Surging Cease powers White Sox to 3-0 win vs. Angels
If it really is true you have to beat the best to be the best, Dylan Cease is in a pretty enviable spot.
Not only did the White Sox's emerging starter overpower the Angels in a 3-0 win at Guaranteed Rate Field Monday afternoon, Cease struck out Mike Trout all three times he came to the plate.
"It definitely means a lot," Cease said. "He's maybe the greatest player of all time, so anytime you can get him out it's definitely a confidence booster."
Among his 11 strikeouts over 7 innings, Cease got Trout - the perennial American League MVP candidate - swinging on a 96-mph fastball in the first inning, swinging on a 97-mph fastball in the fourth and looking on a 77-mph changeup in the seventh.
"I have so much respect for him," Cease said. "Like I said, anytime you get him out it's something you can brag about. I'm definitely grateful. I stayed pretty even-keeled today. I think it's best to just focus on what you've got to do.
"If you sit there and think, 'Oh my God it's Mike Trout,' it's going to be hard to get him out. I was just staying focused on what I had to do and it worked out well. It'll definitely be cool to look back on for sure."
Cease is the first pitcher to strike out Trout three times in a game since Taijuan Walker on Aug. 7, 2016.
"He had command of everything," Angels manager Joe Maddon said of Cease. "He normally walks more people. He had command of his fastball, command of his curveball, knuckle curve, whatever that is. He threw a couple changeups in there, but primarily he commanded the strike zone and had really stellar stuff."
Liam Hendriks struck out Trout in the ninth inning while combining with Cease and Kendall Graveman for the shutout. In 1,308 career games, Trout has only had seven four-strikeout games.
"You're talking about one of the best hitters, not only just currently in the game, but possibly in history," Hendriks said. "And he doesn't swing and miss too often. I've heard some people say his approach is he goes out there and sits on the pitcher's best pitch. Well, Cease has five different best pitches, it's unbelievable."
Brimming with confidence after going 13-7 with a 3.91 ERA and striking out 226 in 165⅔ innings last season, Cease is showing early signs of taking his game to an even higher level this year.
After what he described as the best start of his career "by far" Monday, the 26-year-old righty is 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA and 39 strikeouts over 29 innings this season.
"Everything that he threw was electric and he was in the strike zone," White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson said. "If you stay right there then the sky's the limit for him."
The Sox (9-13), who salvaged a split in the four-game series vs. Los Angeles, took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on AJ Pollock's RBI groundout and Jake Burger's sacrifice fly.
Adam Engel's run-scoring double in the sixth completed the scoring.