Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 13, Cubs 1

In one of the wildest three-game Crosstown Series I’ve watched, the White Sox scored 30 runs and somehow didn’t sweep the Cubs. A series win and the new trophy on the South Side will do, though. However, a day with outstanding performances by Dylan Cease and Eloy Jiménez against their former team was the icing on the cake for this Sunday afternoon White Sox slugfest.

Here is Liam Hendriks to set the mood for this Six Pack of Stats:

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The Starters

Dylan Cease threw a gem today, with the 4-seam fastball dominating the Cubs lineup this afternoon. In six innings pitched, Cease struck out 11 and only was charged with one run. One of the true joys of watching Cease today was his ability to completely shut down the pain in my side, Patrick Wisdom. The often stoic Cease even showed a little emotion with a fist pump to end the sixth inning.

Cease’s 108-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Kyle Hendricks, also known as one of the only Cubs I still recognize from their championship year, got the start for the Cubs today. Hendricks has always been a decent pitcher for the North Side, despite his ERA of 4.09 coming into today’s game. His sinker was the best pitch today, but Hendricks did not have his typical ace stuff.

Hendricks’ 72-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

José Abreu’s ground-rule double had an LI of 1.78. MVPito’s double managed to get César Hernández and Brian Goodwin home, serving as his 100th RBI this season. Luis Robert also advanced to third with Eloy’s successful at-bat.

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Pressure Cooker

Sergio Alcantara faced the most pressure today, going 0-for-2 with two strikeouts. Alcantara’s pLI was 1.39.

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Top Play

Unlike the last two games, this White Sox win was sealed early on thanks to Brian Goodwin and his two-run home run. Goodwin’s WPA for the home run that also brought Andrew Vaughn home was .169. Nice.

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Top Performer

For today’s wild game, we have a rare tie! Dylan Cease and Brian Goodwin both had a WPA of 0.18. Cease dominated the Cubs on the mound, and Goodwin sealed the win with an early, two-run home run. I also just want to leave this little bonus stat here:

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: In a game of very hard-hit balls, José Abreu took the win with his 107.2 mph double in the fifth inning, scoring two as he crossed the 100 RBIs threshold.

Weakest contact: Jake Lamb kept the very exciting fifth inning going with a single that would allow Yasmani Grandal to knock one out for a two-run home run. Lamb’s single came off that bat at a very soft 45.1 mph.

Luckiest hit: Rafael Ortega actually had the luckiest hit off the game in the eighth inning. The xBA for his double was only .120, but Eloy wanted to keep it interesting with his scary jump attempt to catch Ortega’s fly ball. It failed, and Eloy, thankfully, seems fine.

Toughest out: While the ball was smoked at 106.3 mph and the xBA was .410, Eloy Jiménez grounded out into a double play to third to end the first inning.

Longest hit: La Pantera reminded the Cubs who the best Chicago team is early on. Luis Robert’s first-inning home run traveled 406 feet.

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Magic Number: 100

José Abreu now sits at 100 RBIs for the sixth time in his seven full seasons. I can’t wait to attend both his statue reveal and jersey retirement.

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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

WHOA a tie! Is this the first this season, even with less-trafficked games? AnoHito and steely3000 share this unique honor, with 40 comments apiece on a 215-comment day.

RSWS and seven11 tie with six recs apiece on this day:

But it must be noted that seven11 grabbed his tie for the top on the strength of his only comment in the whole thread: