Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 3, Twins 2 (10 innings)

FanGraphs

I don’t mean to alarm you, but the White Sox have won two games in a row. Both walk-offs, both by a guy named Andrew. The first against the hottest team right now, and tonight against our division rivals, the Twins. Sadly, this particular play doesn’t make it into this article, so let me share it beforehand.

And with his sore arm, at that.

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The Starters

Michael Kopech had a terrific night, going into the sixth inning without a hit and also maintaining a low pitch count. That no-hit bid was broken soon after, and he had a few walks, but the seven strikeouts sure were pretty. His fastball and curve stunned even the best Twins hitters, with a respectable 31 and 32 CSW% for each. Kopech struggled after giving up the hit, but the defense was there to back him up, keeping our rivals to just one run in the sixth.

Kopech’s 89-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Joe Ryan had almost the same night as Kopech, even within two pitches of each other. It was a real duel of efficient pitchers, both throwing strikes and only allowing a hit apiece. Kopech walked five, and Ryan walked two. Both recorded seven strikeouts. Ryan mostly used his fastball, but his splitter put a lot of strikes over the plate. With a 32 CSW%, Ryan was also able to keep the score down and the Twins in the game.

Ryan’s 87-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

Hanser Alberto’s fly out to right field in the bottom of the ninth felt like it doomed White Sox, and carried a 6.39 pLI.

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Pressure Cooker

Adam Haseley went from hero to zero in the blink of an eye, pinch-hitting into the second out in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, for a 5.29 pLI.

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Top Play

Our Walk-Off King Andrew Benintendi’s single to left sent Alberto home for a great comeback win in extras. The WPA for the hit was .375.

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Top Performer

Joe Ryan’s .364 WPA actually ekes out a win over Eloy Jiménez (.337 WPA), thanks to his low walk count and high strikeout count.

I’m still going to give you some Big Baby content, though.

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: Eloy Jiménez had two blistering ground outs, at 108.4 mph and 106.3 mph. Trailing behind him was Andrew Vaughn’s seventh-inning single at 105.9 mph.

Weakest contact: The 10th inning should be lay-it-out time, but Nick Gordon was retired on a 50.9 mph grounder.

Luckiest hit: The straw that broke the camel’s back in the sixth was Byron Buxton’s .380 xBA single.

Toughest out: It was another difficult game for Luis Robert Jr., this time including a tough-luck line out in the fourth at an .830 xBA.

Longest hit: Nick Gordon’s solo home run traveled 414 feet.

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Magic Number: 2

Two Andrews, two wins in a row, two walk-offs. Don’t look now, but the White Sox are undefeated in May.

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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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