Six Pack of Stats: Phillies 7, White Sox 4 (Opener)
Josh Harrison reigns down on the White Sox as they drop the first of two
The White Sox dropped the opener of today’s doubleheader to the Philadelphia Phillies, and it was really just another standard South Side L — bad pitching, leaving runners on base, and more bad pitching. Philadelphia’s pitching seemed to stoop to Chicago’s level, but ultimately, its offense was able to put the White Sox to bed — thanks to old friend, Josh Harrison.
The Starters
Lance Lynn made his fourth start in this afternoon’s doubleheader opener, and it was a bit of a doozy. In his 5 1⁄3 innings, he gave up a whopping 10 hits, five earned runs, and walked three, though he also managed to strike out seven batters. He primarily threw his fastball and cutter, and both were relatively effective, with a 31% and 43% CSW%, respectively, however it seemed like the pitches that hitters did connect with proceeded to do more and more damage. After his brutal 107-pitch outing, his ERA is now up to a 7.59 ... yikes.
And here’s Lynn’s pitch mix:
Zach Wheeler wasn’t spectacular by any means today, giving up eight hits of his own throughout his five frames. The South Siders got the best of him in the third inning, dishing Wheeler all four of his earned runs. Because drawing a walk is taboo for the White Sox, he didn’t have to worry about free passes today, and he still struck out four. Wheeler went with a five-pitch arsenal (six, if you count the one changeup he threw), and relied mostly on his sinker and fastball, and the sinker had the highest CSW% of 45%.
His 94-pitch outing looking like this:
Wheeler’s pitch mix:
Pressure Play
Brandon Marsh came up with the bases loaded for the Phillies in the top of the sixth, and Jimmy Lambert was able to strike him out to hold the Phillies lead to just one run. The play had a 3.03 LI.
Pressure Cooker
Oscar Colás faced the most pressure in today’s game, coming up in a few high pressure situations, but was unable to pull through. He had a 1.37 pLI.
Top Play
Old friend alert! Josh Harrison’s two-run homer in the top of the seventh off of Jimmy Lambert earned .214 WPA.
Top Performer
It was the Josh Harrison revenge game today, going 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs, a bomb, and .327 WPA.
Smackdown
Hardest Hit: Yasmani Grandal’s fifth-inning double left the bat at 107.4 mph.
Weakest Contact: Brandon Marsh had a single in the first that left the bat at just 15.1 mph.
Luckiest Hit: Eloy Jiménez’s third-inning flare to center had an .080 xBA.
Toughest Out: Josh Harrison grounded out in the second despite a .550 xBA.
Longest Hit: Josh Harrison’s home run traveled 399 feet.
Magic Number: 2
In uniform No. 2, Josh Harrison certainly had the White Sox’s number today, in the first of two games this evening.