Category: Sports News

Today I would like to take a look at who Baseball Savant’s statcast evaluation style compares our current favorite baseball players to. We will use a Savant tool to show a Cardinal hitter profile, and see how it compares with the stats we use every day. wRC+ means weighted runs created, and the + means it has been adjusted to compare a player to league average. 100 is average.

Burleson so far best compares to Adley Rutschman’s hitter profile. Burleson barrels a few more, but he also strikes out a little more. They both can be gotten out by poorly topped and poorly under hits. All in all they are pretty similar from a hitter’s profile perspective. The .88 correlation outdoes the other players close to Burly’s style. Another notable player is Freddie Freeman!

The difference in execution: Burleson has a higher on-base percentage, and Rutschman has a lot more power.

Winn vs Bazzana

Here, we find a much more questionable correlation, but we are looking at batter profiles here. Not necessarily production.

What do I hope this means? Winn has a lot of unlocked potential if he compares closest to a Travis Bazzana hitting profile at .82 correlation. This is not as strong a correlation as in the previous example, but Travis Bazzana is the closest. If Winn can up his hitting across the board, this is the absolute ceiling. He will need to lower his K rate a little bit, take a few more walks, and maybe turn more of those flare burners into harder-hit balls, and of course, tap into his full potential. If he comps closest to a good hitter, this is encouraging.

What does this really mean? Kyle Isbel is another close comp, who matches up closest in offense stat categories, as well as the hitting profile. Isbel is probably a little worse hitter than Winn, but is more where Winn wants to be on the ISO charts. Isbel may be the floor comparison, as his walk rate and strikeout rates are even worse than what Winn has done this year.

Why are left-handed hitters comparing most closely with Winn’s hitting profile? I have no idea, but maybe he hits it the opposite way a lot.

How about Ivan Herrera? So far in 2026, JP Crawford is his closest player similarity score by statcast.

First off, Crawford has a terrible BABIP of .226 this season. So that might explain some of the difference in the wRC+ score. Herrera has a relatively normal BABIP of .296. Somehow Crawford has outdone Herrera in BB% with a ridiculous 15% walk rate. It probably helped that he walked 3 times last night! I was surprised ANYONE had a higher walk rate than Herrera, but this is next level. They have nearly the same ISO, but Crawford strikes out more. However, they both poorly top the ball a lot, and have their fair share of flare burners.

It is also notable that Randy Arozarena is his second closest player similarity score by batting profile.

Gorman and Jensen both walk at about the same rate, but as we all know Gorman’s K rate is next level. Jensen’s is not far behind though! Both players have 7 HR and a low BABIP, suggesting they might both get a little better. Gorman and Jensen are going to suffer a poor K rate, together in spirit.

The black circles in the graphic above are for Strikeout, and Gorman and Jensen lead the pack with that black hole in their swing. Do we like the 2nd closest hitter profile comparison in fellow third baseman Yoan Moncada? No, no we don’t. Moving on!

JJ Wetherholt and Jordan Walker don’t compare all that closely with any hitters just yet, so I”m going to profile them later in an article, with more in-depth coverage. I’d like to see Nathan Church play more first, as well.

My my, how things have changed! And look at that guy Nootbaar all over the leader boards. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I hope he’s ok, and able to have a career second half.

I will get back to the music writing soon, if I can find the time! I ran out of time again tonight. Next week…

Thanks for reading.

1943
Holding a slim 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth at Fenway Park, the White Sox rallied to load the bases with two outs. With Mike Tresh at the plate, Don Kolloway broke from third base and scored before Red Sox pitcher Oscar Judd could deliver the ball home, with Luke Appling stealing third base and Joe Kuhel second. As the ball got away from catcher Roy Partee, Appling attempted to scamper home from second but was tagged out to end the inning.

The Carmines went down in order, taking the 6-4 defeat and improving the White Sox to 15-16 on the season.

1963
With the White Sox in first place, another freak injury occurred that was reminiscent of past bizarre circumstances, costing the team dearly. First baseman Joe Cunningham, who hit .295 with 70 RBIs and 101 walks in 1962, broke his collarbone in Los Angeles running out a ground ball in the fifth inning. 

Cunningham was trying to avoid stepping on Angels first baseman Charlie Dees’ foot, so he twisted and lost his balance, tripping over the bag and crashing down to the ground; a wild throw from second baseman Billy Moran that started the sequence.

Cunningham didn’t return until September. Tommy McCraw was called up to replace him, but just couldn’t fill the bill. The team’s decline set in quickly after Cunningham’s injury, even though the club finished the season in second place at 94-68, 10 ½ games behind the Yankees.

1995
After the White Sox had gone almost four years without a sayonara home run, Dave Martinez connected with a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to win, 10-6, vs. Detroit. It was Chicago’s fourth walk-off in new Comiskey history.

