'We’ve got to get better': White Sox fall to A's behind streaky Cease

CHICAGO -- Winning and losing ranks secondary to ongoing development for the White Sox at this point of their underwhelming 50-79 campaign, which seemingly is a good thing since the South Siders aren’t winning much of late.

But the 12-4 loss to Oakland on Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field supersedes any focus on the future for young players. Simply put, it was a poor effort by the White Sox against the worst team in baseball.

“The whole thing is frustrating. We’ve got to get better. That’s plain and simple,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “It’s not for lack of trying. These guys are out there doing their work. We’ve just got to get better. There’s no excuses. It’s not Major League Baseball. We’ve got to tighten up.”

“It's just been a bit of a rough stretch,” said Dylan Cease, who was the starting and losing pitcher for the White Sox on Friday. “There aren't really any other excuses than we haven't gotten it done. I didn't personally get it done today but we're coming tomorrow and we're coming the rest of the season. Just got to keep working.”

Cease (5-7) allowed a career-high nine runs and a career-high-tying eight earned runs over 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and five walks. The right-hander was one of the game’s best starting pitchers during the ‘22 season, finishing second to Justin Verlander in the American League Cy Young Award voting.

Factoring in Friday’s results, Cease’s ERA rose to 4.87. His average four-seam fastball velocity checked in at 95.2 mph, which was just a tick down from his season average of 95.5 mph, according to Statcast. So, the stuff is still there, backed up by eight swinging strikes off his slider.

“For whatever reason, I'm just not quite getting into a rhythm,” Cease said. “But at the end of the day, you've got to find a way to get through it and get the job done. It obviously hasn't been my best stretch or my best work but I'm not giving up. We've still got five starts left, so I'm going to get with [pitching coach] Ethan [Katz] and we're going to work on it.”

This loss centered on Cease, but he was far from the only reason for a fourth setback in five games this season to the A’s (38-91). Oakland features the worst offense in baseball, but against the White Sox it scored seven runs in their first three games, eight in Thursday’s victory and then 12 on Friday.

Three errors from the White Sox didn’t help the cause. Fans booed as Tim Anderson struck out to end the contest, and it was understandable after one of the team’s ugliest losses this season.

“Twenty-two baserunners, 15 hits, seven free bases. That’s not, you can’t win ballgames that way,” Grifol said. “A couple of home runs. Too much traffic. On the offensive side, we got a little something going but we went back out and gave it back again.”