Six Pack of Stats: White Sox 2, Cleveland 0

Dylan Cease wins the pitching duel

The Chicago White Sox bounced back in the best way possible against an AL Central rival and playoff contender. The South Siders won the starting pitching duel, and they scored two runs while shutting out Cleveland.

Cherry on top? The Sox’s defense made zero errors, and was simply excellent.

If that can continue, this team will be very dangerous.

The Starts

Dylan Cease was absolutely brilliant tonight! He pitched five scoreless innings. He struck out four, but he did walk five. Without his best control, he was still incredibly dominant. Subtract a few walks, and Dylan finds himself into the seventh, at least. Cease is a special pitcher, and this performance against a solid lineup should be celebrated and something he hopes to do during the rest of his career.

Aaron Civale rivaled Dylan as best he could, and he did a mighty fine job. He pitched seven innings, where he surrendered one run off of five hits and one walk. He struck out five batters and proved that Cleveland’s back of the rotation can very well be aces on other pitching staffs.

Pressure Play

In the eighth inning, the pressure was on for Cleveland. Down one and runners on first and second, Jordan Luplow’s 4.60 LI flyout to right made it two outs in the inning and put out the fire of a possible scoring opportunity.

Pressure Cooker

Mike Freeman, in his pinch-hit at-bat, felt the most pressure throughout the whole game, despite sitting on the bench for most of the time. However, with two on and two outs in the eighth, he had to make something happen with his team trailing by one. Unfortunately for him, he flew out to right and felt a total 4.06 pLI.

Top Play

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Adam Engel took a first-pitch slider to the bleachers just left of center field. This added a big .073 WPA insurance run and put the Good Guys up 2-0 late in the game! Engel, defensive hero for the Sox, is clubbing balls left and right; I’m here for it. Keep it up, Adam!

Game MVP

In a pitching duel, the winning pitcher takes the MVP honors for this one! Cease was simply magical, especially without having his best control. His .295 WPA kept Cleveland out of the scorebook and propelled the White Sox to a victory!

Magic Number: 20

Danny Mendick has really stepped up during Nick Madrigal’s injury absence. After securing his first three-hit career game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Mendick went 2-for-3 tonight. He boosted his batting average to .318. Alongside his offense, his defense spoke as well.

Not too bad for No. 20! Keep it up, Danny!

The Good Guys have improved to 8-6, and they take sole possession of second place in the AL Central.