Although the homer didn’t save the White Sox from a loss, as the game was tied heading into last ups, there was still drama. Lance Johnson and Tim Raines were retired, and then a two-out rally began, as Frank Thomas worked a walk from reliever Joe Boever and Mike Devereaux singled him to second. Then the decision was made to intentionally walk Robin Ventura to get to Martinez, a disrespect that apparently made Dave none too happy: On a 1-2 pitch, the right fielder ripped a screamer deep and out into the right-field stands.

It was the second straight walk-off win for the White Sox, in the middle of five other losses.

2001
Speaking of walk-offs at Sox Park, Paul Konerko crushed a three-run homer deep to left in the bottom of the 10th to spur a 9-6 win over Detroit. The South Siders fell behind, 6-0, in the eighth, before reeling off nine unanswered runs for the win.

With one out in the ninth, Chris Singleton clocked a double to tie the game, 6-6, against Detroit closer Todd Jones (Singleton was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a triple). Then, in the 10th, Herbert Perry singled with two outs against Jones, who then balked Perry to second and intentionally walked Ray Durham. Matt Anderson took over for Jones, ran the count to two balls vs. PK, then served up a center-cut, triple-digit fastball to the slugger.

The comeback fueled hope that the defending division champs could get back on track (the win got them to just 23-30 on the season, already buried deep behind Minnesota in the AL Central); alas, the Sox would get no closer than 6 ½ games all season, finishing at 83-79.

2019
With the No. 3 overall pick in the MLB draft, the White Sox picked Andrew Vaughn, a first baseman from the University of California. The slugger won the Golden Spikes Award in 2018.

It marked just the third time since 1977 (Harold Baines, first overall) that the White Sox had such a high draft pick (2013, Carlos Rodón, No. 3 overall). Vaughn took an unorthodox route to the majors, jumping in 2021 from High-A to the South Side after missing the entire 2020 season due to the pandemic. Vaughn became the first player from the 2019 draft to make the majors.

That route appears not to have worked, given Vaughn’s unorthodox route out of the majors, namely being demoted in May 2025 after a horrible start to his MLB season. In fact, over five seasons and 610 games, Vaughn registered just 0.3 WAR for the White Sox — a No. 3 overall pick whose value is of a replacement player.

2023
It was, truly, a most bizarre game.

The White Sox beat the Tigers, 2-1, at Guaranteed Rate Field — with every run in the game scoring on wild pitches! That had never happened before since the live ball (1920) was introduced to the game.

The winning run scored in the last of the 10th when Detroit pitcher Jose Cisnero’s 97 mph fastball struck home plate umpire Cory Blaser in the face mask, knocking him down and bounding away from home plate. Yoán Moncada scored on the play.

Jacob Misiorowski just almost went a whole month without allowing a run. Over 38 1/3 innings across six starts, he had a 0.23 ERA, he struck out 57 batters, and he walked only six.

It’s an arbitrary cutoff, but there are only four other pitchers in the history of baseball to strike out at least 57 batters and have an ERA as low as Misiorowski’s 0.23 in any six-start span: Hall of Famer Rube Waddell, who did it twice during the Deadball Era; R.A. Dickey, during his 2012 Cy Young year; Félix Hernández, during his 2010 Cy Young year; and Chris Sale in 2018, when he finished fourth in Cy Young voting despite making only 27 starts.

While Misiorowski’s six-start stretch was not the greatest in the history of baseball—it may not even have been the best in the last month, with a tip of the cap to Cristopher Sánchez—I did wonder if it was the best that Brewers fans had ever seen from one of their players.

There is a compelling case, but there’s also one mammoth, overlooked figure from the franchise’s history who needs to be given his due. Here are, from 7-to-1, the seven best six-start spans in Brewer history, according to me.

Note: A couple of these extend for more than six games. To keep things simple, in those cases I’ve taken the best six games from whatever the longer streak is, and I did not include another streak-within-a-streak. However, if a player had multiple distinct streaks, I considered them.

Another note: I will reference the Bill James stat “Game Score” in this piece. Game Score is a single number that’s used to put a sort of quick and dirty rating on a start, but in general it’s pretty accurate at reflecting effectiveness. It is calculated this way:

• Start at 50
• Add 1 point for each out and 2 points for each completed inning after the fourth
• Add 1 point for each strikeout
• Subtract 2 points for each hit, 4 points for each earned run, 2 points for each unearned run, and 1 point for each walk

7. Corbin Burnes, April 13 – May 13 2022

40 2/3 IP, 71 average Game Score, 1.33 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 53 K, 5 BB

Surprise: Burnes’ best stretch as a Brewer did not come during his 2021 Cy Young season. It came at the beginning of the next year.

At his best, Burnes was an absolute assassin. He didn’t walk anyone. He never missed spots. His best stretch put those things on display. The remarkable thing here is the walks: just five in 40 2/3 innings. He had double-digit strikeouts in three straight starts from April 19-May 1, and allowed only six runs total.

Somehow, Milwaukee only went 3-3 in these games. But it was still an awe-inspiring display of control, and Burnes’ 10.6 K:BB ratio during the span is the best of any of the contending seasons.

6. Brandon Woodruff, May 1 – May 30 2021

42 IP, 73 average Game Score, 1.07 ERA, 2.48 FIP, 49 K, 8 BB

Here you have it: during Burnes’ Cy Young season, it was Woodruff who had the best six-game stretch. And what’s even more impressive is that it was all part of a much larger streak: from April 7^th, Woodruff’s second start of the season, through June 6^th, he made 12 starts, never allowed more than two runs, had a 1.25 ERA, and struck out 92 batters while walking 15 in 79 innings.

By Game Score, the six starts he made in May were the best six. Woodruff completed at least seven innings in four of those, and had double-digit strikeouts in three, one of which was a 7 2/3 innings, 10 strikeout, one walk, three hit, one run gem over the division rival Cardinals on May 12^th.

5. CC Sabathia, July 13 – August 8 2008

51 innings, 74 average Game Score, 1.41 ERA, 2.33 FIP, 47 K, 7 BB

Picking a six-game stretch for Sabathia as a Brewer is hard. There’s a different six-game stretch that overlaps with this one by one game that’s arguably just as impressive: if you start on August 8^th and go to September 5^th, his ERA actually drops to 0.96 (though he didn’t throw quite as many innings and walked a few more batters, which accounts for the slight drop in average game score from 74 to 72). There’s also no real way to squeeze in his brilliant and meaningful starts in the last two games of the season, because he allowed eight runs (though only five were earned) in the two starts prior to those last two.

Sabathia wasted no time as a Brewer. In his first start with the club on July 8^th, he allowed three runs (two earned) in six innings. Pretty good. But after that, he ripped off an 11-game stretch in which he had a 1.31 ERA, struck out 89, and walked 15 in 89 innings. He completed six of those games, three of which were shutouts. Sabathia personally went 8-0, and the team was 10-1.

The best six-game stretch by Game Score is from his second start on July 13^th through August 8^th. The first of three of those were all complete game victories; in those 27 innings he struck out 26 and walked three, culminating with a 3-0 shutout of the Cardinals. After a brief hiccup against the Cubs on July 28^th in which he gave up four runs (three earned) in 6 2/3, Sabathia continued with 8 1/3 innings of two-run ball against the Braves and a nine-strikeout, one-walk shutout of the Nationals.

Sabathia’s best start by Game Score with the Brewers that season—and the best of his 19-year Hall-of-Fame career—came on August 31^st in Pittsburgh. That’s the game where he was a bunt-hit away from a no-hitter and struck out 11.

4. Teddy Higuera, August 15 – September 10 1988

48 1/3 IP, 76 average Game Score, 0.93 ERA, 1.57 FIP, 44 K, 10 BB

We’ll see Higuera again below for what he did during the 1987 season, but by some measures, the streak he had in 1988 was better. The 1987 one was special for a different reason which we’ll get to, but by the measures of ERA and FIP, his 1988 streak was better.

From August 15 to September 10, Higuera made six starts and completed at least seven innings in all of them. In four of those, he allowed one run (one of which was unearned); in the other two, he allowed zero and two runs. His ERA for the streak was 0.93, and his FIP was a microscopic 1.57.

The Brewers went 5-1 during the streak, but how could you blame Higuera for the loss? Against Seattle on September 10^th, he threw a complete game and allowed only three hits, but Seattle won 1-0.

Two starts especially stand out. On August 25^th, Higuera went the distance against the Yankees, allowed only three hits, walked one, and struck out nine; that Yankee lineup had two Hall-of-Famers (Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield) and two Hall-of-Very-Gooders (Don Mattingly and Jack Clark) at the top. The other was an outing against the Tigers on September 4^th; Higuera held that talented team to one hit while shutting them out for seven innings.

3. Mike Caldwell, June 28 – July 22 1978

56 IP, 75 average Game Score, 1.13 ERA, 2.59 FIP, 25 K, 7 BB

My list of potential streaks here included 22 different six-start spans. Of that group, Caldwell’s 56 innings were the most. If you do a little math here, you’ll come to the realization that 56 divided by six is more than nine. Yes, during this streak, Caldwell averaged 9 1/3 innings per start. He also had the lowest BB/9 of any of the contenders at just 1.1.

The streak started with a complete game shutout of the Yankees—the eventual World Series champs—on June 28^th. On July 2^nd, Caldwell went 10 innings in an eventual 4-3, 11-inning loss. (Of historical note: Seattle’s starting pitcher in this game was named, and I am not making this up, Dick Pole.) On July 7^th, Caldwell shut out the Yankees again. That lineup in 1978 had six different guys who got MVP votes, including one Hall of Famer (Reggie Jackson) and two or three more guys who should be in the Hall (Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph).

