The Chicago White Sox have won four straight games. They had a huge comeback win over the Houston Astros on Monday night to get this incredibly hard series off on a good note. Now, they are hoping to see Dylan Cease dominate yet another start and get them a win.
He is hoping to have a strong performance as it could lead to him taking over the lead as the Cy Young favorite. Justin Verlander, the other top candidate, is going to be starting for the other side in this one which makes it the best matchup of the season.
It is incredibly rare to see the two guys battling for the Cy Young be scheduled to start against one another on the same night. It is truly amazing baseball theatre. You can’t ask for a better set of starters as a baseball fan.
People who support one of the White Sox or Astros might be a bit nervous about it but it is going to be extremely exciting for other fans around the world. Two of the game’s best are coming for the center of the baseball stage.
The Chicago White Sox needs Dylan Cease to show up strong in this one.
Both teams have starting lineups that are capable of spoiling this and turning it into an offensive fire show. Houston’s offense has certainly been better than Chicago’s in 2022 but the White Sox are starting to prove that they can score runs in bunches when things are going well for them.
Cease hasn’t given up more than one run per start in 14 straight appearances. It has been a remarkable run for him that he desperately wants to keep going in this game. If he can shut down Houston’s offense, the White Sox will have a great chance to win.
For beating Verlander, guys like Eloy Jimenez, Andrew Vaughn, Jose Abreu, Yoan Moncada, and Yasmani Grandal amongst others need to take pitches and work counts. If they do that, they might have a fighting chance against one of the game’s best.
As far as the Cy Young Award goes, there are a lot of factors in play here. There are still about 50 games left which means anything can happen. Verlander has the comeback story behind him for voters and Cease has all of the historic runs behind him.
The head-to-head matchup could be something that works for or against either of the two. Both of these guys need to go out there in this one and avoided getting smacked around. An incredible pitcher’s duel could be on the horizon.