Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 5, Tigers 4

The White Sox won their sixth straight game in the final stretch of the season, beating the Tigers, 5-4. Chicago (93-68) looks to continue a winning streak heading into the postseason, while the Tigers (76-85) will look to end the 2021 season on a high note tomorrow.

The Starters

Tigers rookie Matt Manning made his 18th start of the 2021 season. Manning pitched five scoreless innings, giving up two hits and one walk while striking out seven White Sox batters. He had a 0.00 ERA, a 0.96 FIP, and a 2.37 xFIP on the night.

Manning used a five-pitch arsenal in tonight’s start, primarily using his 4-seam fastball. He saw the highest CSW rate on his curveball, generating a called strike and a whiff with the pitch. Manning had a CSW% of 33% on the game, 8.1% higher than his season CSW rate of 24.9%. He gained velocity and spin on all five pitches and gained vertical break on three of his five pitches. Manning’s slider was his only pitch that did not either remain the same or gain horizontal break.

Baseball Savant

White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito made his 31st start of the 2021 season. Giolito pitched five innings, giving up one earned run on two hits and one walk while striking out three Tigers. He had a 1.80 ERA, a 2.56 FIP, and a 4.33 xFIP on the night.

Giolito used a four-pitch arsenal in tonight’s start, primarily using his 4-seam fastball. His four-seamer had the highest CSW rate of his four pitches, generating five called strikes and three whiffs for a 26% CSW rate. Giolito’s CSW% on the game was 26, 7% lower than his season-CSW rate of 31%. His changeup was his only pitch that did not see a loss in velocity or spin rate. Giolito gained vertical break on three of his four pitches, while either losing horizontal break or remaining the same on all four pitches.

Baseball Savant

Pressure Play

With runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and the Tigers leading 4-3, White Sox center fielder Luis Robert struck out swinging against Alex Lange. The at-bat had an LI of 3.63, the only at-bat with an LI above three during the game.

Pressure Cooker

Facing three batters and pitching for a third of an inning, Tigers reliever Alex Lange gave up two hits before his strikeout against Luis Robert. Lange amassed a pLI of 2.63 on the night, the most of any player in the game, and one of two players on the night with a pLI more than two (along with White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks).

Top Play

With a runner on first with two outs in the bottom of the eighth with the Tigers leading 4-3, White Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada hit a two-run homer to give the White Sox a 5-4 lead. The home run added .607 WPA for Chicago, and the next-highest play in terms of WPA was .137.

Top Performer

Moncada went 3-for-4 from the plate in tonight’s game, with two doubles, a homer, and a total WPA of .750, the most of any player.

Smackdown

Luckiest hit: The game’s biggest play in terms of WPA was also the game’s luckiest hit according to xBA. Yoán Moncada’s eighth-inning home run had an xBA of .200, the lowest of any base hit during the game.

Toughest out: With a runner on second and nobody out in the top of the fourth, Tigers designated hitter Jonathan Schoop lined out to second base. The batted ball had an xBA of .650, the highest of any out in the game.

Hardest hit: Leading off the bottom of the fifth inning, Moncada lined a 113.8 mph barrel double to right field. His double was the hardest-hit ball of the night.

Weakest contact: With one out and nobody on base in the top of the second, Tigers second baseman Isaac Paredes grounded out to White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito. The ground out was hit at 31.6 mph, the slowest batted ball of the game.

Longest hit: With nobody out and a runner on first in the top of the first, Tigers left fielder Robbie Grossman hit a barrel to center field. The ball traveled 393 feet, the longest distance of any batted ball.

Magic Number: 6

With their final game of the 2021 regular season tomorrow night, the White Sox have won their last six games, with wins against Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Detroit.

Glossary

Hard-hit is any ball off the bat at 95 mph or more
LI measures pressure per play
pLI measures total pressure faced in game
Whiff a swing-and-miss
WPA win probability added measures contributions to the win
xBA expected batting average

South Side Sox Roll Call

Commenters/readers tonight did not know what they were in for with the bullpenned recap, but confidently tapped out 206 comments, 50 coming from returning champion 1969Vikings.

The focus was commenting, and willing a moribund White Sox offense to rally, rather than recs tonight. No green! No double-recs, even! Stingy, people.