Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 6, Twins 1

After dropping the opener, the White Sox rallied to pick up another series win against the Twins by taking the rubber game, 6-1. The White Sox (51-35) have won their last two games, while Minnesota (35-50) has lost their last two.

Billy Hamilton carried over his magic from yesterday’s diving grab in center field with this wizardry that broke Statcast.

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The Starters

Lance Lynn followed a 117-pitch outing against the Tigers on July 2 with a 102-pitch performance, giving up one earned run in six innings. Lynn was credited with the win, making him 2-0 already in July.

Lynn primarily threw his cutter and 4-seam fastball, with both pitches making up 80% of his total 102 on the start. His 4-seamer lost 119 rpm of spin but generated a 40% whiff rate.

Three walks contributed to Lynn’s xFIP (4.73) on the game being more than three runs higher than his ERA (1.50). However, Lynn’s only blemish came with the bases empty and was the only run the Twins could put on the board.

Baseball Savant

Twins starter Michael Pineda made his first start since June 13, with right elbow inflammation keeping him on the IL before he was activated today. Pineda pitched 5 ¹⁄₃ innings, giving up five earned runs on 12 hits and being credited with the loss.

Unlike Lynn, Pineda’s final line puts his game xFIP (3.33) over five runs lower than his game ERA (8.44). Pineda did not walk any White Sox batters, but the double-digit hit total propelled Chicago’s offense.

Pineda only used three pitches today. He used his 4-seam fastball for 45 of his 82 pitches but could not generate any swings-and-misses. Each of his three pitches lost spin, with his changeup seeing the largest drop in rpm.

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

In the bottom of the fourth with the Twins trailing 2-1, Nick Gordon struck out looking against Lynn, with runners on first and second. The at-bat had 2.57 LI.

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Pressure Cooker

Twins DH Nelson Cruz batted in the cleanup spot, going 1-for-4. Cruz’s pLI for the game was 1.30, the highest of any player.

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Top Play

With Adam Engel running on second base, Leury García homered to right field to give Chicago a 2-0 lead in the second inning. García’s second home run this month put his season total at three and added .157 WPA for the White Sox.

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Top Performer

The early, two-run bomb for García was the centerpiece of a fantastic performance against the Twins. García went 3-for-4 at the plate while batting in three runs, good for a .240 WPA.

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Smackdown

Luckiest hit: While García’s two-run home run did the most to change the game's outcome, it had an xBA of .080 — the same xBA as his lone out, in the top of the eighth. With a 94.2 mph exit velo, the home run did not qualify as a hard-hit ball, and it was the game’s luckiest hit.

Toughest out: In the bottom of the third, Minnesota hitter Ben Rortvedt hit a 65.4 mph line out with a .850 xBA. Instead of a bloop hit, Rortvedt found himself the game’s toughest out.

Hardest hit: Trevor Larnach’s fourth-inning solo shot to center field was Minnesota’s lone run against Chicago. The home run came off the bat at 108.7 mph, the hardest-hit batted ball of the game.

Weakest contact: With Yasmani Grandal on the IL, catcher Seby Zavala got the start behind the plate. Zavala hit a sacrifice bunt in the fifth inning 21.8 mph, the softest-hit ball of the game.

Longest hit: Larnach’s solo home run for the Twins traveled 430 feet just to the left of the Target Field batter’s eye. No baseball was hit further on Wednesday.

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Magic Number: 2

Today was Leury García’s second three-hit performance of the season. García’s other three-hit game was on May 17, also against the Twins. Heading into today, García had a 148 wRC+ in his last 31 plate appearances.

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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 234-comment gamethread pushed us to a series win and into Thursday’s day off. Like the White Sox, baines03 romped to the win.

RSWS was on fire with green today, including the only four-rec’d comment: