Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 2, Guardians 0

On Saturday, the Chicago defeated Cleveland, 2-0, at Progressive Field. The White Sox move to 62-59, now 2 ¹⁄₂ games behind the 64-56 Guardians for the AL Central crown.

The Starters

Johnny Cueto started for the White Sox, pitching 8 ²⁄₃ scoreless on five hits and a walk while striking out two.

Cueto used a six-pitch arsenal in his 113-pitch start, throwing his 4-seamer 29 times. He had the most CSW success with his slider, generating eight called strikes from his 17 sliders. While losing spin from his three most-used pitches, Cueto gained velocity on three of his four top pitches.

Cueto’s breakdown looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Shane Bieber took the mound for the Guardians. Bieber went 6 ¹⁄₃ innings, giving up an earned run on five hits and three walks while striking out four.

Bieber used a five-pitch arsenal in his 99-pitch start, using his slider 30 times. He had the most CSW success with his 4-seamer (minimum five pitches), generating eight called strikes and a whiff for a 36% CSW rate. Bieber gained spin on his entire arsenal.

Here’s how Bieber’s start shook out:

Baseball Savant

Pressure Play

With one on, nobody out in the bottom of the eighth, Guardians center fielder Myles Straw reached on a fielder’s choice with an out at second base.

The play had a game-high 3.03 LI.

Pressure Cooker

Straw had a 2.00 pLI from the bottom of the order, going 0-for-3.

Top Play

With one on, one out in a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth, White Sox first baseman José Abreu doubled to center to put Chicago ahead, 1-0.

The RBI double added .186 WPA for the White Sox.

Top Performer

Cueto added .569 WPA (!) for the White Sox in his 8 ²⁄₃ scoreless innings of work.

Smackdown

Luckiest hit: White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal hit a .100 xBA single in the top of the seventh.

Toughest out: White Sox shortstop Elvis Andrus hit a .720 xBA line out in the top of the second.

Hardest hit: Guardians DH Oscar Gonzalez hit a 108.6 mph single in the bottom of the fifth.

Weakest contact: White Sox left fielder AJ Pollock hit a 49.8 mph ground out leading off the game.

Longest hit: Abreu’s go-ahead double was hit 392 feet.

Magic Number: 4

The White Sox are now four games above .500 on the road this season. Their 32-28 away record is the best in the AL Central.

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