Stats Perform: Slumping Giants Face Challenge Of Dodgers On The Road

From the offices of Stats Perform

GIANTS (76-76) at DODGERS (93-58)

● The Giants and Dodgers are meeting for the third time this season, with San Francisco leading the season series, 4-2. The Giants swept a three-game series in Los Angeles in June – their first road series sweep of the Dodgers since August 20-22, 2012. The Giants have never swept two straight road series of 3+ games against the Dodgers.

● The Giants are 5-25 (.167) in their last 30 road games – their worst such span on the road since 1953 (5-25). During this span, they are hitting .213, being outscored by 76, and have a 5.76 ERA – first time in franchise history with such stats over a 30-game span on the road since 1913.

● Thairo Estrada this season has 12 home runs and 22 stolen bases – the first Giants player with back-to-back seasons of 10+ home runs and 20+ stolen bases since Marvin Benard in 1999-2000, and the ninth player in franchise history.

● At 93-58 (.616), the Dodgers are on pace for their fifth consecutive season with a .600+ winning percentage – the longest such streak in franchise history and longest in MLB since the Reds also had five in a row from 1972-1976.

● Freddie Freeman is on pace to become the second Dodgers player to rank top 3 in the MLB in batting average (.333), hits (198), and extra-base hits (84) – he would join Dan Brouthers (1892). With two more hits, Freeman will become the second Dodgers player in the last 25 years with 200+ hits (Adrian Beltre - 200, 2004).

● Clayton Kershaw currently has a 2.02 career ERA against the Giants, the lowest in the last 100 years (minimum 150 IP). Kershaw also owns an MLB-best 2.51 career ERA against the NL West (minimum 50 starts).

BRAVES (97-55) at NATIONALS (68-85)

● The Braves and Nationals will meet seven times over the final 11 days of the season, beginning with a four-game set at Nationals Park, where the Braves have gone 18-4 since 2021. That is the best road record by any team over a divisional opponent in that span.

● The Braves have dropped five of their last six games – all to NL East foes – after winning six of their previous eight. Despite the losing skid, Atlanta is 31-14 (.689) against its division, second-best in MLB behind the Mariners (29-13, .690).

● Ronald Acuna Jr. is the seventh player in MLB history to record 100 RBI and 50 steals in a season. He is the first to do so since Barry Bonds (114 RBI, 52 SB in 1990) and one of two with 200 hits in the same season, along with George Sisler (246 H, 105 RBI, 51 SB in 1922).

● Max Fried is 5-0 with a 2.96 ERA in eight starts since being activated from the IL August 4. His 2.64 ERA this season ranks fourth among starters (min. 50 IP and 10 starts).

● Washington took two of three against the White Sox, winning consecutive games for the first time since August 24-26; they went 5-16 in the interim. The Nationals are hitting .227 and have a .680 OPS this month, both worst in the NL.

● Jake Irvin took the loss on Friday in Milwaukee to snap his 11-start streak without a loss. Irvin has allowed 20 home runs this year, tied with Hayden Wesneski and Brandon Pfaadt for second-most by an NL rookie behind Pfaadt’s teammate, Ryne Nelson (24).

ORIOLES (95-57) at GUARDIANS (72-81)

● The Guardians are 19-11 (.633) against the Orioles since the start of the 2018 season, their third-best record against any single opponent over that span (min. 10 games).

● Just four pitchers have more strikeouts than Shane Bieber’s 926 in the American League since the 2018 season started: Gerrit Cole (1,404), Lucas Giolito (1,023), José Berríos (986), and Lance Lynn (940).

● The Guardians have five players with 10+ home runs this year, tied for fewest in baseball with the Diamondbacks, White Sox, and Brewers.

● Since July 1, the Orioles have three starters in the American League’s top ten in ERA (min. 50 IP): Kyle Bradish (third, 2.39), Grayson Rodríguez (fifth, 2.59), and Dean Kremer (tenth, 3.08).

● Gunnar Henderson has 63 extra-base hits, just two shy of the franchise record by a rookie, held by Cal Ripken Jr. (1982, 65 XBH).

● The Orioles have scored 776 runs in 2023. They hadn’t scored that many in a season since they had 782 in 2008.

METS (71-81) at PHILLIES (83-69)

● The Phillies took two of three at Citizens Bank Park in June after being swept in three games at Citi Field from May 30 to June 1. The Mets have won 18 of the 25 meetings overall since the start of last season, including eight of the 13 in Philadelphia.

● Brandon Nimmo has multiple hits in three of his last four games and is slashing .346/.393/.654 in 18 September games. His .346 average ranks fifth in the NL this month while his 1.047 OPS ranks seventh (min. 70 PA).

● David Peterson matched his career high with 10 strikeouts against the Reds on Friday and has 30 strikeouts in his last four starts. He has a 3.18 ERA in 13 home appearances this season compared to a 7.35 ERA in 12 road outings.

● Philadelphia went 2-5 on its last homestand after going 7-2 on the previous home stint. The Phillies are averaging 5.81 runs per game at home since the All-Star break, third-best in MLB behind the Cubs (6.15) and Braves (6.07).

● Nick Castellanos has 99 RBI this year, tied with Kyle Schwarber for most on the Phillies. The Phillies have not had two 100-RBI men since 2008 (Ryan Howard, 146; Chase Utley, 104).

● Ranger Suarez allowed one run over six innings in St. Louis on Saturday to pick up the win, his first since June 27. Suarez has a .183 opponent average in his three starts after being activated from the IL on September 1; he had a .306 AVG in three starts last month.

TIGERS (71-81) at ATHLETICS (46-106)

● Since the start of 2017, the Athletics are 31-6 (.838) against the Tigers. That is the best record by any MLB team against any single opponent over that span (min. 15 games).

● The Athletics have 106 losses for the fifth time in franchise history and second time in Oakland (108 losses in 1979). Oakland’s .303 winning percentage would be the fourth lowest by any team this century (the lowest is .265 by the 2003 Tigers).

● Since 1901, just three players have hit 13 home runs and stolen 13 bases through their first 59 career games: Ellis Burks in 1987 (13 HR, 13 SB), Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2019 (14 HR, 14 SB), and Zack Gelof in 2023 (13 HR, 13 SB).

● Sawyer Gipson-Long opened his career with 16 strikeouts in two games this month. It was the most strikeouts for a Tigers pitcher in the first two games of his career since Ralph Comstock had 19 in 1913.

● With a hit in his last game against the Dodgers on Tuesday, Miguel Cabrera passed Adrián Beltré and took possession of 16th place in the all-time hits list, with 3,167. He is one double away from tying Hank Aaron for 13th all-time at 624.

● The Tigers are 0.5 games behind the Guardians for second in the AL Central. The last time they finished higher than third in the division was in 2016 (second, 86-75).