Lucas Giolito throws MLB's first no-hitter this season as White Sox blank Pirates

When Erik Gonzalez came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, Chicago White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito was one out away from throwing a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Gonzalez didn’t want to be a footnote as the final out.

“I was a little bit mad,” Gonzalez said, “because I didn’t want to be part of history.”

That honor belonged to Giolito, who recorded the first no-hitter of MLB’s shortened season when Gonzalez hit a line drive to right field and Adam Engel made a shoestring catch to clinch a 4-0 victory over the Pirates on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.

Giolito’s no-hitter came in an unusual setting during the coronavirus pandemic, as the game was played in an empty stadium and the loudest cheers came from automated crowd noise. The Pirates couldn’t help but watch with wonder as Giolito recorded 13 strikeouts and only one baserunner, when Gonzalez walked in the fourth inning.

Two years ago, Giolito had the highest ERA (6.13) of any qualified starter in baseball. Last year, he was an All-Star.

Now, he’s made history.

“It’s crazy, man,” Giolito said. “The weird thing is I always envisioned I’d throw a no-hitter. If you asked me in 2018, I’d say, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’”

Giolito (3-2) threw 101 pitches, including 74 for strikes, mixing a four-seam fastball with what Pirates manager Derek Shelton called one of the game’s best changeups and a slider to draw 30 swings and misses by the Pirates.

Even their hardest hit balls found the gloves of White Sox defenders, with shortstop Tim Anderson robbing Bryan Reynolds of an infield single with a throw across his body in the seventh inning. And Giolito didn’t give the Pirates many opportunities for hits.

“I’ve seen him a bunch of times, having been in the (AL) Central,” said Shelton, who spent the previous two seasons as Minnesota Twins bench coach. “That was by far the best I’ve seen him. He was in complete control. He threw a few sliders early and then was able to use it late, but the changeup was electric. He threw it both to his arm side and against his arm side, ahead in the count, behind in the count. It didn’t matter where we were at in the order.”

It was the first no-hitter against the Pirates since Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals on June 20, 2015. Scherzer took a perfect game into the final out before it was broken up when Jose Tabata dropped his elbow into a pitch with two strikes and two outs.

The last White Sox pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Philip Humber, who threw the 21st perfect game in MLB history in a 4-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on April 21, 2012.

It was the second consecutive 13-strikeout performance for Giolito, who allowed three hits and one walk in seven innings in a 9-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 20. Pirates starter Steven Brault threw three perfect innings on Aug. 2 at the Chicago Cubs, but said it couldn’t compare to throwing a no-hitter through nine innings.

“That’s pretty incredible,” Brault said. “He had his best stuff, and he was very, very good. It was pretty cool to see. Obviously it sucks (to lose), but at the same time, that’s baseball history right there. Good for him.”

Brault hadn’t allowed an earned run in any of his four previous starts, but the White Sox were .305/.375/.619 against lefties this season and scored three runs in the second inning.

It started with rookie Luis Robert beating out a grounder to third, followed by Brault hitting James McCann with a pitch that proved to be controversial. McCann shook his hand, and was checked by a team trainer. Upon video review, the ball appeared to hit the knob of McCann’s bat. But the call was upheld, and Brault loaded the bases by walking Danny Mendick on four pitches.

Adam Engel’s groundout to second scored Robert for a 1-0 lead. The White Sox made it 2-0 on Anderson’s single to left and 3-0 when Mendick scored an infield single by Eloy Jimenez.

Where Giolito struck out five Pirates batters on his way to three perfect innings, Brault continued to struggle. He gave up a leadoff double to Edwin Encarnacion, then walked Yoan Moncada. When Robert singled to shallow center, first baseman Josh Bell cut off Jarrod Dyson’s throw to the plate and threw out Encarnacion at third.

But Brault’s wild pitch allowed the runners to take second and third, and Moncada scored on McCann’s sacrifice fly to left to make it 4-0.

Gonzalez drew a walk in the bottom of the fourth to break up the perfect game, but Giolito’s no-hit bid continued into the ninth. After Jarrod Dyson struck out and pinch-hitter Jose Osuna popped out to right, Gonzalez saw his line drive caught by Engel to end the game.

“We saw one of the best pitchers in the game have a performance of a lifetime,” Shelton said. “You tip your cap.”