Dylan Cease put together a strong outing, but a few mistakes cost the Sox a win as they dropped the first game 6-2. Adam Engel, Ryan Cordell, and Ryan Goins helped provide the offense in the night cap, as Ivan Nova thew yet another complete game in a big 4-1 victory.
Game 1 – W: Zack Greinke (12-4) | L: Dylan Cease (2-5)
Game 2- W: Ivan Nova (8-9) | Chris Devenski (2-1)
The Good
- Game 1 – Jose Abreu (1B): 2-4, 2B (26), RBI, run
- Game 2 – Ryan Goins (3B): 2-4, 2 RBI
- Game 2 – Ivan Nova (SP): 9.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K – 104 pitches, 69 strikes
The Bad
- Game 1 – Yolmer Sanchez (2B): 0-4, K, 4 LOB
- Game 1 & 2 – Tim Anderson (SS): Combined 0-8, K, 6 LOB
Moment of the Game
For this one, we have to focus on game two and the story of the night, Ivan Nova. The veteran tossed his second complete game of the season, this time in a four-hit performance against the 78-42 Houston Astros. It doesn’t get any better than that!
#SOXWIN pic.twitter.com/gGd8M0KiCs
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 14, 2019
Stats On 35th – Let’s Break this one Down by the Numbers
Today’s Numbers:
32.6, 10, 1.33, 41, 5
32.6
To little surprise, Nova going the distance resulted in him being today’s White Sox MVP in terms of Win Probability Added (WPA) at 32.6. Ryan and Ryan immediately followed as runners up in game two, with Goins adding 16.2 percentage points and Cordell tossing in another 8.7 with their big hits. In the first game, Jose Abreu was the leader of the entire game with 17.9.
10
Tonight’s complete game marked the 10th of Ivan Nova’s 10-year career. It was his second complete game in the past three weeks alone, with his other coming against the Miami Marlins back on July 22nd.
1.33
Let’s have some fun with ERAs. White Sox starters own a 1.33 ERA over the last six games. Do the math and that’s just six earned runs over 40.2 innings pitched. As for Ivan Nova, he has a 0.49 ERA since the All-Star Break, and a 0.30 ERA in his last four starts at Guaranteed Rate Field. Is that good?
41
This is a stat that still blows my mind and I’m sure many fans feel the same way. The White Sox are 40-1 when leading after six innings, 41-1 when leading after seven, and 41-0 when leading after eight. Those two combined losses when leading after innings 6-8 is the second lowest in the major leagues. That’s a crispy ratio and I love everything about it.
5
I’ll save my favorite stat for last because it’s a promising sign for the future. Dylan Cease has gone at least five innings in all seven of his starts with the Sox this season. In game one of today’s doubleheader, he finished with a final line of 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 2 K, 2 HR.
Game Ahead: Sox go for the series win on Wednesday
- Wednesday: Wade Miley (11-4, 2.99 ERA) vs. Ross Detwiler (1-3, 5.35 ERA), 1:10 PM CT – Guaranteed Rate Field
Player of the Game
The choice might be obvious here, but vote for the player of today’s doubleheader! As always, let us know in the comments if you think it should be someone else.
[forminator_poll id=”13846″]
