No no-no, but a confidence boost for White Sox

CHICAGO -- White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito departed a 3-0 victory over the Phillies in Game 2 of a doubleheader Tuesday after six innings and 102 pitches.

He also was working on a no-hitter at the time of his exit. But with the elevated pitch count, there was no way he could finish this potential piece of history.

“I knew I wouldn’t get through nine,” Giolito said after picking up his first win of the season. “I lobbied for the seventh inning, but I understand going out in April already at 102 pitches, it’s kind of a tough spot.”

A combined no-hitter carried through seven, with Kendall Graveman pitching a hitless inning in relief. But when Brandon Marsh doubled to left off reliever Aaron Bummer leading off the eighth, the franchise’s 21st no-hitter and second with multiple pitchers officially evaporated.

Instead, the White Sox (7-11) settled for a much-needed victory after dropping the opener, 7-4.

“I told Lucas, ‘We have to get this going early,’” White Sox catcher Seby Zavala said. “The first game today was not what we wanted or how we wanted to start a doubleheader. But yeah, Lucas took the ball and did exactly what we needed.”

“To feel the electricity in that dugout from pitch one after a tough loss like that, that’s pretty nice to see,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “There’s some heart and there’s some fight in here.”

Giolito struck out seven, walked one and hit one, with his effort coming on the 16th anniversary of Mark Buehrle’s no-hitter thrown at home against the Rangers. The southpaw issued just one walk that night to Sammy Sosa, then picked him off first and faced the minimum 27 batters.

According to Statcast, Giolito recorded 12 swings and misses, and his four-seam fastball topped out at 94.6 mph. But Giolito isn’t worried about velocity at this point of his career, doing the best with what he has through good sequencing and movement. He featured great rhythm and mound presence from his first pitch.

“Having good rhythm and a good mound presence is hugely crucial for my success,” Giolito said. “So that’s something. … Actually, Pedro reminded me about it because he was on the other side watching me for a while, and we had a very long conversation in Spring Training about that topic that really put a light bulb on for me.”

“He's got a really good changeup,” said Philadelphia second baseman Bryson Stott, whose 17-game hitting streak ended in the nightcap. “He's so tall and he just kind of -- you see it, but it never gets to home plate. I think a lot of us were out in front on it, so once that's in your head, he can beat you with other stuff. He did a really good job."

Jake Burger homered for the fourth time in five games, with his three-run shot in the first accounting for the White Sox offense. It was the last hit for either side until Elvis Andrus’ single in the seventh, followed by Marsh’s double opening the eighth.

At that point, Giolito was out of action. But Grifol understands the importance and rarity of a no-hitter, and if Giolito had been at 102 pitches through eight innings, there would have been some leeway to work.

“It would be a really different conversation. I don't even think we would have a conversation, to be honest with you,” Grifol said. “I'm big on those things. Those things don't come around too often.

"That's him, right there. And it's not about the stuff. It's about the mound presence. It's about the confidence. It's, 'Here I am, I'm going to throw it over the plate, hit it if you can, and if you can't, you can't. If you can, you can.' That's what I remember, and that's what he's been showing the last three outings. I'm really excited with where he's at right now; right here [points to head] and obviously physically."

There was no no-hitter celebration. Instead, the White Sox hoped the victory finally pointed them in the right direction.

“Everybody’s fine,” said starter Lance Lynn, who lost Game 1 for the White Sox. “You know it’s April, but you know you’ve got to get it moving just to make sure you don’t get too far behind.”

“From the first pitch, it was like, ‘Hey, let’s go. We are going to win this game,’” Burger said. “That’s what it felt like every single inning. And you definitely saw it.”