Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 11, Twins 1

The White Sox (67-46) entered today with a 12-4 record against the Twins (48-65). The outcome of this game was never in question, as the South Siders continued to stomp on their AL Central rivals in a lopsided win. Let’s take a look at the details from this victory.

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The Starters

Lucas Giolito was phenomenal, as he effortlessly cruised through Minnesota’s lineup for most of tonight’s game. Eight strikeouts and zero walks usually reveals a lot about how a pitcher’s performance was, and this outing was no exception.

In eight innings, Giolito allowed one run on two hits, and his efficiency was also impressive. Giolito only needed to throw 103 pitches to get through those eight innings (12.9 pitches per inning). The only hits against him were a single by Luis Arráez in the fifth and a solo homer by Miguel Sanó in the eighth.

Here is a closer look at the 103-pitch performance by Giolito:

Baseball Savant

Right-hander Beau Burrows, who has very limited MLB experience, struggled immensely for the Twins tonight. As a result, the game got out of hand rather quickly.

It started with Tim Anderson, who led off the game with a home run, just as he did on Sunday night against the Cubs. César Hernández drew a walk, and two batters later, Eloy Jiménez cranked a 454-footer to center. Then, Brian Goodwin doubled, and Luis Robert reached on an error in his first plate appearance back from injury. That allowed Goodwin to score, and the White Sox led 4-0 after one.

The second inning was also a struggle for Burrows, who allowed a leadoff single to Anderson. Hernández drew another walk, and Eloy did more Eloy things, as he hit another home run. This one was a bit of a wall-scraper down the left field line, but it put three more runs on the board nonetheless. Burrows got through the second inning, but that was it for his performance.

Here is how the 64-pitch outing from Burrows shaped up:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

The strikeout by José Abreu with one on and one out in the top of the first registered a LI of 1.27. While this “high-leverage” interaction went the Twins way, it did not matter, as Eloy promptly gave the White Sox a pair of early insurance runs right after that.

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Pressure Cooker

On average, Burrows faced the most high-pressure situations out of any player in this game, with a pLI of 0.65. The highest-leverage situations of the game happened before the game was out of reach, and Burrows was the only pitcher during that brief period of time.

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Top Play

The home run by Eloy in the first takes the cake, improving Chicago’s odds of winning the game by 14.9% (.149 WPA). Anderson’s home run to lead off the game places second (.095 WPA).

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Top Performer

In terms of WPA, Jiménez is tonight’s top performer (.225). Largely thanks to his home runs, other players did not have many opportunities to rack up a lot of WPA, as the game got one-sided early on.

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: Sanó solo home run in the eighth inning left the bat at 116.7 mph, which was enough to claim this award. Eloy’s first inning homer clocked in at 109.8 mph to take the silver medal.

Weakest contact: In the sixth, Ryan Jeffers grounded out on a ball that left the bat at only 59.9 mph.

Luckiest hit: Eloy’s second home run of the day barely left the yard down the left-field line, and it had an xBA of only .110.

Toughest out: Jorge Polanco’s line out in the first inning had an xBA of .710. It was one of those nights for the Twins.

Longest hit: Oh hey, look, another award for Eloy’s first home run. It traveled 454 feet, which was more than enough to take the gold medal.

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Magic Number: 1.144

After a slow start in his return from the injured list, Eloy Jiménez has turned it around and then some in the past few days. Thanks, Cubs, I suppose. Though he has only played 10 games this season, Jiménez has an OPS of 1.144.

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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

It was an active night on South Side Sox, as many people participated in the gamethread. However, Nello Rubio takes the cake with his 72 comments.

As for which comment got the most recs, it is a tie between Katiesphil and ... Katiesphil! Very impressive night for KP.