On July 13^th, the Brewers blew out the Royals 13-2, but heck, why not let Caldwell complete the game? On July 17^th, he pitched all nine innings of a 6-1 victory over the White Sox.

The cherry on top of this streak was a 10-inning complete game against the Rangers on July 22^nd. In those 10 innings, Caldwell only struck out one batter. The internet tells me it was 95 degrees that day in Dallas. The Rangers played outside back then. It was a night game, at least. Milwaukee won 2-1.

2. Jacob Misiorowski, May 1 – May 31 2026

38 1/3 IP, 77 average Game Score, 0.23 ERA, 0.66 FIP, 57 K, 6 BB

The thing about Game Score is that it rewards innings pitched. You rack up points by accruing outs; a player who pitches six innings starts with a 72 Game Score before factoring in anything else, while a pitcher who goes nine starts with an 87 Game Score. Those extra innings add up.

That’s what makes it so impressive that Misiorowski managed the second-highest average Game Score for any streaking Brewers starter, despite throwing less than 40 innings.*

*Technically, there are five six-game streaks ahead of Misiorowski, but they all belong to the same 1987 stretch by Higuera (see below).

This is fresh in our brains, so I won’t spend a ton of time, but a few things from Miz May:

• The Brewers went 5-1 during the streak; in the only game they lost, Misiorowski handed a 1-0 lead to his bullpen after seven shutout innings.
• Miz struck out at least eight batters in all six games and had double digits three times.
• That he walked just six batters in those six games is remarkable. That equates to 1.4 BB/9. Across four minor league seasons, Misiorowski’s BB/9 was 5.4, and last season in the majors it was 4.2.
• Misiorowski’s K/9 in those six games was 13.4. The current record for a pitcher with at least 1,000 innings pitched is Blake Snell at 11.2. (13.4 K/9 is actually below Miz’s season average of 13.7, which leads baseball, obviously.)
• Misiorowski allowed one extra-base hit during his six starts, a double with one out and nobody on to Isaac Paredes on Sunday. Opponents slugged .110 against him. Ben Sheets slugged .134 in 2004.

1. Higuera, August 10 – September 6 1987

53 IP, 80 average Game Score, 1.19 ERA, 2.38 FIP, 45 K, 16 BB

I think this has to be the answer to this question, and here’s why: in the last three of these six games, Higuera threw three straight shutouts. One of them was ten innings.

Higuera’s start of August 26^th, 1987 against Cleveland is tied for the second-best game in Brewers history by Game Score.* Higuera went all ten innings, struck out ten, walked two, and allowed just three hits. Milwaukee’s Rick Manning walked off future Brewer Doug Jones in the bottom of the tenth with an RBI single.

*This is a fun list:

• Number one, also against Cleveland, is the game when Burnes combined with Josh Hader for a no-hitter. Burnes went eight, struck out 14, and walked one for a 95 Game Score.
• Two starts are tied with Higuera with a 94 Game Score: on September 27, 1974, Jim Colborn threw the first 13 innings of a 1-0, 17-inning loss to Baltimore. He walked six and gave up eight hits but didn’t allow a run.
• The other is Sheets’ 18-strikeout game. He went nine, allowed three hits and a run, and walked one.
• Sabathia’s near-no-hitter, cited above, is just behind those four, at 93.
• Juan Nieves’ no-hitter, the only single-person no-hitter in team history, scores an 89, tied for 13^th. He walked five and “only” struck out seven in that game.

In his next start, Higuera allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out nine in a 2-0 shutout of the Royals. Another close game! Ross Jones hit a two-out triple in the bottom of the eighth in a 0-0 game, which was the only thing preventing a Higuera no-hitter. But the next batter popped out, Milwaukee got two two-out runs off of Kansas City ace Bret Saberhagen in the top of the ninth, and Higuera sat down Willie Wilson, Kevin Seitzer, and George Brett in order in the bottom of the ninth.

The third shutout came against that season’s World Series champions, the Minnesota Twins. The Brewers won comfortably, 6-0… but they were only ahead 1-0 until the 6^th and 2-0 until the 8^th. The Twins only managed two hits and three walks, and Higuera struck out seven. A weird piece of trivia for anyone who likes seeing baseball legends on the “wrong team”: the losing pitcher in this game was Steve Carlton! It was the eighth-to-last appearance of his 24-year, 741-game career.

So that’s the three shutouts that Higuera threw toward the end of the 1987 season. But while he wasn’t quite at that level in the three games before that, he was still good. In the first game of this streak on August 10^th, Higuera threw the first 11 innings of a 12-inning, 4-3 win over the Rangers. He lost a duel with Baltimore’s Mike Flanagan on August 15^th but threw all eight innings and allowed just two runs in the loss. The only game of the streak that Higuera didn’t go at least eight innings was on August 20^th, when he allowed two runs on three hits in six innings. But Milwaukee was up 14-2 when he left that game, so they must’ve decided they could let the bullpen get some work.

