Pimping home runs, cheating allegations, a media circus, a chorus of boos, being pulled from the game. It’s been a wild 24 hours for Josh Donaldson. He provided the White Sox with a lot of bulletin board material, and it may have cost his team the game on Wednesday night.

Before Wednesday night’s game against the White Sox, Twin’s third baseman Josh Donaldson went scorched earth in his pregame Zoom conference with the media. Donaldson made headlines by yelling “no more sticky stuff” after hitting a home run off of Lucas Giolito on Tuesday night.

After the game, Giolito called Donaldson a “fucking pest” and the move “classless”. Donalson responded by confronting Giolito in the parking lot that night and then unloading on the White Sox in front of the media.

Donaldson Unloads On Giolito And Guillen

“It happened after the game,” Donaldson said. …He was walking up the parking lot, and I went and made sure he heard what I had to say to his face because that’s what he wanted. That’s what he wanted.

“He said that he thought I was annoying. I said, ‘So what? I’m on the opposing team. What do you care about me? I said I’m in your face. I’m telling you what I think. What have you got to say about that?’ And he didn’t have a response.”

Donaldson alleged that Lucas Giolito was cheating saying that his homerun celebration would not have been an issue if Giolito wasn’t using “sticky stuff” and his postgame reaction was further proof Giolito was cheating. Had he not been a cheater, he would not have generated the same reaction.

“You look at what happened last night, Giolito had one strikeout,” “He had nine swings and misses. It was the lowest all year long, minus the game he pitched at 11 o’clock in the morning in Fenway,” Donaldson told the media via Zoom on Wednesday afternoon. “Hitting is still the hardest skill to do in the world. And Giolito can still putch. He’s got a good changeup and a good fastball.

“But without this, I think what you’re seeing is and what fans want in the game-is more contact. Guess what? There was more contact in the game last night, less swings and misses.

“Obviously, he showed offense to what I said, which I think kind of speaks more about the looming question that’s going on, which is: Was he using sticky stuff before all of this happened in the first place? If he wasn’t, then he probably cared about that comment.

“Let’s go look at his numbers. What do the numbers say? And what do we know about the sticky stuff? What does it do? What does it help with? It helps with RPMs. It helps with spin rate. Guess what, Mr. Giolito? Your spin rate is down 200, your curveball spin rate is down 400 or 500. Your slider is down 200.

Josh Donaldson goes off on Lucas Giolito:

“Guess what? Mr. Giolito, your fastball spin rate’s down 200. Your curveball spin rate’s down 400-500.” pic.twitter.com/jtS7Zai0lu

— MLB Foreign Substance Checks (@StickyCheck) June 30, 2021

“If we are going to talk about class, what side are you going to choose? Are you going to take the side of someone who is playing the game fair? Or are you going to take the side of somebody that was probably cheating before this happened?”

He also went after Ozzie Guillen, who suggested that Giolito should throw a ball intentionally at Donaldson when the White Sox face the Twins in Minnesota next week.

Donaldson caught wind of that comment and made sure to unload on the former White Sox manager as well.

“Ozzie Guillén, you were under a career .700 OPS hitter, man. You were a three-time All-Star, and you had an under.700 OPS. My worse season in the big leagues is 150 points higher than that. This is also coming from the man that said he loves Fidel Castro. That’s who we’re taking advice from? What are we doing around here?”

Pouring Fuel On The Fire

After talking all that trash Josh Donaldson backed it up by launching a home run in the first inning of Dylan Cease. This time he made sure to do an emphatic bat drop and admire it as it cleared the left-field wall. He was met with a chorus of boos when he walked up to the plate and even more as he rounded the bases.

His revenge did not last long as the White Sox responded with a parade of home runs. Dylan Cease also made sure to shut him down the rest of the night. Cease undressed Donaldson with a curveball on a swinging strikeout to end the third inning. Later in the sixth inning, he froze him with a changeup that got him to go down on strikes looking. Donaldson was replaced at third base by Gilberto Celestio following the strikeout.

Dylan Cease struck out seven in six innings of work. He only allowed two runs and earned a quality start to go along with a victory. The win improved his record to 4-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field this season. Cease is the first White Sox pitcher to go undefeated in his first eight starts at home to begin a season since Jose Contreras in 2006.

“We heard about what happened. We talked about it,” Dylan Cease said. “I think it fueled us.”

Return Of The Longball

The White Sox offense also seemed to take exception to his comments. They have not hit a home run since June 25th, when Yasmani Grandal hit a solo home run off Yusei Kikuchi in the second inning against the Mariners. The White made sure to make up for the lost time by having a home run derby on Wednesday night.

The White Sox pounded Twins pitching for 13 runs thanks in large part to a parade of six home runs. Brain Goodwin got things started in the second inning when he tied the game with a solo home run off a hanging curveball that traveled 382 feet.

Andrew Vaughn gave the White Sox the lead with a nice piece of hitting later in the inning. He ripped a high slider to center field on a line drive that had just enough to clear the wall and make it a 3-1 game.

That one's a Vaughner. pic.twitter.com/DFcOeQUgRN

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 1, 2021

Jose Abreu, who only had one home run in June coming into the game, joined the party in the bottom of the third. With a 2-2 count, he muscled a high fastball to the opposite field that just barely got over the right-field fence.

Up & out of here! pic.twitter.com/23piEmLkeu

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 1, 2021

In the fifth inning, Yasmani Grandal went after a hanging knuckle curve to deep center field. Nick Gordon leaped at the wall to rob the home run, but the ball popped out of his glove when he collided with the wall and he threw it out of the park. Gordon created some confusion when he landed by reaching for the ball only to realize it wasn’t there. Grandal pumped his fist rounding the bases as three more runs crossed the plate.

Grandal wasn’t done, however. In the sixth inning, he belted a fastball 447 feet deep into the leftfield seats. He knew it as soon as it left the bat and majestically watched it disappear into the night. The home run marked Grandal’s 14th career multihomer game and his second of the season. He now has eight homers and 18 RBIs in June.

447 ft 💣 for Yasmani Grandal's second of the day.

And the @WhiteSox are up 13-2. pic.twitter.com/xrxGvOVNYq

— MLB (@MLB) July 1, 2021

Gavin Sheets wasted no time recording his first major league home run. One night after recording his first career hit and first career RBI he notched his first career dinger in the fifth inning. He hit his first round-tripper in style by sending a 91 mph sinker 429 feet. The blast put an exclamation point on a six-run fifth inning. It was an exciting moment for the rookie.

HOLY SHEETS! Gavin Sheets has his 1st career @MLB home run. pic.twitter.com/bSRbdz5ZjJ

— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 1, 2021

“To get that home run tonight, I can’t even describe it. Felt great off the bat,” Sheets said. “It’s been a fun two days.”

Since Josh Donaldson shouted “no more sticky stuff” the Minnesota Twins pitching staff has allowed 20 runs in 18 innings. In total, the White Sox racked up 2,411 feet in home runs on Wednesday night alone. Every player in the starting lineup also recorded at least one hit accept for Yermin Mercedes who reached base twice on a pair of walks.

Donaldson poured gasoline on the White Sox offense and lit a match.

“It didn’t go unnoticed. It definitely fires you up,” White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal said. “If anything, thanks to him for kind of getting us awakened a little bit.”

“This offense is one of the best in the league, if not the best,” Sheets added. “Hitting is contagious, and I’m just following along with what these guys are doing.

Some Giolito-Donaldson drama was just the straw to stir the drink in a 13-3 beatdown. All it took was a little rivalry to get the White Sox offense out of their slump.