White Sox 8, Cardinals 7 — The Remillard Game Part Two: Electric Boogaloo

New team, new series, and a true battle of two of the worst teams in baseball right now. The White Sox looked to snap their losing streak after being swept by the Blue Jays, and thankfully despite a rollercoaster of a game, the Cardinals gifted a win to the South Side.

The Cardinals struck first with an RBI double from Iván Herrara, but of course, there was a little tomfoolery early on by Dylan Cease and Elvis Andrus unsuccessfully trying to pick off Jordan Walker. Dylan Carlson brought Herrara home to take on an early lead with two outs in the second.

I wish I could say Dylan learned his lesson, but his struggles with command would cost him another home run. Nolan Arenado homered, Lars Nootbaar scored, and the White Sox had yet to get a single out.

Another Nolan, this time Gorman, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but that still allowed yet another run to come in. It’s already looking like a loss, because a five-run deficit has seemed insurmountable this year for the South Siders.

A wild base runner appeared in the bottom of the third when Jake Burger drew a walk off of Jordan Montgomery. Andrew Benintendi singled, leaving a high stakes at-bat for none other than Tim Anderson, and his hit was immediately gloved.

Does anyone else remember when this team feasted on lefties? Yeah? Moving on.

This sad excuse for a baseball team finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Jake Burger hit an oppo taco, solo serving.

Zach Remillard followed with a double before the game was paused as Montgomery, who nearly shut the White Sox out, left with an apparent leg injury.

Cease made it through six innings and 107 pitches. He allowed 10 hits but fanned eight once he finally got into his groove.

The sixth inning provided drama! Luis Robert Jr. tapped a weak grounder to short, but the toss to second for a force was dropped; runner Tim Anderson was originally called out, but that was overturned. For reasons unknown, Seby Zavala was ejected right before the White Sox challenge.

But hey! It gets better! Eloy Jiménez reached on a fielder’s choice to third. Andrew Vaughn then kicked off the scoring with a double to send TA home. Yasmani Grandal was plunked to load the bases up for Jake Burger, who doubled to send two home. Zach Remillard pushed a hit to right field to drive home two more. and suddenly, the Good Guys were up by one. That was all the offense could muster, but I’ll take a five-run frame, giving Keynan Middleton a small cushion for the seventh.

Alas, nothing gold can stay. Arenado nuked a ball and sent Nootbaar home, putting the Cardinals back up by one. Once again I ask myself, “Is one run insurmountable for the White Sox?”

Whoa! The ballgame is knotted in the seventh with a beautiful homer from our All-Star!

Jiménez then beat out a grounder for a single, and Grandal drew a walk to put two on with two outs. Could Burger do it again? If by “it” you meant a walk, then yes, and the White Sox once again loaded the bases. One thing I didn’t have on my bingo card was Remillard’s walk to bring another runner in and regain the lead.

Unfortunately, Oscar Colás stranded the bases-loaded situation and left some insurance runs on the table after he struck out swinging.

Rookie bullpen star Gregory Santos pitched a scoreless eighth to keep the lead, setting up Kendall Graveman in the ninth to shut things down for the save. Fans stood up to watch Walker hopefully strike out, and after staying alive on a full count, and having a quick chat with Grandal, Walker upset everyone with a base hit to signify the tie runner. Adding to the negative vibes, Graveman walked Alec Burleson. But Herrara was the saving grace for the Pale Hose, tapping out back to Graveman.

The White Sox finally eked out a win, defeating the Cardinals, 8-7.

Six Pack of Stats

FanGraphs

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Pressure Play

Kendall Graveman was thanking his lucky stars when Iván Herrera grounded out directly to him for the final out. With two on for the Cardinals, the pressure grew to a high 5.45 LI.

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Pressure Cooker

Once the White Sox started hitting, the game stayed in high-leverage mode until the very last out. The top pLI of 2.92 would go to Kendall Graveman for his stressful ninth.

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Top Play

Nolan Arenado’s homer that scored Lars Nootbaar tipped .325 WPA to the Cardinals, giving them a temporary lead.

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Top Performer

The 29-year-old rookie Zach Remillard’s go-ahead walk scored the last run the team would need for the win, en route to collecting a .422 WPA for the game.

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Smackdown

Hardest hit: Iván Herrera’s second-inning double was smoked at 109.4 mph.

Weakest contact: To balance things out, Herrera also made the weakest contact, with a game-ending ground out at just 35 mph.

Luckiest hit: Herrera might just dominate this section, because his third-inning single had a measly .080 xBA.

Toughest out: Eloy Jiménez makes an appearance, with his .770 WPA liner in the fourth.

Longest hit: Jake Burger’s impactful home run in the fifth and Luis Robert Jr.’s solo home run in the seventh tie, at 395 feet.

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Magic Number: 5

Luis Robert Jr. is the fifth White Sox player to reach 26-plus home runs before the All-Star Break. He joins the company of Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, José Abreu, and Dick Allen.

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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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