Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 5, Royals 2

Luis Robert walked it off for today’s rubber match and weekend series victory! The Chicago White Sox are tied for first place in the AL Central, and the Kansas City Royals will see the Good Guys once again for a four-game weekend series just three games from now.

FanGraphs

The Starts

Dane Dunning was magnificent. He pitched five no-hit innings, striking out seven and only walking one. That’s a terrific second start to a very young career. Dunning’s future is only getting brighter too; postgame, Ricky Renteria said Dunning had pitched himself into consideration for the regular rotation.

Kris Bubic continued his great pitching against the White Sox in his rookie season. He went 5 ¹⁄₃ innings, giving up two runs off of six hits and two walks, striking out eight.

Pressure Play

For this game, there was not one, but two pressure plays at 4.50 LI each — both ending in wins for White Sox players!

In the ninth inning, Alex Colomé — with two on, two outs, and a 3-1 count — produced a line out off of Aldalberto Mondesi’s bat to end the half for the Royals. Off the bat, it looked like an RBI single to right.

Matt Foster — with two on, two outs, and a 2-2 count — struck out Hunter Dozier to end the top of the 10th inning, paving way for the White Sox to walk it off in the bottom of the tenth.

Pressure Cooker

Foster faced the most pressure (4.50 pLI) in this ballgame. As explained above, he had to face Dozier, who heated it up a bit against the Sox this weekend. With the go-ahead run on second, Foster induced a Dozier strikeout. The only out Foster recorded in the game was a major one, as it catalyzed a walk-off win.

Top Play

Jarrod Dyson made his White Sox baserunning debut as a pinch-runner for Yasmani Grandal, on second base to start the bottom of the 10th, and José Abreu was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second, offering a few extra RBIs if someone decided to homer ...

After a James McCann strikeout, Luis Robert launched a get-me-over into the left field stands, a no-doubt home run to win the game!

This three-run blast totaled a .288 WPA.

Luis Robert is special!

Game MVP

Even though Robert won it for the Sox, he is not the game MVP. If not Robert, of course it is Whit Merrifield for the Royals. He went 2-for-4, with a game-tying home run in the eighth. His .393 WPA for the game granted him the MVP honors.

Magic Number: 1

The White Sox, at 21-13, are tied with Cleveland for first place in the AL Central!