Six Pack of Stats: Cleveland 12, White Sox 11

Cleveland picked up a win against the AL Central-leading White Sox with a 12-11 win. The rubber match takes place tomorrow at 1:10 p.m. CT.

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The Starters

Triston McKenzie started for Cleveland today. McKenzie pitched four innings, giving up six earned runs on four hits and three walks, including three home runs. He struck out two White Sox hitters. McKenzie’s game ERA of 13.50 was higher than his game xFIP of 7.98.

McKenzie relied mostly on his 4-seam fastball, throwing the pitch 60 times in an 83-pitch outing. He gained velocity and spin on all three of his pitches, compared to his season averages. McKenzie also lost both vertical and horizontal break on all three pitches in his arsenal. His CSW% for the game was 17, 11.7% lower than his season CSW rate of 28.7%.

Baseball Savant

Dallas Keuchel started today for the White Sox. Keuchel went for 5 ¹⁄₃ innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits and one walk. Like McKenzie, Keuchel gave up three home runs. His game ERA of 6.75 was higher than his game xFIP of 3.89.

Keuchel used five pitches in today’s start, with the sinker, cutter, and changeup making up 72 of his 83 total pitches. Keuchel and McKenzie’s starts have some parallels. Aside from both being 83-pitch outings, Keuchel and McKenzie both gained spin and velocity on all of their pitches. Keuchel lost vertical break on all but one of his pitches. He gained an inch of horizontal break on his sinker and cutter. Keuchel’s CSW% of 33 was higher than his season CSW rate of 27.4%.

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

After having a highly-favorable win expectancy early in the game, the White Sox found themselves in some high-leverage plate appearances during a comeback attempt late in the game. With runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the eighth, White Sox DH Gavin Sheets grounded into a double play to end the inning. The at-bat had an LI of 5.22, the highest of the game.

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Pressure Cooker

With the White Sox hot on the heels of Cleveland, Wahoos closer Emmanuel Clase pitched 1 ²⁄₃ innings, giving up just two hits and striking out one in a scoreless appearance. Clase had a pLI of 3.28 for the game.

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Top Play

With the game tied 6-6 and runners on the corners with two outs in the top of the sixth inning, Cleveland first baseman Yu Chang hit a fly ball triple to right field, scoring both base runners. The triple added .273 WPA for Cleveland, the most of any individual play of the night.

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Top Performer

White Sox catcher Seby Zavala had quite the performance out of the 9-spot in the order. Zavala went 4-for-4, including three home runs. His performance added an astronomical .465 WPA for the White Sox, the most of anyone in the game.

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Smackdown

Luckiest hit: In the bottom of the eighth, White Sox first baseman José Abreu hit an RBI-single to left field. While it was a hard-hit ball, it had a .250 xBA, the lowest of any on the night.

Toughest out: In the bottom of the seventh inning with runners on first and second with nobody out and the White Sox trailing, 10-8, Gavin Sheets hit a barrel line drive to right field that was caught. The line out had an xBA of .840, the highest of any out of the game.

Hardest hit: The Sheets line out was hit 112.8 mph, the highest exit velocity of any batted ball.

Weakest contact: It was a complete portfolio for Sheets tonight, as in the bottom of the first he popped out to the shortstop at 64.2 mph, the softest-hit batted ball of the night.

Longest hit: In the top of the fifth, Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges hit a home run that traveled 419 feet, the farthest hit of the game.

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Magic Number: 3

White Sox catcher entered today’s game with zero career home runs. He left the game with three. Zavala went 4-for-4 from the plate, with the three home runs coming in his first three at-bats.

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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

A 348-comment gamethread, no doubt fueled by the madness of 23 runs scored, was led by AnoHito, in commanding fashion. Back in the fold 1969Vikings finished a distant second.

A ton of recs tonight, but still, not much green. Our three lucky honorees: