Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 9, Cubs 5

Exactly what the doctor ordered! The Chicago White Sox pounced on the first lefty they have seen in ages, en route to a series-tying victory against the Chicago Cubs!

FanGraphs

The Starts

Both starters were rather disappointing; however, one is a rookie who has not pitched above Double-A baseball, and one is a double digit-year veteran.

Dane Dunning, the former, pitched three innings, giving up three hits and three walks. Unfortunately, he gave up five runs (four earned). He has withstood back-to-back rough starts, but overall, he has pitched mighty fine in his young MLB career.

As for the latter, Jon Lester, he pitched 3 ²⁄₃ innings, giving up six hits and three walks, leading to seven runs. Yikes. He did give up eight runs against these Good Guys last time, so it is a bit of improvement. However, the White Sox were excited to face a lefty for the first time in three weeks. The White Sox also become the first MLB team in history to finish a year flawless against a specific-handed pitcher, in this case, lefties. Short season or not, that’s impressive.

Pressure Play

In the bottom of the fourth, the bases were loaded and two outs were tallied, and the Sox were tailing, 5-4. José Abreu worked a 2-2 count and proceeded to swat the baseball to left field for a bases-clearing double! At 3.79 LI, M-V-Pito refuses to fold under the highest of pressure.

Pressure Cooker

Although the runs were charged to Lester, Ryan Tepera gave up the three-RBI double to Abreu. For only facing two batters and recording one out, as well as giving up the lead for good, his 2.40 pLI made him wilt.

Top Play

Unfortunately, Kris Bryant just beat out Abreu for the most valuable play of the night. With two outs and the bases loaded in the third, Bryant swatted a ball fair down the left-field line for a grand slam. It was a .348 WPA play, as it gave his team a 5-2 lead.

Game MVP

Without any doubt, Abreu is tonight’s MVP! His .284 WPA can be attributed to a 2-for-5 performance with three crucial RBIs!

Magic Number: 100+

Garrett Crochet is going to be a special player for this playoff run!