Reynaldo Lopez didn’t have his best stuff tonight, as he couldn’t get out of the fifth inning before allowing six runs. The White Sox offense was held dormant after the first inning, and they fell to 64-81 on the season.
W: Glenn Sparkman (4-11) L: Reynaldo Lopez (9-13)
The Good
Eloy Jimenez: 1-for-3, HR (26), 4 RBI
Jose Abreu: 2-for-4, HR (32), 2 RBI
The Bad
Reynaldo Lopez: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 13 Swinging Strikes
Welington Castillo: 0-for-3, BB
Yolmer Sanchez: 0-for-4, K
Moment of the Game
I love this story – I had never heard it before, but it’s worth it for everyone to hear. Never forget.
Stats On 35th: Let’s Break this one down By the Numbers
Last Night’s Numbers:
27.0/-41.6, 4, 117.9, 11, 6106
27.0/-41.6
Last night’s MVP and LVP, in terms of Win Probability Added (WPA) are Eloy Jimenez (27.0%) and Reynaldo Lopez (-41.6%). Per usual, neither of these are really surprises, as Reynaldo Lopez put the Sox behind early and couldn’t hold the lead that Eloy was able to give them.
4
Reynaldo Lopez was not sharp last night, as he allowed four home runs on the day. This matches the entire total he had allowed since the All-Star Break coming into this game. A lot of sliders hung over the plate this evening.
117.9
Jose Abreu has been scorching the ball lately, and his double in the sixth was no exception. With an exit velocity of 117.9 mph, that double was tied for 6th hardest ball on the season amongst all hitters. That’s pretty impressive for the Cuban slugger.
11
According to Chris Kamka, Eloy Jimenez is the first White Sox player since Alexei Ramirez in 2008 (over 11 years ago) with consecutive 4-RBI games. He is also the youngest Sox player since RBI became an official stat in 1920 to accomplish this feat.
6,106
A crazy, yet not-so-crazy, stat from baseball last night: Jonathan Villar hit the 6,106th home run in baseball this season, breaking the 2017 record three weeks before the season ends. It will be interesting to see if anything changes next year with the juiced baseballs.
The Game Ahead: The Ace Goes for the Series Victory
Lucas Giolito (14-8, 3.27 ERA) vs. Jorge Lopez (3-7, 6.23 ERA), 1:10 PM CT
Player of the Game
I’m unilaterally voting Jimenez as POTG last night- on account of the White Sox scoring six runs, and him driving in four. Seems about fair, right? Let’s hope voting can return this afternoon with a solid win to close the series.