The last note about this 1987 streak: it was really an eight-game streak. From August 5^th through September 11^th, Higuera had a 1.27 ERA in 71 innings and averaged a Game Score of 79. Pretty darn good.

A couple quick honorable mentions, for fun:

Cal Eldred had a 0.58 ERA over 46 2/3 innings from August 14^th to September 13^th of his magical 1992 rookie season.

Rubén Quevedo (!) had a six-game stretch with a 0.68 ERA from May 7^th to June 5^th, 2002… though the first of those six appearances was a scoreless one-inning relief appearance.

Somebody named Bill Parsons had a six-game stretch in July and early August of 1972 which included four straight complete games. Two were shutouts, and in a third he allowed zero earned runs (but still lost).

Chris Bosio had an excellent season in 1989, and that was largely due to a stretch from July 19^th through August 12^th in which he had a 0.77 ERA in 47 innings.

Sheets’ 18-strikeout game was included in a stretch where he allowed nine runs in 46 innings (a 1.76 ERA), struck out 48, and walked only eight.

Finally, Jim Slaton had a stretch from August 18 to September 11, 1974, when he had a 0.54 ERA over 50 innings. The peripherals were ugly: he had just a 1.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But he was effective.    

I know the big news is the Phillies winning last night, but how about how impressively bad the Padres are at hitting with runners in scoring position? I think McCarthy said they were 0 for their last 27 against the Phillies? That’s just horrid.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Let’s be honest: catching the Braves is likely out of the picture, but is it going to be absolutely impossible?
• Some notes in talking with Luke Murton about some of the team’s prospects, including Dante Nori and Aidan Miller ($).
• Nick Castellanos said he has no regrets about anything he did while playing in Philadelphia. Can we just be done with this guy?

MLB news:

• At first, Chris Getz was saying the focus for the White Sox was not on 2026. This team is playing so well, it is changing his stance a little bit.
• Bruce Meyer spoke about the initial proposal made by MLB in the CBA negotiations. This feels like it will get contentious.
• Drake Baldwin is trying to make it back in time for the Braves’ next homestand. Cool, they’re going to get reinforcements.

After getting Monday off on their way back from the west coast, the Yankees returned to action Tuesday night, opening a series against the Guardians. And, well…it could have gone better.

For one, Aaron Judge was out of the lineup, as he apparently is dealing with a bone bruise, which flared up over the weekend in Sacramento. On the field, Cam Schlittler had arguably the worst start of his young career, as he gave up five runs in just 4.1 innings. Mainly thanks to Paul Goldschmidt, the Yankees’ offense kept going back and forth with Cleveland for a while. However eventually, more Guardians’ hits started to find some grass, and they pulled away and broke the game open.

While the Yankees will licking their wounds after that one, did the loss come back to haunt them in the standings? Let’s check in on Tuesday’s action in this morning’s Rivalry Roundup.

Detroit Tigers (24-38) 8, Tampa Bay Rays (36-22) 0

The Tigers have really been struggling following their playoff berths in the last two seasons, but you might not have known that in this one. They got to the Rays early an often, doing the Yankees a solid in the process.

Facing Rays’ starter Steven Matz, Detroit opened up a big lead early. In his return from the IL, Gleyber Torres took Matz deep on the fifth pitch of the game to open the scoring, and Wenceel Pérez added a two-run shot in the second. By the time the top of the second was over, the Tigers had opened up a 5-0 lead, and never really had any concerns after that.

Detroit also never really had any worries as their pitching had a big game themselves. Jack Flaherty opened the game with five scoreless innings, scattering five hits and two walks. After him, reliever Enmanuel De Jesus came in and stream-rolled the rest of the way. De Jesus inherited a runner from Flaherty when he came in for the sixth and immediately induced a double play. He then retired every batter he faced after that, meaning that he managed to throw four innings despite facing just 11 batter.

The Tigers’ offense tacked on another couple runs from there, recording 10 hits on the day, and coming away with the victory.

Other Games

• Atlanta Braves (41-20) 4, Toronto Blue Jays (29-32) 3: Despite outhitting the Braves 9-6, the Blue Jays couldn’t cash in more on their opportunities, dooming them to a one-run loss. Toronto managed to quickly come back after Atlanta had taken a 2-0 lead in the first, but eventually they couldn’t continue answering after falling behing. Matt Olson’s towering sixth-inning homer just cleared the right field fence, and ended up breaking the tie for good and giving the Braves the win.

• Seattle Mariners (33-29) 8, New York Mets (26-35) 3: The Mariners racked up 8 runs on 11 hits, including a trio of home runs, to dash the Mets’ Bullpen Game plans. While the Mets were initially able to answer an early 2-0 Seattle lead, the M’s started to add on and pull away after that. Right after the Mets tied the game at two in the top of the third, the Mariners responded with a run courtesy of two Mets’ errors in the bottom of the inning. Seattle then tacked on five more runs over the next couple innings, including three on a Jhonny Pereda homer.

