Chicago White Sox: Giolito dominates against an elite offense
The Chicago White Sox took the series against the Minnesota Twins who lead the division and have a powerhouse offense that can be tough to beat.
The Chicago White Sox won their Wednesday afternoon game against the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins. The Twins are an offensively gifted team that can beat you using lots of power and make it really hard for pitchers to shut them down. It takes a good mix of pitches to shut down an offense like that, and they got just that from Lucas Giolito in this game.
They came into this rubber match with a 1-1 series split and the Giolito vs Jake Odorizzi matchup was very compelling and could go either way. Odorizzi has dominated the White Sox this year so when the White Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Giolito even threw a pitch, you knew things might be okay.
That was exactly the case as Giolito went out there and had one of the best outings of his career against a dominant offense. He earned the complete-game shutout victory. He had 12 strikeouts, only three hits allowed and no walks. It was a true ace performance from a guy that has taken tremendous strides. He was a top pitching prospect in all of baseball for a reason, and he is showing exactly why now. He struggled mightily early in his career, but has figured it out and improves to 14-6 on the season.
The bulk of the White Sox offense came from their top three lineup spots in this game. Leury Garcia, Tim Anderson, and Jose Abreu all had multiple-hit games and scored each of the four runs needed to get Giolito the win. The reason the White Sox don’t have a better record is because of the fact that the lower end of the lineup isn’t strong, but the top of the order is capable of winning some games offensively. When these guys are on their game, they have a chance to win.
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The White Sox are finally headed home as they are about to begin a four-game set with the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have struggled as of late but that doesn’t mean that the Sox can take them lightly. This is going to be a tough series that could potentially have some interesting pitching matchups.