Six Pack of Stats: Cleveland 2, White Sox 0 (10 innings)

This was a pitcher’s duel for the memories, as Shane Bieber and Lucas Giolito dominated opposing hitters throughout the course of this game. Unfortunately, Cleveland managed to break through with a couple of crucial hits in the 10th inning. Meanwhile, the White Sox’s woes in high-leverage situations continued, as they finished 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Let’s take a closer look at this tough loss.

The Starters

Here’s a breakdown of Giolito’s 107-pitch gem:

4-seam fastball: 51% | 9 called strikes + 6 whiffs (20%) | 92.9 mph avg.
Changeup: 39% | 12 called strike + 6 whiffs (32%)| 81.4 mph avg.
Slider: 9% | 0 called strikes + 1 whiff (20%) | 85.4 mph avg.

Cleveland had four hard-hit balls against Giolito, and they went 1-for-4 with a double (Eddie Rosario’s second double of the season) in those at-bats. Giolito was on top of his game, going nearly toe-to-toe against Bieber, as he finished with an excellent game score of 77.

Meanwhile, here is what Bieber did during his 113-pitch masterpiece:
Knuckle Curve: 41% | 11 called strikes + 11 whiffs (42%) | 83.3 mph avg.
4-seam fastball: 35% | 10 called strikes + 4 whiffs (22%) | 93.0 mph avg.
Slider: 22% | 5 called strikes + 5 whiffs (28%) | 85.8 mph avg.
Changeup: 3% | 0 called strikes + 0 whiffs (0%) | 87.9 mph avg.

The White Sox recorded only four hard-hit balls in their nine innings against Bieber, and went 2-for-4 on those (singles by José Abreu and Danny Mendick). Despite that, Bieber was incredible, finishing with a game score of 91, one of the highest we will see all season.

Fastest pitch: Garrett Crochet had the fastest pitch of the evening (97.5 mph). Unfortunately, it was not too fast for Roberto Pérez, who drove in the go-ahead run with a soft infield single on this pitch.
Most swing-and-misses: Bieber racked up 20 whiffs, which was more than enough to top even Giolito, who had an outstanding game, with 13.

Pressure Play

The most pressure-packed play came in the top of the 10th inning. With runners on the corners and one out, Roberto Pérez hit a soft ground ball toward the hole between shortstop and third. Shortstop Leury García stopped it from getting to the outfield but could not get any outs on the play. As a result, the first and decisive run crossed the plate. The leverage index (LI) of this play was 5.12.

Pressure Cooker

Garrett Crochet’s average player index (2.86 pLI) led all players in this game. This is largely a result of Crochet’s entire outing taking place in the 10th inning. In addition, Crochet inherited a runner on second base due to the new extra-inning rule. Crochet was given the difficult task of preserving the scoreless tie, and unfortunately, it did not work out.

Top Play

The top play in terms of WPA was the aforementioned Roberto Pérez RBI infield single, which boosted Cleveland’s odds of winning the game from 68.3% to 85.9% (+.176).

Top Performer

By WPA, Lucas Giolito was the White Sox’s top performer (+.381). This was well-deserved, as the ace of the staff threw seven-plus shutout innings to keep the game scoreless. However, Shane Bieber led all players, with a mammoth WPA total of +.870.

Smackdown

Luckiest hit: The key 10th inning single by Roberto Pérez wins this award, too. It had an xBA of only .040, but it was hit in just the right place. This was just one of those frustrating nights for the South Siders.
Toughest out: In the second inning, Yasmani Grandal hit a line drive with a .650 xBA. However, it did not fall in for a hit, as Eddie Rosario tracked it down in left field.
Hardest hit: The sixth inning groundout by Cleveland’s José Ramírez had a 105.3 mph exit velocity. Fortunately, José Abreu made a nice play to rob Ramirez of a hit. Honorable mention goes to Danny Mendick, whose 105.0 mph exit velocity single was one of only three White Sox hits.
Weakest contact: The weakest contact of the game came off the bat of Andrés Giménez when he laid down a sacrifice bunt (56.3 mph). César Hernández had the slowest exit velocity if we exclude bunts (57.9 mph pop out in the eighth).
Longest hit: Adam Eaton’s first inning line out went 358 feet, which was enough to take the crown in this game. Honorable mention goes to Jake Lamb, who just missed a game-tying home run in the bottom of the 10th. That fly out went 345 feet before being caught on the warning track in right field.

Glossary

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