BALTIMORE -- While the Orioles took great pleasure in Kyle Bradish’s strong return from 2024 Tommy John surgery on Tuesday night, the Red Sox have been enjoying the fruits of Lucas Giolito's fine comeback season for months.
And with the stakes increasing for his postseason contending team, Giolito dialed it up a notch, firing eight scoreless innings to slightly outduel Bradish in Boston’s 5-0 victory over Baltimore in the second game of a four-game series at Camden Yards.
The big righty, who missed all of last season following an internal bracing procedure on his right elbow, allowed four hits while walking one and striking out eight.
Giolito finished the outing with a flourish, punching out Jeremiah Jackson on a changeup to cap an 11-pitch at-bat.
“Kept throwing strikes. It was a good battle,” manager Alex Cora said. “It was his last hitter. We were going to [Aroldis Chapman] for Gunnar [Henderson]. But [Giolito] kept pounding the strike zone.”
Giolito pumped his fist with emotion and was greeted with roars, handshakes and smiles when he came back to the dugout. His win pushed the Red Sox to 73-60, as they maintained their half-game lead over the Yankees for the top American League Wild Card and pushed within four games of the Blue Jays in the AL East.
The 31-year-old veteran (9-2, 3.47 ERA) continues to give the Red Sox a strong front three of their rotation that also includes Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello.
“I'm having a blast right now with these guys,” Giolito said. “Every single game matters. So it just kind of adds that extra edge each time you take the ball, especially the way our rotation has been going. It adds extra motivation to keep up and keep putting up good performances.”
Trevor Story’s 200th career homer -- and 21st this season -- staked Boston to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. David Hamilton, who has swung the bat well in his most recent callup from Triple-A Worcester, added a solo shot to right in the third.
Other than that, Bradish was nails, allowing four hits while walking none and striking out 10.
Giolito could relate to all the emotions his opponent was feeling.
“You could tell right away he was pretty amped,” Giolito said. “It's good to have good pitchers in the league. The injury thing. I mean, it's kind of a rite of passage, every pitcher is dealing with something at some point.”
Though the Red Sox beat the Yankees, 6-3, in Giolito’s previous start, he said that outing “left a lot to be desired.” In particular, Giolito was upset that he lasted just 4 2/3 innings.
On the heels of Boston going with a bullpen game in Monday’s 4-3 win, Giolito was determined to go deep in his latest turn in the rotation.
“Definitely satisfying,” Giolito said. “Trying a little too hard to get the CG in the eighth inning, when the focus the whole night had been one pitch at a time execution. But then we brought it back. Finished on a high note, and luckily, we were able to score a few more runs there and keep Chappy out of it, which was good. Give him an off-day.”
This was the first time Giolito pitched eight scoreless innings since his no-hitter on Aug. 25, 2020, against the Pirates.
“It’s pretty cool,” Giolito said. “Yesterday, I saw online that people were saying it was the anniversary, so I wanted to come out and ... you can’t expect a no-hitter. But I was trying [for one]. I tried as hard as I could. It’s very hard to pull off. You have to get lucky. But, yeah, overall, a solid [night].”
Giolito earned respect in the clubhouse last season by staying involved with his teammates despite being out of commission. They clearly enjoy playing behind him.
“It's fun,” Story said. “He's working quickly. He's attacking the hitters, and it feels like he throws three or four pitches for strikes. It's tough to cover all those pitches, especially, with how big he is and he’s just a little funky, too. It feels like he's done that for two or three months straight. So, that's kind of what we expect out of him now. And, that's fun to see him doing his thing.”