Don’t look now, but the Detroit Tigers are undefeated in June after their 8-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night. Sure, the month is only two days old, but the Motor City Kitties have already scored as many runs (18) over the past pair of games as they did in the final six-and-a-half games of May.

I have no clue what happened to this team when the calendar flipped, but I am loving it!

On Wednesday afternoon, AJ Hinch’s squad will try to complete the sweep of the Rays with right-hander Troy Melton on the mound. The 25-year-old has provided some much-needed quality innings in his two starts so far in the 2026 campaign, and hopefully, he can continue to do so in the finale of the three-game series.

This will be his first-ever appearance against Tampa Bay.

Up against him will be fellow righty Nick Martinez, who has been superb so far this season, throwing seven straight quality starts — including three straight coming into Wednesday — while allowing no more than two runs in any of his 11 outings. The 35-year-old’s strikeout numbers are not particularly impressive, but he has been extraordinarily stingy when it comes to handing out free passes.

The last time Martinez faced the Tigers was last year on June 13, when he allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out five over five frames to take the loss. Hopefully, Detroit can replicate that effort — or better — on Wednesday.

Here is a look at how the two match up.

Detroit Tigers (24-38) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (36-22)

Time (ET): 1:10 p.m.
Place: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
SB Nation Site:DRaysBay
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 63: RHP Troy Melton (1-0, 1.42 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Martinez (5-1, 1.62 ERA)

MELTON

MARTINEZ

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (29-28)

SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE 6, SYRACUSE 5 (BOX)

Early on, the RailRiders and Mets matched each other tit-for-tat, with both teams failing to score in the first and second and then both teams scoring a run apiece in the third and fourth. In the later innings, the RailRiders pulled ahead and took a lead that eventually proved too large for the Mets to catch up. They certainly did, rallying in the bottom of the ninth and scoring three runs- all with two outs- but Kevin Parada flied out to former Met Kennedy Corona to end things with the tying run on second.

·  LF Nick Morabito: 1-4, K

·  REHAB ALERT DH Jorge Polanco: 0-3, BB

·  PH Yonny Hernández: 1-1, 2 RBI

·  C Francisco Alvarez: 2-3, 2 2B, RBI

·  C Kevin Parada: 0-2, K

·  1B Ryan Clifford: 0-4, 2 K

·  3B Andy Ibáñez: 1-4, R, HR (2), RBI, K

·  2B Ji Hwan Bae: 0-2, R, 2 BB, 2 SB (18, 19)

·  CF Cristian Pache: 0-4, 3 K

·  SS Jackson Cluff: 1-4, R, RBI, 2 K

·  RF Matt Rudick: 0-2, 2 R, 2 BB, K

·  LHP Zach Thornton: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K

·  RHP Ben Simon: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, L (1-1)

·  RHP Alex Carrillo: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Ryan Lambert: 0.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

·  RHP Ofreidy Gómez: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

ROSTER ALERT: New York Mets signed free agent 2B Christian Arroyo to a minor league contract.

ROSTER ALERT: 2B Christian Arroyo assigned to Syracuse Mets.

ROSTER ALERT: New York Mets sent 1B Jorge Polanco on a rehab assignment to Syracuse Mets.

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (18-34)

READING 3, BINGHAMTON 0 (BOX)

Binghamton got shutout, logging only two hits- both Chris Suero singles. Suero also added a stolen base, and outside of a Nick Lorusso walk, that was literally all the Rumble Ponies managed on the evening.

·  C Chris Suero: 2-4, 2 K, SB (16), E (7)

·  RF Eli Serrano III: 0-4, K

·  CF D’Andre Smith: 0-3

·  LF Jose Ramos: 0-3

·  3B Nick Lorusso: 0-2, BB

·  1B JT Schwartz: 0-3, K

·  DH Vincent Perozo: 0-3, K

·  2B Jaylen Palmer: 0-3, K

·  SS Wyatt Young: 0-3

·  LHP Max Green: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, E (1)

·  LHP Felipe De La Cruz: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Jordan Geber: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, L (1-6)

ROSTER ALERT: SS Kevin Villavicencio assigned to Binghamton Rumble Ponies from St. Lucie Mets.

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (18-33)

BROOKLYN 2, JERSEY SHORE 1 (BOX)

Don’t look now, but the Brooklyn Cyclones are now the winners of their last 4- this one, sadly, was not a shutout. The BlueClaws got on the board first, scoring a run off of Noah Hall in the bottom of the second, but the Cyclones recouped that run and then some in the sixth. With Grae Kissinger on first, Corey Collins hit his fifth homer of the season off of the fence in right center into the “Jersey Shore” boardwalk area, putting Brooklyn on top. Dakota Hawkins pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, Ryan Dollar worked around a walk in the eighth, and Hoss Brewer did the same in the ninth, shutting the door on the BlueClaws and recording his second save.

