Hope you’re not a fan of defense.
Touted as the Battle of Harvard-Westlake High, Lucas Giolito vs. Jack Flaherty didn’t pan out quite as expected with the Cardinals’ defense floundering to the tune of three crucial errors. The White Sox put this game somewhat out of reach early, scoring runs via groundout, error, single, bases-loaded walk and wild pitch; all of which came in the first two innings.
Giolito would settle down following slight command and defensive issues in the third to log six innings of two-run (one earned) ball. Solid pitching from Giolito, Evan Marshall, and Liam Hendriks combined with a Jose Abreu bomb that might still be in orbit saw the Sox cruise (maybe cruise isn’t the word, considering the ninth inning) to a 8-3 victory over the Cardinals.
The win moves the good guys’ record to 28-19.
W: Lucas Giolito (4-4) | L: Jack Flaherty (8-1) | SV: Liam Hendriks (10)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Jose Abreu: 2-for-5, HR, 4 RBI, 1 R
For the second time in three days Pito left the building, and this one was an absolute moonshot. He sent a first-pitch Jack Flaherty breaking ball 420 feet (nice) into the left field seats. After missing three games with an ankle injury, it’s nice to see Jose waste no time getting right back into the swing of things. More on No. 79 in a bit.
Lucas Giolito: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 14 Swinging Strikes
By no means was this Giolito’s best outing of the year, but he did a great job hunkering down and pitching well during one of the more anticipated pitching matchups of the year. Using a pretty even mix of 4-seam fastball (38%), changeup (38%) and slider (24%), the White Sox ace relied heavily on the latter as an out pitch and it was working wonderfully tonight. The slider generated eight swing-and-misses over the 22 times he turned to it.
Nick Madrigal: 3-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R
Nicky Two Strikes! Still only May, tonight was Nick Madrigal’s fourth game with 3+ hits on the year. A wizard with two strikes, his talent was on display in the second inning where, after failing to get a bunt down, the second baseman took a tough, two-strike inside pitch into center field for an RBI-single.
Liam Hendriks: 1 IP, 3 K
Hendriks slammed the door tonight. Heading into the ninth with a five-run lead, Tony La Russa turned to young Garrett Crochet who quickly surrendered a double and two walks. Enter Hendriks who proceeded to strike out three-straight Cardinals, highlighted by a dotted, low-and-in fastball to conclude a long battle with Tommy Edman.
Getting out of a bases-loaded, nobody out jam? Remind you of anyone? Eh?
Matchup of the Game
Let’s go with the St. Louis Cardinals vs. a baseball glove. If not for some out-of-this world bad defense early on by St. Louis, you’re probably looking at a much different baseball game. Edmundo Sosa started things off by botching a routine ground ball at shortstop, Tommy Edman dropped…a fly ball…and even platinum gloved Nolan Arenado earned one himself in the second inning on a ground ball.
Long story short, thank you to the Cardinals.
Player of the Game
A close one between Lucas Giolito and Jose Abreu, but we’ll lean toward the captain for his fourth inning bomb that gave the White Sox a comfortable five-run lead. If you want to know just how much wind it took out of the Cardinals’ sails, go back and take a look at Jack Flaherty’s body language. He knew, you knew, and all of the best fans in baseball knew too.
Looking Ahead
Searching for a sweep of their own, the White Sox will play some day baseball tomorrow as Carlos Rodon takes his sparkling 1.27 ERA to the hill against the Cardinals’ John Gant. First pitch is at 1:10 PM CT and is viewable on NBC Sports Chicago.
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