Giolito hits another wall as Yankees sweep Chicago White Sox

Just when it looked like Lucas Giolito was turning the corner, he hit another wall.

Heading into Wednesday night's start against the New York Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field, Giolito still had the highest ERA (5.97) in the major leagues.

The Chicago White Sox's right-hander was encouraged by his last 5 starts (2-1, 3.19 ERA) and hoped to continue rolling in the same direction.

"I can't go back and change some of my poor outings earlier this year," Giolito said. "All I can do is learn from those and try to give it my best these last 10 starts, or whatever I might have. At the end of the year, my baseball card stats are a little messed up from the early part of the season.

"But it's all in the past. All I can do is control what I do each day to improve and hopefully do a really good job in my starts."

Facing one of the better offensive teams in baseball Wednesday, Giolito's ERA took another hit.

In the White Sox's 7-3 loss to the Yankees, who completed a three-game sweep, Giolito gave up 7 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings.

Jose Abreu's RBI double and Daniel Palka's run-scoring single put the Sox in front in the first inning, but New York put up 6 runs on Giolito in the second. Giancarlo Stanton provided the big blow with a grand slam.

Lopez steps up:

Like Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez is another Sox starter going through ups and downs in his first full big-league season.

Starting against the Yankees on Tuesday night, Lopez pitched 7 innings and allowed 1 run on 4 hits to go with 6 strikeouts.

Lopez had a no-hitter going until Aaron Hicks led off the sixth inning with a double.

"I think he was hitting 98 (mph) out of the chute, good angle, was attacking the strike zone, was executing," manager Rick Renteria said. "He did everything you ask of a guy that's going to be a top-end starter on a major-league club, on a championship team.

"Let's face it, we're facing a team that's competing over there for playoff position with some pretty good batsmen, and you had a young man out there who's continuing to evolve as a starting pitcher, and he did an excellent job."

Jimenez sighting:

After missing two games with flu-like symptoms, Eloy Jimenez was back in Class AAA Charlotte's lineup Wednesday night at Syracuse.

The White Sox's top prospect homered in the fourth inning before the game was suspended by rain.