Giolito starts strong, but Sox let opener slip away in Anaheim
Good teams handle the pressure and hang on to leads late in games, especially on the road.
The White Sox have all the makings of a good team, but they let one slip away in Thursday night's season opener against the Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
Holding a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning, the Sox defense sprung a leak and Los Angeles pulled out a 4-3 win.
After starter Lucas Giolito allowed 2 runs over 5⅓ innings to go with 8 strikeouts and Codi Heuer followed with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, Aaron Bummer took over in the eighth.
The Angels' David Fletcher led off with a single that bounced off Bummer's glove and Shohei Ohtani followed with a grounder to Nick Madrigal.
Instead of turning a double play, Madrigal's wide throw to Tim Anderson at second base was ruled an error and L.A. had two on with no outs.
With the dangerous Mike Trout at the plate, Fletcher advanced to third base on catcher Yasmani Grandal's passed ball to put more pressure on Bummer.
Trout came through with a run-scoring single to tie it and Albert Pujols' RBI groundout with two down decided the outcome.
The Madrigal miscue was the most costly of the fielding gaffes.
"It wasn't a made-to-order (double play)," manager Tony La Russa. "He's probably just trying to get the force. You're not going to turn a double play there, it was a tough throw for him. That's baseball, When you put the ball in play, good things happen. They happened good for them. Bummer deserved better."
Giolito made his first Opening Day start for the White Sox last season. It did not go well - lasting just 3.2 innings, Giolito was shelled for 7 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in a 10-5 loss to the Twins.
But in taking the mound Thursday night against the Angels, Giolito wasted little time showing why he's a legitimate Cy Young Award candidate on one of baseball's best pitching staffs.
The 26-year-old righty struck out the side in the first inning and was perfect through 3 with 6 strikeouts.
With 2 outs in the second, Luis Robert doubled off Angels starter Dylan Bundy, stole third and scored on a wild pitch to give the White Sox the early lead.
In the fourth, Justin Upton's single scored Trout.
Adam Eaton's 2-run homer in the fifth inning out the Sox in front 3-1.
New White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz, who was also Giolito's prep coach at Harvard-Westlake High School in Los Angeles, reviewed tape of last year's opening start against the Twins.
"His hand separation got a little bit away from him, so he was exposing himself a little bit more than he normally has," Katz said. "Was that the reason for a tougher Opening Day last year? Possibly. He made that adjustment and his deception was back. And whenever you have deception I think yeah, can the hitter sit on a changeup? They can but then they're going to be in big trouble when the fastball comes their way. So it makes it makes it tough on the guys."
Against the Angels, Giolito had plenty of zip and command on the high fastball, but his changeup was electric and baffling.
"It plays off my fastball," Giolito said. "I try to live top of the strike zone with the fastball. So the changeup, generally I'm trying to throw it down in the zone."
It was Giolito's second Opening Day start, and the 33rd time La Russa has managed a major-league opener.
The 76-year-old La Russa retired after winning the 2011 World Series with the Cardinals and being inducted into the Hall of Fame two years later.
"You just try to make it go your way and you die a little bit if you lose, survive if you win and get ready for the next one," La Russa said. "I feel exactly like I have. I'm very anxious and I can't wait to get started."
Sox: Giolito pitches his second Opening Day start