To end the top of the seventh inning Saturday, Lucas Giolito unleashed a 97 mph fastball that Tigers leadoff hitter Robbie Grossman tipped into the catcher’s mitt. It was Giolito’s hardest pitch of the day, an offering that capped his fourth strikeout of Grossman and ended seven innings of work during which Giolito recorded nine punchouts and no walks.

It was a fiery performance the White Sox have come to expect from their ace, and coming on the day the White Sox debuted their Nike MLB City Connect Series uniforms, Giolito very well could have picked up the win that moved Chicago manager Tony La Russa to second place on the all-time wins list.

But in addition to Grossman, Detroit also had left fielder Eric Haase in its lineup, and the latter spoiled Giolito’s efforts as the White Sox took the 4-3 loss at Guaranteed Rate Field.

• Box score

“I’d take that stuff out every day,” Giolito said, when asked how he felt about his stuff on the mound. “I feel like my pitches were working well.”

Chicago’s scoring began with back-to-back hits from Tim Anderson and Nick Madrigal that gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead in the first. But Haase answered with a two-run home run in the second. Haase added a solo shot two innings later, his third homer of the series, and Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera followed with a solo homer in the sixth that put the White Sox in a three-run hole.

“Give [Haase] credit, he hit two of them,” La Russa said. “That's one thing Lucas stays away from. I didn't get a chance to watch the replay, but if he got a ball in the wrong spot, the guys still have to hit it.”

“I'm facing big league hitters, but I need to make better pitches in those situations,” Giolito said. “Three not well-executed pitches that led to three home runs in the loss."

• Vaughn returns; GRF moves to full capacity

The offense nearly bailed out Giolito in the bottom of the sixth.

Yasmani Grandal and Andrew Vaughn led off with hits, and Jake Lamb -- batting in place of Billy Hamilton, who exited in the fourth with right side soreness -- doubled them in to close the gap to 4-3. Zack Collins then drew a walk, but instead of continuing to take advantage of a struggling Derek Holland, La Russa called for a sacrifice bunt that ended in a forceout at third.

La Russa said postgame that trying to give the next two hitters, Anderson and Madrigal, opportunities with two runners in scoring position was “the play.” But each grounded out to end the threat, and despite White Sox pitchers retiring the last 12 Tigers batters in order, Chicago couldn’t rally around Giolito for the win.

“Today’s a tough one because it could have been a really, really good outing,” Giolito said. “Offense gave me three runs. I’ve got to work with that and I need to get the job done there, and I just didn’t.”

Giolito said he felt everything was working for him on Saturday. He threw 76 of his 102 pitches for strikes. His whiff rate was at least 33 percent on each of his four pitches. His average pitch velocities stayed fairly consistent with his season averages, but when Giolito needed to take things up a notch, all three of his hardest pitches came in his final inning.

“I feel great physically,” he said. “I threw a very high percentage of strikes today. Mechanics feel good. Body feels good.”

So, what went wrong?

“Location and conviction behind the pitch,” Giolito said. “Unfortunately today, it took me giving up three homers to get my mentality going right. I learned from that, and I need to bring that intensity from start to finish.

"That gear is always there, and I need to tap into it more consistently.”