Friday MLB Insider Report

Cincinnati Reds

• 1B Joey Votto has reached base safely via hit, walk or HBP in all 24 of his appearances, the longest such streak in the Major Leagues and 10 shy of the modern club record to begin a season.
• Reds batters lead the National League in home runs (31). Last season, Cincinnati batters led the National League in batting average, runs, hits, total bases
• Cincinnati is 85-63 all-time versus Florida, including 5-2 in 2010 and 14-7 the last three seasons
• SP Travis Wood is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in five starts this season, allowing 32 hits in 28.2 innings of work.

Detroit Tigers
-The Tigers suffered a 7-2 loss to the Mariners yesterday afternoon at Comerica Park, the club’s third straight loss.
-Since the start of the 2009 season, Detroit has compiled a 23-13 record against Cleveland. Detroit is fifth among all major league clubs with a 3.38 ERA versus the Indians during that stretch.
-OF Austin Jackson enters tonight’s game at Cleveland having hit safely in all eight of his games during his career at Progressive Field.
-Detroit starting pitchers have posted a quality start in 15 of 21 games, posting a 3.60 ERA and striking out 93 batters
-2B Brennan Boesch finished with two hits yesterday versus Seattle and has now reached base safely in 16 consecutive games.
-Detroit is 4-2 versus the AL Central this season
-Tigers SP Max Scherzer has won each of his first four decisions of the season, allowing 33 hits in 31 innings of work
-Scherzer enters the evening tied for third in the American League with four wins, while he is sixth with 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings
-Scherzer is making is making the fourth start of his career at Progressive Field, going 0-3 with a 7.80 ERA

Milwaukee Brewers
-Milwaukee starts a 10-game road trip tonight through Houston (3), Atlanta (4) and St. Louis (3). This will be the second straight three-city road trip for the squad.
-The Brewers are 92-115 all-time against the Astros, including 2-1 this season and 7-8 during the 2010 campaign
-OF Ryan Braun has reached base safely in each of the team’s first 24 games. He is 3rd in the NL with 21 RBIs, trailing teammate Prince Fielder (23)
-The Brewers are 5-3-0 in series play this season
-Milwaukee has committed only seven errors this season, which ties Boston for the fewest in the Major Leagues
-SP Shaun Marcum is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA over his last four starts. He has produced three quality starts this season and opponents are batting just .227 against him

Pittsburgh Pirates
-Pittsburgh wrapped up its six-game homestand with a 5-2 loss to San Francisco yesterday.
-The Pirates began the season winning each of their first three road series for the first time since 2002. Pittsburgh has gone 7-6 on the road this season and are hitting .260 with 12 home runs in 13 road games, compared to a .199 average and four homers in 12 home games
-Pittsburgh has gone 3-3 in its last six games played at Coors Field
-Pitching staff has produced a 2.29 ERA in the last six games, lowering the team ERA from 4.24 to 3.76. In that time, the starters have gone 3-2 with a 2.97 ERA, while the bullpen has produced a 0.96 ERA
-Entering tonight’s action, Pittsburgh’s bullpen ERA of 2.28 ranks second in the Major Leagues behind Florida (1.93)
-The Pirates have gone 9-3 this season when scoring at least four runs in a game
-SP Kevin Correia has gone 7-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) during the month of April the last two seasons. He has a 2-5 record and 4.94 ERA in 29 games (11 starts versus Colorado, going 1-3 with a 4.29 ERA in 14 career games (four starts) in Denver

Baltimore Orioles
-The Orioles and White Sox meet in the opener of their four-game set and the first game of a seven-game road trip.
-Baltimore is coming off a 4-5 homestand against Minnesota (2-2), New York (0-2) and Boston (2-1)
-The Orioles won the season series, 4-3, in 2010 as they went 3-1 in Baltimore and 1-2 in the Windy City.
-Baltimore is 1-5 when the opponent starts a left-hander, with its only win coming on Opening Day in beating Tampa Bay’s David Price
-The Orioles join the Philadelphia Phillies as the only starting staffs in baseball with three different pitchers having recorded four quality starts
-Bullpen is 1-2 with a 7.57 ERA over the last nine games
-Over the last three games, Orioles’ 3-4-5 hitters are a combined 14-for-35 with two home runs and four RBI
-Posted a 4-6 record against AL Central opponents this year
-Baltimore SP Jake Arrieta was tagged for four earned runs in four innings in his only career start against the Chicago White Sox.

