P-Nats' Giolito stays positive, fans 10

Lucas Giolito has stolen the show from a Major Leaguer in two straight outings. And the Nationals probably see him doing the same in Washington somewhere down the road.

Pitching in relief of rehabbing Nationals reliever Aaron Barrett for the second straight start, Washington's top prospect struck out 10 while allowing an unearned run on three hits and a walk over six innings as Class A Advanced Potomac fell to Wilmington, 2-1, in 10 innings at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium.

The 20-year-old entered in the second inning after Barrett struck out the side in his one inning of rehab work. Giolito, who has been friends with Barrett since coming to the Nationals in 2012, said he gained confidence from watching him perform.

"I mean that sets the tone," Giolito said. "Both of my past two outings, he started going that one inning of rehab and he pitched really well in both of his outings down here. They've set the tone perfectly into what I'm trying to do, how I'm trying to get guys out, so it's worked out well.

"He's a great guy and it's always great whenever we have a rehab guy, especially pitchers, to talk to them a bit about their game plan and what they do and how they're successful."

Then Giolito attacked the Blue Rocks with his upper-90's fastball and deployed his curveball to rack up the balance of his strikeouts. Though he didn't use it as much, he said he also had a great feel for his changeup.

MLB.com's No. 4 overall prospect continued a dominant stretch that started on June 12. He has allowed two runs on 16 hits over his last 25 1/3 innings, highlighted by seven no-hit frames in his previous start against Frederick on Wednesday. In that time, he has slashed his ERA from 4.59 to 2.76.

"I feel like I've hit a little bit of a good stride," said Giolito. "I've got my mechanics working pretty good. I'm doing all the things I need to do to throw strikes low in the zone consistently.

"I had a little bit of a rough start, especially since I kind of had an augmented Spring Training throwing program. I showed up to the team late, but I feel like I've definitely been able to internalize some things and make some good adjustments on some of the things I was doing incorrectly earlier this year -- both from the mental side and the physical side. I'm feeling very good right now."

The 16^th overall pick in the 2012 Draft dominated for Class A Hagerstown last year, his first full season in the pros, but struggled early on after the call\up to Potomac to begin the year. After surrendering six runs on 11 hits in a June 7 visit to Salem, he realized what he needed to do to turn things around.

"I'd say the biggest thing was maintaining a really strong, positive mental outlook during a game," Giolito said. "I had an outing earlier this year where I gave up 11 hits, and a good amount of them were softly hit in the infield and bloopers and things like that. I really let it get to me in the sense that I was showing emotion on the mound. I was frustrated with myself for giving up hits like that, frustrated for not executing pitches, and once those guys were on base, I basically cashed them all in. The biggest thing was adjusting from there. I talked to my pitching coach Franklin Bravo, my manager (Tripp Keister) and I feel like I've been able to learn from that and keep a much more stable mental approach to the pitching."

Coincidentally, Giolito's hot streak began in his next start, and the former Harvard-Westlake star is happy with the way things are going, on the field and in the clubhouse.

"I've got to keep doing what I'm doing," he said. "I feel like I'm learning from every outing, whether it's a positive or a not-so-good outing. I pick up something that I can learn and that I can execute better. I'm glad that our team is playing well right now. I'm not in any rush to go anywhere. I love the group of guys we have. But there's still a part of me that wants to keep moving and keep getting better."

Derek Self (2-3) took over for Giolito in the eighth and allowed a run on two hits and a walk over 2 1/3 innings, including the go-ahead homer by Wilmington catcher Cam Gallagher to open the 10^th.

Blue Rocks right-hander Ashton Goudeau (4-1) surrendered two hits over four scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory.