Dylan Cease was one bad pitch from letting Sunday’s game against the Angels get out of control.
Laboring through another rough beginning, Cease had loaded the bases with one out in the second. Bench coach Joe McEwing, managing in place of Rick Renteria, went out to talk with Cease and asked him what he had. Apparently convinced, McEwing let Cease stay in the game to face Shohei Ohtani.
On a 3-2 pitch, Cease struck out Ohtani with a 97.8 mph fastball for the second out of the inning. Then Cease got Albert Pujols to fly out to center, keeping the game tied.
“It’s another step in his process of being able to grind through those things. Those things are important,” McEwing said after the White Sox beat the Angels 5-1. “Even if Ohtani got a base hit there, give him that opportunity to possibly get through that. And I just talked to him about that. He was able to get Ohtani and then got the next guy and was able to continue to go. We had somebody behind him every time he went out. He was basically hitter-to-hitter at that point.”
Cease’s starts have generally followed a distinct pattern. The first two innings are rough, then he settles in.
He didn’t last long enough Sunday for that to continue, giving up one run over 3 1/3 trying innings. Cease walked five and needed 88 pitches to get 10 outs. The first inning cost him 36 pitches and he spent 30 more in the second, but McEwing and the Sox were heartened by how he didn’t allow things to blow up.
”Every time he’s able to take the mound, it’s a positive, because he’s continuing to get reps at the big-league level, which you can’t get anywhere else,” McEwing said. “You’re competing against the best players in the world every single day. He was able to get through it. It’s another chapter to where he needs to be.”
For Cease to become the pitcher the Sox want him to, he’ll have to get better in the first two innings. After giving up Ohtani’s first-inning RBI single, Cease’s ERA in the opening two innings is 10.88, compared to 2.89 in innings three through five.
“It was more of a battle today,” Cease said. “I think I went through stretches where I had a feel for (my pitches), but definitely not good enough with my fastball command.”
Cease’s early issues didn’t stop the Sox from winning their 63rd game of the year, beating last year’s total. Jose Abreu hit his 31st homer and drove in his 600th career run, and Danny Mendick hit his first career home run to help the Sox avoid a three-game sweep.
Relievers Josh Osich, Aaron Bummer and Alex Colome combined to throw 5 2/3 scoreless innings after Cease departed.
As for Cease, his first big-league season has had its ups and downs. His stuff is as advertised, and he’s shown flashes of using that stuff to stop major-league hitters.
In his previous start, a Sept. 3 outing against Cleveland, Cease gave up a first-inning homer to Francisco Lindor but recovered to strike out a career-high 11 in 6 2/3 innings. Sunday wasn’t quite as good (or long), but at least there were some signs of progress.
“I feel almost like a completely different pitcher than when I first got called up, so it’s definitely going on the right trajectory,” Cease said. “There’s still stuff to work on but I’m happy with the progress so far.”
