Lucas Giolito threw a no-hitter against the Pirates and was locked in from the first pitch. He leaned heavily on his fastball and changeup combo, throwing 47 fastballs and 38 changeups out of 101 total pitches. The slider showed up late, especially in the ninth inning, when he suddenly used it six times after barely featuring it earlier. Giolito faced 28 batters, struck out 13, and issued just one walk in the fourth inning, spoiling a potential perfect game.
His changeup was the key pitch all night. It dropped hard and late, fooling hitters and generating a lot of bad swings. While Giolito did get some help from the umpire with borderline calls, he earned most of it by pounding the zone and varying speeds well. The defense played clean too, highlighted by Tim Anderson making a tough stop in the seventh and finishing the play with José Abreu digging out the throw.
The final inning felt like a switch flipped. Giolito found a strange rhythm, throwing mostly sliders, grabbing a check-swing strikeout, then ending it with a mix of breaking stuff and one risky fastball that still found a glove. Catcher James McCann played it steady behind the plate and even gave the umpire a nod before celebrating with his pitcher. The celebration turned chaotic when Eloy Jiménez came sprinting in from the outfield, slipped, and injured his ankle during the dogpile. Other than that, it was all smiles and a dominant night for Giolito.