Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 10, Royals 7

With college football starting today, the White Sox and Royals decided to put up low-scoring football numbers this evening for the middle game of the series, with the Good Guys eking out the win.

---

The Starters

Reynaldo López took the mound tonight, filling in as Lance Lynn takes a little IL vacation. While ReyLo’s command was a little shaky, the offense was able to give him instant run support. López was able to eat four innings with one strikeout and only one walk, along with three runs, raising his ERA a little.

López’s 65-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Daniel Lynch got the start for the Royals. The left-handed rookie is often unpredictable with his starts. His command this evening was nothing short of a disaster in just a little over two innings before being pulled and replaced by a gleeful Ervin Santana. Lynch recorded three strikeouts and was charged with four earned runs.

Lynch’s 65 pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

---

Pressure Play

Sebastian Rivero had a chance to keep the seventh inning alive for K.C., but struck out looking and became Craig Kimbrel’s final victim. Rivero’s LI was 1.58.

---

Pressure Cooker

Craig Kimbrel’s (successful) attempt at holding down the fort for the White Sox landed him a pLI of 1.18. Kimbrel appeared to be a little stressed under the pressure, but still ended his inning with three strikeouts.

---

Top Play

Despite the four runs given up later by Michael Kopech to tighten things up, this game was in the bag early thanks to Yasmani Grandal. The first inning, two-run home run put the White Sox up, 3-0, and gave Grandal a WPA of .163.

---

Top Performer

Yasmani Grandal, known for getting on base, was out of his mind this evening. A single, a home run, a walk, and four RBIs put him on top and gave him a WPA of 0.21.

---

Smackdown

Hardest hit: Luis Robert started the game off with some serious power, blasting a home run off the bat at 112.3 mph.

Weakest contact: Luis Robert also had the weakest contact tonight, oddly enough, as his seventh inning single came off the bat at 44.7 mph.

Luckiest hit: Danny Mendick got very lucky in the fourth inning, with a single off Ervin Santana. His xBA was the lowest I’ve ever seen, at .050.

Toughest out: Once again, Luis Robert cracks the smackdown. His fifth-inning line out should have been a hit, with an xBA of .730 — leaving César Hernández stranded.

Longest hit: If you’re wondering if that 112.3 mph home run from above would also be the longest hit, congrats — you would be correct! Luis Robert’s first-inning blast traveled 452 feet, for a drink in the fountain.

---

Magic Number: 80

Happy 80th birthday to Hawk Harrelson!

---

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

---

---

South Side Sox Roll Call

Wow! Through 163 comments tonight, things were razor-close among four top commenters. And in what may be (?) a first this season, there’s a tie for honors: Congrats to both Trooper Galactus and Pointerbabe with 25 comments apiece.

In a second straight gamethread with no green, Trooper gets the win for the sole comment earning two recs: