Before Lucas Giolito had even thrown a pitch Monday night, his teammates spotted him a four-run lead. Then, after he retired the side in order in the first inning, they scored three more times in the next frame.

And you know what? Giolito was angry.

Not at his teammates, of course. Not really at anything in particular. Giolito likes to pitch with “controlled anger” as a way to stay locked in on the mound -- even if he has to fabricate the emotion for himself.

“I just find something to tick myself off,” Giolito explained. “Whether it’s like, I have to get on myself or just finding little things the batters are doing and letting that fuel me.”

It’s difficult to argue with the results. Amid the mounting run support, Giolito shoved like he was in the throes of a deadlocked, do-or-die matchup. He held the Twins hitless through four innings, and he faced the minimum through seven. In the end, he allowed one run on two hits in eight innings, picking up eight strikeouts and the win.

Giolito’s inspiration for anger might’ve spawned from his previous start, when he failed to reach the fifth inning for the first time since April. Or perhaps he was miffed to be in Minnesota, home of Josh Donaldson, whose “classless” comments in June sparked a mini-feud between the players.

We can’t be sure, but we know Giolito doesn’t want to be a robot on the rubber. He runs on emotion, and irritation seems to fill the tank.

“It’s gonna be a lot easier to make pitches and execute where I want to throw it when I just have something behind it,” Giolito said. “Something in my brain telling me, pretty much, [expletive] behind each and every pitch. Sometimes I can just create it out of thin air, or I’ll just pick and choose little things here and there.”

White Sox manager Tony La Russa likened it to the mindset of Michael Jordan, who was constantly seen looking for ways to put a chip on his shoulder in the docuseries "The Last Dance."

“I’m all for that edge,” La Russa said. “Anger, adrenaline, something to prove, that gives you that extra focus and strength. I embrace it, and I love it when I see it.”

Wednesday off-day for Robert is part of ‘the plan’
Luis Robert, who returned to the Majors on Monday night for the first time since May 2, was back in Tuesday’s starting lineup. That’s a great sign for Chicago’s young star, who suffered a torn right hip flexor earlier this season. But it doesn’t mean he’ll be rushed back into an everyday role.

“The plan was to avoid the night-day [turnaround], which made it easy,” La Russa said. “Play the Monday-Tuesday, and he’ll rest tomorrow and play Thursday night.”

That’s good news for anyone watching or attending Thursday’s Field of Dreams Game in Dyersville, Iowa. Last year’s Gold Glove center fielder (and AL Rookie of the Year runner-up) should be good to go.

And soon, hopefully, he’ll be a staple in the White Sox lineup again. Chicago’s dreams of a World Series run, paired with its sizable division lead, suggest that some amount of caution makes sense.

“No matter how much you work out, how much you’re in rehab, when you’re actually playing in the Major Leagues there’s a stress level there and a determination to dig a little deeper,” La Russa said. “So we want to be really careful that we don’t have a setback like we had with Eloy [Jiménez] when he first got up and had to miss a couple of days. I think it’s just a lot of communication and go day to day.”