The beef between the White Sox and Twins is real and it got heated up on Tuesday night in the first inning.
Josh Donaldson jumped started the Twins offense with a two-run homer. After letting up a leadoff single to Luis Arraez, Lucas Giolotio grooved a 95 mph fastball right down the middle. The former AL MVP jumped all over it and sent it over the left-field fence. As Donaldson crossed home plate he rubbed his hands together and shouted, “Hey it’s not sticky anymore! It’s not sticky anymore.”
Donaldson was referencing the MLB’s crackdown on pitchers using foreign substances. His comments inferred that Giolito was benefitting from “sticky stuff” and isn’t so imposing on the mound now that it is illegal. According to Carlos Rodon in an interview with Chuck Garfein on the White Sox Talk Podcast, nobody on the team that he knew off used “sticky stuff” when they pitched.
TV cameras were able to pick up Donaldson’s remarks. Lucas Giolito did not see the moment during the game but witnessed it in the locker room after the fact. He did not take too kindly to those comments.
Josh Donaldson went there and let’s just say it’s aged quite poorly ever since pic.twitter.com/OfriblLSww
— Sheets On 35th (@SoxOn35th) June 30, 2021
“He’s a fucking pest. That’s kind of a classless move,” Giolito said after the game. “If you’re going to talk shit, talk shit to my face. Don’t go across home plate and do all that, just come to me.”
"We won. The 'W' is next to my name. They're in last place."
Lucas Giolito goes OFF on Josh Donaldson pic.twitter.com/xFwsEIX4WA
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) June 30, 2021
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli defended his third baseman during his post-game press conference. Baldelli claims that Donaldson was just excited about the home run and was not directing anything at Lucas Giolito.
“I’ll tell you this: Nothing that I’ve heard in reference to the White Sox, particularly,” Baldelli said. “Probably more of a general discussion that’s in every clubhouse around baseball right now.”
The foreign substance rules are certainly a hot topic around the baseball world. On Sunday Miguel Gonzalez became the first pitcher to be caught with something in his glove. Gonzalez claimed it was just sweat mixed with rosin but was still suspended for 10 games, prompting discussion across the league.
But this is not the first time Donaldson has engaged in antics crossing home plate against the White Sox. Last September he hit a home run off of Reynaldo Lopez and kicked dirt across home plate as he touched the dish, to protest a call made earlier in the at-bat. He was promptly ejected from the game.
This season Donaldson has been attacking pitchers throughout the league for using “sticky stuff”. He tweeted in May that he had “an entire catalog of video of cheating.” Donaldson later noted that Gerrit Cole’s spin rates had drastically dropped since the MLB incorporated their new policy.
“Nobody is speaking up for the hitters right now,” Donaldson said on June 9th. Regardless of his intentions, his actions on Tuesday showed up Lucas Giolito. But in the end, it was the White Sox ace who got the last laugh.
Giolito tossed a quality start in six-plus innings of work. He allowed three runs on six hits with one walk and one strikeout in the White Sox 7-6 victory. He was credited with the win for his efforts.
“We won. The W’s next to my name,” Giolito said. “They’re in last place.”
