Six Pack of Stats: Blue Jays 6, White Sox 5

The Chicago White Sox took on the Toronto Blue Jays this evening in the first game of their series at the Rogers Centre, but missed opportunities, shaky defense and even shakier offense saw yet another number fall into Chicago’s column of losses. The Blue Jays won the game, 6-5, putting the White Sox at 23-24 on the season.

The Starters

Lucas Giolito started on the mound for the White Sox, and the Blue Jays’ strong offense gave him some real grief on what appeared to be an off-night. In 4 ²⁄₃ innings, Giolito allowed six runs (including two homers), eight hits, and two walks, while striking out eight batters. The velocity on his fastball and slider were a tad higher than average, but it didn’t seem to ultimately offer any help on this outing.

Giolito’s 99-pitch effort looked like this:

Baseball Savant

It was Kevin Gausman’s turn to start on the bump for Toronto, and he didn’t hold off the South Siders too much better than Giolito did the Blue Jays. In five innings, Gausman allowed three runs and six hits, walking one and striking out five.

Gausman’s 98-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Pressure Play

In the ninth inning, Jake Burger grounded into a double play, seeing Andrew Vaughn out at third and Jose Abreu at second. The play crumbled under a 5.45 LI.

Pressure Cooker

Toronto’s closer Jordan Romano faced the most pressure in today’s game, with a 3.93 pLI.

Top Play

At the bottom of the fifth inning, Teoscar Hernandez doubled to left field, allowing both George Springer and Bo Bichette to score runs for the Blue Jays. Hernandez was credited with a .268 WPA for the play.

Top Performer

Despite today’s loss, our very own Andrew Vaughn was today’s top performer. Hitting a home run in the first inning, a double in the third, and a single in both the fifth and ninth, Vaughn was credited with a .342 WPA for his efforts.

Smackdown

Hardest Hit: José Abreu’s ninth inning single flew off the bat at an impressive 110.5 mph.

Weakest Contact: Jake Burger grounded out in the fifth at a tender 51.7 mph.

Luckiest Hit: Alejandro Kirk’s second inning home run had an xBA of just .160.

Toughest Out: José Abreu’s fly out in the third had a .830 xBA.

Longest Hit: His second inning homer was the luckiest, but his fifth inning homer was the longest — Alejandro Kirk’s home run in the fifth flew 420 feet.

Magic Number: .489

Today’s loss puts the White Sox at .489 for the season, and with Tim Anderson now on the injured list, it’s not unreasonable for fans to be a tad concerned. The team’s seeming inability to climb better than .500 is frustrating, and the early-season slump we were told not to worry about is going on a lot longer than most are comfortable with. Hopefully the South Siders will be able to turn around sooner rather than later — our postseason chances are really riding on it.

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