Cease (10 K's) 'empties tank' to stave off O's

White Sox right-hander throws career-high 111 pitches; Mercedes fuels offense

May 28th, 2021
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      CHICAGO -- When was mentioned or thought about alongside Mets ace Jacob deGrom prior to the 2021 season, it probably had something as basic to do with them both being talented right-handed starting pitchers.

      On Thursday night, during a 5-1 White Sox victory over the Orioles at Guaranteed Rate Field, Cease was linked with the two-time National League Cy Young Award winner for his mound excellence.

      Cease threw a career-high 111 pitches over six innings, while recording a career-high 29 swings and misses, per Statcast. That swing-and-miss total matched deGrom for the most in the Major Leagues this season, with deGrom recording 29 on April 23 in his 15-strikeout effort against the Nationals.

      Only Lucas Giolito’s total of 30 swings and misses from his no-hitter against the Pirates last season surpasses Cease’s 29 all time for the White Sox in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). Chris Sale also had 29 in a 15-strikeout, one-hit victory over the Cubs on Aug. 16, 2015.

      But the seeds of Cease’s strong start were planted in Saturday’s struggles at Yankee Stadium. He hurled three hitless innings against the Yankees before giving up three in the fourth and getting knocked out with one gone in the fifth after consistently falling behind hitters during a 7-0 loss.

      “A game like that is kind of like a slap to the face,” said Cease, who improved to 3-1 with Thursday’s victory. “It’s like all right, you’ve got to make sure you get ahead in the count. You don’t want to give them anything unnecessary so if you fall behind, it’s a lot easier to hit.”

      Cease’s six innings weren’t completely a breeze against the Orioles (17-33), who have now lost a season-worst 10 straight. He struck out 10, walked two and allowed four hits, but he also pitched out of jams in the first and his final inning.

      In that first, after Cedric Mullins singled and Trey Mancini was hit on the right elbow, knocking him out of the game in the bottom half, Cease shut down the next three hitters, including a rally-halting strikeout of Freddy Galvis. With the game tied at 1 in the sixth, Anthony Santander and Maikel Franco singled to open the inning.

      Even with his pitch count rising over 100 for the first time this season, Cease struck out Stevie Wilkerson with a 1-2 slider to end the threat with an emotional punctuation as he left the mound. White Sox manager Tony La Russa trusted the maturation of his 25-year-old starter, while Cease didn’t hold anything back before giving way to the bullpen.

      “At that point, you know you’re batter to batter, so I just tried to be as nasty as I could and get ahead of guys, really,” Cease said. “I emptied the tank there. Close game, high pitch count, you know your time is limited, so here’s everything I’ve got.”

      “We didn’t do much offensively,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “Dylan Cease has a great arm. We knew that. He pitched extremely well. He punched out 10 and they have a really good bullpen. It’s tough to win when you score one run and get five hits.”

      Billy Hamilton’s two-out single in the sixth scored Andrew Vaughn with the go-ahead run, and José Abreu produced his 40th RBI with a run-scoring double during a three-run seventh. Otherwise, it was the return of the Yermín Mercedes’ show, which has played to rave reviews throughout the season.

      Mercedes’ 427-foot home run with a 116.8 mph exit velocity in the second gave the White Sox their first run, and he added a two-run single after Abreu’s seventh-inning double. That blast off starter Bruce Zimmermann came on a 3-0 pitch and helped him break free from a 6-for-29 slump with no extra-base hits and one RBI since his last home run in Minnesota on a 3-0 pitch of the more controversial variety.

      White Sox players have completely had Mercedes’ back since that moment. His confidence has not been stunted, highlighted by this latest clout.

      “If you look back at the last few games, he hasn't been as base-hit bountiful as he usually is,” La Russa said. “He attacked the 3-0 pitch, but that single was classic Yermín. It's hard to hit, and everybody gets off a little bit. He just went back to the basics."

      “Always going to happen to all players. We’re going to struggle but get back on it,” Mercedes said. “Make adjustments, get to the stadium here, practice in the cage and back on it to the games. Every day be better … . All my teammates, all this stuff with me, I continue to be Yermín.”

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      Senior Reporter Scott Merkin has covered the White Sox for MLB.com since 2003.