·  2B Mitch Voit: 1-4, 2B

·  SS Grae Kessinger: 0-3, R, BB, 2 K

·  C Ronald Hernandez: 0-4, 2 K

·  1B Corey Collins: 1-3, R, HR (5), 2 RBI, BB

·  CF Yonatan Henriquez: 0-4, K

·  DH Daiverson Gutierrez: 0-3, BB, K

·  LF John Bay: 1-3, K

·  3B Colin Houck: 0-3, 2 K

·  RF JT Benson: 1-3, 2 K

·  RHP Noah Hall: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, HBP

·  RHP Garrett Stratton: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, WP, W (2-0)

·  RHP Dakota Hawkins: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, H (2)

·  RHP Ryan Dollar: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, WP, H (1)

·  RHP Hoss Brewer: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, S (2)

ROSTER ALERT: RHP Jose Chirinos assigned to Brooklyn Cyclones from St. Lucie Mets.

ROSTER ALERT: SS Jamari Baylor assigned to Brooklyn Cyclones from St. Lucie Mets.

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (24-27)

POSTPONED (RAIN)

ROSTER ALERT: 1B Jackson Hauge assigned to St. Lucie Mets from FCL Mets.

ROSTER ALERT: St. Lucie Mets transferred OF Simon Juan to the Development List.

ROSTER ALERT: St. Lucie Mets activated SS Trey Snyder from the 60-day injured list.

Rookie: FCL Mets (9-9)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Corey Collins

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

The Binghamton Offense

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Munenori Kawasaki, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1995 – Pedro Martinez of the Montreal Expos pitches nine perfect innings against San Diego before giving up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts in the 10th inning of the Expos’ 1-0 win. Martinez becomes the second pitcher in history, after Harvey Haddix, to have a perfect game broken up in extra innings, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1911 – Chicago Cubs slugger Frank Schulte hits a grand slam off Rube Marquard to beat the New York Giants, 8-4. Schulte will slam four this season, a record tied by Babe Ruth in 1919 and topped by Ernie Banks‘ five in 1955.
• 1925 – MLB Chicago White Sox baseball player-manager Eddie Collins becomes the sixth to collect 3,000 hits.
• 1932 – Lou Gehrig hits four consecutive home runs and narrowly misses a fifth, and Tony Lazzeri hits for the cycle as the Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 20-13. 
• 1937 – Josh Gibson hits a home run just two feet below the rim of Yankee Stadium (estimated 580-foot drive).
• 1969 – Hit No. 2,417 for Roberto Clemente? A game-tying three-run homer which pushes him past two Hall of Famers on Pittsburgh’s hit list – Max Carey and Pie Traynor.
• 1971 – Ken Holtzman of the Chicago Cubs pitches his second career no-hitter, defeating the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0.
• 2008 – Randy Johnson moves into second place on the all-time major league strikeout leaderboard. He strikes out eight in 6.1 innings, most importantly getting Mike Cameron in the 1st to pass Roger Clemens for second place with 4,673. The 44-year-old “Big Unit” trails only Nolan Ryan but will not catch him.
• 2012 – Carlos Zambrano hits his 24th career homer as the Marlins beat the Phillies, 5-1. That ties him with Bob Gibson for second-most dingers by a pitcher in the post-1962 era, still nine behind leader Earl Wilson.

Cubs Birthdays:Munenori Kawasaki*, Steve Smyth, José Molina, Robert Machado, John Dobbs.

Today in history:

• 1539 – Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain.
• 1871 – Jesse James & his gang robs Obocock Bank (Corydon Iowa), of $15,000.
• 1943 – A mob of 60 from the Los Angeles Naval Reserve Armory beats up everyone perceived to be Hispanic, starting the week-long Zoot Suit Riots.
• 1946 – First bikini bathing suit is displayed in Paris.
• 1961 – American President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev meet in Vienna.
• 1989 – Beginning of the Tiananmen Square Massacre as Chinese troops open fire on pro-democracy supporters in Beijing.
• 1991 – Thomas Hearns captures WBA light heavyweight title.
• 1993 – 66th National Spelling Bee: Geoff Hooper wins spelling kamikaze.
• 2017 – The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum opens in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Today in Music History:

• 1967 – Aretha Franklin‘s cover of the Otis Redding song “Respect” reaches No. 1.
• 1970 – Ray Davies of The Kinks travels round trip NY-London to change one word in “Lola,” (Coca-Cola to Cherry Cola) because of a BBC commercial reference ban.
• 1972 – “Hot Rod Lincoln” by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen hits No. 9.
• 1976 – Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” goes Gold.
• 1992 – “MTV Unplugged” broadcasts singer-songwriter Paul Simon and 11 of his band members performing in Queens, NYC.
• 2013 – New Zealand teenage singer-songwriter Lorde releases her debut single “Royals”.
• 2019 – Jay-Z named the world’s first billionaire rapper by Forbes magazine.
• 2023 – Ed Sheeran concert with 77,900 concertgoers breaks attendance record at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

*pictured.

