Cease, Chicago White Sox overcome sluggish start in win over Angels
Usually, it's Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria or pitching coach Don Cooper going out for the early mound visits with Dylan Cease.
On Sunday, it was bench coach Joe McEwing.
Serving as acting manager for the third straight game as Renteria recovers from rotator-cuff surgery, McEwing bounded out of the dugout with one out in the second inning and Cease mired in yet another early jam.
"Well, Coop and I were having a conversation on the bench and I said, 'If he doesn't get this guy, we're going to get him,' " McEwing said. "Coop said, 'Go out and talk to him.' When I went out, I said, 'What do you got?' (Cease) goes, 'I got this, I got this.' "
With the bases loaded and one down, Cease struck out Shohei Ohtani and got Albert Pujols to fly out, escaping a jam and helping make the Sox's eventual 5-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels possible.
"It's just something that if I'm going to put them on, I've got to clean up my mess and figure out a way to get through it," Cease said. "I prefer not to throw so many balls and put guys on bases. But at the end of the day, as long as I keep fighting I usually get through it."
Once he gets into the flow, Cease is as good of a young starting pitcher as you're going to find. But as he nears the end of his rookie season with the White Sox, Cease is still struggling to find his rhythm.
Heading into Sunday's start, Cease had a 10.64 ERA in the first inning and a 12.27 ERA in the second.
The 23-year-old righty kept the scoreboard damage to a minimum Sunday, but Cease didn't last long after throwing 33 pitches in the first inning and 33 more in the second.
"It was more of a battle today," he said. "I think I went through a stretch where I had a feel for them (pitches), but definitely not good enough with my fastball command."
Cease pitched 3⅓ innings and allowed 1 run on 4 hits and 5 walks while throwing 88 pitches, with 42 missing the strike zone.
"Every time he's able to take the mound it's a positive because he's continuing to get reps at the big-league level," McEwing said. "You're competing against the best players in the world every single day. He was able to get through it. It's another chapter to where he needs to be."
Jose Abreu put the Sox in front 2-1 in the third inning with a solo home run (No. 31).
Danny Mendick upped the lead to 3-1 in the fifth with his first major-league homer.
"It was cool," Mendick said. "I got a good pitch, it was 3-1. He (Angels reliever Jaime Barria) threw me a slider that didn't really slide and it stayed inside and I got the barrel to it. It felt good. It felt great. I'm glad I could do it here."