For the 19th time in franchise history, a Chicago White Sox pitcher has thrown a no-hitter. This time it was the staff ace, Lucas Giolito, who beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0. It’s the first unsuccessful career for Giolito. Here you will find everything you need to know about the first no-no of the season.
The story behind it
This is the White Sox’s first no-no since Philip Humber threw a perfect game in Seattle on April 21, 2012. Overall, this is the 304th no-hitter in MLB history. It’s the first time in the 2020 season, even if there are no combined no-hitters. The last no-hitter was delivered by Astros ace Justin Verlander on September 1, 2019. There were four no-hitters last season.
Giolitos pure dominance in the absence of bats and weak contact
Giolito went one and prevented him from playing the much elusive perfect game. Not only was he dominant in preventing hits, he missed bats all night. He finished with 13 strikeouts while getting six groundball outs and five flyball outs. He got 30 swing and miss hits. There was only one hard hit ball, a Josh Bell lineout, that came in at 106.6 mph until the last stroke of the game, so there was some degree of luck. The final was also hit well, but on the right field player Adam Engel. Otherwise there was a lack of bats and gentle contact and that’s all Giolito took over the game. Here is the finale:
Speaking of the finals
Hello boy, that was close. If you watch Giolito’s reaction, you can tell he was concerned that he lost the no-hitter with two outs in ninth place. He didn’t thank the positioning and direction of the ball as it was definitely hit well enough to be a hit. Baseball Savant uses exit speed and starting angle to determine how often a ball is hit. The expected average on a line drive at this speed and altitude? .850. To find out more about that final game, here’s a good breakdown by Dayn Perry.
Good characters from Giolito with one caveat
Giolito, a 2019 All-Star, had an inconsistent and somewhat worrying start to the season, but he’s now had two consecutive dominant starts. Last time he only allowed three hits and a walk in seven scoreless innings while beating 13 and now the no-hitter. Of course, those starts came respectfully against the Tigers and Pirates, but they managed to regain his confidence in the right way and put him in the dominant territory he was in the first half of last season. His next start is against the Royals, so he’ll likely keep the good groove going.
Giolito’s career turns around
In 2018, Giolito posted an ERA of 6.13, which was the worst of the majors among qualified starters. He led the league on walks in earned runs, while wild pitches and batsmen were also a problem.
On the way to the next off-season, Giolito made some adjustments. He stopped throwing his sinker and instead concentrated on pounding fastballs four seams high into the zone. That was seen in a big way during this excursion. He’s also changed his position on the hill and it helped him get a grip on his control. Again, this was fully displayed during this game. He very rarely missed his seats until late when adrenaline probably took over.
Burning White Sox
The White Sox as a team are doing just as well now. They have won eight of their last nine, the only loss being recorded in a one-off game in which Yu Darvish – who dominates them all – was the opposing starter. They are now sitting right in the middle of their season between 18 and 12 and looking like a strong playoff team. You still have 14 games against the Tigers, Royals and Pirates. If they continue like this, they could even win the visiting team for a three-game series in the first round, and it is possible to become the home team for the divisional round too. You are tough.
The pirates aren’t
Sure, it doesn’t take away from Giolito at all to say this as he still has 27 outs without giving up a hit against a big league team. The Pirates haven’t been a hit all season so it’s a huge feat. Let’s just say separately from the incredible performance, the Pirates are now 7-18 in the season. You are now hitting .221 in the season.
