Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 10, Pirates 3

It’s been 10 days since the White Sox last seemed to be using Wiffle bats at the plate. Lately, they’ve been titanium. Chicago’s undeniable offense did another number on a subpar opponent today, pummeling Pittsburgh for 12 hits and 10 runs — and impressively, just four Ks. As today’s winner Dallas Keuchel has marveled, “we’re swinging hot bats.”

FanGraphs

The Starts

The White Sox now have an average game score, for every start this year, of 54.0. That is really good. Two starters, Lucas Giolito and Keuchel, are above 60. That’s a helluva 1-2 punch.

Today, Keuchel helped his cause with a 63, in just six innings. He K’d an unusually-high seven batters, which helped a lot, along with otherwise minimizing damage. For a guy on short sleep (he stayed at the ballpark to watch the no-hitter rather than getting home for rest), not bad at all.

Bad would describe Pittsburgh starter, who put out the third-worst start of the season against the White Sox, a 14 game score. Opponents now have an average of a 46.9 game score against the White Sox.

Pressure Play

As is usually the case in a blowout, and early and seemingly inconsequential play garners the most leverage. In this case, Luis Robert’s second-inning sac fly to bring home the first run of the game earned 1.52 LI.

Pressure Cooker

Last night’s last out, Erik González, faced the most leverage in the game, at 0.55 pLI. González went 1-for-3 with a solo homer in the game.

Top Play

Later in the second inning, Danny Mendick clocked an opposite-field, two-run homer adding to .134 WPA, the highest value added in the game. Mendick’s blast made it 4-0, and the romp was on.

Game MVP

In a game where Keuchel pitched well and the offense was spread around and at a high volume, the southpaw earns the MVP, with .194 WPA. Mendick and Edwin Encarnación helped the White Sox sweep top honors.

Magic Number: 105

Giolito’s no-hitter last night, on the merit of his low walks (1) and high Ks (13), garnered a 105 game score. It follows, though unconfirmed, that 105 is the highest nine-inning game score in White Sox history.