Lucas Giolito sharp in second start, but White Sox’ bats aren’tDaryl Van Schouwenon March 7, 2021 at 11:07 pm

Sox’ ace says getting accustomed to group of catchers is key.

ROCKIES 1, SOX 0 (7)

Giolito sharp again

Likely Opening Day starter Lucas Giolito pitched three hitless innings, walking one and striking out two in his second consecutive crisp outing. Relievers Evan Marshall and Jimmy Cordero each worked a scoreless inning.

‘‘Lot of pitching backward today,’’ Giolito said. ‘‘Trying to get as many sliders in as I can, within reason. I was pretty happy with it.’’

Getting to know you

Giolito said getting accustomed to all his catchers is important.

‘‘A huge [thing] for me is establishing my relationship with all the catchers,’’ Giolito said. ‘‘I’ll obviously be throwing to [Yasmani Grandal, out with a sore knee] once he gets healthy again, but being prepared, having a game plan with every single catcher. Because we don’t know who’s going to win the backup role.’’

Giolito praised Yermin Mercedes’ energy and was fired up after Mercedes threw out Ryan Vilade trying to steal to end his outing.

‘‘I was putting that hand cannon, putting that pistol, back in there after he gunned that guy down,’’ Giolito said.

Blanked

Rockies right-hander German Marquez (three innings) held a Sox lineup featuring four regulars to four hits, including a double by Yoan Moncada. The Sox are 1-4-3.

Chips on shoulders

Reliever Aaron Bummer looked sharp in a perfect inning in a ‘‘B’’ game against the Dodgers. He said the entire bullpen is motivated by the Sox’ Game 3 loss in the wild-card series last season against the Athletics. It was a bullpen game and a bullpen loss.

‘‘It’s something that showed we have a lot of room to grow,’’ Bummer said. ‘‘There is a lot of talk about what this bullpen can be, but . . . it’s about what the bullpen is.’’

On deck

Sox at Dodgers, 2:05 p.m. Monday, Glendale, MLB.com, 1000-AM, Mike Wright vs. Julio Urias.

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