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Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 4, Astros 2

A late rally gave the South Siders a win in the series opener

By Darrin Brown
/ new
Houston held the win expectancy advantage until Chicago’s four-run bottom of the eighth.
FanGraphs

On Monday, the Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros, 4-2, at Guaranteed Rate Field. The White Sox move to 60-56 (with four consecutive wins), two games back of the AL Central-leading Guardians (who split a doubleheader today). The Astros drop to 75-42, now 12 1⁄2 games ahead of the pack in the AL West.

The Starters

José Urquidy started for the Astros. Urquidy went 7 2⁄3 innings, giving up an earned run on six hits while striking out four.

Urquidy used a four-pitch arsenal in his 94-pitch outing, throwing his 4-seamer 36 times. His curveball had a 52% CSW rate, generating seven called strikes and four whiffs. Urquidy gained velocity on all four pitches and gained velocity on three of four.

Urquidy’s breakdown looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Johnny Cueto took the mound for the White Sox, going eight innings and giving up an earned run on six hits and a walk while striking out three.

Cueto used a five-pitch arsenal in his 100-pitch start, using his sinker 36 times. While losing spin on all five pitches, he gained vertical and horizontal break on four of five.

Here’s how Cueto’s start shook out:

Baseball Savant

Pressure Play

With the bases loaded, two out in the bottom of the eighth of a 2-2 tie, White Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada singled to center to put Chicago ahead 4-2.

The two-run base hit had a game-high 5.38 LI.

Pressure Cooker

Astros reliever Rafael Montero had a 3.46 pLI while pitching in the bottom of the eighth.

Montero allowed three runs without getting an out.

Top Play

With two on, two out in the eighth, and the White Sox trailing 2-0, left fielder Eloy Jiménez hit a ground-ball double to left to tie the game.

The two-run double added .389 WPA for Chicago.

Top Performer

Urquidy added .468 WPA for the Astros in his 7 2⁄3 innings of work.

Smackdown

Luckiest hit: White Sox left fielder AJ Pollock hit a .270 xBA single in the bottom of the eighth.

Toughest out: White Sox right fielder Gavin Sheets hit a .730 xBA while leading off the eighth.

Hardest hit: White Sox right catcher Yasmani Grandal hit a 108.4 mph ground out in the bottom of the second.

Weakest contact: Pollock’s eighth-inning single was hit 32.3 mph.

Longest hit: Yoán Moncada’s fifth-inning fly out was barreled 390 feet into center field.

Magic Number: 4

Tonight’s win against the Astros marks the fourth win in a row for the White Sox.

This is the fourth win streak of four or more games for Chicago this season, the longest being a six-game win streak from May 2-8.

Glossary

Hard-hit is any ball off the bat at 95 mph or more
LI measures pressure per play
pLId 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 in the 4-2 win against the Astros?

This poll is closed

  • 6%
    Eloy Jiménez: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, K, .355 WPA
    (5 votes)
  • 1%
    Yoán Moncada: 1-for-4, 2 RBI, K, .182 WPA
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    José Abreu: 2-for-3, R, BB, .080 WPA
    (0 votes)
  • 92%
    Johnny Cueto (W): 8.0 IP, ER, 6 H, BB, 3 K, .077 WPA
    (73 votes)
  • 0%
    Liam Hendriks (S): 1.0 IP, 0 ER, H, BB, .069 WPA
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    AJ Pollock: 2-for-4, R, .030 WPA
    (0 votes)
79 votes total Vote Now

Poll

Who was the White Sox Cold Cat in the 4-2 win against the Astros?

This poll is closed

  • 47%
    Josh Harrison: 1-for-4, K, -.114 WPA
    (33 votes)
  • 14%
    Gavin Sheets: 0-for-3, -.080 WPA
    (10 votes)
  • 30%
    Leury García: 0-for-3, -.078 WPA
    (21 votes)
  • 8%
    Yasmani Grandal: 0-for-2, BB, -.023 WPA
    (6 votes)
70 votes total Vote Now

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