Giolito goes 6 solid in 'grinder kind of outing'
TORONTO -- On the one-year anniversary of Lucas Giolito’s no-hitter against the Pirates, he created no such suspense against the Blue Jays: Giolito’s second batter reached on a ground-rule double.
But very few reached after that, as Giolito spun six strong innings in a 3-1 loss at Rogers Centre on Wednesday night. With just one run allowed on five hits and a walk, Giolito has now given up two earned runs or fewer in eight of his past nine starts.
Giolito called it a “grinder kind of outing,” noting that he felt “a little lethargic” on the mound. His fastball didn’t have as much zip as he wanted -- averaging 93.2 mph -- but what he lacked in electricity he made up for in execution.
Sliders have featured more prominently in Giolito’s pitch arsenal of late, but his most familiar offspeed offering -- the changeup -- was front and center in Toronto. He threw it 34 times, more than anything else, and yielded a 48 percent whiff rate (11 whiffs on 23 swings). Five of Giolito’s strikeouts came via changeup, including one to Teoscar Hernández in the first inning that stranded a runner at third.
When Giolito exited after six innings, the game was tied, 1-1. As usual, the White Sox starter provided his team a chance to win.
Entering Wednesday, White Sox starting pitchers led the American League in ERA (3.42), strikeouts-per-nine (10.02) and OPS allowed (.658). This series, the starters have kept Chicago afloat: Giolito, Dylan Cease and Lance Lynn gave up one run apiece over a combined 20 innings (1.35 ERA).
“It’s just what we’ve been doing,” Giolito said. “We’re a very tight-knit group, our rotation, our five guys. We like to feed off each other. I saw what Dylan did last night and I wanted to match that or be better. He takes the cake there: He went seven [innings], I only went six. We like to motivate each other, we’re always communicating, observing each other and making each other better.”
After his outing Tuesday, Cease echoed his rotation mate: The sense of friendly competition helps each starter thrive.
“It’s definitely inspiring to watch the starters go out there and do what they do,” Cease said. “It makes me want to elevate my game and keep up with them. … It’s like drawing inspiration from them, and going out there and trying to be my best self.”
Unfortunately, the bullpen hasn’t been its best self in Toronto: Craig Kimbrel took Monday’s loss on a run-scoring wild pitch in the eighth, Liam Hendriks brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth and ninth innings on Tuesday and Aaron Bummer allowed the decisive run on a two-out single in the eighth on Wednesday.
Bummer’s outing offered a great what-if for Chicago’s night. He started by striking out Marcus Semien and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., seemingly completing the toughest part of his task. But then the next three hitters reached with singles, the third of which came off the bat of Alejandro Kirk and cashed Hernández to give the Blue Jays the lead.
Offensively, the White Sox were no match for Blue Jays lefty Robbie Ray, who ranks second behind Lynn in ERA among American Leaguers (2.20 for Lynn, 2.72 for Ray) and struck out 14. One day after matching a season high with 18 hits, the White Sox connected for just six while striking out 16 times.
Thursday offers a chance for Chicago to split the series and hustle back home with a palatable 3-4 road trip against a pair of tough AL East teams. And it just so happens that the White Sox greatest strength will grow even stronger, as starter Carlos Rodón is making his return from the injured list.
“That’s huge for us,” Giolito said. “Carlos has been doing it all year long. Obviously he’s got some of the nastiest stuff in the league, so I’m looking forward to watching him make his return tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun.”
Jordan Horrobin is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @JordanHorrobin.