Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 9, Reds 0

Understandably, morale was low among the fan base after one of the worst off-days in recent memory. Fans were hungry for a big game to put the bad news behind them, and my goodness, they got a big game and then some. The White Sox dominated from start to finish in a 9-0 victory over the Reds to improve to 16-12.

The Starters

Has Dylan Ceased turned a corner? It is probably too early to give a definitive answer. However, Cease has been extremely difficult for opposing hitters to solve in his last two starts (including this one). In addition, Cease was oddly efficient with his pitch count in those starts. Tonight, Cease racked up 11 more strikeouts in six innings, as he continued to miss opposing bats. In fact, Cease got 17 swings-and-misses from the Reds’ hitters, and he allowed exactly zero hard-hit balls.

Baseball Savant

By contrast, things were not so easy for Reds starter Jeff Hoffman, who allowed four runs (all earned) in only 2 ¹⁄₃ innings. Hoffman threw 63 pitches, and the White Sox were not fooled by many of them. Hoffman got six whiffs from the White Sox, but he allowed the same number of hard-hit balls. It is not a surprise that he struggled in this game.

Baseball Savant

Pressure Play

There was not much competition for this distinction, as the White Sox had a solid lead throughout the majority of the game. However, with a LI of 2.62, Tim Anderson’s two-run single takes the cake. In the top of the second, Anderson batted with the bases loaded and two outs, which are both factors that boosted the LI. In addition, it was still a close game, with the White Sox having a 1-0 lead at that point.

Pressure Cooker

With a pLI of 0.89, Hoffman found himself involved in some of the situations that made the biggest impact on the game. This was largely a result of the fact that after Hoffman’s appearance was over, the White Sox had a convincing lead. Hoffman was on the losing end of most of these key plate appearances, which set up the White Sox’s big night.

Top Play

In terms of WPA, Anderson’s two-run single was the largest boost to either team’s win probability (.154). José Abreu’s solo home run to put the White Sox up by a score of 1-0 came in second place (.103). Rounding out the top three was a double by ... Dylan Cease (.040). This was the second of three hits by Cease.

Top Performer

For obvious reasons, today’s top performer was Dylan Cease, whose excellence on the mound and at the plate propelled the White Sox to a one-sided victory. With .163 WPA as a pitcher and .071 as a hitter, Cease ran away with this award.

Smackdown

That clutch Anderson single in the second inning left the bat at 108.2 mph, making it the hardest-hit ball of the game. There was a lot of competition for this one, and most of the top contenders were by White Sox hitters.

Baseball Savant

Magic Number: 6 of one, 1 of another

This was the sixth time this season that a White Sox pitcher struck out at least 10 batters in a game. It is the first time this season that a White Sox pitcher got more hits at the plate (three) than he allowed on the mound (one). No matter how one slices it, Cease had a monster performance.

South Side Sox Gamethread Stats

Among 220 total comments, wissoxfan83 ran away with the win.

Meanwhile it was a three-way tie among Brett Ballantini, Schoolly_D and Ozzy5716 for the greenest comment, including a boastful one from Brett talking up the first Minor League Update of the season — with dynamic new reader interaction! (But who, dear readers, who will stay awake to the early a.m. to read it with the ink still wet?)