Giolito combines on one-hit shutout in Class A

Nationals No. 1 prospect Lucas Giolito and reliever Joseph Webb combined for a one-hit shutout Friday, as Class A Hagerstown defeated Kannapolis, 5-1.

After Intimidators center fielder Adam Engel led off the game with a single, Giolito retired the next 18 batters he faced to complete six scoreless innings. He struck out seven batters. Webb relieved him to start the seventh and threw three hitless innings, allowing one unearned run on three walks and an error.

For Giolito, Friday's start was nearly a carbon copy of his May 11 start against Kannapolis. In that game, which was the first of a doubleheader, Giolito struck out seven batters, walked one and allowed one hit in six scoreless innings. Engel led off the game with a double before Giolito retired 16 straight batters.

With Friday's victory, Giolito extended his winning streak to four straight decisions and improved to 6-2 with a 2.34 ERA this season. He has struck out 88 batters and walked 25 in 77 innings.

Giolito, ranked No. 35 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects list, hasn't thrown enough innings to qualify for the ERA title in the South Atlantic League, largely because the Nationals have closely monitored his workload since he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012. If he did qualify, he would lead the league with a 1.00 WHIP and rank third in ERA.