As the White Sox looked to avoid their first four-game sweep by the Orioles since 1995, they needed a start like the one Dylan Cease gave them today. Between his seven innings of one-run baseball and just enough offense, the White Sox survived a late rally by the Orioles to head to Los Angeles without a losing streak.
The aforementioned Cease was absolutely brilliant today. His slider was on point throughout the start, and even as the game crept into the late innings, his fastball was still hitting 98-100 mph. Cease’s stuff today might have been the best it has been all year, and as such, he only allowed one run via a home run in the early innings. Other than that, there was little to no traffic on the base paths all day. Cease posted 13 strikeouts in seven innings of work, which is a new career high for the right-hander. It was his 13th career outing in which he struck out 10 or more batters, and he currently sits in second place in baseball in strikeouts. Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman were tasked with finishing off the final six outs, and they both pitched around Oriole threats and some bad defense in the ninth by Jose Abreu in order to keep the South Siders on the winning side of this one.
While the offense was far from perfect, they were able to finally get back into the home run column, as Gavin Sheets hit a two-run homer to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead that they would never give back. Andrew Vaughn’s RBI sac fly and Seby Zavala’s RBI single accounted for the remaining offense in today’s game. Lenyn Sosa was also able to record his first major league hit – a double down the right field line in the third inning.
With the win, the Sox move to 34-37. They will head to the west coast to take on the Angels and Giants, so the schedule isn’t easing up on them just yet. But a win today felt good.
W: Dylan Cease (6-3) | L: Jordan Lyles (4-7) | S: Kendall Graveman (3)
StatCast Breakdown
Box Score
Offensive Recap
Pitching Recap
White Sox Scoring Recap
Bottom 2nd: Gavin Sheets homers to right field. Jose Abreu scores. 2-0 White Sox
Bottom 3rd: Andrew Vaughn hits a sacrifice fly. Lenyn Sosa scores. 3-1 White Sox
Bottom 4th: Seby Zavala singles to left field. Jose Abreu scores. 4-1 White Sox
Notable Performances
Dylan Cease: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 13 K’s
Cease had absolutely wipe out stuff today. He was throwing the fastball up there as high as 100 mph, and the slider was on point all day. His 21 swinging strikes on the afternoon ties a season-high, and he also became the first White Sox pitcher to strike out 11+ batters in consecutive starts since Lucas Giolito did it in 2020.
Gavin Sheets: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, HR
Sheets since coming back has shown some improvement over the early season. He tallied two hits yesterday and another two today. Today his two run shot jump started the day for the offense and was the team’s first home run since Monday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Lenyn Sosa: 1-for-3, R
Sosa’s first major league hit today was a double down the right field line, and then he later came around the score on a Andrew Vaughn sacrifice fly.
The Next Matchup
The White Sox will look to continue their winning ways against a tough Angels team tomorrow night. Lucas Giolito will look to get back on track tomorrow against Noah Syndergaard.
The game will begin at 8:38 PM CT and can be viewed on NBC Sports Chicago.
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Featured Image: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
