MLB: The Show Players League — Giolito ends the night with a 4-0 record
Lucas Giolito was back in action last night on his Twitch channel for the MLB: The Show Players League, and he was accompanied once again by White Sox play-by-play announcer, Jason Benetti. Giolito had hoped to warm up for 10 minutes before the night's games, but he was only able to scroll through all the menus before his first game. Besides, who needs to warm up when you're feeling pretty good? For Lucas, that mantra fared pretty well.
Game 16: Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago White Sox
To open the night against Gavin Lux and the virtual Dodgers, Lucas Giolito started Dallas Keuchel and went with the black-top jerseys, a notable club favorite. Lux was fourth in the league at the open of Tuesday's play, so Lucas had to start strong.
Lux opened the game with back-to-back singles, but three straight outs from Giolito and virtual Keuchel kept Lux off the board. However, Lux fired back with a 1-2-3 inning.
Luis Robert, somehow in some way, misplayed a ball in center field. An out and a double later, Lux was up 1-0, but that was all the damage done in the top of the second, as Jimmy Cordero secured the third out. For the bottom of the frame, Eloy Jiménez went deep to left field to tie the game, 1-1. One out later, Lux misplayed a ball in his center field, so Nomar Mazara reached third base, and Robert doubled him home. Before the inning was over, Leury García got in on the action, as he doubled home a run to put the Sox up, 3-1.
Tim Anderson was hit by a pitch, and Lucas Giolito was fired up! "Is there a charge-the-mound button? I'll charge the mound."
Giolito channeled that anger, because by the time the inning was over, the White Sox had a 4-1 lead.
Aaron Bummer was brought in for the save, and he snagged it. Giolito improved to 1-0 on the night, 10-5 overall, and 4-3 at home. In regards to his brief five-minute, scrolling warm up, "Who needs a warmup when you come ready to play!?"
Game 17: Baltimore Orioles at Chicago White Sox
Dwight Smith Jr. and the virtual Orioles were the next tough task of the night, as Smith was fifth in the league to start the night. Once again, Lucas went with the alternate, black-top jerseys, and he started himself against the righthander-heavy lineup.
Giolito and virtual Giolito opened the game with a 1-2-3 inning; as for the bottom of the opening frame, Yoán Moncada went deep to center field, but the ball bounced off the center fielder's face to bring the home-run ball back into the game. We need the video of that, please ... crazy happenings! Regardless, Moncada reached second base and eventually found his way home to give the Sox an early 1-0 lead.
Bummer went into the game after one out in the second, and he locked it down. Giolito was looking for some insurance runs in the bottom half, and Yasmani Grandal opened up with a double to get the offense going. Robert brought Grandal home, but Luis was thrown out on another baserunning error, which has been Lucas's Achilles heel during the tournament.
Up 2-0 in the third, Cordero was brought in for the save, as we all know by now how the game does not like Alex Colomé as a closer. The stream heavily lagged, so we were not able to see Smith Jr. put up a run to make it 2-1, but Lucas was able to earn the win. He improved to 11-5 overall, 5-3 at home, and 2-0 on the night.
Game 18: Philadelphia Phillies at Chicago White Sox
Giolito's next opponent was Rhys Hoskins and the virtual Phillies, and the stream was up and running like normal again. Once again, Giolito rocked the black-top jerseys, and he gave Carlos Rodón the start.
Los struck out Bryce Harper, and he induced a fly out and another strikeout to establish a scoreless top of the first. The bottom of the first came, and it stayed for a while! TA7 singled, YoYo walked, and JoséAbreu singled to load the bases with zero outs. Eloy struck out, but Grandal hit a grand slam to open up the game's scoring. You love to see it!
Up 4-0, the offense kept on producing. Mazara doubled, Robert tripled, and Leury singled; the Sox were up 6-0 by the time the first inning ended.
Carlos grabbed the first two outs of the second inning, and Steve Cishek grabbed the last out of the frame. Rhy and the virtual Phillies pitched a scoreless inning to follow suit.
Cishek stayed in the game to secure the final three outs, and he got the job done. Giolito improved to 3-0 on the night, 12-5 overall, and 6-3 at home. He just had one more game to play to wrap up the perfect night.
Game 11 (Postponed): Boston Red Sox at Chicago White Sox
Eduardo Rodríguez and the virtual Red Sox were not online for the originally scheduled game on April 18, and he was not online again last night, which was supposed to be the make-up game from a few nights ago. Lucas and Benetti were incredibly bummed out that Eduardo did not show up. Lucas really wanted to earn the fourth win of the night and go perfect, but not via forfeit or an unplayed game. Rumor has it that Eduardo has quit the Players League, and according to the MLB website tracking the tournament, Lucas was awarded the forfeit win. Lucas improved to 13-5 to wrap up the night, 7-3 at home, and ended with a perfect 4-0 night!
Afterthoughts
Tonight's stream was full of energy, passion, and a whole lot of fun. The chat was pumping up Lucas with good vibes, Benetti brings his own energy, and Giolito was on a roll! He took on two of the best players in the tournament, and he earned two big wins! Giolito's third game was simply a celebratory breakout from the prior two games, and it was fire.
Giolito streams at twitch.tv/GeneralGio, and as always, all money made from his Twitch channel goes back to The Orphan Kitten Project. He will reach your computer screens again on Thursday, April 23 at 8 p.m. CT. He will square off against Ty Buttrey and the virtual Los Angeles Angels, Jesús Luzardo and the virtual Oakland Athletics, former Sox prospect Fernando Tatís Jr. and the virtual San Diego Padres, and Trevor May and the virtual Minnesota Twins to round out the night.
Lucas is currently riding a six-game win streak (including the forfeited "W"), and he is tied with Joey Gallo with the best batting average of the MLB: The Show Players League at .456. Giolito even sits in fifth place in the overall standings!
Lucas has 11 games left in the regular season of the tournament. In order to make the playoffs, he has to be one of the eight top teams in the whole league. If there is a tie for eighth, most runs scored is the first tiebreaker. If still tied, the fewest runs allowed will be the next tiebreaker, and after that, a coin toss will determine the eighth team in the playoffs. The first two rounds will be played as best-of-three standards, and the championship will be a best-of-five series.
Lucas is looking to secure a top-three spot in the standings, and we'll continue to watch his rise to the top. Once Thursday comes, I will live-tweet the game, host another discussion right here on Sports Illustrated, and I will have the recap ready to roll once it is over!