Lucas Giolito ended his first half by failing to retire any of the five batters he faced in the fifth inning of Saturday's game against the Cubs, including three straight walks and a pair of doubles.
He opened his All-Star Game by walking Freddie Freeman on four pitches, missing Gary Sanchez's target more than the one before, and the last of which almost sailed over his head.
Fortunately, this inning diverted from his previous one after one batter. He alternated fastball strikes and balls against Cody Bellinger before locking him up with a changeup on the inside corner. Normally changeups on the inside corner are bad ideas, but if they start inside enough, they do the job.
After that, his night was a whole lot simpler. He only needed four pitches to get two outs, with Nolan Arenado and Josh Bell both grounding out harmlessly. Giolito chalked up Freeman walk to jitters, and hopefully his recovery afterward shows he's back to correcting himself during an inning.
All in all, Giolito used just 13 pitches, he threw only one slider, he spent enough time on the mound for Joe Buck and John Smoltz to say plenty of nice things about him ... that's about what you want from an All-Star Game appearance.
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James McCann can say the same thing. He showed the world one of his trademark opposite-field singles in his only at-bat, which moved Matt Chapman to third after reaching on a leadoff walk to start the seventh. McCann was removed from the basepaths on a double play, but Chapman scored the first of two runs that gave the American League enough to win.
He also made an inelegant-yet-effective catch to bring an end to Brad Hand's 33-pitch night.
Hand, who hadn't thrown more than 29 pitches in a game for the Indians in the first half, had thrown his 33rd pitch of the eighth inning on that pop-up. I'm not questioning McCann's desire to help the White Sox win, but A.J. Pierzynski probably would've let it drop and blamed the lights.
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Jose Abreu was the only one to come away from Cleveland without anything to show for his night. He hit a Sandy Alcantara slider 103 mph, but right at Paul DeJong for an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. That turned out to be the last ball in play, as Aroldis Chapman fanned the side with the 14th, 15th and 16th strikeouts by American League pitchers.
That said, Abreu used the stage to once again reiterate his desire to remain with the White Sox after his contract lapses at the end of the season.
“That’s why I’m telling you guys that if the White Sox don’t sign me, I’m going to sign here anyway. I’m going to sign myself here. I’m going to be here, believe me. I’m going to be here.
“I don’t want to miss this, I don’t want to miss what is coming, and I’m going to be here.”
It's hard to call Abreu's messaging a "strategy" -- or hell, even "messaging" -- but it's a fascinating play nevertheless. And I wouldn't even call it a "play," because it's probably not the smartest thing for his leverage. It's just so strange yet welcome to hear somebody break athletespeak to express unfettered excitement about playing for any team, and even more so for the White Sox. It sounds like the verbal equivalent of Tim Wakefield's revolving option with the Red Sox.
Rick Hahn, conversely, responded to Abreu's initial appeal with Hahnspeak.
How much longer Hahn will be able to resist Abreu's puppy-dog eyes is rising to the top of the things to watch in the second half.
