Chicago White Sox: Lucas Giolito shines in big playoff win

The Chicago White Sox earned a huge playoff win with Lucas Giolito on the mound.

The Chicago White Sox won a big game this afternoon against the Oakland Athletics. They had big at-bats, good pitching, and everything in between to get the win. It was a great day to see this team get in a win in their first playoff game since 2008. They have a chance to eliminate the A’s on Wednesday now thanks to a great performance from Lucas Giolito. He was so great and had a perfect game going through most of the game.

He went seven innings pitched, had eight strikeouts, one walk, gave up two hits, and one earned run. It was a dominant way to start his postseason career. There was some worry that he would have first playoff game jitters but there was none of that. His offense gave him just enough of a cushion to get the win against a good team.

Adam Engel got things started with a solo home run to put the White Sox up 1-0. It allowed the White Sox to relax a little bit. Later, the MVP Jose Abreu hit a two-run home run to make it 3-0. Yasmani Grandal added some insurance with a solo shot later in the game. It was just enough offense to get the job done on the back of Lucas Giolito’s pitching.

Now, they have a chance to eliminate the A’s with Dallas Kuechel on the mound tomorrow. We don’t know if Eloy Jimenez will be back in the lineup or not but don’t count on it. What you can count on is some solid pitching for Keuchel. He has pitched well in the playoffs before and should be able to take care of the Athletics lineup enough to win the game.

It was clear that winning the first game with Giolito on the mound was necessary to have a chance in this series because of the fact that Keuchel will be on the mound in game two. Well, step one is complete and now they need to take care of their business in game two. This is was exciting to watch and hopefully there is more to come.