Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 3, Orioles 1 (nightcap)

The weather was still gorgeous, albeit a little chilly for those in the shade of the park. There was no rain or snow, so I think that counts as a win weather-wise in Chicago. People got Tim Anderson Bat Flip bobbleheads, so all wouldn’t have been lost, even in the face of a loss. But the nightcap was a mix of some things, so let’s get to it.

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The Starters

Lance Lynn ended up throwing a total of 85 pitches, going through five innings (for some reason, just five, he definitely could have gone longer). Everything Lynn threw was on point today. His cutter was cutting, his fastball was being missed, and Freddie Galvis didn’t homer. All-in-all, a good outing for Lynn. Here’s how those 82 pitches broke down:

Baseball Savant

John Means came in today off a no-decision against Minnesota (his third in a row) and holding the best ERA in the American League. He started off the game pretty rough by managing a walk, strikeout, walk, strikeout, and hit-by-pitch early on. A fly out by Andrew Vaughn got him out of the jam, and Means was pretty tight for the rest of his outing.

Means threw 86 pitches, and here’s how it all broke down:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

Codi Heuer striking out Ryan Mountcastle doesn’t seem like it would be a big pressure play to anyone looking at the box scores, but you would be wrong. The bases were loaded thanks to a rough outing by Aaron Bummer, Maikel Franco had lined out to center, and Heuer had just hit Stevie Wilkerson to walk in a run. Getting Mountcastle out was a big moment for the White Sox, and Heuer’s strikeout of Mountcastle ended up with a 5.35 LI and kept the Orioles from doing any more damage.

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Pressure Cooker

Heuer came in to replace Bummer, who came in to relieve Lynn but promptly loaded the bases. The only major mistake Heuer made was hitting Wilkerson to bring in a run. After that ,Heuer struck out Mountcastle and forced Chance Sisco into a ground out. The outing landed Heuer a game-high pLI of 4.07.

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Top Play

Billy Hamilton’s home run in the bottom of the fourth gave the White Sox the lead. Hamilton’s EV was 95.8 mph, so it definitely not the hardest-hit home run on the team, but Hamilton had the speediest home run trot this side of Nick Madrigal.

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Top Performer

Lance Lynn’s strong start earned him a game-best .349 WPA for his five innings of work, with Heuer the runner-up, at .239. Tops among hitters was Hamilton, at .169.

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: José Abreu’s fifth-inning, two-run home run was absolutely blistered to the left-center bleachers. It traveled a solid 109.9 mph.

Weakest contact: Stevie Wilkerson’s line out to Yoán Moncada in the second clocked in at a paltry 57.0 mph.

Luckiest hit: The home run by Billy Hamilton came in at a .310 xBA. Even Hamilton didn’t think it was gone, given how fast he took off to run the bases before it was declared a home run.

Toughest out: Danny Mendick hit a 101.6 mph ground out in the fourth inning that definitely takes the award for hardest hit out.

Longest hit: Abreu’s home run was a no-doubter, and went a staggering 428 ft.

Dumbest hit: Not quite a hit, but Andrew Vaughn swinging on a 3-0 count after Means had walked two, hit Abreu, and was 34 pitches into the first inning was not the smartest offensive choice to make with the bases loaded and two outs. Take the strike, dipshit.

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Magic Number: 23

As of today, Billy Hamilton has played 869 games in the majors. During that time, he has only hit 23 home runs (with today being lucky No. 23). Let’s watch, shall we?

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South Side Sox Roll Call

It was a 156-comment nightcap, and steely3000 easily completed the sweep, in a rout.

Again, we tend to be stingy with the weekend recs, but Trooper dipped into the corn for the only green of the nightcap: