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Giolito sharp for White Sox while claiming first major-league win

Lucas Giolito left plenty of room for improvement in his first start for the Chicago White Sox.

But after allowing 4 runs on 6 hits (3 home runs) in 6 innings during a loss to the Twins in Game 2 of a doubleheader last Monday, Giolito was not lacking confidence.

"I feel like I belong," he said. "I feel like my stuff plays."

Giolito also expressed some relief about getting "that first one out of the way," and quickly set his sights on his second start for the Sox.

It came on Sunday, and Giolito showed why he was rated as one of baseball's top pitching prospects the last five seasons.

"He was able to throw all his pitches in any count," said Kevan Smith, who caught Giolito in the White Sox's 7-1 win over the Detroit Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field. "He was able to throw his off-speed when he was behind. That's what had these hitters off balance. It was a fun game to call."

In his debut with the Sox, Giolito held his own against Minnesota but was only comfortable throwing fastballs.

He had his touted curveball working against the Tigers and also was effective throwing changeups and sliders.

While earning his first major-league win, Giolito scattered 3 hits over 7 scoreless innings. The 23-year-old righty also issued 3 walks and had 4 strikeouts.

"We did a good job of filling up the strike zone with, honestly, all four of my pitches," Giolito said. "For the most part, I was throwing the slider pretty well. It was actually a pretty good swing and miss pitch at times.

"It was one of those days where I was able to get all four of my pitches working for a strike and then being able to throw that good one down when I needed it. It all worked together."

From the opposing dugout, Detroit manager Brad Ausmus was impressed with the 6-foot-6 Giolito.

"He wasn't one of these young pitchers that comes up throwing 95 to 97 mph," Ausmus said. "He pitched. He hit 92, 93, but he pitched. He used four pitches and he threw them for strikes. He used changeups, even against right-handed hitters. He did a nice job. He's a little bit different because he's real tall. He has a down angle that's tough on hitters."

Giolito was in big trouble in the seventh inning, when the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs.

After a visit from manager Rick Renteria, Giolito stayed in the game.

"I asked him how he felt," Renteria said. "He said he felt good and he was ready to go. It was very easy, honestly, for me to leave him in there and try to get that final out for himself. And it was an opportunity for him to learn a little bit more about himself."

Jose Iglesias came to the plate for Detroit and appeared to hit a grand slam off Giolito, but the flyball was correctly ruled foul after the umpires huddled for a discussion.

Giolito wound up getting Iglesias to ground out, capping his eye-opening outing.

"I really appreciate that I got that opportunity to finish that inning right there," Giolito said. "Luckily, we were able to get the groundball and get out of it. It's good. I felt confident."

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