Six Pack of Stats: Yankees 5, White Sox 4

An epic comeback fell short once again in the ninth inning. After refusing to go to Liam Hendriks to start the ninth inning, Tony La Russa put him into the game with bases loaded and one out. Hendriks walked Aaron Judge, giving the Yankees a 5-4 win on Sunday.

It’s the first time this season the White Sox have been swept, with the Yankees earning two walk-off wins.

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The Starters

A rare fielding error by Dallas Keuchel on a grounder that took a bad hop when it hit the mound opened the door for the Yankees to plate two unearned runs in the first inning. While he limited the Yankees offense until the fifth inning, Keuchel never could get his pitch count under control during a four-inning start. He left with the bases loaded, with a final pitching line of three runs (one earned), six hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Evan Marshall’s strong relief appearance kept Keuchel’s final line from looking much worse.

Keuchel relied on his changeup more than his sinker on Sunday, as the former had seven whiffs. However, his cutter was his most hit-or-miss pitch, even if he threw it only 20 times. The Yankees recorded three singles against his cutter, but Keuchel recorded two strikeouts with the pitch, as well. He also allowed two singles on his sinker.

Despite giving up six hits, including one that reached the left-field fence, the Yankees didn’t have an extra-base hit and only had three hard-hit balls against Keuchel. They mostly poked softly-hit balls into the outfield.

Keuchel finished his 100-pitch start with a game score of 43.

Baseball Savant

Jameson Taillon had given up eight runs in his last nine innings (over two starts), so of course he pitched five shutout innings on Sunday. The White Sox’s cold streak at the plate continued, as Taillon held them to two hits, two walks and four strikeouts. They had five hard-hit balls, but most of them were hit right at defenders. José Abreu also grounded into a double play.

Taillon relies on his fastball, throwing it 51.4% of the time this season, and he threw it even more against the South Siders. It made up 68% of his pitches on Sunday, with all four strikeouts and both hits coming against the pitch. His 20% whiff rate is also significantly lower than his 29.1% whiff rate on the year.

Taillon exited after 80 pitches. He finished with a game score of 66.

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

To no surprise, Hendriks entered to the highest-leverage at-bat of the game. The bases were loaded with one out during a tie game in the bottom of the ninth inning. He walked Judge, sending home Clint Frazier for the game-winning run. The at-bat had a 5.62 LI.

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Pressure Cooker

No one faced more individual pressure than Hendriks (5.62 pLI), despite only pitching to one batter. All five of his pitches weren’t close to the strike zone.

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Top Play

Despite Judge’s walk-off walk, Andrew Vaughn’s home run was the game’s top play. Vaughn homered to right field off of Aroldis Chapman to tie the game, 4-4. It clocked in at .351 WPA.

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Top Performer

Vaughn was the game’s top performer as well, earning .351 WPA in his only at-bat. He beat out a cast of strong contenders, including Yasmani Grandal (.215 WPA), Taillon (.267) and Judge (.216).

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Smackdown

Luckiest hit: Tyler Wade reached on an infield single against Aaron Bummer in the ninth inning. His grounder (51.1 mph) rolled between Bummer and Nick Madrigal, who couldn’t get it to first base in time. Wade had a .220 xBA.

Toughest out: Miguel Andujar sharply hit a line drive to right field against José Ruiz in the sixth inning. The 106.4 mph liner stayed in the air long enough for Jake Lamb to make a seemingly routine catch. But the metrics indicate it was anything but routine, with a .880 xBA.

Hardest hit: Judge has been demolishing baseballs this series, and on Sunday, he added a 111.6-mph single into left field in the first inning.

Weakest contact: On a 3-0 pitch, Gio Urshela swung at an outside changeup. He hit it 50.8 mph in front of the plate, which Grandal fielded and threw him out at first base.

Longest hit: Abreu tried to get the offense back on track in the sixth inning. Facing reliever Wandy Peralta, Abreu unleashed on an inside fastball, sending it 450 feet into the bleachers. It seemed to give the offense a spark.

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Magic Number: 1

Vaughn was 0-for-13 in his last four games, but came up with a clutch, game-tying home run off of Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning. It’s the first earned run Chapman has allowed this season.

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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

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South Side Sox Roll Call

On the seventh day, pilotsheng rested, paving the way for a steely3000 win during a 225-comment heartbreaker. Props to our automatonic writer for finishing in a tie for 19th.

No green today! That might be a second Sunday in a row. Sunday is a day for giving! Well, technically RSWS gets the win, with two, two-rec comments. But 2HA snuck in for a tie as well.