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The Chicago White Sox keep their win streak alive, defeating the Oakland A’s by a score of 10-2 at Oakland Coliseum.
Chicago (72-68) moves within a game of the AL Central lead, pending Cleveland’s game in Minneapolis tonight. The A’s fall to 50-90, already one of two MLB teams eliminated from postseason contention (Nationals).
The Starters
Lance Lynn pitched a quality start for the White Sox, allowing two unearned runs over six innings. After appearing to tweak something after an unassisted ground out to first in the bottom of the first, Lynn stayed in the game, finishing with five strikeouts.
Lynn used six different pitches in his 107-pitch outing, primarily throwing his 4-seamer and cutter. Lynn gained velocity on his two most-used pitches, generating a 38% whiff rate on his 4-seamer. He only gained spin on the heater, seeing an 18 rpm uptick.
Lynn’s six-inning start looked like this:
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A’s starter Adrián Martínez (not the former Nebraska QB who is the only reason Scott Frost is employed) allowed seven earned runs over 3 2⁄3 innings, taking his fourth loss of the year.
Martínez used a three-pitch arsenal in his 93-pitch start. Sox hitters only swung and missed once on his sinker. Martinez gained velocity on his entire arsenal, but couldn’t translate speed into strikes.
Martínez’s 3 2⁄3 innings shook out like this:
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Pressure Play
With two on, one out in the top of the second with a 1-0 Sox lead, Chicago shortstop Elvis Andrus hit his 13th homer of the year to put the South Siders ahead, 4-0.
The three-run bomb had a game-high 1.83 LI.
Pressure Cooker
Martínez led all players with a 0.71 pLI, in this low-leverage blowout.
Top Play
Andrus’ homer added .208 WPA for the White Sox.
Top Performer
Andrus totaled .231 WPA in his 2-for-5 day at the plate.
Smackdown
Luckiest hit: White Sox left fielder AJ Pollock hit a 72.4 mph, .070 xBA ground ball single to right to lead off the second.
Toughest out: White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal lined a 106.8 mph, .900 xBA sac fly to center field in the top of the eighth, driving in a run.
Hardest hit: White Sox DH Eloy Jiménez hit a 112.4 mph single to right in the top of the first.
Weakest contact: A’s shortstop Nick Allen hit a 60.6 mph ground out in the bottom of the third.
Longest hit: Andrus’ home run traveled 412 feet.
Magic Number: 18.5
The White Sox started September 7 with an 18.5% chance of making the playoffs (FanGraphs). Entering today, that number was at 38.1%. The White Sox have a good chance to bump their playoff odds up to 40% with today’s win.
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 10-2 win against the A’s?
This poll is closed
-
55%
Elvis Andrus: 2-for-5, 2 R, BB, K, 3-RBI HR, .231 WPA
(33 votes) -
28%
Lance Lynn: 6.0 IP, 2 R (0 ER), 3 H, BB, 5 K, .118 WPA
(17 votes) -
1%
AJ Pollock: 4-for-5, 3 R, K, .074 WPA
(1 vote) -
0%
Yasmani Grandal: 1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, .050 WPA
(0 votes) -
0%
Josh Harrison: 3-for-4, R, BB, K, .046 WPA
(0 votes) -
10%
Eloy Jiménez: 3-for-4, 3 RBI, .040 WPA
(6 votes) -
0%
José Abreu: 2-for-4, R, BB, .032 WPA
(0 votes) -
5%
Andrew Vaughn: 4-for-5, 2 RBI, .030 WPA
(3 votes)
Poll
Who was the White Sox Cold Cat in the 10-2 win against the A’s?
This poll is closed
-
93%
Gavin Sheets (I suppose): 0-for-5 (106.7 mph lineout top of 2), K, -.064 WPA
(41 votes) -
0%
Seby Zavala (we’re reaching for this one tonight): 0-for-1, K, .000 WPA
(0 votes) -
6%
Leury García (seriously pretty much everybody played well): 0-for-1, .000 WPA
(3 votes)
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