Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 8, Tigers 2

A close game turned into a rout, highlighted by White Sox youngsters Andrew Vaughn, Jake Burger and Gavin Sheets powering the offense, in an 8-2 win over the Tigers. It’s the fifth straight win for the South Siders (49-32).

Of course, it wouldn’t be a White Sox game if there wasn’t an injury to a key player. Yasmani Grandal left the game with left calf tightness. At least Zack Collins has hit well recently, if Grandal is forced to miss time.

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The Starters

It was an uncharacteristically wild night for Lance Lynn. But even as he issued a season-high five walks (one intentional) and only threw strikes on 56.4% of his 117 pitches, he battled through it, and left the game with a one-run lead. Lynn conceded an earned run, four hits and five walks in six innings, using nine strikeouts to work out of jams in nearly every inning.

Lynn relied heavily on his 4-seam fastball and cutter, throwing them a combined 78% of the time in Detroit. He still had trouble locating both pitches, but he also used them to work out of innings as he allowed multiple base runners in four innings. Three of those four innings ended on a strikeout, including Jake Rogers missing a high 4-seam fastball to end Lynn’s outing. He had five strikeouts via his 4-seamer and three using his cutter.

Lynn’s spin rates were down on Friday, but far from the biggest decrease seen in baseball since the sticky-stuff crackdown. In one of his most inconsistent nights, Lynn still managed a game score of 64.

Baseball Savant

It was an early exit for Casey Mize, which the Tigers predetermined before the game. He shook off a rough start to hold the White Sox to two earned runs, four hits and a walk, while striking out three batters, in a three-inning start. The White Sox had three hard-hit balls in the first inning, but didn’t have another in the rest of Mize’s start. The youngster reeled in his control, and as a result, left fewer pitches over the heart of the plate.

Entering Friday, Mize had thrown his sinker 22.7% of the time, but it accounted for 28 of his 56 pitches (50%) against the White Sox. José Abreu watched a pair of sinkers sneak into the strike zone for two strikeouts, as Mize recorded eight called strikes with the pitch. That said, the White Sox had two hits against his sinker, including Brian Goodwin’s RBI triple. Mize’s spin rates and velocity saw noticeable decreases from his season averages, as well.

In an abbreviated start, Mize notched a game score of 46.

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

The White Sox were clinging to a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning when Jake Rogers stepped to the plate with two outs. There were two runners on base, but even as Rogers saw seven pitches, he struck out on a high, 94.4 mph fastball. It was Lynn’s final escape of the night. The at-bat had a 2.91 LI.

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Pressure Cooker

Due to Lynn’s walks, Detroit’s entire lineup faced a lot of high-leverage situations, but no one more than Miguel Cabrera (1.98 pLI). He personally stranded six runners during an 0-for-4 outing, which included two strikeouts.

Lynn (1.61 pLI) faced the most individual pressure on the White Sox, making his one-run start even more impressive.

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Top Play

The White Sox came out swinging against Mize, who gave up an RBI triple to Goodwin, which made it an early 2-0 lead. Goodwin’s hit was good for a .101 WPA.

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Top Performer

By a wide margin, Lynn was the game’s top performer with .270 WPA. His ERA is down to 2.02, following his eighth quality start.

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Smackdown

Luckiest hit: What a way to get your first major league hit. Jake Burger hit a routine fly into center field, but Daz Cameron lost the ball in the lights and it fell in for a double and Burger’s first career hit. It had a .010 xBA.

Maybe the only player with more luck was Detroit’s Akil Baddoo, who had two singles with xBAs of .100 and .110.

Toughest out: Tim Anderson tried to keep a ninth-inning rally going, but instead sharply lined out to center field. His 100.8 mph liner off of Buck Farmer had a .470 xBA.

Hardest hit: Apparently, Andrew Vaughn can hit righthanders, too. He added an insurance run in the ninth inning, hitting a no-doubt solo shot that left his bat at 109.8 mph.

Weakest contact: Adam Eaton got jammed on an inside sinker, hitting a 42.4-mph grounder back to Tyler Alexander for the final out of the fourth inning.

Longest hit: Gavin Sheets put a beautiful swing on a high fastball, turning it into a 425-foot home run in the ninth inning. His second home run narrowly edged out Vaughn’s solo shot (423 feet) for the longest of the game.

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Magic Number: 5

Vaughn, Sheets and Burger provided a spark for the offense, combining to go 5-for-12 with two home runs, a double, four RBIs, a walk and no strikeouts in the win. Wow.

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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

White Sox fever is spreading, with 371 comments on a Friday night gamethread at Detroit. It was Trooper Galactus with the big win tonight, easily outpacing baines03.

Plenty of green handed out tonight, with a tie for most recs, between Trooper and RSWS: