Six Pack of Stats: Tigers 6, White Sox 5

Despite multi-run efforts in the third and ninth innings, the White Sox fell to the Tigers, 6-5, at Comerica Park on Independence Day. The Tigers have won two straight games (38-46) while the White Sox have lost two straight (49-34).

On a positive note, the White Sox saw a stellar performance from reigning AL MVP José Abreu. Abreu went 3-for-5 from the plate and recorded 4 RBIs, three of them on this ninth-inning home run:

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The Starters

Lucas Giolito started against Detroit, coming off of a quality start against the Astros on June 29. Giolito pitched five innings against the Tigers, giving up six earned runs on 10 hits and one walk. Like Keuchel in yesterday’s game, Giolito saw a significant discrepancy between his game ERA and his game xFIP, with his xFIP 8.34 runs lower than his ERA.

Giolito saw his most swing-and-miss success with his slider. The Tigers had 15 swings against his slider, missing 10 times.

One big takeaway from Giolito’s outing is his decrease in spin rate. Giolito saw a decrease of about 200 rpm on his 4-seamer and a decrease of about 300 rpm on his slider, both main pitches in his arsenal.

Baseball Savant

Tigers rookie Matt Manning made his fourth start of the season after an abysmal 3 ²⁄₃ -inning, nine-earned run performance against Cleveland on June 28. Manning had a short outing against Chicago, giving up two earned runs in just 2 ²⁄₃ innings.

As mentioned at the beginning of the broadcast, Manning relies heavily on his 4-seamer, and today 37 of Manning’s 60 total pitches were 4-seam fastballs.

Manning threw just 10 sliders during the game, but he saw a 5 mph increase on the pitch.

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

The game’s final out was the play with the highest pressure. With a runner on first and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, White Sox rookie Andrew Vaughn flew out to right field to end the game. The at-bat had a 2.86 LI.

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Pressure Cooker

The Tigers used seven pitchers in today’s contest, and it only took one batter for reliever Jose Cisnero to have the highest pressure of the game. Cisnero entered to face Vaughn in the at-bat mentioned above, recording the save and putting his pLI for the game at 2.86.

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Top Play

With the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the second, Tigers rookie Akil Baddoo lined a double into right field to put Detroit ahead, 4-0. The extra two runs added .098 WPA for the Tigers, the most of any single play during the game.

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Top Performer

After a short outing for Tigers starter Matt Manning, reliever Tyler Alexander pitched 2 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings. Alexander faced eight White Sox batters, recording .017 WPA for Detroit.

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Smackdown

Luckiest hit: In the third inning, Tigers third basemen Jeimer Candelario hit a ground ball single with a .100 xBA. The hit was one of three for Candelario, and was the least likely base hit during the game.

Toughest out: Andrew Vaughn lined out in the sixth inning on a ball hit 102.1 mph. The line out had a .670 xBA, making it the unluckiest out.

Hardest hit: Trying to start the offense early for Chicago, José Abreu smoked a ball 111.5 mph that found its way into a double play. The GIDP had the highest exit velo of any batted ball.

Weakest contact: In the fifth inning, Detroit’s Robbie Grossman laid down a sacrifice bunt with an exit velo of just 11.6 mph. The school zone-legal bunt was the softest-hit batted ball of the game.

Longest hit: It was quite a unique fifth inning for the Tigers offense. Newly-crowned White Sox killer Eric Haase hit a deep barrel into right field 104.8 mph off the bat that had an xBA of .570. Instead of Haase adding to his series hit total, Adam Eaton was able to make the grab at the scoreboard before throwing to first to get a double play. The ball was hit 395 feet, the furthest of the day.

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Magic Number: 78

The Tigers and White Sox won’t see each other again until September 20 for another Comerica Park series, 78 days from today.

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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 284-comment gamethread went right down to the wire, with steely edging RSWS by one for game honors.

Just a splash of green today, with WIN and baines sharing the prize.