Dylan Cease ties White Sox record in Opening Day victory
Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease wasted little time getting his 2023 campaign off on the right foot.
On Thursday, the White Sox ace delivered a dominating effort in a 3-2 win over the defending World Series Champion Houston Astros. Cease posted 10 strikeouts in the victory, tying the franchise mark for K's by a White Sox pitcher on Opening Day.
The franchise mark had been held by Jack McDowell, who stood on the podium alone for over three decades before Cease joined him. For his part, McDowell fanned 10 Baltimore Orioles in 1991.
After giving up a lead-off single to Jeremy Pena in the first inning, Cease retired 19-straight Astros batters. However, he began to flag after throwing 81 pitches, hiting Yordon Alvarez and giving up a base hit to former teammate Jose Abreu before ceding the mound to reliever Aaron Bummer.
All told, the 27-year-old right-hander allowed only one earned run off two Astros hits through 6.1 innings. Unfortunately for Cease, he had to settle for a no-decision after leaving the game during a scoreless tie.
While Cease left the Astros baffled at the plate, the White Sox offense took the better late-than-never approach. Tied at 1-1 in the top of the ninth, Andrew Vaughn played hero, driving in two runs with a double to push the White Sox a 3-1 advantage.
Cease's impressive outing helped Chicago snap a four-game Opening Day losing streak. He was also the first White Sox pitcher not named Lucas Giolito to take the mound for the opener Since Carlos Rodon in 2019.
After a career year, Cease is already showing the flashes of brilliance that made him one of the American League's best pitchers last season. For the past campaign, Cease went 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA in 32 starts while finishing second to Justin Verlander for the AL Cy Young Award.
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