CLEVELAND — Oh, boy. Lucas Giolito was all set up for disaster.
Except this wasn’t the Giolito of the past. This was the breakout White Sox ace. And in his All-Star Game debut Tuesday night, Giolito made sure things turned out just fine.
After entering in the fourth inning in a game eventually won 4-3 by the AL, Giolito walked the first man he faced, the Braves’ Freddie Freeman, on four pitches. The fourth ball went over the glove of Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez and all the way back to the wall behind home plate.
Sox fans have seen that sort of start too many times before. But Giolito ralled to strike out Dodgers MVP front-runner Cody Bellinger and retire Rockies juggernaut Nolan Arenado and Pirates slugger Josh Bell on weakly hit ground outs. Total homers on the season for those three: 77.
For Giolito, it was all about confidence.
“You have to have that,” he said. “If you want to compete at this level and stay here for a long time, you have to have the confidence that you’re better than everybody else, every time you’re pitching.
“This is where I belong.”
Contreras counting on it
Cubs catcher Willson Contreras, an All-Star starter for the second year in a row, isn’t worried about falling off in the second half they way he did — dramatically — in 2018. He chalks up that experience to weakness in his “mental game.” Not a problem anymore.
“This year, I’m ready,” he said.
Bigger picture: Contreras, 27, sees a run of All-Star Games in his future. Maybe he’ll even get to nine of them, a la Cardinals lifer Yadier Molina.
“It should happen if I keep putting in the right work,” he said. “It doesn’t happen if you don’t put in the right work. I think those guys, Molina and [Buster] Posey, they put in the right work every single year. That’s one thing I’m looking forward to. I hope this is my second of many All-Star Games. I just pray to God to be healthy every single year.”
Yo, DJ
Would anyone be a better fit for the Cubs’ lineup than Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu? He’s leading the American League in hitting (.336) and has been on a seasonlong tear with runners in scoring position. He has a chance to become the first player to win batting titles in both leagues.
Did we mention he plays second base?
LeMahieu once belonged to the Cubs, of course. Matter of fact, he was a throw-in piece in team president Theo Epstein’s first Cubs trade. How did Ian Stewart turn out for the Cubs again?
“It doesn’t matter, man,” LeMahieu said. “That was a long time ago.”
Good point. It was way back in 2011.
Never mind.
Coming up next
We’ll see you next year at . . . Dodger Stadium. Yes, the 91st All-Star Game will be in Los Angeles. In 2021, it’ll be at SunTrust Park in Atlanta. We’d tell you more if we could, but that’s all we’ve got.
