“And this five-game losing streak is OVAH!” – Hawk Harrelson, probably.
After going through one of their roughest stretches of the season so far, the White Sox finally got back to their winning ways this afternoon, using a solid start from Dylan Cease and some clutch hitting from Yasmani Grandal to beat the Pirates 4-3.
Cease was effective this afternoon through 5.2 IP; losing his command a bit in the third inning and allowing two runs to score as a result were the only blemishes on a solid afternoon on the mound. He was followed by Ryan Burr, Codi Heuer, Aaron Bummer, and Liam Hendriks – some shakier than others – on the way to the victory.
On offense, the White Sox were outhit 10 to 9, but they made them count. Tim Anderson paced the offense with two hits at the top of the lineup, while Leury Garcia added his first home run of the season in the effort. The big hit, however, came off the bat of Yasmani Grandal, who broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the fifth inning with a two-run double that put the White Sox ahead for good in this one.
With the victory, the White Sox improve to 44-30 on the season.
W: Dylan Cease (6-3) | L: Chase De Jong (0-2) | S: Liam Hendriks (19)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Dylan Cease: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 16 Swinging Strikes
Dylan Cease had a quality afternoon, battling through some mid-game struggles to work himself through 5.2 innings and 99 pitches. He racked up seven strikeouts on the day and was able to work out of a jam in the fifth inning to extend his afternoon.
Interesting observation on Dylan Cease today: The spin rate on all his pitches was down by a significant margin; however, outside of his Curveball, the actual movement on his pitches wasn’t affected (look at Vertical Break). This means that – hypothetically – if Cease was using a foreign substance, it had minimal impact on movement despite increases in spin rate. Something to monitor moving forward – but this is a good thing.
Tim Anderson: 2-for-5, 2B, RBI, 2 K
The birthday boy had himself a solid afternoon, knocking out two hits including an RBI double in the winning effort. Anderson has his season average up to .297 on the season while being red hot recently, slashing .311/.348/.393 in his last 15 games. Hopefully, the power continues to return for TA.
Yasmani Grandal: 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, K
The solid month for Yasmani Grandal continues, as his 2-RBI double in the fifth inning was the difference in this ballgame. The White Sox scored seven runs in this series against Pittsburgh, and Grandal drove in five of them himself.
Grandal has been red-hot the past 7 games, slashing .304/.360/.478. Here’s hoping he continues to mash.
Leury Garcia: 1-for-4, HR, RBI, K
Leury Garcia continues to see the ball a lot better in recent games, hitting his first homer of the season to right-center field in today’s effort. Over the last 15 games, Garcia has slashed .286/.340/.429, and if he can put up numbers even close to this over the next few months, it will go a long way in helping the Sox absorb the blow of Nick Madrigal’s injury.
Matchup of the Game
Normally, this would go to Aaron Bummer in the 7th or Grandal in the 5th, but when a player gets his first career hit in a game, you have to give the honor to him. Congrats Luis Gonzalez!
Next Game
The White Sox are off tomorrow before welcoming the Seattle Mariners back in town in front of a full capacity crowd starting Friday. Don’t forget – big tailgate party on Saturday!
As for Friday’s game, Carlos Rodon will battle Yusei Kikuchi at 7:10 PM CT on NBC Sports Chicago.
Featured Photo: @whitesox / Twitter
