Six Pack of Stats: Tigers 7, White Sox 2

FanGraphs

The White Sox offense has been hit-or-miss this season, and tonight it was a big miss. They were unable to generate any kind of momentum in the scoring department. On the other hand, despite being one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, the surprise second-place Detroit Tigers were able to run enough players across the plate tonight to secure their 23rd win of the season.

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The Starters

On May 20, Lucas Giolito earned his third win and sixth quality start of 2023. In that outing, he gave up only one run on six hits and one walk and struck out four in six innings. Prior to tonight’s contest, he had been one of the White Sox’s most consistent starters in 2023, and fans were hoping for another gem from Gio. However, the Tigers had Giolito’s number in his 11th appearance of the season, and unfortunately, he was out of the game after only 3 2⁄3 innings. The seven walks really put the nails in the coffin for the righty, and he ended the evening surrendering four runs on six hits and four strikeouts. Those four runs were enough for Detroit to take the first of the four-game series, 7-2.

Here are Giolito’s pitch visuals from Baseball Theater:

Giolito’s 89-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

Alex Faedo took the bump today for the Motor City Kitties. The Tigers selected him with the 18th overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft. The 27-year-old righty started 12 games last season after being called up in May. He didn’t make the team out of Spring Training this year, and pitched for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens until the Tigers called him up on May 7. Heading into today’s contest, he was 0-2 with a 4.60 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and .203 opponent batting average in 15 2⁄3 innings pitched. Tonight the South Siders struggled with Faedo’s nasty slider, which had a 36% CWS. He earned the win tonight after going six innings, giving up only two runs on three hits, and striking out a career-high of 10.

Here are Faedo’s pitch visuals from Baseball Theater:

Faedo’s 94-pitch outing looked like this:

Baseball Savant

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Pressure Play

Matt Vierling couldn’t pull through when he lined into a double play with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third. The play had a 3.28 LI.

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Pressure Cooker

Lucas Giolito didn’t have it tonight. The 1.53 pLI stress of facing the second-place Tigers was just too much for him.

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Top Play

With the bases juiced in the bottom of the fourth, former North Side foe Javier Báez singled to center on a .166 WPA liner, driving in Miguel Cabrera and Zach McKinstry.

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Top Performer

Akil Baddoo was the hero today for the Tigers. He hit a solo bomb to knot the game at one in the bottom of the fourth. He was 2-for-3 with a .185 WPA.

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: Riley Green scalded a single to center in the bottom of the sixth at 110.7 mph.

Weakest contact: Matt Vierling tapped an eighth-inning line out at 58.2 mph.

Luckiest hit: Akil Baddoo’s single in the bottom of the second had a .190 xBA.

Toughest out: Matt Vierling’s sharp double play line out in the bottom of the third had an .870 xBA.

Longest hit: Akil Baddoo’s solo shot takes the prize here. It landed 404 feet away, in right field.

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Magic Number: 11

The Pale Hose pitching staff walked 11 batters. It’s hard to win a baseball game with that many free passes.

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Glossary

CSW called strikes plus whiffs
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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