It is truly unbelievable that Lucas Giolito went from one of the worst starting pitchers in MLB to one of the best in a single offseason. The right-hander has emerged as the ace for the White Sox and on Wednesday he pitched the best game of his career against the Twins.
Giolito was given a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning and that’s all he needed, giving up only three hits to the second-best offense in baseball. He struck out 12 and walked none in his second complete-game shutout of 2019, the first coming against the Astros in May.
Giolito is the first right-handed pitcher to strike out at least 10 batters in three straight starts since 2010 for the White Sox.
His shutout on May 23, in Houston resulted in a game score of 87. Today, Giolito set a new career-best, posting a 93.
Game Score is a metric devised by Bill James to determine the strength of a pitcher in any particular game.
Here’s how it’s determined.
- Start with 50 points.
- Add one point for each out recorded, so three points for every complete inning pitched.
- Add two points for each inning completed after the fourth.
- Add one point for each strikeout.
- Subtract two points for each hit allowed.
- Subtract four points for each earned run allowed.
- Subtract two points for each unearned run allowed.
- Subtract one point for each walk.
Simply put, Giolito just pitched the best game of his career and at no point did it look like the Twins had any shot at scoring or getting close to scoring.
What an amazing outing for Giolito, who continues his breakout 2019 season.
