Lucas Giolito had good but not great stuff today, throwing six innings of quality baseball. Michael Pineda threw just as well, stifling the Sox’ offense. The Twins’ bullpen was lights out, and the Sox dropped a winnable one to the Twinkies.
W: Michael Pineda (10-5) L: Lucas Giolito (14-7) S: Taylor Rogers (21)
The Good
Lucas Giolito: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, 18 Swinging Strikes
Tim Anderson: 1-for-4, HR, 3 K
The Bad
The Offense: 6 H, 1 BB, 12 K
Moment of the Game
Lucas Giolito broke the 200 mark in strikeouts for the first time in his career tonight. Here’s the moment he did it – a hard luck loser in another good game for the right-hander.
Stats On 35th: Let’s Break this one down By the Numbers
Tonight’s Numbers:
11.8/-21.8, 200, 40, 0.500, 2.80
11.8/-21.8
Today’s MVP and LVP, in terms of Win Probability Added (WPA) are Yolmer Sanchez (11.3%) and Leury Garcia (-21.8%). Yolmer was the only player with a multi-hit performance, while Leury Garcia was 0-for-4 with 2 K’s and s lineup to third in the seventh with two runners on. Not a good performance all around by the South Siders.
200
With his strikeout of Eddie Rosario in the third inning, Lucas Giolito passed the 200-strikeout mark for the first time in his career. He is the ninth pitcher to accomplish the feat this year and the ninth in White Sox history. The storybook season continues for Giolito.
40
After a 1-for-4 showing tonight, Tim Anderson has recorded a major league-leading 40 hits in the month of August. He needs just a few more ABs to qualify for the batting title, a race he finds himself right in the thick of. Were he qualified, he would currently be 2nd in the race for the AL batting title.
0.500
Nelson Cruz has been on a tear this season against the White Sox. After hitting just 0.208 against the White Sox coming into this season, Cruz came into today’s game hitting a robust 0.500 on the season. He kept that same batting average after today’s game, going 2-for-4 on the day. This is Mike Trout levels of performance against the White Sox.
2.80
Entering tonight’s set of ballgames, the White Sox had the league’s best ERA as a team (2.80) since August 7th. The next closest team – the Washington Nationals – sat at a 2.84 ERA. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the White Sox are 10-8 since that date. Good pitching helps win games, who knew?!
The Game Ahead: Big Boss Ross Back on the Mound
Jake Odorizzi (13-6, 3.57 ERA) vs. Ross Detwiler (2-3, 5.51 ERA), 7:10 PM CT
Player of the Game
You know what to do! We have a tie for first – can Giolito reclaim the lead again tonight?
