Weekend Series Beginning Thursday: Mets Arrive in San Diego Riding a Hot Streak
From the offices of Stats Perform
MARLINS (24-30) at PIRATES (20-34)
● The Marlins are the only major-league team with a losing record (24-30) but a positive run differential this season (+5). The Pirates are last in the major leagues in run differential (-83)
● The Marlins have lost their last three one-run games and they are 4-11 (.267) in games decided by the minimum margin this season. The only team with a lower winning percentage in one-run games than the Marlins this season is the Diamondbacks (2-12, .143).
● The Pirates have not had more than two hits with runners in scoring position in any of their last 11 games and over that time they are 11-for-78 (.141) with RISP.
● Adam Frazier has had at least one extra-base hit in each of his last five games, the longest current streak in the major leagues. Miami’s Starling Marte has the second longest current streak (four games).
● Jesus Aguilar’s home run yesterday ended his stretch of 64 at-bats without one, which was the fourth longest homer drought of his major-league career.
● Elieser Hernandez has thrown 100+ pitches in only one of his 28 starts in the major leagues (101 on June 17, 2019). Tyler Anderson has allowed seven home runs over his last three starts (2, 3, 2) after going five starts without surrendering a homer.
DIAMONDBACKS (20-37) at BREWERS (29-26)
● The Brewers are 10-3 against the Diamondbacks since the start of the 2018 season. Arizona won its last game in Milwaukee, snapping a seven-game losing streak at American Family Field.
● The Diamondbacks lost to the Mets yesterday, 7-6, to fall to 2-12 (.167) in one-run games this season, the lowest winning percentage in the major leagues. The Brewers are 10-6 (.625) in one-run games, second best in the majors (Mariners, 13-5, .722).
● The Brewers are hitting .213 with runners on base, 11 points lower than any other majorleague team, and they are also last in batting average with runners in scoring position (.199).
● Pavin Smith has hit safely in each of his last 13 games, the second longest current hitting streak in the major leagues, behind Cincinnati’s Nick Castellanos (18).
● Kolten Wong hit two home runs on Tuesday against the Tigers, for his third multi-homer game in the major leagues. His other ones were with the Cardinals in 2014 against the Red Sox and in 2019 at American Family Field (then Miller Park).
● Jon Duplantier has allowed three home runs in 17.2 innings as a starting pitcher in the major leagues, but he has not allowed a homer in any of his 23.2 innings as a reliever. Brett Anderson has made it through four innings in only one of his last five starts, and he’s thrown a total of 15.1 innings in those games.
TWINS (22-33) at ROYALS (27-26)
● The Royals won two of three games from the Twins last weekend. In the series, the Royals hit .524 (11-for-21) with runners in scoring position and the Twins hit .188 (6-for-32).
● The Twins have had at least one extra-base hit in each of their last 39 games, the longest current streak in the major leagues.
● The Royals have scored 36 runs since Friday, their highest total over any five-game span this season.
● Andrew Benintendi’s home run on Tuesday was the Royals’ first grand slam of the season and it was the second in the major leagues for Benintendi, who also had one with the Red Sox off the Rays’ Charlie Morton in 2019.
● Miguel Sano is hitless in his last 19 at-bats (with 10 strikeouts in that time), tying the second longest drought of his major-league career. Sano went 24 at-bats between hits in August 2016.
● J.A. Happ was 2-0 with a 1.91 ERA in his first five starts this season but over his last four starts he’s 1-2 with a 10.50 ERA (21 ER in 18 IP). Kris Bubic has allowed only one home run in 29.2 innings this season, after he allowed eight in 50.0 innings last year.
TIGERS (23-32) at WHITE SOX (33-22)
● The White Sox are 11-2 against the Tigers over the last two seasons and this is the fourth straight series between these teams to be played in Chicago. Their final two meetings last season and their first one this year were also in Chicago.
● The White Sox lost to the Indians on Tuesday, 6-5, for their first loss of the season when scoring five or more runs. Before that the White Sox had been the only major-league team that had not lost a game this season when scoring five or more runs.
● The Tigers had their first 10-run game of the season on Tuesday against the Brewers. That leaves the Pirates and Mariners as the only teams that have not scored in double digits this season.
● Jeimer Candelario has reached base safely (via hit, walk, or HBP) in each of his last 28 games the longest current streak in the major leagues.
● Yoan Moncada is hitting .414 with a .553 OBP over his last nine games, since May 25.
● Casey Mize was 1-3 with a 5.06 ERA in his first five starts this season but over his last five starts he’s 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA, and has not allowed more than two runs in any of his last five games. Lance Lynn has a 1.20 ERA in nine starts for the White Sox, second lowest in team history at that point of a player’s career (Mellie Wolfgang: 1.18 in 1914)
REDS (24-29) at CARDINALS (31-25)
● The Cardinals are 7-3 against the Reds at Busch Stadium since 2020, holding the Reds to a batting average of .179 over the 10 games. The Cardinals swept a 3-game series versus Cincinnati at Busch in April. St. Louis starting pitchers (Kim, Gant, Flaherty) combined for three wins and a 0.96 ERA (2/18.2) in that series.
