Lucas Giolito was sharp again tonight, picking up six innings of work before departing in a tough start to the seventh. Ross Detwiler, Jimmy Cordero, Codi Heuer, and Alex Colome finished the job behind Giolito, and Jose Abreu and Yasmani Grandal paced the offense to a 5-3 victory. With the win, the Sox improve to 8-1 on the season against Kansas City and look for the series sweep tomorrow afternoon.
W: Lucas Giolito (4-2) | L: Kris Bubic (0-5) | S: Alex Colome (9)
Notable Performance
Lucas Giolito: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 1 HR
Giolito was solid once again tonight through six innings. He allowed two hits to lead off the seventh, both of which came around to score by the end of the inning. Giolito racked up 24 swinging strikes this evening, once again impressing as the ace of the staff
Yasmani Grandal: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
Grandal has continued to mash in the middle of this lineup while putting together a lot of quality at-bats for the club. He continued this trend this evening, blasting a 438-foot shot to give the White Sox a 5-1 lead at the time, which would be the necessary insurance on the day.
Codi Heuer: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
‘Codi Heuer continues to impress out of the bullpen. With all relievers getting more innings than Ricky Renteria would probably like, guys like Heuer are going to get the chance to step up in high leverage situations. Look for Heuer to continue to make an impact late in games with Aaron Bummer still on the shelf.
Jose Abreu: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
I had to move Jose Abreu here after the Luis Robert catch a couple of minutes ago, but Abreu deserved to stay in the recap in some form. His first inning homer extended his hitting streak to 19 games and gave him 40 RBIs in his MVP-like season to date.
Moment of the Game
For 24 outs, Jose Abreu had the moment of the game with his first inning homer. Then, the ninth inning came, and Luis Robert made what was likely a game-saving catch. Sorry Jose.
Player of the Game
Player of the Game honors go to Giolito for me. The White Sox needed a good quality outing from a starting pitcher to help a taxed bullpen squad. By going six strong, Giolito did exactly that, and with Keuchel starting tomorrow, the bullpen might get some extended rest heading into the week ahead.
Looking Ahead: Get Your Brooms Out!
The White Sox will look to sweep the Royals tomorrow afternoon while improving to 9-1 against Kansas City on the season. Dallas Keuchel will take the bump opposite Matt Harvey. Brad Keller was originally scheduled as the starter for the Royals, but his outing was pushed back a day.
Game starts at 1:10 CT on NBC Sports Chicago. Get the brooms out.
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