Dylan Cease made it to the Chicago White Sox dugout, the place catcher Seby Zavala was ready to ship an enormous hug.
Cease gave the Sox a lift the crew desperately wanted, permitting one run whereas placing out a career-high 13 throughout seven great innings in a 4-3 victory towards the Baltimore Orioles Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“I want to be that guy that the team can rely on,” Cease stated. “To go out and give seven like that is definitely a positive.”
Cease (6-3) allowed 4 hits and walked one whereas reaching double digits in strikeouts for the thirteenth time in his profession and fourth time this season.
“He’s up there with the top echelon of starting pitchers,” Sox supervisor Tony La Russa stated. “Just have a look at the work he’s doing towards the groups he’s doing it to. The high quality of the pitches. Going by way of these lineups thrice.
“He’s special. It’s fun to watch him.”
Gavin Sheets hit a two-run homer, Lenyn Sosa had his major-league hit with a double within the third and Andrew Vaughn and Zavala drove in a single run every to assist the Sox salvage the finale of the four-game sequence and snap a four-game shedding streak.
But the Orioles made them work for it.
Sheets’ homer within the second made it 2-0.
“Just taking confident swings,” Sheets stated. “Getting in the box to do damage. That’s the biggest thing.”
Sosa doubled down the right-field line main off the third for his first hit since being referred to as up Thursday.
“I was very happy and excited,” Sosa stated by way of an interpreter. “I couldn’t control the emotions in that moment. I was really excited. I thank God and my family, all the support they gave me. Even though the first few days and (Sunday) I wasn’t able to get my first one, they kept telling me ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry, you’re going to get your first one sooner rather than later,’ and then I was able to do it (Sunday). Very special.”
Sosa scored on Vaughn’s sacrifice fly, making it 3-1. Zavala drove in Abreu with a single within the fourth.
The Sox took the 4-1 lead into the ninth. The first two batters reached on errors by first baseman José Abreu. Reliever Kendall Graveman walked the following batter and gave up a single, chopping the result in 4-2.
“Just stay calm and get outs,” Graveman stated of his strategy of that state of affairs. “Nothing changes. Still try to execute pitches. I think one thing that experience does is in those moments, you still got a game plan against each hitter. You are able to slow the game down and not get sped up.”
Graveman struck out Rougned Odor for the primary out. Luis Robert tracked down Cedric Mullins’ lengthy fly to middle, leading to a sacrifice fly to make it a one-run sport.
With runners on the corners and two outs, Graveman struck out Trey Mancini to finish the sport.
La Russa stated Graveman “showed what a competitor (he is)” by understanding of the jam.
“That win needed to happen,” Graveman stated. “It would have been a tough way to lose it. I felt in that moment I’ve got to pick our team up and try to find a way to win. Fortunately enough, I executed some pitches and Robert ran down a ball in the gap there and made a good play. I went with my strength there in the end. I threw my best fastballs that I could.”
Strikeouts had been the story early, with Cease starting the sport by fanning the aspect. He struck out six of the primary seven batters on the best way to, in his phrases, getting “over the hump” by way of setting a profession excessive for strikeouts. His earlier greatest was 11, which he had completed seven occasions.
“It’s incredible,” Sheets stated. “I like watching Dylan pitch, he’s very effective and attacks the zone. He’s got great stuff. It’s nice to be on the defensive side and not the offensive side when he throws. It’s fun to watch.”
Cease grew to become the primary Sox pitcher with not less than 11 strikeouts in consecutive begins since Lucas Giolito struck out 13 in back-to-back begins on Aug. 20 and Aug. 25, 2020.
Cease’s 121 strikeouts are the third most by a Sox pitcher by way of 15 begins of a season. He had 21 swing and misses in Sunday’s 101-pitch outing.
“I think (the slider is) in a little better place than it was earlier (in the season) in terms of movement and velocity,” Cease stated. “I’m throwing it for strikes for better. But also I’m utilizing my curveball and my fastball as well to kind of protect it. They all work off each other, so really it’s just getting strikes.”
And the Sox received a win forward of a six-game West Coast journey largely due to these strikes.
“Hard to win when you’ve been losing, man,” La Russa stated. “Hard. Had to start somewhere and started (Sunday). And Dylan was masterful.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com