Giolito's turnaround outing likely too little, too late for Guardians

It was far from perfect, but this was much closer to the version of Lucas Giolito the Guardians were hoping to see when they claimed him off waivers from the Angels last week.

Even though he gave up four runs, Giolito was able to turn in seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks in Cleveland’s 6-2 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium on Saturday night. He admitted that he needs to hone in on his fastball command, but his secondary stuff was much more effective than it was in his debut on Monday night at Progressive Field. This was the stepping stone he needed to hopefully get himself on the right track.

The problem for the Guardians is, it’s likely too late.

Acquiring Giolito (along with Matt Moore and Reynaldo López) just over a week ago was a last-ditch effort by Cleveland to try to make one last push at the AL Central title this season after the Twins refused to pull away in the standings. Giolito started the year with the White Sox, was sent to the Angels at the Trade Deadline and struggled to put up zeros for Los Angeles. After just six starts with his new team, he was designated for assignment and picked up by Cleveland.

In the most ideal scenario, Giolito would’ve righted the ship in his first start with the Guardians on Monday. The team threw him straight into the fire by starting the most critical game of the season -- the series opener against the first-place Twins, with Cleveland trailing by five games. If the Guardians could have swept Minnesota (a lofty task), suddenly, their playoff hopes could have been revived. Instead, Giolito gave up nine runs on seven hits, including three homers, with three walks and three strikeouts.

It was a big ask for any new face coming into a foreign clubhouse. Giolito hardly knew his teammates’ names, barely had time to get familiar with a new catcher and was trying to pitch to save a club’s season. But if he's had the start he had on Saturday, things may have been different.

Giolito still gave up three homers, but this time, he had much less traffic on the bases. He allowed just four hits. The first home run he gave up came in the first inning after an errant throw by third baseman Tyler Freeman prolonged the inning.

“Kind of a weird night,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “I thought the first inning was unfortunate. Probably a play that if you would ask Tyler, he probably thinks he could make. So, we end up giving them an opportunity to get the fourth hitter up. But I was really pleased for [Giolito] that he stayed out there so long just after what happened the other day.”

When Giolito and catcher Cam Gallagher realized the Angels were jumping on his fastball, the tandem decided to rely more on changeups and sliders, which helped the righty get through seven frames. After he permitted the third and final long ball of the night in the fourth, Giolito recorded 1-2-3 innings in the fifth, sixth and seventh. Of the 24 swings taken against Giolito’s changeup, 12 resulted in swing-and-misses.

“The feel for the slider was pretty decent today,” Giolito said. “I was able to get good depth on it, so I was able to use that. I mean, they were really on the heater, so using that along with my changeup, I was able to have some quick innings, work some quicker at-bats so I was able to go seven.”

It’s unfortunate that this type of tune-up didn’t come in his final start with the Angels, allowing him to gain even more confidence before he was thrown into a division race in Cleveland. But for the 29-year-old right-hander, this was an encouraging step to get back to the reliable pitcher he’s been known to be over the last few years.

But for the Guardians, who tried to acquire Giolito to make a run at the Twins and will part ways with the soon-to-be free agent in a handful of weeks, won’t be able to reap many of the benefits from Giolito getting himself back on track.

“It’s kind of unfortunate the way it’s been going for me,” Giolito said. “So yeah, just keep working.”