● The Reds average an MLB-best 6.00 runs per game at Great American Ball Park, but have scored just 3.81 runs per game (21st in MLB) on the road this season. The 2.19 differential is the second largest in baseball (home RPG more than away RPG; Colorado 3.38).
● The Cardinals are one of 12 teams with 30+ wins this season. However, they are one of only two teams with 30+ wins and a negative run differential (-10) along with the Indians (-6).
● Vladimir Gutierrez will make his second career start on Thursday. In his first outing he pitched five innings allowing just one run on two hits, but was the tough-luck loser in a 1-0 loss at Wrigley Field.
● Adam Wainwright’s 2021 debut was April 3 at Cincinnati and he allowed six earned runs in just 2.2 innings. Wainwright has been great at Busch Stadium lately, allowing zero runs and just four hits in 16.1 innings in his last two starts. Wainwright has thrown 19.0 consecutive scoreless innings at home, 1.0 innings shy of his career high of 20.0 (2009 & 2019).
● Since coming back from injury on May 27, Tyler O’Neill is batting .393 (11-for-28) with four home runs in seven games. Prior to injury he was batting .250 with eight home runs through 30 games. Cincinnati’s Nick Castellanos’ 18-game active hit streak is the longest in the majors this season.
MARINERS (28-29) at ANGELS (25-30)
● The Mariners will make their first trip to Angel Stadium this season. Since 2019, the Mariners and Angels have split 32 meetings, 16 wins apiece.
● Through 57 games the Mariners are batting .206. This is the worst 57-game start in franchise history and the worst batting average through 57 games for any team since the 1968 Chicago White Sox hit .206 (fraction worse than 2021 M’s).
● The Los Angeles Angels pitching staff has the second-worst ERA in the major leagues at 4.98, better than only the Cincinnati Reds (5.04). They also have committed the most errors (44) in MLB and have the worst fielding percentage (.977) in baseball.
● Mitch Haniger is tied with Nolan Arenado (StL) for the second-most extra-base hits in the MLB this season with 30. The only player with more is Boston’s Rafael Devers (31).
● In the only series against the Mariners this season (Apr. 30 – May 2), Shohei Ohtani hit a home run and had three stolen bases becoming just the third Angel with 1+ HR & 3+ SB in a series against Seattle (Carney Lansford 1980 and Darin Erstad 1998).
● Justus Sheffield is 0-3 on the road this season with an ERA of 6.75 and an opponent batting average of .356. Griffin Canning is 1-0 with a 1.47 ERA (3 ER, 18.1 IP) in three career starts against the Mariners.
CUBS (32-23) at GIANTS (34-21)
● Each of the last nine games between these teams have been decided by three or fewer runs, with six of the nine being decided by a one-run margin.
● The Cubs have won each of their last six series, since being swept in a two-game series at Cleveland on May 11-12
● The Giants are leading the major leagues in slugging average with runners on base this season (.461).
● Patrick Wisdom has hit safely in all five of his starts this season (9-for-18, .500) with four home runs and five RBIs.
● Wilmer Flores is 6-for-12 since coming off the injured list on Saturday, raising his season batting average from .219 to .248.
● Zach Davies has averaged 5.2 strikeouts per nine innings, fifth lowest among pitchers who have thrown 40+ innings in the major leagues this season, and his average of 4.8 walks per nine innings is seventh highest among that group of pitchers. Anthony DeSclafani allowed 10 runs to the Dodgers on May 23, but he’s allowed 14 runs in his 10 other starts this season.
METS (27-21) at PADRES (34-23)
● In the last series between these teams, in July 2019, there were only three home runs hit, and they all came off the bat of Robinson Cano in the first game of the series.
● The Mets have raised their season batting average by 10 points over their last four games, going from .224 to .234, by hitting .318 over that span.
● The Padres have lost four straight games, their longest losing streak of the season, to fall a game behind the Giants in the N.L. West.
● James McCann is 9-for-18 with seven RBIs over his last five games, and that’s despite having an 0-for-5 game in the Mets’ series opener in Arizona on Monday.
● Since returning to the lineup on May 19, Fernando Tatis, Jr. leads the major leagues with 23 RBIs (eight more than anyone else) and he’s tied with Jose Altuve for the most runs scored in the majors (15). Tatis Jr. is day-to-day with an oblique issue suffered Tuesday in Chicago.
● Taijuan Walker’s 1.84 ERA is the second lowest in a pitcher’s first nine starts for the Mets, behind Al Leiter, who had a 1.49 ERA at that point of his Mets career, in 1998. Yu Darvish allowed five runs in his last start, his highest total in any game over the last two seasons.