Six Pack of Stats: Yankees 7, White Sox 5

The Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees continued mashing the baseball during this elongated weekend series, and if the playoffs are going to be like this, I fear my heart will not be able to handle it. But I am willing to try.

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The Starters

Dylan Cease, battling the Bronx bombers, continues to prove he should be the fourth postseason starter come October. Through five innings (and a developing straight change), Cease gave up four hits, three runs, and struck out six. Best stat of the day for Dylan? ZERO walks. Keep it up, Sheesh!

His 103-pitch outing is broken down below:

Baseball Savant

Jameson Taillon matched Cease to the best of his ability. Through five innings, he gave up more hits with seven, but matched the runs with three. He struck out four, but he did walk a batter. He looked pretty shaky overall, but he did what he needed to do to keep pace with a slightly-shaky Cease.

His 93 pitches are summarized below:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

With bases loaded during the bottom of the 10th, there was one out and the Sox trailed by two. Seby Zavala was called in to pinch-hit for Zack Collins. Working the count, Zavala ended up lining out to first, a .380 xBA and 7.38 LI.

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Pressure Cooker

Unfortunately, Zavala fell under a 7.38 pLI and could not aid the Sox into a comeback and walk-off.

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Top Play

The 2020 AL MVP put the team on his back. With two outs in the ninth inning, José Abreu tied the ball game and sent it to extras with a .488 WPA blast to left-center field.

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Top Performer

M-V-Pito’s .584 WPA gave his team a significant chance to win, but the White Sox fell just short of that goal.

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: Luis Robert, with a perfect 1.000 xBA, sent a baseball 438 feet at 108.5 mph just left of center field for a home run in the second inning, tying the game, 2-2.

This was until the eighth inning, when Aaron Judge’s solo shot, to take a 4-3 Yankees lead, left his bat at 114.3 mph.

Weakest Contact: With the bases loaded in the sixth, Andrew Vaughn was called to the plate in a pinch-hitting opportunity. Working a 2-2 count, a broken-bat play created a force out at the plate, as well as a 45.6 mph exit velocity. If only Eloy Jiménez, the runner coming home, could have found the jets as easily as he launches home runs.

Luckiest hit: Joey Gallo’s first inning (solo) home run over the right-field wall is an out 93% of the time; tonight, it gave the Yankees an early 2-0 lead.

Toughest out: Kyle Higashioka got robbed not just once, but twice. His fly out in the second traveled at 101.9 mph with a .540 xBA. In the fourth inning, he just missed a home run to the deepest part of the ballpark, at 103.2 mph and a .530 xBA.

However, Zack Collins had something to say about tough outs, after he had just missed a grand slam (.600 xBA) with two outs in the sixth, game tied 3-3.

Longest hit: Robert’s home run very easily was tonight’s longest hit, with 438 feet of travel.

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Magic Number: 0

Given his 24 starts, Dylan has gone two without giving up at least one walk. Today was big. Plus, when it rains, it pours. In games where Dylan has given up one walk, only five remained that way, as 13 saw multiple walks in the game. If Cease can hone in his control in time for the playoffs, especially as he works on his off-speed pitches, the Sox’s pitching staff becomes even more dangerous.

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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

Gamethreads these days are intense affairs, at least when it comes to volume. It was an intense fight among 575 comments, but 1969Vikings secured the win, with 83 comments.

A lot of recs and a healthy amount of green was scored tonight, but none more than seven11’s six recs, as he was ready and waiting for the dour: