DODGERS 4, SOX 3
‘Out of sync’
Opening Day starter Lucas Giolito allowed a solo home run to Will Smith, two runs and three hits, and he needed 65 pitches to get through an uneven 3⅔ innings Wednesday. But he struck out six despite never finding a rhythm in his fourth start.
“Ideally, I would like to have 1-2-3 innings where I’m striking everyone out, but that’s not baseball, so I welcome the challenge,” Giolito said. “Fastball command needs to be better. It was one of those days where I was a little out of sync, hard to find a rhythm. I made good pitches, but a couple of mistakes got me.”
With two starts left before the opener against the Angels on April 1, Giolito has racked up 17 strikeouts in 12⅔ Cactus League innings.
Pen really is mighty
The key components of the bullpen were sharp. Closer Liam Hendriks pitched a perfect inning, left-hander Aaron Bummer struck out all three batters he faced and Evan Marshall retired the one batter he faced, finishing Giolito’s fourth inning. Marshall has allowed one hit, no walks and no runs in five appearances.
‘We know we’re good’
The Sox are a confident bunch. “We’re just really, really good, and we know we are,” Giolito said. “Our rotation, we’re super-nasty. The bullpen, best in the league. The expectations are high from outside sources, but also internally. And we own that. We just know we have to stay focused, take it game to game.”
Streaking
Yoan Moncada, batting fourth again, walked and was grazed by a pitch, extending his on-base streak to 10 games.
On deck
Royals at Sox, 3:05 p.m. Thursday, Glendale, MLB.com, 1000-AM, Austin Cox vs. Dallas Keuchel. Catcher Yasmani Grandal, working his way back from right knee inflammation, makes his first start behind the plate.
—Daryl Van Schouwen