Rough start, but fine finish
Giolito gives up three early; three in 8th secure Sox victory
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — All said and done, it wasn’t a win for Lucas Giolito.
It looked like a messy outing at that for a good portion of the righthander’s six innings in the White Sox’ 4- 3 come- from- behind victory against the Royals on a chilly Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.
The Sox’ best pitcher down the stretch last year and their best in spring training, Giolito walked four Royals, hit another, couldn’t command his curve, threw a two- seam fastball behind Cheslor Cuthbert and uncorked a wild pitch. Fortynine of his 89 pitches were for strikes. Not exactly a clean slate. But say this for Giolito: He gathered himself after allowing two runs in the first and one in the third to string three scoreless innings, exiting the game trailing 3- 1 and getting credit for a quality start with only one strikeout.
And say this for the Sox: They’re 2- 0 after rallying with three runs in the eighth against right- hander Brandon Maurer on Yoan Moncada’s leadoff homer and catcher Welington Castillo’s two- run triple to the right- field warning track on a 3- 0 pitch.
“He’s going to get a good pitch to hit, and he took a good swing at it,’’ manager Rick Renteria said, explaining the green light. “He’s going to key- hole, looking for a pitch in one area.’’
“He gave it to me, and I guessed right,’’ Castillo said.
Danny Farquhar ( 1- 0) pitched a scoreless seventh, Nate Jones a scoreless eighth — working through the 3- 4- 5- 6 batters in the Royals’ lineup with a closer- type fastball and slider and recording two strikeouts — and Joakim Soria gave up a leadoff single and walk but pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save since he pitched for the Royals in 2016.
Giolito was out of sorts, flying open in his delivery and falling off to his left.
“He was side- to- side and not downhill,’’ Castillo said.
“Just out of sync from the getgo,’’ Giolito said. “I walked a runner in and took a really long time to make adjustments. A lot of nega- tives, but the positive was pitching through six despite pretty much working with just the fastball and a few changeups mixed in. It was just a grinder game.’’
While just the first of what he hopes to be 30 starts in 2018 — Giolito’s goal is to pitch 200 innings this season — this was a fairly big moment for the 23- year- old, 6- 6 hurler after making his first Opening Day roster as the No. 2 starter in the Sox’ rotation.
Renteria liked that Giolito “kept his composure” through this rocky beginning to 2018 and found a way to navigate his way through six innings.
“For him, this was a learning experience: to grind,’’ Renteria said.
It was the 12th start of Giolito’s career, and his eighth as a Sox pitcher after going 3- 3 with a 2.38 ERA last season. He came into the game oozing confidence after that seven- start showing and pitching like the Sox’ best starter in spring training, posting a 2.04 ERA.
Looking to get off to a 2- 0 start before expected snow flies Sunday, the Sox patiently worked righthander Ian Kennedy through 36 pitches in the first and took a 1- 0 lead on Matt Davidson’s single to right for his sixth RBI after his five- RBI, three- homer game in the opener. But Kennedy got Nicky Delmonico on a pop- up and struck out Castillo with runners at the corners to limit the damage to one run, then pitched five scoreless innings to mimic a bad start, good finish, much like the Sox’ James Shields in the opener.
The Sox trailed in that one, too, by a 4- 0 count in the first. So they’re 2- for- 2 in come- frombehind wins.
“They’re 2- 0,’’ Renteria said, pointing to the clubhouse, wanting no credit. “It’s pretty cool.’’