Lucas Giolito couldn’t keep the good times rolling to start the second half.
The Boston Red Sox snapped their 10-game winning streak with a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon. Giolito, who allowed three earned runs in his previous six starts combined, surrendered four runs at Wrigley Field.
During his post-game press conference, via NESN on X, Giolito told reporters he was “definitely not proud” of his performance.
Giolito stumbled at the onset, walking the first two batters before relinquishing a three-run homer to Seiya Suzuki. He needed 30 pitches to escape the first inning.
“It’s a bad way to start the series and the second half,” Giolito said. “I got to be a tone-setter; I didn’t do that. Two walks and a home run — three runs in the first inning — puts us on our heels, so I got to be better than that.”
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The 31-year-old settled down after the bumpy beginning, but Giolito admitted that he felt out of sorts throughout his outing.
“I came out of the gate not locked in enough, out of sync mechanically,” he said. “Kind of in and out of sync mechanically all game, but I was able to grind through.”
Giolito hadn’t pitched since tossing six shutout innings to defeat the Colorado Rockies on July 9. The 10-year veteran would rather stick to his routine than get a prolonged breather during the All-Star break.
“I hate extra days of rest, but that’s our season,” Giolito said. “We have a break, you get used to it. I’m thinking, what could I have done better to prepare? Nothing really. I just needed to be better.”
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Friday’s loss halted a dominant stretch for Giolito, who had lowered his ERA from 6.42 to 3.36 by throwing six straight gems. The hiccup came against a prolific Cubs offense that entered the second half second to the Los Angeles Dodgers in runs scored.
The Red Sox will turn to Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet to salvage the series at Chicago this weekend.
