— Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito threw the season’s first no-hitter on Tuesday, shutting out the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 on 101 pitches.
“I knew it was working after the first inning,” Giolito said of his stuff. “It just kept building and building. After the sixth inning was when I really started to notice what was going on. After the seventh, I was like, ‘I got six outs. We’re going to make this happen.'”
The White Sox made two late-inning defensive plays to help the cause. Shortstop Tim Anderson moved to his right on a ground ball by Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds in the seventh, and first baseman Jose Abreu scooped up the throw in the dirt to keep the no-hitter intact.
The final out came on a line drive from Erik Gonzalez — it had an 85% chance of being a hit — that right-fielder Adam Engel snagged before the celebration began.
Giolito, 26, walked one and struck out 13 using a combination of his fastball and his changeup. He produced 30 swing-and-misses, second most in a no-hitter since 1988. His 13 swing-and-misses on his changeup were the most in his career. It was his first career no-hitter.