Heading into the All-Star break, Giolito owns a 3.36 ERA, combining with Brayan Bello in recent weeks to give the Sox sorely needed high-end starting pitching from those in the non-Garrett Crochet category.
“I told him I’m very proud of him,” manager Alex Cora said. “At one point, it didn’t look great.”
Consider: In Giolito’s first seven starts of the season, his return to the majors after missing all of 2024 because of an elbow injury and the first month of 2025 because of a hamstring injury, he had a 6.42 ERA.
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In six outings since, 0.70.
The most recent Sox pitchers to have an ERA that low while throwing at least 35 innings over a six-game span: Chris Sale (2018), Pedro Martinez (2002), Roger Clemens (1990-91), and Luis Tiant (1972).
Upon seeing that stat on NESN’s postgame show, which was playing on TVs in the Red Sox’ clubhouse, Giolito nodded in approval. He seemed almost impressed with his work.
“It feels good,” he said. “The first month back didn’t go the way we wanted it to, obviously. But we made the adjustments, got my mechanics locked in, got the feeling locked in. Happy with how I’ve thrown the ball here recently.”
His eureka moment came during a between-starts bullpen session at Yankee Stadium, just days after the boos. Ever since, he has felt far more in control of his body when pitching — even when his delivery starts to get away from him, as it did early against the Rockies (21-72).
“My ability to make the adjustment from inning to inning, pitch to pitch, is probably the best it’s ever been,” Giolito said. “Tonight, for instance, the first three innings, it wasn’t really there. And then [pitching coach Andrew Bailey] and [pitching strategy coach Devin Rose] pointed it out to me in between innings there and I got some good dry reps in, threw a couple into the net. It was like, OK, cool. So [fourth] inning on, we were able to make that adjustment.”
Giolito struck out six, walked none, and gave up four hits. Thanks to two runners getting thrown out on the bases, he faced just two more than the minimum.
“He’s been awesome,” catcher Carlos Narváez said. “That’s the Giolito everybody knows.”
A smooth defensive play prevented a run from scoring in the fourth. Center fielder Jarren Duran barehanded Michael Toglia’s double off the Green Monster and fired to the infield. Shortstop Trevor Story’s relay throw to the plate was perfect, and Narváez tagged Tyler Freeman, who was trying to score from first.
At 92 pitches after the sixth, Giolito told Cora he was just about out of gas. Cora loved it.
“He was very honest after the sixth, which is awesome,” Cora said. “Most of the time, these guys want to keep going and going and going. He was like, ‘That’s it.’ That’s where the relationship really starts. When he’s honest today and he had a shutout, now I know who he is, I know how he feels and I can just let him go if he says, ‘I’m good.’ ”
Giolito said: “That’s not normal for me. Usually I just want to keep going until they take the ball and rip it from my hands. But today, my first time pitching in that really heavy humidity up here in the northeast, some of those long at-bats were kind of getting to me, making an error in the sixth inning. So I let him know I might be done for the day there.”
The game never felt particularly close, given the frequent hard, loud contact the Red Sox made against righthander Antonio Senzatela, who gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings. But they didn’t blow it open until the eighth, when Romy Gonzalez (two-run homer) and Duran (three-run homer) went deep.
Narváez blasted a home run — an estimated 434 feet to left-center over the Monster — to get the Red Sox on the board in the second, then doubled and scored in the fourth. Marcelo Mayer, drawing his first start in five games, and Roman Anthony each had a pair of hits. Masataka Yoshida, in his season debut, finished 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored.
The Red Sox have scored 56 runs during a season-high-tying six-game win streak, which has pushed them to 49-45 and into a virtual tie for the last American League wild-card spot. They are four games above .500 for the first time all year.
“The way we’re swinging the bats right now, you don’t have to be perfect out there on the mound,” Giolito said. “They’re making it a lot easier on us as starting pitchers.”
Tim Healey can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @timbhealey.