After shutting out the Detroit Tigers over seven innings for the best start of his career his last time out, what could Dylan Cease do for an encore?
Well, he could hold a much better offense to just one hit and zero runs over six innings while tying a career high in strikeouts with 11, which he did. But he also batted for himself for the first time since high school and went 3-for-3, outhitting and outscoring the Reds by himself.
He became the first White Sox pitcher to collect three hits in a game since Tom Bradley, who did it back in 1972. STATS said Cease became the second pitcher in history to register three hits while striking out 10 and allowing no more than one hit, joining Catfish Hunter in 1968.
Hunter did that during his perfect game, whereas Cease allowed four baserunners over six innings. Somehow, "he didn't throw a perfect game" is about the worst thing you can say about Cease. He befuddled the Reds on both sides of the ball.
On the mound, he was probably the best form of his real self. He threw just 58 of 98 pitches for strikes and walked three over six innings, which will happen. But while he occasionally lost the strike zone, he figured out how to rediscover it, and with all his pitches. He grabbed seven first-pitch strikes with pitches besides his fastball, which allowed him to generate nine whiffs with his fastball alone, including four swinging strike threes.
And on the seven occasions he allowed a ball in play, none topped 90 mph. In fact, Cincinnati's lone hit off Cease, a Tucker Barnhart single in the fifth, registered at exactly 90.0.
Meanwhile, Cease had higher exit velocities on two of his three hits. His first hit was a lucky chopper that backed up Mike Moustakas too far behind third to make a play, but the other two were solid. He executed a butcher boy to perfection his second time up, even though a pre-pitch meeting with Joe McEwing triggered my suspicion. He pulled the bunt back on a Jose De Leon fastball, then launched a double over the head of Nick Castellanos for a 98-mph double. He later capped off his evening with a lined-drive single to right at 96.7 mph.
Better yet, all three of his hits factored into White Sox rallies. José Abreu opened the scoring with a solo shot on a fastball from Latham's Jeff Hoffman in the second inning, but the Sox scored their other eight runs without the aid of a homer.
Hoffman almost got out of that second inning with no further damage with a pair of strikeouts, but Yasmani Grandal kept the inning alive with a walk, and Leury García followed with a single. Cease's infield chop loaded the bases, and Tim Anderson's rocket through the right side put two more runs on the board for a 3-0 lead.
An inning later, Yoán Moncada led off with a double and took third on a wild pitch, eventually scoring on an Andrew Vaughn sac fly.
Cease then kickstarted the next crooked number, following Garcíá leadoff walk with the butcher boy that put runners on second and third. Anderson lined a single to center that scored García, and while Cease stayed put on Madrigal's chopper back to the mound, Moncada eventually drove him in with a single to right. Madrigal, who reached on a fielder's choice, took third, and scored on an Abreu sac fly for a 7-0 lead.
And to cap off his night at the plate, Andrew Vaughn reached on a single that ate up Eugenio Suarez, took second on a Grandal walk, took third on Cease's third hit of the game two batters later, then scored on Madrigal's single to right. Abreu kicked in one more run on an RBI single off old friend Carson Fulmer in the eighth inning for the forfeit score, which the Reds might've considered if they knew what they were up against.
Bullet points:
*The game was delayed about an hour due to rain.
*The White Sox went 7-for-15 with runners in scoring position, compared to Cincinnati's 0-for-5.
*José Ruiz and Alex McRae closed out the game with three innings between them.
*Madrigal struck out for the third time all season, unable to hold up on a Hoffman slider out of the zone.
*Adam Eaton's struggles continued, as he struck out three times around an HBP. Billy Hamilton replaced him defensively. Expect a day off tomorrow.