Good morning Birdland,

Beating divisional opponents is usually a good way to get yourself back into the playoff picture. Starting on May 25, the Orioles last eight games have been against AL East foes. They have gone 6-2 in those games. So it tracks that they have progressed from 12.5 games back of first place going into this stretch, and are now only 8.5 games back.

There are still five more games to go in this current AL East “gauntlet.” Two up in Fenway, and then a three-game stop in Toronto. If the O’s stay hot, they could mess around and get their overall record to .500 or better. That would really be something!

Last night’s win was close to an ideal game from the Orioles perspective.

Shane Baz was, once again, quite good. He tossed seven innings, struck out seven and allowed just the two runs. His ERA has steadily fallen over his last four starts, from 5.48 on May 9 to 4.29 today. And he has gone seven innings three times in that stretch as well. This is the pitcher that the Orioles hoped they were getting in that big deal with Tampa over the winter.

The bullpen only needed to cover two innings, but they were good and reliable. Andrew Kittredge got the hold in the eighth. It looks like he is all the way back from his early struggles. And Rico Garcia threw up another zero in the ninth, as he has been doing all season long. The Orioles really found something there.

It wasn’t the most impressive night from the offense, but their winning formula was on display. They hit a home run (two, in fact!), this time it was one off the bat of Coby Mayo and another from Pete Alonso. Usually they win games in which they go deep. And they continue to show an ability to manufacture a run, turning a Tyler O’Neill single into a “double” with a stolen base, and then having Leody Taveras bunt him over to third.

This shift in approach that allows for steals and bunts is refreshing. It feels like a rare moment of introspection where the Orioles realized that some parts of their lineup are weaker than others. Giving up an out with a bunt isn’t a terrible outcome if you are concerned that the player would otherwise strikeout or hit into a double play. Taveras has been a good trooper with all of this too, now leading the AL in sac bunts.

How quickly the vibe shifted around the Orioles is impressive. It took one good home stretch, and now these guys feel unbeatable. That won’t last forever. Every team has ebbs and flows. But for now, the Orioles have saved their season. Maybe this will be a fun summer after all.

Links

No righty has homered onto Eutaw Street. Here’s why Alonso could be the first | Orioles.com
It’s probably not “impossible” for a right-handed hitter to get it out there, but man it would be a sight to see. Camden Yards is never a particularly windy park either, so it’s not like you are going to get the ball up into a jet stream. You are welcome to try though, Pete!

Some reasons for the Orioles getting on a roll | Roch Kubatko
It’s an oversimplification, but nearly everyone is playing better than they were in April. It is particularly evident on the starting staff and then from the duo of Colton Cowser and Coby Mayo. Pair that with continued solid work from some of the other regulars, and suddenly you have the contender that many expected the Orioles to be.

The unexpected centerpiece of the Orioles’ rotation turnaround? Brandon Young. | The Baltimore Banner
I was fortunate enough to be at Saturday’s game, which Young started. He looked good. Like, really good! He mixed pitches, maintained velocity, and kept an even demeanor throughout. I’m not gonna say he is the Orioles best pitcher, but he has certainly been a catalyst. His ability to get outs feels like it has put pressure on others to improve. And they certainly have done that.

Former MLB player, 26, intends to play college football at SMU | The Athletic
Jordyn Adams played in 10 games for the Orioles last year. He had come to the team after being a top prospect with the Angels but never finding his footing at the big league level. Now, it seems he is ditching baseball altogether in favor of a football comeback.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Brandon Waddell turns 32 today. He pitched in one game for the 2021 Orioles.
• Ramón Urías is 32 years old. From 2020 through ‘25, Urías was a crucial utility player for the O’s, even winning a Gold Glove in 2022 for his work, and posting a solid 105 OPS+ in that time.
• Robert Machado is 53 today. His O’s stint spanned parts of two seasons from 2003 to ‘04, when he was a reserve catcher for the big league squad.
• Izzy Molina celebrates his 55th. He played in one game for the Orioles in 2002, which was still impressive because it came four years after he had last been in a major league game.
• Aaron Ledesma is 55 today. The utilityman played for four different big league teams in just a five-year MLB career. That included the 1997 campaign spent in Baltimore.
• Jim Gentile is 92 years old. The Orioles Hall of Famer spent four fantastic seasons in Baltimore from 1960 through ‘63. His standout year came in ‘61 when he hit .302/.423/.646 with 46 home runs and a league-leading 141 RBI. That earned him a third-place finish in MVP, behind Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.

This day in O’s history

2019 – The annual amateur draft takes place today. Despite some rumors to the contrary, the Orioles do as they are expected and select Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman with the first overall pick.