league-leading 22 home runs this season, but the Cardinals are the only team he's faced more than once without allowing any. Since pitching seven scoreless innings on June 6, he's 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA, the third highest in the NL in that time (minimum 25 IP).
● Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games around a stint on the IL with a broken thumb, posting a .474/.512/.711 slash line with two homers and 11 RBI. He's facing the Cardinals for the first time in 2022 after hitting .362 against them last year.
● The Cardinals have turned a major league-leading 103 double plays but have been shut out a National League-leading 11 times. They've won four straight series with Cincinnati for the first time since taking six in a row from August 2017-June 2018.
● In July, Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado ranks third in the National League with a 1.236 OPS and sixth with a .404 batting average (minimum 20 PA). He's hitting .403/.444/.731 with five homers and 14 RBI in his last 17 games against Cincinnati.
● Cardinals lefty Packy Naughton has not allowed a run in 13 of 14 relief appearances this season, allowing one hit to a left-handed batter -- an infield single by Luis Gonzalez on May 13 – and boasting a .147 OBP against lefties, the third lowest in among relievers in MLB (minimum 20 BF).
PIRATES (38-52) at ROCKIES (41-49)
● The Pirates won two of three against the Rockies in Pittsburgh from May 23-25 with each team winning a one-run decision. Pittsburgh had a team ERA of 1.61 in the three games including 0.68 by the bullpen.
● The Pirates have lost two straight after winning a season-high four games in-a-row. Their last three games, and five of their last seven games, have been decided by one run each. Pittsburgh is 14-12 this season in one-run games.
● Diego Castillo is hitting .306 (11-for-36) in 14 games this month after he hit just .123 (9-for73) last month. The .183 difference between the two months is the second best among qualifying players in the majors behind Juan Soto.
● The Rockies have won three straight and six out of their last eight games overall. Colorado is hitting .283 as a team with 59 home runs in 48 games at Coors Field compared to hitting just .233 with 24 home runs in 42 road games.
● Jose Iglesias is hitting .400 (14-for-35) with two home runs, 12 runs batted in and seven runs scored over his last nine games. He has multiple hits in five of those last nine games.
● German Marquez is 4-2 in his last seven starts compared to 1-5 in his first 10. He is 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA in six career starts against the Pirates and has allowed just one home run in 41 innings against Pittsburgh (Josh Bell on July 22, 2017).
DODGERS (58-30) at ANGELS (39-51)
● The Dodgers won both games against the Angels at home on June 14-15 with the Angels scoring just one run in the two games combined. Last season, the two teams split six games with the road team taking two of three games in each series.
● The Dodgers have won two straight and 13 of the last 15 overall with 10 of the 13 wins coming by multiple runs. They have a team batting average of .260 in road games (only the White Sox have a higher average).
● Freddie Freeman is hitting .625 (15-for-24) with two home runs, six runs batted in and six runs scored in his last six games. He has a season-high four hits in two of those six games compared to having four hits in two of his first 82 games.
● The Angels are 6-15 over their last 21 games and have lost five games in their last nine by one run each. They are 6-17 in one-run games this season, with their .261 winning percentage being the second lowest in the majors (only the Rangers are worse).
● As a hitter, Shohei Ohtani has just one home run in 14 games against the National League this season and just seven in 77 games in his career. He has two against the Dodgers with the last one being on June 11, 2019.
● Clayton Kershaw threw over 100 pitches for the first time this season in his last start. He has allowed just one earned run in his last two starts (14.2 innings).
DIAMONDBACKS (39-50) at PADRES (50-41)
● The Padres have defeated the Diamondbacks in seven of nine games this season including all three in San Diego. San Diego has outscored Arizona 47 to 25 and outhit them 77 to 45.
● Arizona lost a three-game set with the Giants, with the team’s lone win coming by one run. The Diamondbacks have eight road wins by a run this season, which trails only Seattle and Milwaukee (11 each) for most in MLB.
● Madison Bumgarner has 2,014 career strikeouts and will turn 33 years old on August 1. Among active players, only Clayton Kershaw (2,526), Max Scherzer (2,073), Chris Sale (2,059) and Zack Greinke (2,021) currently have more strikeouts before turning 33.
● San Diego walked nine batters in an 8-5 loss to Colorado on Thursday. It was the Padres’ second game walking at least that many batters this season (also April 10 against DBacks), while no other NL team has more than one such game this season.
● Yu Darvish holds a 4-1 record at home this season with an ERA of 1.69. It is tied for the fourth lowest home ERA by a Padre in franchise history (min. 5 starts) and lowest since Andrew Cashner (1.43) in 2014.
● Led by Manny Machado with 51, the Padres have seven players with at least 30 RBI. That is tied with the 2021 and 1974 seasons for the most players with that many RBI before the AllStar break in team history.