Giolito, White Sox beat Flaherty, Cards 8-3 in HS 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...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Giolito-White-Sox-beat-Flaherty-Cards-8-3-in-HS-16203508.php