The White Sox mounted a late rally against closer Hansel Robles, but it proved to be too little, too late as the White Sox dropped the opener of this four game series in Anaheim 8-7.
W: Andrew Heaney (2-3) | L: Reynaldo Lopez (7-10) | S: Hansel Robles (17)
The Good
- Jose Abreu: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI
- Welington Castillo: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
The Bad
- 7-9 Hitters (Sanchez, Engel/Jay, Cordell/Goins): 1-for-12, 3 K
- Reynaldo Lopez (unfairly put here): 5.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K – could’ve been better but really wasn’t “bad”
Moment of the Game
The Sox’ 9th inning rally threatened to take this award away from Timmy, but by falling short, Anderson secured this award for his defensive efforts that would leave even his loudest detractors impressed.
Stats on 35th: Let’s Break this One Down by the Numbers
Last Night’s Numbers:
20.5/-32.7, 172, 7, 1.111, 74/68
20.5/-32.7
Last night’s MVP and LVp, in terms of Win Probability Added (WPA), were Jose Abreu (20.5) and Reynaldo Lopez (-32.7). Jose Abreu was the obvious answer here, going 2-for-4 with two home runs in a solid night at the plate. Reynaldo Lopez earned the hard-luck LVP today – not his best, but far from his worst.
172
With his 172nd career home run with the White Sox in the 7th inning, Jose Abreu passed Robin Ventura and gained sole possession of 6th place on the White Sox all-time home run leaderboard. Next up: Magglio Ordonez with 187 home runs.
7
Yolmer Sanchez committed his 7th error of the season last night, and it ended up being a costly one. After Sanchez juggling an inning-ending ground ball that allowed Shohei Ohtani to reach base, Josh Osich surrendered a three-run homer to Justin Upton the next at-bat. This proved to be most costly when the Sox’ rally in the ninth fell short. Did this happen to make the list because I’m a Danny Mendick fan? Maybe.
1.111
Listen, I’m no pitching coach, but if I was Don Cooper for the day, I’d consider pitching around Mike Trout once and awhile. Trout has torched the White Sox – and, frankly, ever other team – throughout his career, slashing .325/.472(!)/.639(!!) with 15 home runs. This is good for a 1.111 OPS in 50 games against the South Siders.
74/68
Some days, the ball just doesn’t find grass like it should. Eloy Jimenez had one of those days yesterday, blistering two line drives that had expected hit probabilites of 74% and 68%, respectively. However, he was 0-for-2 on those balls. It is encouraging, however, o see him consistently squaring up baseballs again.
Tonight’s Matchup: The Ace Returns Home to California
Lucas Giolito (12-6, 3.42 ERA) vs. Patrick Sandoval (0-0, 5.59 ERA), 9:07 PM CT
Player of the Game
You know what to do here. Leaderboard coming soon!
