By now, you heard about Thursday night in Chicago White Sox land. They blew a 4-0 lead and lost the contest in the 11th inning. Of course, that means that they blew a chance to win a series over a fantastic team.
Luis Robert, Jake Burger, Eloy Jimenez, and Andrew Vaughn all had home runs in the contest but it wasn't enough thanks to a game-tying grand slam by Chris Taylor. Freddie Freeman was the hero in the 11th for the Dodgers.
Yes, the White Sox lost the game. Dylan Cease was not the losing pitcher on the scoresheet. He was credited with the no-decision but even that doesn't feel right. Cease would have also been given the no-decision even if the White Sox won in extras innings.
He deserved to be the winning pitcher. He only went 5.1 innings pitched as Pedro Grifol pulled him just over 100 pitches in. That might have been a mistake.
The Chicago White Sox failed Dylan Cease as their starter once again.
Cease came out with one out and two runners on base. Reynaldo Lopez came in, walked a runner, and allowed the Taylor grand slam. Cease might have ended up allowing a run but it is fair to think he wouldn't have allowed the slam by Taylor.
Pitchers can't even be allowed to finish an inning anymore if they reach a certain number of pitches. It just doesn't seem right that this is what the league has become.
He deserved to win the game for doing a very good job against a Dodgers lineup loaded with elite players. It isn't fair that Lopez allowed that big blast and Cease was handed a no-deicision.
This is typical White Sox baseball, however. You might even remember way back when Chris Sale and Jose Quintana were getting handed no decisions in losses with semi-regularity. It is never fun to watch but it happens all the time.
Cease will have another chance to earn a big win next week when the White Sox take on the Texas Rangers. That should be an incredibly fun series to watch as it is loaded with fire-power.
Hopefully, this is a turning point for Cease as he tries to get back to his 2022 level. He hasn't been bad but we know he can be even better.