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Lucas Giolito thinks he took a ‘big step forward’ getting first win since 2023
Giolito unleashed a reworked pitch that he'd begun working on only days earlier.
Lucas Giolito and the Red Sox: The Red Sox earned a 3-1 win over the Royals on Sunday, thanks to both power-hitting and pitching. Starter Lucas Giolito gave his best performance of the season through three starts, pitching 6.2 innings, yielding no earned runs.
Giolito, 30, originally signed with Boston in 2024, but missed the season due to elbow surgery. So after a no-decision and loss in his first two starts of 2025, the win on Sunday was his first since 2023.
“Today was a big step forward,” Giolito said after the game, per MLB.com’s Robert Falkoff. “Now, I feel like I’m 100 percent healthy. No worry about the hamstring or the elbow.”
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Boston manager Alex Cora noted before the game that he wanted Giolito to “give us six,” adding that he should “give us a chance to win.”
The veteran achieved this goal, yielding a run only due to a throwing error he committed during a third inning sacrifice bunt.
Part of his success was the addition of a slider, a pitch he started reworking three days earlier.
“Going in with just two pitches, it’s not really gonna cut it in this league,” Giolito said told NESN. “So, we got to work. We made a lot of adjustments with the slider. A lot of credit to [Andrew Bailey] and [Chris Holt] helping me out with that the last three days, and it turned into a real weapon, so we utilized that today. A lot more sliders, curveballs, and [Carlos Narváez] is fantastic behind home plate again, just calling all the right pitches and locations.”
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Scores and schedules:
The Red Sox defeated the Royals 3-1 on Sunday, taking two of three in the series. Boston begins a new series in Detroit against the Tigers this evening at 6:40 p.m.
Tonight at 7:30 p.m., the Celtics face the Knicks in New York in Game 4 of the second-round playoff series. Boston trails 2-1 after three games.
More from Boston.com:
- Rafael Devers letting his bat do the talking after first-base controversy
- Is Game 4 a bigger must-win for the Celtics or Knicks? Here’s what history, analysts say.
- Will Campbell shares his top surprise since joining Patriots
- 8 under-the-radar Bruins coaching candidates
- Devers’ homer boosts Giolito to first win since 2023 as Red Sox beat Royals 3-1
- Some thoughts on the state of national NBA broadcasts, among them the babbling of Reggie Miller
- Bill Belichick was in attendance to watch girlfriend Jordon Hudson compete for Miss Maine title
- UNC: Bill Belichick’s girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, ‘welcome’ at football facilities after report she had been banned
A view from the other side: The New York Post’s assessment of the Knicks heading into the crucial Game 4 at Madison Square Garden
On this day: In 2000, Pedro Martinez struck out 15 Orioles in a 9-0 Red Sox win. Martinez was so dominant that he drew a standing ovation from the Camden Yards crowd ahead of his final strikeout.
Daily highlight: Argentina winger Santiago Gabriel Montiel scored a majestic bicycle kick in a 1-0 Independiente win over Independiente Rivadavia.
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