Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 4, Dodgers 0

This is not a drill, the White Sox have shut the Dodgers out! This game had everything — a pitcher’s duel, a balk, great defense, and AJ Pollock getting revenge.

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The Starters

Michael Kopech showed the Dodgers his ace material with a lights-out performance. Racking up eight strikeouts in six innings, Kopech limited the Dodgers to only one hit, one walk, and no runs. His fastball had a 36% CSW.

Kopech’s 98-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Mitch White had a nice night, with 69 pitches and five strikeouts. White only allowed two hits and escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam with ease. Between White and Kopech, it was undoubtedly a pitchers’ duel until the White Sox finally broke through in the sixth inning.

White’s 69-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

Josh Harrison’s LI was just a tad bit higher than Reese McGuire's, at 3.82 when he struck out swinging with bases loaded and two outs. McGuire struck out looking, but with only two outs for an LI of 3.36.

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Pressure Cooker

Reese McGuire and Josh Harrison both had a pLI of 1.53. Both often were at bat for pivotal moments, typically bases loaded or at least one runner in scoring position. Harrison seems to consistently fall flat, but at any rate, the two faced the most pressure throughout the game.

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Top Play

AJ Pollock’s double brought Danny Mendick and José Abreu in and gave the White Sox the lead. His WPA was an outstanding .275.

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Top Performer

Michael Kopech kept the Dodgers at bay with his excellent start. By only allowing one hit, the Dodgers were stunned by his fastball for six innings. Kopech’s WPA was .343.

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: Jake Burger’s RBI double was demolished at 111.7 mph.

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Weakest contact: José Abreu’s sixth-inning rally-starter only left the bat at 62.9 mph. It might not have been much, but it allowed the White Sox to pull a win out of the hat.

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Luckiest hit: As mentioned above, Abreu’s single was also the luckiest hit, as the xBA was only .060.

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Toughest out: With the bases loaded and two outs, Josh Harrison’s third-inning ground out isn’t much of a surprise to White Sox fans. However, FanGraphs had his xBA at .490.

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Longest hit: Freddie Freeman’s hit was gloved, but his sixth-inning fly out traveled 343 feet.

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Magic Number: 40

You either love him or hate him, but Steve Stone celebrated 40 years in the booth today. Alongside Jason Benetti, the White Sox are spoiled with the best in the business. Congrats, Stoney!

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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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