From the Locker Room: Lucas Giolito's no-hitter
On a balmy night on the South Side, Lucas Giolito became a White Sox legend.
"I knew it was working after the first inning, and then it kept building," an elated Giolito said postgame. "After the sixth, I started to notice what was going on, and after the seventh I said, 'We’re going to make this happen.'"
Not many pitchers can say they've thrown a no-hitter, at any level. But Giolito never doubted himself.
"It’s crazy, man," he smiled. "The weird thing is I always envisioned I’d thrown a no-hitter in the bigs. If you asked in 2018, I’d say 'What the hell are you talking about?' The stars kind of have to align...I knew it was possible. I'm glad we were able to get it done."
With a new pregame routine that involves really building lather in the bullpen and treating warmups almost as a first inning, Giolito was in fifth gear from the start on Tuesday.
"It felt like a typical outing," Giolito said. "I was letting [catcher James McCann] do all the thinking. I’m paying attention, seeing what [Pittsburgh hitters] are doing. [Me and McCann] were really in sync. I had the grip ready to go as he was putting the signs down.
"I can’t say enough good things about him. He was such a big part of what happened tonight."
Giolito may have been nonplussed for much of the game, but did he notice anything different?
"I did notice guys weren’t really interacting with me too much," he said, smiling.
"And they turned up the crowd noise, I noticed that. That was fun," Giolito said, laughing. "It would have been great to pull that off with fans in the stands. I’m sure a lot of White Sox fans were happy and excited watching on TV. Hopefully, next year we can have more cool games."
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Video courtesy of the Chicago White Sox.