A superb outing by Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease went to waste Tuesday when the bullpen coughed up a late lead, however the Sox rallied 3 times for a 7-6, 12-inning victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
After being no-hit by Cease by means of 5 innings and shut out by means of six, the Blue Jays got here again to take the lead with a three-run eighth, solely to observe the Sox tie it within the ninth on Luis Robert’s two-out, two-run single off Jordan Romano.
From there the sport turned a pingpong match with spikes.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s RBI double off Kendall Graveman within the tenth was matched by Danny Mendick’s bases-loaded single within the backside of the inning.
Raimel Tapia drove in a run off Vince Velasquez within the eleventh earlier than Robert’s sacrifice fly off Matt Gage tied it within the backside of the inning.
Velasquez held the Jays scoreless within the twelfth, and Josh Harrison’s two-out RBI single off Gage gained it, setting off fireworks.
“That was a fun game to be a part of,” Harrison mentioned. “When games are like that, that’s baseball. Back and forth, neither team giving up. Both bullpens’ pitchers. … Glad we came out on top. That’s what teams do. You pull from everybody.”
The sport lasted 4 hours, 23 minutes.
“We kept battling until we got a win,” Sox supervisor Tony La Russa mentioned. “It’s a very special win.”
At the top of the evening, the Sox had been at .500 once more, 3½ video games behind the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians, who moved right into a first-place tie. The Sox and Blue Jays will play once more Wednesday afternoon within the sequence finale, with Lucas Giolito beginning for the Sox.
“That might be the most fun one we’ve had,” Cease mentioned. “To be down late and come back and hang in there and ultimately win it late, those are the type of ballgames that get you into the playoffs at the end of the year.”
Cease left with a 2-0 lead after six innings, dominating from the outset. He struck out the primary 5 batters and the ultimate two he confronted, tying a profession excessive with 11 strikeouts, all approaching sliders. He didn’t permit a success till Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s infield single main off the sixth, and he walked two.
Cease mentioned he wasn’t “too crazy harping on” the no-hit bid, however he was conscious of it. With his pitch depend mounting, he knew it was a protracted shot.
“In the back of my mind, I’m like, ‘All right, a seven-pitch inning here, maybe they let me go 120 (pitches),’” he joked. “Really it was just a pitch at a time.”
Harrison mentioned Cease was unhittable from the outset.
“I was pretty much telling those boys, ‘Good luck,’” Harrison mentioned. “He gave us everything we needed, gave us a great start. That’s what you expect out of a guy like Dylan. He’s done it time and time again.”
But the bullpen didn’t get Cease his win, as La Russa went with Jimmy Lambert and Davis Martin in high-leverage conditions. Alejandro Kirk’s solo house run off Lambert within the seventh sliced the Jays deficit in half earlier than Martin gave up the lead within the eighth.
After a stroll and infield hit put two males on, the runners had been bunted over for pinch hitter Cavan Biggio, who lofted a pop-up behind second base. Shortstop Tim Anderson was in place for the catch however couldn’t flip round in time to search out the ball, which dropped for a success to tie the sport at 2-2.
Bo Bichette adopted with a grounder to brief and reached when Biggio beat Anderson’s throw to second as Gurriel got here round with the go-ahead run. After one other stroll to Guerrero, Martin was lifted for Jose Ruiz, who walked Kirk to drive house one other run.
The Sox staged a two-out rally within the ninth, ignited by Anderson’s stroll and Andrew Vaughn’s double. Robert’s opposite-field single introduced house the tying runs because the remnants of the group of 20,529 went wild.
José Abreu adopted with a single, however Bradley Zimmer’s diving catch of AJ Pollock’s liner despatched the sport into further innings.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Harrison mentioned. “This whole season has been a test of our character.”
And that’s when issues received wild, overshadowing Cease’s outing.
But nobody within the clubhouse forgot about it — or his unhittable slider.
“It’s a good feeling,” Cease mentioned. “It feels like if I get in the zone I’m pretty unhittable. That’s pretty much what I was rolling with today.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com