Photo above courtesy of Adam Fagen/Flickr – Lucas Giolito pitches as a member of the Washington Nationals. Giolito was traded to the White Sox in 2016.
Voice of Lucas Giolito
By Greg Echlin
During a weekend when Kansas City area natives Paul Rudd (“Ant Man”) and Eric Stonestreet (“Modern Family”) invited their Hollywood friends to town for a charity event, another Hollywood guy stole the show.
Chicago White Sox starter pitcher Lucas Giolito, raised in a family of actors in southern California, struck out a career-high 11 hitters in seven-and-two-thirds innings of shutout ball Saturday afternoon, for his ninth win of the season. For Giolito, who played in the 2014 All-Star Futures game, it appears inevitable that he’ll be going to Cleveland as a member of the American League All-Star team next month.
“I’m going out there with confidence every time (and) keeping it simple,” said Giolito, whose dad, Rick Giolito, has appeared in the soap “As the World Turns.” His mom, Lindsay Frost, has appearances in “CSI” and “Frasier” to her credit. Giolito’s grandfather, Warren Frost, played George Constanza’s father-in-law, Henry Ross, in “Seinfeld.”
When asked if any of Kansas City’s Hollywood celebrities asked him to invite any of his Hollywood connections to K.C. for the weekend, Giolito responded, “No, I don’t think any of them had any idea who I was.”
They do now. At least for his pitching abilities.
Giolito has an ERA of 0.88 over the course of his current seven-start winning streak. Against the Royals, Giolito is now 6-0 with a 2.13 ERA in ten starts.
“His outings have been fantastic,” said White Sox manager Rick Renteria. “I think he’s showing that he’s part of some of the best pitchers in the big leagues at the moment.”
Giolito’s outing also evened the series and allowed the White Sox to win the rubber match of the series on Sunday to conclude their road trip. The Royals haven’t won a rubber game of a series since May 30, 2018. Kansas City is 0-6 in rubber games this year.
As is the custom, this year All-Star Futures game (July 7) is played the same day as the celebrity softball tournament. There might be a few more celebrities traveling to Cleveland for the All-Star game with the way Giolito is pitching.