The White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito has probably taken some ribbing because his last name sounds like the Italian or Spanish word for “ice cream”-gelado or helado. Early in his career, his pitches were meatballs and his ERA was over 6.0. Last night, he became “The Emperror of Ice Cream.” A much more successful Giolito found his way into the history books. He didn’t allow a hit as the White Sox blanked the Pirates 4–0. He became the 19th White Sox pitcher to hurl a no-no.

The Pirates have encountered heavy seas and opposing winds since the delayed opening of the season, building a 7–18 record. With the Angels, the Pirates are the two most hapless teams in the game with the Red Sox closely following their voyage of futility. Against a worse lineup than the 1962 Mets or 1965 Cubs even, Giolito walked only one man, striking out 13. Only two balls were sharply hit all night, one being the last batter of the game. In his prior start, Giolito had also walked just one man while striking out 13 in a 3-hitter over the toothless Tigers.

After his brutal 2018, Giolito was an All-Star a year ago and particularly dominant before the break, building a 10–1 record early on. Last night, the Sox got him 3 runs in the second and one in the third, and called it good. For this night, it was good.

The last White Sox hurler to throw a no-hitter was Philip Humber who, in 2012 went a step beyond and threw a perfect game. Giolito, the architect of last night’s no-hitter was a Nationals’ prospect taken in round 1 of the 2012 draft. In the dreams of the Nationals and their fans, Giolito would back up Stephen Strasburg. It wasn’t to be. To hopefully fill a glaring need, the Nats sent Giolito to the White Sox for Adam Eaton. Major mistake. Eaton spent 2 injury-riddled years in DC, then was OK in 2019 but nothing to write home about. As for Giolito, he had been high school teammates with Max Fried and Jack Flaherty, both of whom have also made the bigs. This is his third full year in the bigs, after logging a 14–9 mark a year ago and a much more respectable 3.41 ERA than his train wreck of 2018. Following his no-hit, no-run, no-fans game, who knows what the 26-year-old from Santa Monica might pull out of his hat later this year or in the future. He’s one of several young prospects that make the White Sox more worth watching than they’ve been in recent years.