Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 15, Tigers 2

Chuck Garfien said it best.

On Saturday the White Sox thumped the Tigers, 15-2, to ensure the series win. The game was seemingly decided by the third inning, with the White Sox (40-24) piling onto their lead the rest of the evening.

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The Starters

The hardest part of Dylan Cease’s day was probably staying loose during long stays in the dugout as the White Sox hit around. He pitched with a lead from the start, and despite allowing a walk and two-run home run to begin, he settled down and, once again, dominated the Tigers. He responded to his poor first inning with four straight strikeouts, lasting five innings and allowing two earned runs, four hits, a walk and seven Ks.

Cease implemented his curveball more than usual. He’s thrown it 11.7% of the time this season, but used it more than twice as often (23%) on Saturday. His curveball had a 56% whiff rate, translating into three strikeouts. Cease also had three strikeouts with his slider, which had an otherworldly 82% whiff rate. The Tigers had two hits, including a homer, against his 4-seam fastball, along with a single off of his curveball and changeup. But they only mustered four hard-hit balls, helping Cease keep the Tigers from reaching base. When Detroit recorded a pair of one-out singles in the fifth inning, Cease forced two fly outs to maintain an 11-run lead.

Cease exited after 82 pitches, with a game score of 55.

Baseball Savant

It was a historic win for Cease, who knows as well as anyone how to beat the Tigers.

Jose Ureña didn’t last two innings, as the White Sox took advantage of his wild control and lack of movement on pitches. He allowed eight runs (seven earned), five hits and three walks in 1 ²⁄₃ innings, which could have been worse if the White Sox capitalized on having two runners in scoring position with no outs in the first inning.

This season, Ureña has been least reliant on his changeup (12.2% season average), but he threw it 33% of the time on Saturday. Ureña only threw his sinker (40%) more often. It was partly due to not finding success with his slider, which had significantly less spin, but it evidently didn’t help him work around constant traffic on the base paths. The White Sox hit two doubles and a single on his sinker, while recording a single and Brian Goodwin homer on Ureña’s changeup. Goodwin looked to be sitting on his changeup on a 3-2 count after being fooled by it twice earlier in the at-bat.

For a White Sox fan, it was a fun, 58-pitch outing. Ureña had a game score of 5.

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

The game got out of hand quickly, so the highest-leverage moment came in the first inning. Yermín Mercedes stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs in a 1-0 game, and he proceeded to hit a two-run single. Mercedes’ at-bat had 1.75 LI.

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Pressure Cooker

No one faced more individual pressure than Ureña (1.02 pLI), who put constantly put himself into high-leverage situations from the start.

José Abreu had 0.62 pLI to lead the White Sox. He went 1-for-5 with a double, but left six men on base.

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Top Play

Welcome to Chicago, Goodwin. His three-run home run gave the White Sox a 6-2 lead. He took advantage of a low-and-inside changeup. His homer had a .155 WPA.

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Top Performer

Goodwin’s debut couldn’t have gone much better. The center fielder went 2-for-5 with a double, home run and walk, as he drove in five runs and scored three times in the win. He had a .245 WPA.

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Smackdown

Luckiest hit: In the second inning, Goodwin sent a 3-2 changeup into the right-field bleachers for his second extra-base hit of the game. His home run had a .110 xBA.

Toughest out: Harold Castro hit a hard line drive to Adam Eaton for the second out of the fifth inning. The 101 mph liner had a .680 xBA.

Hardest hit: The White Sox catchers hit the ball hard on Saturday. Yasmani Grandal and Zack Collins each had a hit of 108.1 mph. Grandal’s came on a single in the third inning, while Collins doubled against Detroit catcher Jake Rogers.

Weakest contact: Leury García hit a tapper in front of the plate for an infield single against Rogers in the eighth inning. It left García’s bat at 28.8 mph.

Longest hit: Collins’ double hit off the center field wall, traveling 403 feet. He beat out home runs by Castro (373 feet) and Goodwin (365).

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Magic Number: 40

The White Sox won their 40th game of the season, becoming the second team in the major leagues to reach that mark. It took them the same amount of games (64) as the Tampa Bay Rays.

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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

In a 195-comment gamethread, steely3000 made it two wins in a row, comfortably.

Schoolly_D with a BIG rec win for a BIG fun pun: