'Something deceptive': How Astros' bats were held in check by a variety of White Sox arms in Game 1
In explaining his choice of young left-hander Hagen Smith to open Game 1 of the wild-card series against the Houston Astros, White Sox manager Will Venable said pregame that one factor was the “big hitter in the two-hole that we’re concerned about.”
That, of course, was Yordan Alvarez, the left-handed slugger and American League MVP frontrunner who mans the second spot in Houston’s lineup. Alvarez wields the potential to alter a game – and in this case, a best-of-three playoff series – with one swing.
Smith, in his three scoreless innings Tuesday for Chicago, faced Alvarez twice. Alvarez, a platoon-neutral slugger who posted an .825 OPS against lefties this season, grounded out twice, with the second ending the third inning with a runner on third base.
“I think the angle of his arm slot is something that’s a little bit difficult,” Alvarez said afterward, through an interpreter, of Smith, “and also we’ve never seen him before.”
ALSO SEE:Bullpen game goes awry for Astros in Game 1
The first observation fell in with others the Astros offered after a 6-3 loss in Game 1 that left them on the brink of elimination. While the White Sox pounced on their pitchers early in a dueling bullpen game, the Astros struggled to generate offense against Chicago’s series of arms.
Five pitchers for the White Sox combined to hold the Astros to six hits. None came in their seven at-bats with a runner in scoring position. Afterward, manager Joe Espada said he thought the variety of looks his hitters faced “was the difference in the game.”
“They really gave us multiple different arms, different arm angles, they displayed different repertoires,” Espada said. “I thought they did a nice job of just kind of mixing and matching and we just couldn’t really get anything going.”
WHITE SOX 6, ASTROS 3
| Chicago White Sox | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonacci lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
| Doyle cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Teel c | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| Vargas 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
| Murakami 1b | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .333 |
| Benintendi dh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
| a-Grichuk ph-dh | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .667 |
| c-Acuña pr-dh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Peters cf-lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| B.Montgomery rf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .500 |
| Meidroth 2b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| C.Montgomery ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Totals | 34 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 8 | .324 |
| Houston | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peña ss | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Alvarez dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Paredes 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| Altuve 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Diaz c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Walker 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| Spence cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
| Smith rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| Trammell lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| b-Velázquez ph-lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Totals | 33 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 7 | .182 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 6 | 11 | 1 |
| Houston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 3 | 6 | 1 |
a-lined out for Benintendi in the 5th. b-homered for Trammell in the 5th. c-ran for Grichuk in the 9th.
E_Walker (1), Vargas (1). LOB_Chicago White Sox 9, Houston 6. HR_C.Montgomery (1), Velázquez (1). RBIs_Antonacci 2 (2), Meidroth (1), C.Montgomery (1), Murakami (1), Velázquez 2 (2). SF_Murakami (1). S_Peters (1), Trammell (1).
Runners left in scoring position_Chicago White Sox 3 (Peters, Benintendi 2); Houston 4 (Smith, Alvarez, Velázquez, Diaz). RISP_Chicago White Sox 4 for 11; Houston 0 for 7.
GIDP_Meidroth, C.Montgomery, Teel.
DP_Houston 3 (Peña-Walker 2, Altuve-Peña-Walker).
| Chicago White Sox | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H.Smith | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 0.00 |
| Hicks, W,1-0 | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 0.00 |
| Newcomb | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 18.00 |
| Sandlin, H,1 | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0.00 |
| Taylor | 2 1/3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 54 | 0.00 |
| Houston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blubaugh, L,0-1 | 2/3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 0.00 |
| King | 1/3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 54.00 |
| Ullola | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 31 | 3.00 |
| Hendrickson | 1 2/3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 5.40 |
| VanWey | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 |
| Sousa | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 9.00 |
| Abreu | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0.00 |
| Hader | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0.00 |
King pitched to 5 batters in the 2nd.
Inherited runners-scored_Taylor 1-0, King 2-0, Ullola 3-0. HBP_King (C.Montgomery), Hendrickson (Antonacci). WP_Sousa 2.
ABS Challenge_Diaz 2 (Ball-Overturned to Strike, Strike-Confirmed); Teel 3 (Ball-Overturned to Strike, Ball-Overturned to Strike, Ball-Overturned to Strike); Murakami (Strike-Confirmed).
Umpires_Home, Alex MacKay; First, Alex Tosi; Second, Ryan Additon; Third, Alan Porter; Right, Paul Clemons; Left, Edwin Moscoso.
T_3:13. A_34,011 (41,000).
Smith, a 23-year-old left-hander who debuted in August, posted a 1.29 ERA in his first 19 major-league outings. In them, he pitched from an average 20.8 degree arm angle, per Baseball Savant; MLB average for left-handed pitchers this season was 37.4 degrees.
Of the 214 lefties who threw 100 pitches in the majors, just 14 averaged a release point further from the center of the mound toward first base than Smith, per Baseball Savant. He relied heavily on a slider and cutter Tuesday, and less on a four-seam fastball that was his most-used pitch during the season.
“Kind of crossfire, tough angle,” Espada said. “His pitches do have some kind of difficult shape that keeps you off-balance and he did a nice job of doing that.”
ALSO SEE:5 key moments in Astros’ Game 1 loss
Smith presented some unfamiliarity. But as shortstop Jeremy Peña said: “It’s the big leagues. We’ve got information on everybody.” An Astros lineup with six right-handed hitters, still, totaled two hits against him. Smith stayed in long enough to face 11 batters, retiring nine.
He ceded to Jordan Hicks, a right-hander from Cypress Creek whose sinker averaged 100.1 mph. Hicks faced four hitters, all right-handed, and retired all of them. After Hicks got Christian Walker to ground out leading off the fifth, Venable turned to lefty Sean Newcomb for a pocket of three left-handed hitters in five spots.
The first, Lucas Spence, singled. Espada pinch-hit for the next, Taylor Trammell, with right-handed Nelson Velázquez, who hit a two-run home run. Newcomb, another low-release lefty who averaged 96.2 mph on his fastball Tuesday, retired the two other righties he faced, plus Alvarez on a ground out.
Getting through Alvarez allowed Venable to go to another right-hander, David Sandlin, who retired four of the five batters he faced, the exception a walk to Walker. Sandlin mixed five pitches while generating an average 75 mph exit velocity on four balls put into play.
“Matchups, had a lot of weapons, a lot of options,” Walker said of the series of pitchers Houston faced. “Obviously, a lot of velocity. But everybody seemed to have something deceptive where the sights and the tunnels were much different. I think they did a good job of mixing guys up.
“And then obviously, the execution. Having the right matchups is only part of it. We’re still a really good lineup, so to come out and execute, that’s a huge part of it, too. So it’s frustrating. I’m proud of our guys for fighting and clawing. Also, I guess you’ve got to tip your cap and give some credit when it’s due.”
Sandlin issued his walk in the seventh inning and a ground out moved Walker to second base with two outs. Venable said that provided the impetus to summon right-hander Grant Taylor, who finished the game for the White Sox by throwing 54 pitches and recording the final seven outs.
Of the 300 right-handers who threw at least 100 pitches in the majors this season, Taylor had the sixth-highest average arm angle, per Baseball Savant. From it, he delivered a sinker that averaged 99 mph on Tuesday, a slider that induced four whiffs on eight swings and perhaps the game’s biggest pitch.
ALSO SEE:Astros ‘built for it’ facing another must-win situation
In the eighth, the Astros threatened. Peña and Alvarez, hitless in their first six at-bats, both singled. After Isaac Paredes struck out, Jose Altuve beat out a chopper to third on a wide throw, bringing the tying run to the plate with two on and two outs.
Yainer Diaz, one of the Astros’ hottest hitters down the stretch, mounted a seven-pitch battle. Diaz took a 2-1 sinker at 99 mph on the corner for strike two. He spoiled a high four-seamer and took a high sinker to fill the count. Taylor landed a curveball that froze him.
One of five strikeouts for Taylor, it ended the Astros’ final threat against Chicago’s pitching formula, and it left them facing a must-win scenario Wednesday in this best-of-three series.
“Sometimes we have to give credit to them, and this is one of them,” Diaz said, through an interpreter. “The only thing I can control was to give a good at-bat and I feel like I did that.”
Subscribe
There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at ‘Something deceptive’: How Astros’ bats were held in check by a variety of White Sox arms in Game 1.
