San Diego Padres Peg Dylan Cease as Game 4 Starter With Trip to NLCS at Stake

Dylan Cease will start Game 4 of the NLDS for the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, manager Mike Shildt confirmed Tuesday night.

The Padres took a 2-1 lead in the series Tuesday, holding down the fort to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5. A win on Wednesday would send San Diego Padres to the NLCS for the second time in three years and move them one step closer to their third pennant in franchise history.

Cease started Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday, giving up five earned runs across 3.1 innings of work in the eventual 7-5 loss. That was Cease's first appearance of the postseason – he had been scheduled to face the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series before the Padres completed the two-game sweep.

Following his lackluster outing last weekend, the 28-year-old right-hander owns a 12.00 ERA and 2.167 WHIP in his postseason career.

This will mark Cease's first start in a potential clincher, as well as his first big league start on just three days' rest. Regardless, he told MLB.com's AJ Cassavell and others that he was ready to rise to the occasion.

"I’m looking forward to it," he said. "I’m excited. I’ve never done it but that doesn’t really mean anything to me. Doesn’t mean I can’t do it."

San Diego acquired Cease in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago White Sox back in March, adding the 2022 AL Cy Young runner-up to their rotation at the tail end of Spring Training. Cease went on to go 14-11 with a 3.47 ERA, 1.067 WHIP, 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.2 WAR in the regular season, even tossing a no-hitter on July 25.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, are making Game 4 a bullpen game. Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Emmet Sheehan and Gavin Stone are all injured, leaving Los Angeles with a shorthanded rotation.

Jack Flaherty is on two days' rest, while Walker Buehler just pitched on Tuesday. Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who started Game 1 for the Dodgers, will likely be held off until Game 5, if the team can survive that long.

Cease and the Padres will have a chance to go for the throat Wednesday night at Petco Park, with first pitch scheduled for 9:08 p.m. ET.

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