Chicago White Sox: Win on Tuesday but it cost them something big

Lucas Giolito left his start early against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday with an apparent injury. The Chicago White Sox cannot catch a break. Just when the team was beginning to return to full strength, the injury bug returned. First, it bit Tim Anderson, then it got Lance Lynn, and now Lucas Giolito.

Lucas Giolito fell victim to his own changeup. After throwing a great pitch that induced weak contact off the end of Ben Gamel’s bat, Giolito raced in to field the ball and slipped. Tony La Russa, Ethan Katz, and head trainer James Kruk went to check on their tall right-hander. He indicated that he wanted to shake it off and stay in the game but after a wild pitch that brought a run home Katz came out to visit Giolito again.

When Katz returned to the dugout, Giolito proceeded to throw two more balls that missed badly. This caught the concerned eye of the coaching staff who came out to visit Giolito a final time. He threw one final warmup toss before handing the ball to Tony La Russa and walking off the field with Katz and Kruk. He was replaced by Ryan Tepera.

The former All-Star ended the night with 4.1 innings pitched, earned two runs on three hits, four walks, and five strikeouts. The White Sox announced on Twitter that Giolito left the game with left hamstring tightness and that he would be reevaluated the following day. Initially, Giolito didn’t think there was anything wrong after slipping:

“The slip was awkward, but I didn’t feel anything,” Giolito told reporters after the game. “I didn’t feel any sort of injury or anything like that on that play. And then I threw one pitch fine and then the next pitch after was when I felt that little tug there.”

The Chicago White Sox lost Lucas Giolito on Tuesday night and are hoping he’s okay.

Giolito has been pitching well recently so the injury is an unfortunate setback. The White Sox hope it is nothing serious and he will be ready for the playoffs. What is concerning is that Giolito dealt with a hamstring injury in 2019 that kept him out for two weeks and he noted that this felt similar.

However, he did note that the pain “wasn’t as intense” which is why he wanted to stay in the game. The bullpen was able to pick Giolito up and the White Sox went onto win the game 4-2. As for Giolito, we will just have to wait and see what happens.