On Tuesday night, White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito stepped off the mound in Chicago and into the history books after throwing the first no-hitter of the 2020s.
Giolito, 26, struck out 13 while leading the White Sox over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field with no one there to see it except other players, team personnel and media members.
“2020 has been a very strange year,” Giolito said in a postgame interview. “Obviously a lot of weird stuff going on with COVID and the state of the world, so may as well throw this in the mix.”
An All-Star last year, Giolito (3-2) matched the career-high for strikeouts he set in his last start and only missed a perfect game due to a four-pitch walk he issued to Erik Gonzalez to begin the fourth inning. Gonzalez was the only baserunner Giolito permitted while throwing 101 pitches.
Gonzalez thought he broke up the no-hit bid with a slicer into right field during his final at-bat, but outfielder Adam Engel extended on the run to catch it for the final out.
“Yeah man, I think I got it,” Gonzalez said. “With that at-bat, I was a little bit mad because I don’t want to be part of history.”
Giolito’s no-no on Tuesday was the 19th no-hitter in White Sox history. Only one MLB franchise has more: the Los Angeles Dodgers with 23.
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