Red Sox Notes: How Lucas Giolito Felt After Belated Boston Debut Vs. Blue Jays

The Boston Red Sox suffered their most irritating loss of the season in a 7-6 walk-off defeat to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night, but the game also centered around the long-awaited return of starting pitcher Lucas Giolito.

It had been nearly two years since the last time Giolito logged a big league appearance, and the right-hander provided the Red Sox with a belated snippet of what’s to come. Giolito tossed six innings and allowed three runs off five hits and two walks while striking out seven Blue Jays batters. Boston really couldn’t have asked for more.

“Confidence is good,” Giolito told reporters postgame, per NESN. “I think that it’s just continuing to get into the groove, get my good routine. It’s good to be back, going on the road trips and being around the guys. Looking forward to building and obviously the biggest takeaway from tonight is stay focused and finish strong. That’s all I really got on it.”

Giolito delivered a quality start and when the 30-year-old walked off the mound and handed it off to the bullpen, the Red Sox were ahead, 6-3. All signs pointed toward win No. 1 in Giolito’s first Boston appearance, but the team collided with a late-game disaster that struck like an unexpected summertime bee sting. It forced Giolito to settle for the no-decision, but it didn’t take away from what the team felt regarding what Giolito provided from the mound.

“If Gio throws the ball like that the whole season, we’re gonna be in good shape,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, per NESN.

Giolito had a shutout performance in the works until Toronto’s Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk went yard in back-to-back at-bats and sliced Boston’s six-run lead in half. That was the lone blemish in Giolito’s first game back, and he didn’t hide from it.

“I thought I pitched well until the sixth,” Giolito admitted. “Sixth inning, some crucial, crucial mistakes; 0-2 to walk, 0-2 homer, another homer. We were working the changeup pretty well to the corners and I just left them up there, so it’s something to learn from. Gotta finish stronger. It sucks to give the other team momentum like that when you’re up big.”

The Red Sox didn’t manage Giolito’s debut with oven mittens, as the 2019 All-Star reached a pitch count of 90 by the time Cora took the ball from him. That was Cora’s intention going in and Giolito rewarded the team’s trust.

Giolito’s made his spring training debut with the Red Sox last February and underwent ulnar collateral ligament repair with an internal brace a few weeks later. Giolito then waited 13 months before finally taking the mound for the first time in a Red Sox uniform.

It was dragged, but no less impressive.

“Good fastball, good changeup, moving the ball around. He did an outstanding job,” Cora said. “Obviously, he’s upset with the way it ended but like I said before, if we get this version of Lucas, we’re gonna be in good shape. … He was good enough to go to 90, 95 pitches and like I said a few weeks ago, we’re gonna let him go.”

Here are more notes from Wednesday night’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game:

— Kirk, who hit the walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning, has logged 44 career games against the Red Sox. He’s now hitting .264 with a home run, six doubles and 12 RBIs when facing Boston.

— Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman extended his hitting streak to 10 games after going 1-for-4 with a solo home run in the first inning. Bregman is hitting .400 with three home runs, four doubles and eight RBIs amid the red-hot stretch at the plate.

— Red Sox designated hitter Rafael Devers extended his hit streak to five games, which has consisted of three multi-hit performances. Devers is hitting .264 with three home runs, three doubles and five RBIs amid the streak.

— Boston dropped to 17-15 with the loss and faced an abrupt end to its three-game win streak.

— The Red Sox and Blue Jays will continue with their three-game set Thursday night. First pitch from Rogers Centre is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.