Chicago Cubs
-Chicago has won six of its last eight road series dating to September 10, 2010
-Cubs SP Carlos Zambrano has won his last eight road starts dating to August 14 of last season, going 8-0 with a 2.56 ERA
-Own a 18-30 all-time record at Chase Field. It’s the Cubs second-lowest winning percentage at any current National League ballpark
-Chicago owns a .276 team batting average, third-best in the majors
-The pitching staff has a 5.20 team ERA, which is the second-highest in baseball. Houston has a 5.24 ERA
-Chicago is a perfect 8-0 when entering the sixth inning with a lead, however, the club is 1-11 when trailing entering the sixth.
-Zambrano is 2-0 with a 6.94 ERA in two road starts compared to a 4.26 ERA with a 0-1 mark in three home starts

I took the Yanks today but I like Mil also

Seattle Mariners
-Seattle continues its third road trip of the season, a six-game jaunt to Detroit (3-0) and Boston.
-Won a season-high three straight games and are 7-4 in the last 11 games.
-OF Ichiro has recorded 12 multi-hit games (1st AL) and has 703 career multi-hit games
-10 of 26 games have been decided by two or fewer runs
-Starters have received only 59 runs of support, which is 2nd to last in the majors
-Opponent starters have a 2.58 ERA, while relievers have a 5.45 ERA
-2B Adam Kennedy’s .395 batting average at Fenway Park ranks first among all active players.  He has hit safely in 33 of 37 games he has appeared in at Fenway
-1B Justin Smoak has a current 10-game hitting streak.  
-The Mariners recorded 12 hits in yesterday’s game versus the Tigers.  It marked the 8th time this season they’ve recorded 10+ hits in a game
-SP Jason Vargas is making his third career appearance versus Boston, going 0-1 with a 2.19 ERA
-Vargas is 1-5 with a 3.74 ERA in 16 games, 14 starts against the East.
-Vargas has lost a career-high nine straight decisions, which is the longest active losing streak in the majors

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Kansas City Royals
-Kansas City returns home following an 0-6 journey through Texas and Cleveland.  It marks the first winless trip of at least six games since May 12-18, 2006.
-The Royals open a nine-game stay at “The K” tonight and have gone 9-5 through their first 14 games.  The pitching staff has a 3.90 ERA while limiting the opposition to a .270 team batting average
-Sunday’s loss snapped Bruce Chen’s seven-game winning streak dating back to last season (11 starts)
-Chen has won five straight decisions at Kauffman Stadium dating back to August 18, 2010, posting a 3.65 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a .260 batting average over seven appearances.  He is 9-5 with a 4.42 ERA at “The K” since joining the Royals in 2009

New York Mets
-New York had its season-high six-game winning streak snapped last night at Washington.  the Mets are 6-6 on the road this year and have won two of their first four road series
-The Mets are 32-35 all-time at Citizens Bank Park.  New York is 1-5-1 in their last seven series versus the Phillies at CBP
-Team is 3-5 in the first game of a series this season, 2-2 when opening a series on the road
-New York is 6-1 since the return of OF Jason Bay from the disabled list.  The club has scored 42 runs and has a .297 batting average during these seven games.  Over the team’s first 18 games, the Mets hit .238 and scored 72 runs
-1B Ike Davis extended his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games with two hits last night.
-Offense ranks 13th in the majors with a .254 team batting average and 11th with 114 runs scored.
-Over the last seven games, New York’s pitching staff has a 2.47 ERA.
-In 14 career starts against the Phillies, Mets SP Mike Pelfrey is 6-4 with a 5.08 ERA.  In Philadelphia, he is 1-2 with a 9.55 ERA with eight home runs allowed in six career starts

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