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.60
In an interesting twist nonetheless believable for a pitcher’s duel, the top three MVP candidates for Saturday’s White Sox win are all members of the Chicago pitching staff: Carlos Rodón (.23 WPA), Thyago Vieira (.20) and Juan Minaya (.17). Ironically, and again outing the ridiculousness of the “win,” winning pitcher Xavier Cedeño earned a mere .03 WPA.
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All five Chicago White Sox-Tampa Bay Rays games in 2018 have been decided by two runs or fewer. The White Sox are 3-2 in those games.
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Saturday’s win marked a three-game White Sox winning streak, tying trios in April (26-28) and June (24-27) for the longest this season.
3.28
Vieira definitely earned his first career save, facing a game-high leverage of 3.28 pLI.
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A victory on Sunday will mark the longest winning streak for the White Sox this season, at four games. It would also mark the first three-game sweep of an opponent in nearly a year (Aug. 8-10, 2017, vs. the Houston Astros). Finally, a win would also achieve the first road sweep for the White Sox in more than two years (April 25-27, 2016, at the Toronto Blue Jays).
8
Vieira’s save on Saturday makes him the eighth White Sox pitcher to record one this season (also Joakim Soria, Hector Santiago, Nate Jones, Luis Avilán, Bruce Rondón, Chris Beck, Jace Fry). Only the Philadelphia Phillies, with nine different pitchers earning saves, have more firemen on staff.