Giolito, White Sox Beat Flaherty, Cardinals In High School Reunion
CHICAGO (AP) — Lucas Giolito beat Jack Flaherty in a major league matchup of former high school teammates, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 8-3 victory over the sloppy St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
The Harvard-Westlake High reunion also had a little history behind the plate, with Joe West working a record 5,376th regular-season game, snapping a tie with Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem.
Giolito (4-4) pitched six innings of two-run ball in his second straight win, easily getting the better of a shaky Flaherty hurt by another poor defensive performance by the Cardinals.
Flaherty (8-1), leading the majors in wins, lasted just 3 2/3 innings in his shortest outing of the season.
José Abreu homered and drove in four runs for Chicago, which earned its second straight win since it was swept by the Yankees over the weekend. Liam Hendriks entered with the bases loaded in the ninth and struck out the side for his 10th save.
St. Louis committed a season-high three errors in its fourth loss in five games, one night after it had two errors in the series opener. Flaherty hit two batters and threw two of the Cardinals' three wild pitches, running its NL-high total to 30.
Giolito, Flaherty and Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried were teammates at Harvard-Westlake in Southern California, where their pitching coach was Ethan Katz, who was hired as White Sox pitching coach in November. Matt LaCour, who coached the trio in high school and now serves as the school's athletic director, also attended the game.
"It's really special," Katz said. "I don't know if this will ever happen again."
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt called it a movie script.
"It's a pretty cool thing," Shildt said before the game.
It just didn't go as planned for Shildt, Flaherty and NL Central-leading St. Louis.
Shortstop Edmundo Sosa and right fielder Tommy Edman each committed an error in the first, helping Chicago score two runs without a hit. Flaherty threw two wild pitches and Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado committed an error as the AL Central leaders added three more in the second.
Abreu helped put it away with his 10th homer in the fourth, making it 7-2 with a two-run shot to left against Flaherty. The reigning AL MVP also had a run-scoring groundout in the first and an RBI single in the sixth.
MOVING ON UP
Cardinals star Yadier Molina made his 1,955th start at catcher, passing Hall of Famer Gary Carter for fifth on the all-time list. Jason Kendall is next up at 1,990.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: OF Harrison Bader was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right rib injury. Shildt said a CAT scan revealed a hairline fracture. First baseman/outfielder John Nogowski was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. ... Barring a setback, OF Tyler O'Neill (fractured middle finger) is expected to return during the Cardinals' current 10-game trip. O'Neill got hurt sliding into a base during a 5-3 loss at San Diego on May 16.
White Sox: OF Adam Engel (right hamstring) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte. He was the designated hitter for the Knights' game at Norfolk.
UP NEXT
Cardinals right-hander John Gant (3-3, 2.04 ERA) and White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodón (5-1, 1.27 ERA) start the series finale on Wednesday. Gant is 3-1 with a 1.40 ERA over his last five appearances. Rodón is coming off a dominant performance against the Yankees, striking out a career-high 13 over six shutout innings in a no-decision on Friday.
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