CHICAGO — Lucas Giolito outdueled his former high school teammate Jack Flaherty, and the Chicago White Sox took advantage of some spotty defense from the St. Louis Cardinals in an 8-3 victory Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Giolito (4-4) allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and no walks in six innings.
Flaherty (8-1) lasted just 3⅔ innings and suffered his first loss. He allowed seven runs (three earned) on six hits with three strikeouts and two walks. The Cardinals made three errors.
Flaherty surrendered a two-run home run to José Abreu, who went 2-for-5 with four RBIs.
Giolito and Flaherty attended Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. Giolito was a senior in 2012 when Flaherty was a sophomore. The team also featured Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried. Their pitching coach was Ethan Katz, who is in his first season in the same role with the Sox.
The Sox took advantage of two Cardinals errors and scored twice in the first. Tim Anderson reached on a fielding error by shortstop Edmundo Sosa and scored when Abreu grounded out to Flaherty.
Yermín Mercedes then hit a routine liner to right that Tommy Edman dropped. Instead of the third out, Adam Eaton scored.
Nick Madrigal knocked in a run with a single and Yoán Moncada drew a bases-loaded walk during a three-run second. Madrigal scored on a wild pitch, making it 5-0.
Abreu’s 420-foot home run to left in the fourth, his team-leading 10th of the season, gave the Sox a 7-2 lead. Abreu drove in another run with a single against reliever Junior Fernández.
In addition to the unique starting pitching matchup, history was made when umpire Joe West worked his major-league-record 5,376th regular-season game.
