Despite a solid performance from Lucas Giolito, the White Sox struggles continued as they dropped their fifth straight in a 6-3 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday at PNC Park.

“Tough little stretch, but I think that it's just kind of like a test right now,” said Giolito. “Rough series and we dropped this first game. I think that maybe it's a wake-up call we need. A huge home run by us, to give us the lead right there. I think that all we need to do is learn from these last few days, and come out a little more aggressive, a little bit more hair on fire.”

Coming into the matchup, Giolito had been dealing from the mound with five of his six previous outings being quality starts; he had held batters to a .190 average over that stretch. Tuesday’s series opener was his first matchup against the Pirates since he recorded the 19th no-hitter in White Sox history on Aug. 25, 2020.

“He's a young guy that doesn't have a lot of experience, but he's very coachable and he's very motivated so all that's good,” said White Sox manager Tony La Russa.

Through the first two innings, Giolito looked like he was beginning to find his groove against this Pirates’ lineup. However, in the bottom of the third, Adam Frazier homered over the right-field wall to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Following the home run, Giolito retired the next six batters and kept the White Sox in striking distance.

Despite Giolito having some success recently, he has struggled to limit extra-base hits with 22 of his runs allowed coming via the home run this season. He has also allowed a home run in 11 of his 15 stars this season. The ace allowed two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts through six innings.

“I just think it's such a fine edge when you're hitting good, [and] you're pitching good. And that's what you have coaches to tweak you back to. … I mean, it happens. That's why men are not machines,” said La Russa.

The White Sox struggles at the plate continued as Tyler Anderson took the mound for the Pirates and started the game by retiring the first eight Chicago batters. Giolito then notched a single to left field, his first hit of the season. It marked the first time a pitcher recorded the first White Sox hit of a game since Scott Schoeneweis in 2004.

Through six innings, the White Sox were held to two hits. However, in the bottom of the seventh, Yasmani Grandal came in to pinch-hit and crushed a 409-foot, three-run homer to center field to give Chicago a one-run lead and some much needed momentum. The blast gave Grandal 11 homers on the season and was the fourth pinch-hit homer of his career.

“Once the opportunity came up, I already had a plan in my head of what I wanted to do,” said Grandal. “It was a turning point in the game, and it seemed like the dugout came alive and that's what we need to get back to White Sox baseball, which is high energy. It's go, go, go at all times.”

Grandal is currently hitting .170/.386/.398 with 27 RBIs and 26 hits. The catcher has come alive in June, hitting five home runs (the most on the club for the month), collecting nine RBIs and drawing 12 walks while raising his average from .131 to .170.

“Yaz lit up the dugout. We were actually looking at a one-run game. It wasn't that we were not aggressive enough or too aggressive, we tried it, and we just kept plugging,” said La Russa. “Lucas pitched a heck of a game, and you're one big swing away from taking the lead.”

Regardless of Grandal’s home run, Anderson was on fire for Pittsburgh and held Chicago to two hits with four strikeouts. Dating back to 2020, the White Sox have dominated against lefties, going 31-6. Unfortunately, Tuesday’s loss marks the longest losing streak for Chicago this season as the team has been outscored, 33-11, over that stretch.

“Teams are going to go through this, so we just got to continue to play,” said Grandal. “Everybody's going to be coming out gunning for us. That's what we want. But it's just another stepping stone. We're going to have ups and downs during the year. These things are happening. It's just a matter of how fast we can turn it around, so tomorrow's another day. You just got to turn the page.”