Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 10, Tigers 4

Tim Anderson continues to show up and dominate the game of baseball. As a result, the Chicago White Sox are hot, as they win their third straight game and look to secure the series against the Detroit Tigers tomorrow. Anderson is the perfect catalyst, and I am so happy he is with the Sox. Let’s take a look at everything that went down tonight!

FanGraphs

The Starts

Dylan Cease is rolling! In 6 ¹⁄₃ innings, he gave up two earned runs off of five hits and three walks. He struck out three on his way to his fourth win of the season. If Cease continues to do well and keep improving, this team is only going to become more dangerous.

As for Tarik Skubal, he did not have the big league debut he had imagined for himself. Anderson, the first big-leaguer Skubal faced, homered to start the game. The rookie proceeded to give up back-to-back singles. Overall, he only pitched two innings, giving up four runs off of seven hits and a walk. On the bright side, he did notch his first career strikeout. For the White Sox, they continue to rake against pitchers making their MLB debuts.

Pressure Play

In the bottom of the second and for the second straight inning, Anderson tallied a hit. This 1.98 LI double to left scored a runner and put runners on the corners for Yoán Moncada. The two-bagger broke the early tie and catalyzed the Sox’s offense for the rest of the night.

Pressure Cooker

Making one’s first appearance in the MLB is awfully nerve wracking, and unfortunately, a lot of pressure comes with the nerves. Skubal, with a 1.12 pLI, could not perform to expectations in his debut.

Top Play

Sometimes the plays with the most pressure become the best plays of the night when the pressure is faced and defeated. Tim Anderson’s .139 WPA RBI double in the second broke the tie and led the Sox to victory. Creating offense early and starting the game hot is always going to lead to good results.

Game MVP

Without any doubt, TA7 earns tonight’s MVP honors! He finished 4-for-5, and a triple short of the cycle. He tallied three RBIs and three runs, improving his average to .379. Think he wants to repeat his batting title from last year? Keep doing you TA; The fans love it!

Magic Number: 3

Since Anderson has shown up in most of these stats, let’s keep the trend going. He deserves it; he made a bit of history tonight!