Dylan Cease lasted seven innings, so that was good.
He avoided the big, bad inning that had bitten him repeatedly, so there was improvement there, too.
The White Sox’ top healthy pitching prospect had what he called the best start of his five outings so far, and the numbers back that up, so there was gradual improvement there as well.
It came in a losing cause, though, a 4-0 blanking and the latest for a Sox team that got swept by the Mets to finish off a 2-8 homestand. The Sox (46-60) lost for the 16th time in 20 games, falling to a season-worst 14 games below .500.
Cease (1-4, 6.11 ERA) will have to live with the loss but he’ll take a pitching line of seven innings, four runs (three earned), seven hits, two walks and six strikeouts.
One of the hits was a bloop that fell in short left field in a three-run Mets sixth. There was some hard contact, too — Robinson Cano homered to left in the first — but the latest demonstrations of Cease’s 97-98 mph fastball and big-breaking curve offer more glimpses of Cease’s potential as an important starting rotation piece in 2020.
The Sox lineup offered few glimpses of hope against Mets righty Zach Wheeler, scratching out four singles in seven innings. It hasn’t offered much of anything in their 4-16 stretch, averaging 2.7 runs. Wheeler (8-6, 4.45 ERA) struck out seven and walked none.
The Sox (46-60) open a seven game road trip against the Phillies Friday.
