'We've got to do a better job': Giolito, Sox stumble

PITTSBURGH -- Pedro Grifol is not panicking eight games into his first season as a Major League manager.

The White Sox pitching staff has struggled mightily in the early going. Its collective 7.70 ERA is the worst in MLB and is a major reason why the club has gotten off to a 3-5 start.

On Friday, Chicago pitchers yielded 19 hits in a 13-9 loss to Pittsburgh in the Pirates’ home opener at PNC Park. That came one day after the Giants routed the White Sox, 16-6, at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Giving up 29 runs in two days would be enough to rattle any rookie manager. However, Grifol is staying calm.

“I don’t have concern with the pitching, I really don’t,” Grifol said. “These guys have done it before, they’ve done it for a while now. It’s just one of those stretches. Obviously, there are adjustments to be made, they’re working on it, but concerns? I don’t.”

Lucas Giolito gave up seven runs and a career-high 12 hits in four innings against the Bucs on Friday. Ironically, Giolito pitched the lone no-hitter of his career against the Pirates during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season in Chicago.

Five of the hits off Giolito went for extra bases as the Pirates had three doubles, while Carlos Santana and Bryan Reynolds homered. Santana hit a leadoff shot in the second inning and Reynolds had a three-run blast in the fourth.

“It was not good,” Giolito said. “We hit their starter [Rich Hill] really well. We were given leads and I kept giving them up, so it’s not good.”

Giolito knows he and his rotation mates need to perform at a higher level. The starters are averaging just five innings per outing.

“We’ve got to do a better job,” the right-hander said. “We’re not going deep enough into games, especially me today. I was pulled after four innings. We got to show that [Grifol] has confidence sending us out there longer. But giving up a bunch of hits and runs is not going to get the job done. It taxes the bullpen more, so it’s a pretty bad spot to be in.

“But the good side is it’s pretty early in the season and we’ve just got to make adjustments.”

Giolito had a hard time making the necessary adjustments against the Pirates.

“They were just hitting the ball pretty well, soft contact, finding some holes then breaking it open with home runs, big hits, doubles, things like that,” Giolito said. “Probably take a look at how I’m sequencing pitches, basic command of the pitches.”

Grifol did not think Giolito pitched as poorly as his final line. He struck out three and walked none, but Giolito needed 77 pitches to get 12 outs.

“Stuff-wise, we thought Gio had pretty good stuff,” Grifol said. “They hit some pretty good pitches, they also hit balls that were left up. And a lot of the balls fell in. You had a bunt, you had a fly ball in the outfield, a couple ground balls.”

Left-handed reliever Jake Diekman took over for Giolito at the start of the fifth inning with the score tied at 7 and took the loss. Diekman retired only one of his five batters and was charged with four runs.

A bright spot for the White Sox staff was right-hander Jesse Scholtens’ Major League debut. The 29-year-old finished the game by allowing only one run on three hits and two walks to go with four strikeouts in three innings.

Scholtens was called up from Triple-A Charlotte earlier in the day to bolster an overtaxed bullpen.

“Scholtens saved the day for us,” Grifol said. “Gave us three important innings.”

The White Sox wasted a fine offensive effort. They scored seven runs in four innings off Pirates starter Rich Hill.

Luis Robert Jr. hit two home runs and drove in a career-high-tying five, while going 3-for-5. Tim Anderson went 4-for-5 with four runs scored and two doubles from the leadoff spot. White Sox No. 2 prospect Oscar Colás hit his first career home run and Jake Burger also went deep.

“We’re going to see a whole lot more from Colás, too,” Burger said. “He’s a great hitter and it was great to see him get his first one. Obviously wish we would have got the win today, but that’s why there is tomorrow. It’s fun to watch him.”