Dylan Cease continued his outstanding season Friday night, battling through early command issues to guide the White Sox to a victory. Cease racked up 45 pitches and three walks through the first two innings and appeared a bit out of sorts early on. He rebounded nicely, putting together six innings of one run baseball to earn his 12th win of the season. He only threw 91 pitches threw the six innings, meaning he could’ve started a seventh inning – a pretty impressive feat given where his pitch count was after just two innings.
The Sox provided just enough run support for their ace, squeaking out two runs against Texas starter Glenn Otto. Eloy Jimenez continued his hot streak, hitting a solo shot to left field in what was the final and decisive run in this ball game.
The bullpen shut the door in this one, with Joe Kelly, Kendall Graveman, and Liam Hendriks each tossing a shutout inning. It wasn’t without some theatrics, as Graveman made Sox fans sweat by loading the bases in the bottom of the eighth inning. All-Star closer Liam Hendriks kept things simple, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts for an easy ninth inning to earn his 22nd save on the season and the 100th of his career.
With the win, the White Sox are 54-52 and now enter a tie for 2nd place in the AL Central.
W: Dylan Cease (12-4) | L: Glenn Otto (4-8) | S: Liam Hendriks (22)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap:
Pitching Recap:
White Sox Scoring Recap:
Top of the 3rd: Seby Zavala lines out to center field. Yasmani Grandal scores. CWS 1- TEX 1
Top of the 4th: Eloy Jimenez hits solo home run to left field. CWS 2 – TEX 1
Notable Performances
Dylan Cease: 6 IP, 2H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Dylan “Not an All-Star” Cease continued his march to the Cy Young Award, lowering his ERA to 1.98 with six dazzling innings Friday night. Even on a night where Cease didn’t appear to have great command of his pitches early on, he still managed to only needed 91 pitches to get through six innings. The #CyCease movement is still very much alive for the Sox ace.
Eloy Jimenez: 2-4, HR (6), RBI (21)
Jimenez continued his recent hot streak, hitting his sixth home run on the season with a bomb into the left field seats Friday evening. He’s more than earned the third spot in the batting order with his play of late, absolutely dominating the competition since the All-Star Break and providing a much needed source of power for the Sox.
Yasmani Grandal: 1-3, BB, 2B (4), R
Grandal showed some signs of life Friday night, getting his sixth extra-base hit of the season with a double in the fifth inning. Yaz also put on a masterclass running the bases and breathed some life into the White Sox dugout with his energy. The Sox will need his bat to pick it up in the second half if they want to make a run at the division, and Friday night was a great start.
The Next Matchup
The White Sox play the Rangers again tomorrow night at 6:05 PM CT, which can be seen on NBC Sports Chicago.
Michael Kopech will take the mound against former White Sox starter Dane Dunning.
Follow us @SoxOn35th for more updates throughout the season
Featured Image: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
