Six Pack of Stats: Guardians 4, White Sox 1 (Game 1)

Shane Bieber pitched a complete game for Cleveland, giving the South Siders their second-straight loss

The Cleveland Guardians defeated the Chicago White Sox, 4-1 in a make-up game from April. The Guardians move to 43-42, 3 ¹⁄₂ games behind the first-place Twins in the AL Central. The White Sox drop to 41-45, six games out of first.

The Starters

Davis Martin started for the White Sox after being called up from Triple-A Charlotte. He went six innings, giving up four earned runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out three.

Martin used a five-pitch arsenal in his 94-pitch outing. He used his 4-seamer 41 times. Martin saw the highest CSW rate on his slider (minimum five pitches), generating six whiffs and three called strikes for a 32% CSW rate. He gained spin on all five pitches.

Here’s Martin’s breakdown:

Shane Bieber took the mound for the Guardians, pitching his first complete game of the season. Bieber allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out seven.

Bieber used a five-pitch arsenal in his 95-pitch outing. He had an overall 37% CSW rate on the start from 24 called strikes and 11 whiffs. Bieber had the most CSW success with his knuckle curve (minimum five pitches), generating a 50% whiff rate with the pitch.

Bieber’s start looked like this:

Pressure Play

With two on and one out in the top of the seventh, White Sox right fielder Gavin Sheets grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The at-bat had a game-high 2.27 LI.

Pressure Cooker

Sheets garnered a 1.17 pLI from his three trips to the plate, going 0-for-3.

Top Play

With two out and two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the third, Guardians third baseman José Ramírez hit a two-RBI single that got through the right side of the infield to extend Cleveland’s lead to 3-0.

Ramírez’s 67th and 68th RBI of 2022 added .153 WPA for the Guardians.

Top Performer

Bieber added .341 WPA for the Guardians in his one-run complete game.

Smackdown

Luckiest hit: Guardians catcher Austin Hedges and White Sox first baseman José Abreu both hit a .060 xBA single.

Toughest out: After his four-RBI effort in yesterday’s game, Guardians right fielder Nolan Jones had two barrel outs in today’s game. His fly-out in the sixth inning had a .810 xBA.

Hardest hit: Ramírez’s two-RBI single was hit at 106.4 mph.

Weakest contact: Guardians designated hitter Franmil Reyes hit a 63 mph ground out to third to end the bottom of the third.

Longest hit: Jones’ other barrel fly-out was hit 367 feet.

Magic Number: 10

Shane Bieber is the 10th different pitcher to throw a complete game this season.

Marlins starter Sandy Alcántara and Astros starter Framber Valdez both lead the league with two complete games thrown.

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