Vintage Lucas Giolito was back on the mound today, as he worked eight innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 victory for the South Siders.
There wasn’t much to speak about on offense today, as the Sox scored just two runs on five hits. However, the team manufactured when necessary, using leadoff doubles by Leury Garcia and Jake Lamb in the 5th and 6th innings to manufacture some offense. Adam Eaton and Leury Garcia were responsible for the two RBIs in this game. Elsewhere in the lineup, Moncada added a hit and two walks to raise his season slash line to .284/.407/.411.
Giolito was dominant, as previously mentioned, generating 17 swinging strikes over eight innings. The only two hits he allowed in the game were to Nelson Cruz. Liam Hendriks came on in relief of Giolito and retired the heart of the Twins’ order 1-2-3 on just nine pitches.
With the win, the White Sox pushed their record to 10 games over .500 once again.
W: Lucas Giolito (3-4) | L: Matt Shoemaker (2-5) | S: Liam Hendriks (9)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Lucas Giolito: 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 11 K, 17 Swinging Strikes
This was exactly the type of performance the White Sox needed from Giolito, who set the tone for the Sox on their way to winning today’s rubber match. He featured a much tighter slider and a much sharper changeup, which allowed him to succeed even without great fastball command.
Leury Garcia: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
Leury Garcia has slowly started turning his season around, adding two hits and another RBI to his season total. Garcia has now raised his average to .243 – him turning his season around would be a valuable asset to the team off the bench.
Adam Eaton: 1-for-4, 1B, RBI
Eaton didn’t have an incredibly productive day, but he added an RBI single when it counted the most. This hit put a run on the board for the White Sox, tying the game at 1 at the time.
Liam Hendriks: 1 IP, S, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
The Liam Hendriks we had been expecting showed up today, as he featured a slider that was absolutely filthy and moved away from the fastball-heavy approach we had seen a lot from him this year.
Matchup of the Game
For a team that was just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, every at-bat mattered. With Leury Garcia leading off the fifth inning with a double, Danny Mendick proceeded to bunt him over to third. After a groundout from Tim Anderson, Adam Eaton came up and just beat out an infield single to tie the game at one. Credit to Eaton for picking up his teammates and putting a run on the board.
Player of the Game
The Player of the Game honors go to Lucas Giolito, who stepped up when the team needed him. With the offense struggling to get anything going, Giolito made one bad pitch in eight innings en route to today’s victory – showing once again why he is in fact the ace of this staff.
Next Game
After taking 10 of 13 from their division rivals over the past couple of weeks, the White Sox will face a tough battle as they travel to New York to take on the Yankees. Carlos Rodon is scheduled to start Friday night’s game after Thursday’s off day. Friday’s start for the Yankees is still TBD.
