After a brutal loss on Monday night, Lucas Giolito guided the White Sox bounce back on Tuesday.
Pitching for his next contract, Giolito appeared to be in peak form this evening in Kansas City, throwing six strong innings while giving up just two runs and striking out nine hitters. Giolito’s worst inning came in his last one, though he would work around a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth to preserve a one-run lead for the White Sox at that point. Giolito had his best velocity of the season as well across all six innings, a very positive sign for the right-hander. Giolito was followed by scoreless innings by Joe Kelly, Reynaldo Lopez, and Kendall Graveman – it’s funny how good the pitching coach looks when the plan comes together!
The offense supplied just enough support for Giolito tonight, most of it coming in the form of home runs from Luis Robert Jr. (solo) and Andrew Vaughn (two-run). Seby Zavala added an RBI single in the seventh that would prove to be a crucial insurance run, but overall, it wasn’t the strongest night for an offense that allowed Jordan Lyles to throw all nine innings against them.
But, all is well that ends well; this certainly was a clean, good win for the South Siders.
With the victory, the White Sox improve to 13-24.
W: Lucas Giolito (2-2) | L: Jordan Lyles (0-6) | S: Kendall Graveman (1)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap:
- Top 4th: Luis Robert Jr. homers (8) to left field. 1-1 Tie.
- Top 6th: Andrew Vaughn homers (4) to left field. Lenyn Sosa scores. 3-1 White Sox.
- Top 7th: Seby Zavala singles to left field. Hanser Alberto scores. 4-2 White Sox.
Notable Performances
Lucas Giolito: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
Giolito’s average fastball tonight sat at 94.3 mph – 1.5 mph higher than his season average. This is among the most encouraging notes from a night in which Giolito posted a 33% CSW%.
Reynaldo Lopez, Kendall Graveman, Joe Kelly: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
The oft-criticized bullpen got the job done tonight.
Other Game Highlights
Next Matchup
The White Sox and Royals will play the third game of this four-game series tomorrow evening at 6:40 PM CT. Lance Lynn will look to right the ship against Brad Keller.
Follow us @SoxOn35th for more throughout the season!
Featured Image: Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
