Lucas Giolito received a text from St. Louis Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty on Wednesday.
Flaherty had just beaten the Pittsburgh Pirates to improve to 8-0. Giolito also won that day, striking out 11 in eight impressive innings for the Chicago White Sox in a victory against the Minnesota Twins.
Flaherty wondered if the former high school teammates would square off when the Cardinals made their way to Guaranteed Rate Field.
“I kind of looked at his schedule like, ‘Oh, OK! Cool,’ ” Giolito said during a conference call Monday.
They will be opposing starters Tuesday night when the Sox and Cardinals meet in the second game of a three-game series.
“It’s very exciting,” Giolito said. “It’s like the same as facing really good pitchers around the league. But at the same time, it’s just a really fun moment for both of us.
“And once the game starts, we’re going to focus on what we do, not focus on who’s pitching. I’m just going to be hoping that we’re scoring a lot of runs.”
Giolito and Flaherty attended Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. Giolito was a senior in 2012 when Flaherty was a sophomore. The team also featured Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried. Their pitching coach was Ethan Katz, who is in his first season in the same role with the Sox.
Flaherty couldn’t recall ever being matched up against Giolito, even in an intrasquad game. Once he found out it would indeed happen, his reaction was “this will be cool.”
“This will be fun,” Flaherty told St. Louis reporters in a conference call Monday. “Just been kind of an excitement over it. It’s going to be fun throwing against him, but in terms of the week’s preparation, everything has been the same. Nothing changes.
“It’s not hard to stay focused if you’re going about your preparation, you’re going about your work. Nothing about that part really changes. I hope we get him. I hope we score some runs the way we normally would.”
Giolito, 26, is 3-4 with a 4.35 ERA in nine starts. He has 61 strikeouts and 21 walks in 49? innings.
Flaherty said one thing he wishes he could incorporate from Giolito is his “Bugs Bunny changeup that he’s got. I’d love to be able to add that.”
Giolito was in top form Wednesday, allowing one run on two hits in the 2-1 victory at Target Field.
“Early on, I’m still kind of feeling things out,” Giolito said. “I led off two innings with walks, and then as the game went on, everything started to fall into place and it was like, ‘OK, cool, here we are.’ Anytime I have a game where I’m throwing harder, I’m feeling stronger as the game goes on, that shows me that I’m right where I need to be.
“Credit to Ethan and all the work we’ve been putting in on the side the last couple of weeks to clean up a few things, and I’m feeling very good right now.”
Flaherty, 25, is 8-0 with a 2.53 ERA in nine starts. He has 55 strikeouts and 17 walks in 53? innings.
“His season’s absolutely spectacular, starting off undefeated,” Giolito said. “Hopefully we give him his first (loss).”
Count Sox manager Tony La Russa among those intrigued by what’s ahead.
“It’s going to be a special day, and I know both teams want to present their starting pitcher with a lot of offense and a lot of defense,” La Russa said Monday. “It will be a classic competition. I’m looking forward to it. It is historic and I just try to put myself in the place of the two pitchers. They go out there and really work hard to concentrate, control their emotions, and I’m sure they will.
“Ethan’s probably the one who has the hardest job because our teammates and their teammates and (Cardinals manager) Mike Shildt and myself, coaches, we’re going to try to have our guy be the winner. It’s a unique day. Ethan, I know he wants the White Sox to win. He may be hoping we win 1-0.”
Giolito said they’ve helped each other become better pitchers.
“It started when we were in high school and he was two years younger than me,” Giolito said. “There was a few things I might have shown him early, and then he really rose to prominence. I was in the minor leagues before he was, talking with him about that.
“He really turned it on to the point where I’m asking him, OK, what are you doing being so consistent and so successful? Always having those kinds of conversations.”
Giolito said family and friends, including their high school coach, Matt LaCour, will be in attendance to add to the night.
“We’re all so close,” Giolito said. “It’s just a very cool moment. It was going to happen eventually between the three of us (Giolito, Flaherty and Fried). We’re eventually going to have to line up at some point, and so this is the first time hopefully of very many over the next 10 to 15 years.
“It’s just going to be a moment for our families and friends and old teammates from our high school days, coaches. It’s a lot of fun. Pretty big deal for all of us. We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be great.”
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