Giolito overpowers Tigers, 6-1

The bats started clicking, and they started clicking early. In what can only be considered as a great performance all around, the Chicago White Sox bats did their part in helping Lucas Giolito defeat the Detroit Tigers 6-1, for both his third straight victory and quality start.

Giolito went seven innings and allowed only three hits. One of those hits came by way of a Mikie Mahtook solo home run, Giolito’s lone earned run of the evening. Giolito would also finish the game with six strikeouts to only a single walk, and show great control throughout the game, never really finding himself in any high leverage situations.

The same cannot be said for Detroit’s Ryan Carpenter, who would only last 4 ¹⁄₃ innings, giving up six earned runs by way of nine hits. Carpenter was coming off of his first career victory in his previous start, but the White Sox had his number, and they had it early.

The scoring for the White Sox kicked off early in the first, starting with a Tim Anderson leadoff walk. José Rondón came to the plate next and proceeded to double Anderson home, but was caught trying to stretch it into a triple.

The White Sox would add two more runs in the second inning, via this Kevan Smith two run homer.

You could argue that Smith’s homer was fated, as he hit it in his first at-bat while wearing Daniel Webb’s nickname on the back of his jersey (“Webby”). Daniel Webb died in an ATV accident, and Smith decided to don his nickname on his jersey in remembrance of him. Here is a great video of Kevan speaking about the jersey, and his friendship with Webb.

The Tigers would tack on one run in the bottom of the inning, by way of a Mahtook solo shot, but it would be the first and last run of the evening for Detroit.

Ricky’s Boys, on the other hand, weren’t quite done scoring yet, as the White Sox opened the game up even further in the third. After Daniel Palka got on base with a one-out single (which Jason Benetti described as a “Palk splash” rather than a “Palk smash”), Matt Davidson continued the scoring by doubling Palka home. Ryan LaMarre would add another run by getting Davidson home on a sac fly.

The final White Sox safety run came in the fifth inning, off of another Davidson RBI double.

As far as the Detroit Tigers offense, aside from the Mahtook home run, and José Iglesias finishing the night with three hits, there really is not much to talk about. After Giolito was removed after throwing seven innings of one-run baseball, bullpen newcomer Dylan Covey took over the game, and Don Cooper would not need to call for another pitcher for the rest of the evening.

Covey looked great in his second appearance since being moved to the bullpen. He allowed only one hit over two full innings, and looked in control the entire time.

Up next tomorrow, Michael Kopech takes the mound for his second career start, looking to secure the four-game series victory against Jordan Zimmermann, and as of now, there is only a slight chance of rain.