Red Sox’s Lucas Giolito Reflects On ‘Long Road’ Amid Dominant Stretch

Lucas Giolito celebrated the Fourth of July with a triumphant return to the nation’s capital.

The Boston Red Sox earned an 11-2 victory over the Washington Nationals behind a season-high 7 2/3 innings from Giolito. Following his latest gem, the 30-year-old is 4-0 with a 0.83 ERA over his last five starts.

Giolito kept rolling in his first start at Washington since pitching for the Nationals as a rookie in 2016. He reflected on the last decade during his post-game remarks, via NESN’s X account.

“It’s been a long road,” Giolito said. “I pitched very different back then. Very long arm action. I think every baseball player’s career, you have your ups and downs, your trials and tribulations, highs and lows, however you want to put it. It has been a long road.”

Giolito experienced one of those downs when relinquishing seven runs in 1 1/2 innings to the Los Angeles Angels on June 4. He’s since improved his season ERA from 6.42 to 3.66 by going at least six innings in five straight strong outings.

The former first-round pick also handled a morning start time far better than four years ago, when he surrendered eight runs in one inning against the Red Sox on Patriots’ Day.

Alex Cora pushed Giolito to 108 pitches — matching his highest single-game tally since April 12, 2023 — against his old team. The right-hander preserved Boston’s bullpen in a lopsided victory.

Giolito has helped the 44-45 Red Sox hang in the American League playoff picture. He’s eager to maintain his momentum down the stretch.

“I look forward to many more,” Giolito said. “Even the downs. When you come back from those, it’s probably more satisfying than just being good all the time. I look forward to just continuing to work and for us to really get hot and start winning a lot more games.