TORONTO — In the first inning on Sunday, right-hander Lucas Giolito started to look like his old self. He allowed three hits and a run and had only one out.
In the past, Giolito had a tendency to let innings spiral out of control. However, that wasn’t the case in the White Sox’ 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
Rather than stressing about the two men on base, Giolito took a second to regroup. He focused on his breathing and locked in.
It worked.
Giolito retired the next two batters. And for the following six innings, Giolito allowed only one hit.
“[It was] the most important factor,” said Giolito, who walked one batter and tied his season high with eight strike outs. “Last year, that’s one of those innings that would’ve gotten away from me, give up three runs, put myself in a hole at the beginning of the game. Now when I have runners on base [and] I have zero outs, it’s all about coming back to my breathe, resetting everything and having the trust that I’m going to be executing that pitch and doing it over and over and over again until I’m out of that inning.”
Since Giolito returned from the injured list (hamstring) earlier this month, he’s been dominant. He’s 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA and 23 strikeouts in three starts.
Asked if this is the most commanding he’s seen Giolito, manager Rick Renteria said: “It’s close to it.”
Renteria gave credit to Giolito for not getting rattled by the rough start.
“Those are some of the things that experience time and trust start to allow you to be able to work through allow moments to take a hold of you and shake you,” Renteria said. “He kept his composure and he did a really nice job, he’s maturing. This young man has done a lot to put himself in a better place and it’s noticeable.”
Injury updates
Outfielders Nicky Delmonico and Leury Garcia suffered injuries in the Sox-Jays series.
Delmonico is day-to-day with left shoulder soreness.
Renteria said his decision to remove Delmonico from Sunday’s lineup was made out of the “abundance of caution.” The injury happened in the fourth inning of Saturday’s win when Delmonico tried making a diving catch, Renteria said.
Meanwhile, Garcia left Sunday’s game with lower-back stiffness. While catching a fly ball in the third inning, Garcia ran backwards into an unpadded part of the center field wall. After the collision, Garcia laid face down on the warning track and appeared to have been in a lot of pain.
Garcia stayed in the game for the rest of the inning, but was replaced by Jose Rondon for his next at-bat. Charlie Tilson took over center field, while Rondon commanded the left field.
After the game, Renteria said Garcia got the wind knocked out of him. He’s day-to-day.
Pink out
The Sox paid homage to mothers everywhere on Sunday by adding a splash of color to their black, grey and white uniforms.
The Sox joined Major League Baseball in wearing pink-accented hats, socks and gloves among other items for Mother’s Day. The gear will be available for purchase with proceeds going to MLB charities, including Susan G. Komen and Stand Up To Cancer.
