White Sox ace Lucas Giolito, who hurled the 19th no-hitter in franchise history earlier this season, was firing on all cylinders in leading Chicago to a 4-1 win at Oakland in Game 1 of their wild-card round series Tuesday. Giolito retired the first 18 batters he faced. The 26-year-old Giolito has never looked better — among American League starters, only Cy Young front-runner Shane Bieber totaled more strikeouts during the regular season — and for that, he has PS4 to thank in part.
Giolito is an avid gamer who finished runner-up to Rays ace Blake Snell in the inaugural MLB The Show Players League earlier this year. But Giolito doesn't just play "The Show" recreationally. He also uses it to scout his opponents.
"I play MLB The Show as myself pitching against the team I will be pitching against in real life the next day," Giolito said, describing his process to Rob Friedman (Twitter handle @PitchingNinja). "Doing my scouting report, taking my notes, applying that scouting report to the video game and then seeing my video game self being successful the day before I go and pitch in the game."
Giolito admits his pre-start ritual is "kind of weird" and "definitely nerdy," but you can't argue with his results. After recording the worst ERA among qualifying pitchers in MLB in 2018, Giolito had a breakout All-Star campaign in 2019 and continued that success in this truncated season, posting a 3.48 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 12 starts.
The White Sox need a win in Game 2 on Wednesday or in a potential Game 3 on Thursday to advice to the AL Division Series. The White Sox are seeking their first series victory in the playoffs since they won the World Series in 2005.
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