Giolito rips Donaldson for yelling about sticky stuff: 'He's a f------ pest'

Warning: Story contains coarse language

Lucas Giolito couldn't care less about what Josh Donaldson thinks of his baseballs.

In the first inning of Tuesday's game between the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins, Donaldson tagged Giolito for a long two-run home run. As he crossed home plate, the former AL MVP was heard yelling about how Giolito's baseballs aren't sticky anymore.

After the White Sox beat the Twins 7-6, Giolito clapped back at Donaldson in no uncertain terms.

"He's a fucking pest. That's kind of a classless move," the right-hander said, according to James Fegan of The Athletic. "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's next to my name. They're in last place."

Donaldson, one of baseball's most brash and outspoken players throughout his career, has been front and center during baseball's ongoing ball-doctoring controversy. Last month, as knowledge of the "sticky stuff" began to grow, he pledged to release an "entire catalog" of cheating pitchers. Later, he openly questioned why New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole's spin rates suddenly declined.

Giolito allowed three earned runs on six hits in Tuesday's game while striking out one batter and walking one. The outing raised his ERA to 3.84.

The Twins and White Sox were expected to battle for the AL Central title this season. But while Chicago surged to the top of the division, Minnesota's unexpectedly sitting 11 games below .500 and 12 1/2 games out of first. The longtime rivals are in the midst of a four-game series.

Major League Baseball began spot-checking all pitchers for illegal substances this month.