Who Are You, and What Did You Do to Dallas Keuchel?
Remember when we were believing the numbers yesterday?
And boy, did the numbers back us up. The Chicago White Sox, notorious for hitting left-handed pitching well, did so yesterday in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card series, making short work of Jesús Luzardo with some early-inning offense. The White Sox are now 15-0 against lefties, extend their historic winning streak.
Guess who has the second-best winning record against left-handed pitching?
The Oakland A's are 11-3 against lefties in 2020, but interestingly enough, they have a lower team OPS overall. It’s .684 vs. LHP, comparative to .728 vs RHP. The 2020 A’s Slash line vs. LHP? .221/.310/.374. Not necessarily awe-inspiring.
There were many strains of unusual circumstance in this game—as White Sox southpaw starter Dallas Keuchel himself said after the game, "anything wacky or unorthodox happens in this game"—but the A's held the pattern of somehow grinding wins against left-handed pitching despite what the numbers tell us.
So what happened today? Wasn't Chris Bassitt supposed to exemplify a middle-of-the-road holding pattern, despite having won AL Pitcher of the Month in September? Did Keuchel leave his ground balls at the baggage claim at SFO? And what exactly happened to soft contact?
Let's break it down.
Who are you, and what did you do with Dallas Keuchel?
Plenty rested upon the shoulders of postseason veteran and Game 2 starter Keuchel, and I'm honestly not exactly sure who that was on the mound today. Known for his ability to induce soft contact and ground outs, this game actually saw the exact opposite of that.
Especially uncharacteristic of Keuchel early was the amount of hard contact Oakland hitters were making, just in the first few innings.
The A's certainly made things uncomfortable for Keuchel early, as some hard-hit line outs were accompanied by back-to-back, first-inning singles by perfect game-ruiner Tommy La Stella, and Ramon Laureano. Chad Pinder then singled, and Keuchel was close to working his way out of that first-inning, bases-loaded jam until Nick Madrigal bobbled what could have been the third out. Matt Olson reached, scoring the first two runs for Oakland.
Because there's nothing more characteristic than a revenge game for a former White Sox player, Marcus Semien took Keuchel deep for a two-run shot in the second inning, extending the Oakland lead to 4-0.
And because postseason baseball is synonymous with pain, Khris Davis joined in on the fun with a solo shot in the fourth, making it 5-0, Oakland.
The A's made short work of Keuchel, and I said in today's Sharing Sox pregame show that Keuchel would need to go at least five or six solid innings, as he tends to lose his stuff after the sixth. His final line: five runs on six hits, three of those runs earned (thanks, Madrigal) in 3 ⅓ innings pitched.
When I say this was a very un-Keuchel game, I mean it. Today, Keuchel's GB% was a below-normal 38.5%, significantly below his average (and AL-leading) 52.8%. Keuchel's season-long scoreless streak in the first and second innings also ended today, to give you an idea of how good the southpaw has been early on.
Pitchers are human; Keuchel was eventually going to lay an egg while in a White Sox uniform, however, this was certainly not the game to do so.
The Chris Bassitt Revenge Game
What's a revenge game for one player? Why not two? Former White Sox pitcher Bassitt had a solid day throwing against his former team, albeit hitters he was mostly unfamiliar with.
Early predictions from yours truly said he was more of a middle-of-the-road type pitcher with O.K. stuff, but not really top-tier in any given metric. However, Bassitt did just win AL Pitcher of the Month, and had an impressive overall 2020 record at 5-2 and 2.29 ERA. Bassitt also managed to sidestep the Dodgers and Padres this year, both offensive powerhouses.
Bassitt certainly found a way to mess with White Sox hitters, primarily with his fastball, touted as his perhaps best pitch by PitcherList. However, Bassitt was by no means unhittable, proven by some hitters by the likes of Madrigal and Tim Anderson.
Some good stuff, in fact, did happen
If it was any indication of how much of a relief it was to see Bassitt gone, the White Sox avoided the shutout with a two-run Yasmani Grandal shot, bat drop-accompanied, in the eighth inning, off of lights-out closer Liam Hendriks.
When it came to a rally, an attempt was made.
Notorious two-strike hitter Madrigal connected off Hendriks for his second two-strike hit of the day. Anderson, also with a multi-hit game at 3-for-5, followed suit. Yoán Moncada walked, loading the bases, and the pressure, on Hendricks. Grandal then walked, driving in a run.
This being all too much for the A's closer, manager Bob Melvin pulled Hendriks (after 49 pitches in a two-inning attempt to shorten the game) in favor of another lights-out reliever, Jake Diekman, who got José Abreu to anticlimactically ground out to end the game.
Wrapping it up, and looking ahead
Of any postseason game I've watched as of late, this felt the least like a game that was supposed to have any kind of leverage whatsoever. I am still not exactly sure why Zack Collins even made an appearance, though Ricky Renteria said in his postgame Zoom that he felt good about Collins' chances, assuming Bassitt was in a vulnerable spot.
The White Sox could have easily won this game if it weren't for early defensive errors and missed offensive opportunities. However, there was some requisite questionable umpiring, including this call on Nomar Mazara in the eighth:
The A's have shown that they won't give up without a fight, but neither will the White Sox; tomorrow is do or die.
No one knows who is pitching yet. Why, it could be me. It could be you!
Catch Game 3 on ESPN, at 2 p.m. CT.