It was a close game, but the White Sox struggled against the wave, and ultimately, the Angels.
However, it wasn’t all that bad of a day for the league, or young fans everywhere. MLB celebrated the legacy of Roberto Clemente with special patches, and nominees for the Roberto Clemente Award donned the No. 21 for the day.
Another special moment happened today with future White Sox pitcher Chase Boykin. The 10-year-old got to begin the game with the magic words, “play ball” and spend some time with Craig Kimbrel (and a few others) after the now-viral video of Boykin imitating Kimbrel’s unique pitching style.
The Kimbrel Kid meets Craig Kimbrel. It doesn't get much better than this! pic.twitter.com/obDdA56D7x
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) September 16, 2021
The Starters
Dallas Keuchel started for the Good Guys. And guess what? He had a quality start. It was stressful at times, but he only gave up two runs on six hits and five walks through six innings. It seems as though his sinker is back to where it needs to be.
Keuchel’s 98-pitch outing looked like this:
Janson Junk got the start for the Angels. This is only his second game in the majors, and his first start was not pleasant, as he gave up five runs. Junk was much better tonight, pulled after four innings but only giving up one run and striking out two, primarily using a fastball.
Junk’s 61-pitch outing looked like this:
Pressure Play
José Abreu faced the most pressure of the game, when in the eighth inning with two on and a chance to put the White Sox ahead he struck out swinging. The LI was a very high 5.22. Yasmani Grandal followed Abreu, also striking out, fielding the second-highest LI, at 4.73.
Pressure Cooker
To quote Queen and David Bowie, Yasmani Grandal was “under pressure” when the opportunity to run away with the win was presented. While at least one strike was questionable, Grandal struck out, stranding the tying and winning runs in the eighth.
Top Play
Brandon Marsh’s home run broke the tie and put the Angels up in the eighth inning. His WPA was .287.
Top Performer
As mentioned above, Brandon Marsh’s homer secured the win for the Angels. His game WPA was 0.33.
Smackdown
Hardest hit: Yoán Moncada’s fourth inning home run was smoked at 111.1 mph.
Weakest contact: Leury García’s sac bunt that sent Gavin Sheets to third in the fifth inning was barely touched, at 36.2 mph.
Luckiest hit: Brandon Marsh’s fourth-inning single to shortstop only had an xBA of .200
Toughest out: Brian Goodwin looked to keep the third inning going, but lined out to second. Goodwin’s xBA was .780.
Longest hit: Yoán Moncada’s fourth-inning home run was also the longest hit, traveling 409 feet.
Magic Number: 21
Today the league celebrated a true hero and role model, Roberto Clemente. September 15 will henceforth be Clemente Day. Perhaps by this time next year, No. 21 will be retired across baseball.
3,000 hits, 12 Gold Gloves, 4 batting titles and a profound impact on our game beyond the numbers.
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) September 15, 2021
Today, we celebrate the legacy of @Pirates icon Roberto Clemente. #ClementeDay pic.twitter.com/b2wmjUShrg
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
Poll
Who was the White Sox MVP?
This poll is closed
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71%
Yoán Moncada: 2 H, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 0.17 WPA
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26%
Dallas Keuchel: 6 IP, 3 Ks, 0.05 WPA
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2%
Garrett Crochet: 1 IP, 1 K, 0.04 WPA
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0%
Eloy Jiménez: 1 H, 0.14 WPA
Poll
Who was your White Sox Cold Cat?
This poll is closed
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28%
Leury García: 0-3, 1 K, -0.07 WPA
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35%
César Hernández: 1-3, 1 K, -0.15 WPA
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17%
José Abreu: 1-4, 1 K, -0.08 WPA
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17%
Michael Kopech: 1 ER, -0.10 WPA
South Side Sox Roll Call
It was a hearty thread tonight, 323 comments. AnoHito ran away with the top comment title, with 62.
# | Commenter | # Comments |
---|---|---|
1 | AnoHito | 62 |
2 | 1969Vikings | 47 |
3 | Nello Rubio | 36 |
4 | Pointerbabe | 25 |
5 | GrinnellSteve | 19 |
6 | steely3000 | 17 |
7 | Trooper Galactus | 14 |
8 | Gutteridge70 | 13 |
9 | Right Size Wrong Shape | 12 |
10 | baines03 | 12 |
11 | katiesphil | 11 |
12 | Schoolly_D | 9 |
13 | WIN05 | 9 |
14 | seven11 | 9 |
15 | ruffster | 9 |
16 | David John Craven | 5 |
17 | DuhSox | 5 |
18 | mrridgman | 2 |
19 | goombafrank | 2 |
20 | wissoxfan83 | 2 |
21 | NothinbutNets7 | 1 |
22 | BillyK0chFanClub | 1 |
23 | obnoxious american | 1 |
Pointerbabe tallied the sole green of the thread, with her PSA: