2020 OOTP sim: Giolito's gem
CHICAGO — When the White Sox faced off against the Rockies last month in Denver, the Rockies were suffering a miserable 6-21 start to the season, the worst in baseball.
After sweeping Chicago in the miniseries, the Rockies have won their next 12 of 16 to nearly catch the White Sox (22-25) in the standings, at 20-25.
But Lucas Giolito derailed the Rockies Express on Tuesday, pitching seven stellar innings en route to a 2-1 win. It was Giolito's first victory of the year (four starts), giving up just one run on three hits and two walks, against 10 Ks, for a 75 game score.
And Giolito was backed up by a strong effort from Evan Marshall, earning his second save thanks to two scoreless, one-hit innings. Marshall's season ERA stands at 1.11, Giolito's at 2.10.
The Chicago offense wasn't much to write home about, but it was enough. Down 1-0 in the second, Yasmani Grandal reached on an error by Daniel Murphy at first base and came home when Yasiel Puig doubled.
Two innings later, Edwin Encarnación continued terrorizing pitchers, with a leadoff home run on a 1-2 pitch from Jonathan Gray. Despite missing three weeks with a broken rib, Encarnación has seven homers and 21 RBIs on the season, the short-list offensive MVP so far along with Yoán Moncada and Leury García.
The White Sox will attempt the mini-sweep when they send Gio González to the bump to face beleaguered Colorado starter Wei-Yin Chen. Ashley Sanders will have the game recap for you.
Actor (final credit: murdered by Albert Einstein in "Carnage Hall"), musician (Ethnocentric Republicans), and Nerf hoops champion, Wiffleball aficionado and onetime bilingual kindergarten teacher, Brett Ballantini also writes about baseball, basketball and sometimes hockey, for the NBA, MLB, NHL, and Slam, Hoop, Sporting News, the Athletic, SB Nation and others. He was CSN Chicago’s Blackhawks beat writer when their 49-year Stanley Cup drought ended in 2009-10, and took over the White Sox beat after that. He currently is the editor-in-chief of South Side Hit Pen and beat writer for Inside the Rays. He also wrote a book about Ozzie Guillén but is running out of space, so follow him on Twitter @BrettBallantini and he'll probably tell you even more about himself than you ever wanted to know.
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