MLB: The Show Players League — Giolito was a circle button away from a perfect game!
After starting the MLB: The Show Players Tournament at 2-2, Lucas Giolito had a near-perfect night on Wednesday. He was even joined by White Sox play-by-play announcer, Jason Benetti! Although there was not a featured #SoxMath question, Benetti's commentary was still fantastic! In case you missed it, all streams can be re-watched at twitch.tv/GeneralGio!
Game 5: Chicago White Sox at Pittsburgh Pirates
After Lucas experienced a mega input delay from his PS4 controller to the video game, all was fixed in time for the first game of the night. Giolito began the night wearing the road alternate black jerseys, as his virtual White Sox team lined up to face Cole Tucker's virtual Pirates. Tim Anderson led off the inning with a double; two productive outs later, Tim scored and gave the Sox a quick 1-0 lead.
Giolito started Dallas Keuchel in the game, and Keuchel really strained his arm with a 4-pitch, three-out inning.
Keeping with the momentum, Giolito snagged two runs in the second, which included a Luis Robert RBI single. Up 3-0, the Giolito and virtual Keuchel pair went to work and pitched a 1-2-3 second inning.
As for the third inning, Lucas looked to grab an insurance run or two and happened to grab four! He went to the bottom of the third up 7-0, and he was looking to give Keuchel a complete game. Better yet, Dallas ended with a complete-game shutout! He squandered only three hits in his magnificent performance.
Giolito and the virtual Sox improved to 1-0 on the day, 3-0 on the road, and 3-2 overall!
Game 6: Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox
The Crosstown Cup game came a little early in this virtual tournament, but Giolito was looking forward to handing Happ is second loss of the Players League and secure the trophy on the right side of town.
Lucas started as Carlos Rodón, and the first two pitches of the game went for two outs. Virtual Carlos even caught the pop up on the third-base line, as the Sox were shifted toward the right side.
Unfortunately, Happ came ready to play and did not give up any runs in the first. Carlos pitched a 1-2-3 second inning, but Happ followed with a scoreless inning of his own.
Steve Cishek entered the game in the third, and he simply had a bad game. He gave up a solo home run, as well as another run later in the inning to give Happ a 2-0 lead. In these three-inning ballgames, Lucas was looking for two runs to tie and/or three runs to walk it off. Giolito was able to score a run, and he threatened to score more, but Happ and the virtual Cubs were able to lock it down and hand Gio his first loss on the night.
Lucas and the virtual White Sox could not reclaim the Crosstown Cup, as their overall record went to 3-3, 1-1 on the day, and 0-3 in home games.
Game 7: Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals
Ready to put the loss aside, Lucas came out swinging against Brett Phillips and the virtual Kansas City Royals. Phillips was able to grab two quick outs, but Giolito and the Good Guys mustered a four-run rally to go ahead 4-0 in the first! Lucas Giolito decided to pitch as himself for this game, and he secured a 1-2-3 inning to complete the frame.
The second inning saw Phillips pitch a 1-2-3, and Lucas followed with another 1-2-3 performance of his own.
Giolito, having flashbacks to his first game of the night, was looking for another insurance run or two, but he pulled away with three. He was up 7-0 and was looking to finish the game strong.
As anyone would if they were a video game athlete, Lucas kept himself in to go for the complete game. However, video-game Lucas gave up three quick runs, and terrible flashbacks of the one-out, 6-1 lead against Kansas City in 2016 started to strike the Twitch stream's viewers. Looking to avoid repeating history, Lucas pulled himself and put in Alex Colomé to seal the deal.
Although Lucas had his viewers' hearts pumping, he pulled off the victory, improving to 2-1 on the night, 4-3 overall, and 4-0 on the road. Who would have thought the virtual White Sox would be road warriors?
Game 8: Colorado Rockies at Chicago White Sox
Lucas, 0-3 at home, was looking to close out the night with a winning record and his first win just blocks away from the virtual Chicago skyline. David Dahl and the online Colorado Rockies were the only obstacles blocking Giolito's way.
Going with his workhorse of the MLB: The Show Players League, it was up to Dallas Keuchel to get this thing done. He was ready for the challenge, as virtual Keuchel and the real Lucas Giolito pitched a hitless and scoreless first inning. The offense went to work in the bottom of the first, as Giolito ripped his second home run of the tournament to center field. That three-run shot was sandwiched between two runs, so Lucas entered the second inning with a 5-0 lead.
As virtual Keuchel has been doing, he pitched a clean, hitless, and scoreless second inning, and that paved the way for the offense to explode. In the bottom of the second, Giolito scored seven (!) runs and was calling for the mercy rule, as he genuinely felt bad for Dahl and the Rockies.
Once Dahl was finally able to escape that inning more than a little scathed, Giolito was looking to close out his first home win, and he kept Keuchel in to do just that. Dallas Keuchel recorded three outs while surrendering zero hits! Dallas Keuchel had pitched a perfect game!! Or so we thought . . .
See, Dahl had one baserunner in the second inning. On a dropped third strike, Lucas hit the triangle button, which throws to second base, instead of the circle bottom that leads to first base. Although unfortunate, Keuchel still pitched a complete game; even more than a complete game, Keuchel pitched a no-hitter, and the Sox grabbed their first home victory!
Afterthoughts
Video-game Keuchel was easily the MVP of the night for Giolito. He went 2-0, with two complete-game shutouts, one of which was a no-hitter!
Giolito and the virtual White Sox improved to 3-1 on the night, and they are 5-3 overall, which ties Niko Goodrum for first place in the AL Central.
Giolito plays his next four games tonight on Friday, facing Goodrum's Detroit Tigers, Carl Edwards Jr.'s Seattle Mariners, Eduardo Rodríguez's Boston Red Sox, and former White Sox Tommy Kahnle of the New York Yankees to finish the night
If you wish to watch Lucas live, he streams on his GeneralGio Twitch channel, where you can watch him play other games as well. Additionally, all money made through Lucas's channel goes to charity: The Orphan Kitten Project. Tonght, Lucas will be on MLB Network's Twitch channel, as he will be their player of the night! Let's support Lucas, and look for the recap here on Sports Illustrated later tonight.