Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 4, Twins 3

In dramatic fashion, the Chicago White Sox come back late in the ballgame to win the series against the Minnesota Twins and become the first American League team to clinch a playoff berth, the Sox’s first since 2008!

FanGraphs

The Starts

Reynaldo López pitched as well as he could have against this Twinkie squad. In 5 ¹⁄₃ innings, he gave up three solo home runs and only walked one. Besides the homers, ReyLo gave up one hit and struck out six.

As for Kenta Maeda, he was dealing, except for two baseballs that found a place in the left-field bleachers. Maeda struck out eight batters in five innings, while walking zero and giving up three hits in addition to the two home runs.

Pressure Play

Down 3-2 with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth, Luis Robert took the third pitch he saw to left field for a 4.96 LI fly out to end the inning, leaving the Sox still trailing the Twins.

Pressure Cooker

Trevor May came into the ballgame with the bases loaded and only one out in the sixth. However, he recorded the last two outs of the inning, keeping his team in the lead for the time being. Pretty solid accomplishment, facing a 4.58 pLI.

Top Play

After José Abreu beat out a ground ball for an infield single to tie the game,

Eloy Jiménez came to the plate and rifled the first pitch he saw down the left field line for the go-ahead RBI double, for .217 WPA!

Game MVP

One of the two White Sox players in the season MVP conversation earns this afternoon’s game honors! M-V-Pito went 2-for-3 with a walk, a solo home run, and the game-tying RBI single. His .339 WPA blew everyone out of the water; May was closest with a .253 WPA.

I can’t wait to watch Abreu rake in October!

Magic Number: 6

The new goal is to win the AL Central, and winning six of the remaining 10 games left will accomplish that goal for the South Siders, even if Minnesota wins out.

Let’s enjoy this White Sox fans, but tomorrow, it is right back to work to accomplish a few more goals. This is only the beginning!