The Out of the Park sim we started at South Side Sox is running over with Brett and his team at South Side Hit Pen — Sports Illustrated.
It ended up being easier this weekend to just pair both sim games together. Tonight, you may be in for a special treat, courtesy of our friends at SBN’s Purple Row.
Whoo boy, what a rough weekend for our sim Sox. Damn your eyes, as you scroll below.
Baseball-Reference OOTP sim
April 25 Final Angels 9, White Sox 3
Winning Pitcher Dylan Bundy (1-3)
Losing Pitcher Dallas Keuchel (3-1)
HRs Eloy Jiménez (6), Nomar Mazara (8), Anthony Rendon (5), Andrelton Simmons (3)
April 26 Final Angels 5, White Sox 2
Winning Pitcher Patrick Sandoval (2-1)
Losing Pitcher Dylan Cease (1-2)
Losing Pitcher Hansel Robles (6)
HRs Anthony Rendon (6), Mike Trout 2 (8,9)
Standings 18-11, second place, half-game behind Cleveland, fourth-best record in baseball
Saturday was a 3-1 Angels lead through the seventh-inning stretch, before all hell broke loose. Steve Cishek and Alex Colomé were mauled by the Halos. On Sunday, Cease couldn’t last five innings, giving up three earned; Michael Kopech, crushed in his debut against the Angels a couple of days ago, pitched a scoreless inning of relief and got his ERA down to 37.80 in the process. The White Sox keep pitching a Cubs castoff named Carlos Ramírez in games, despite a 15.75 ERA. Luckily for the White Sox on this lost weekend in Anaheim, Cleveland is slumping, too.
South Side Hit Pen OOTP sim
April 26 Final Angels 7, White Sox 3
Winning Pitcher Andrew Heaney (5-1)
Losing Pitcher Gio González (3-2)
HRs Jo Adell (2), Mike Trout (10)
April 27 Final White Sox 12, Angels 9 (12 innings)
Winning Pitcher Carson Fulmer (2-1)
Losing Pitcher Kyle Keller
HRs Nick Madrigal (4), Mike Trout 2 (12), Anthony Rendon 2
Standings 15-14, third place, four games behind Minnesota, 13th-best in the majors
Heaney nearly pitched a complete game against the White Sox on Saturday, while Sunday’s game was a barnburner. The White Sox came back with rallies at three different points of the game, culminating with a two-run Yoán Moncada single in the 12th, followed by Leury García walking to score a run. The White Sox were 8-of-9 in stolen bases, executed two double-steals, and saw Madrigal hit both a homer and a successful suicide squeeze.
Saturday’s Sports Illustrated writeup
Sunday’s Sports Illustrated writeup
(stats below through Saturday’s games)
Strat-o-Matic sim
April 26 Final Angels 9, White Sox 0
Winning Pitcher Matt Andriese (4-1)
Losing Pitcher Reynaldo López (3-2)
HRs Brian Goodwin (1)
April 27 Final Angels 4, White Sox 1
Winning Pitcher Patrick Sandoval (1-1)
Losing Pitcher Dylan Cease (2-3)
Losing Pitcher Hansel Robles (4)
HRs Justin Upton (4)
Standings 11-18, fourth place, seven games behind Minnesota, fifth-worst record in baseball
The White Sox had only two hits in a blowout loss to the Angels and starter Matt Andriese on Saturday, while López and Evan Marshall had really bad outings; the game was in fact over after a five-run, five-hit first. Sunday was a closer game, but again was over early after three runs on three hits in the first.