ANAHEIM, Calif. — With 10 strikeouts in six-plus innings against the Angels Monday, Dylan Cease extended the White Sox’ streak of 10-strikeout games all by himself to nine, the longest active streak in the majors.
It was a small consolation in a 2-1 walk-off win for the Angels, who scored the winning run on Aaron Bummer’s wild pitch with one out in the ninth.
Cease struck out Mike Trout swinging and Shohei Ohtani back-to-back in the first and sixth innings. In six-plus innings, he allowed one run on five hits, the run coming on Shohei Ohtani’s 446-foot homer in the third.
He had 10 and nine strikeouts in his previous two starts against the Dodgers and Rangers, and entered Monday with a 3.00 ERA over his previous eight outings.
The Sox managed three hits, including Luis Robert’s fourth homer in three games and his 22nd of the season against lefty Reid Detmers in the first. The Sox struck out 12 times.
“Our pitching was great,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “We have to put points on the board.
“That ninth inning gets magnified but one run is not going to cut it. That’s just the way it is in this league.”
Too close for comfort
Bummer has been far from the shutdown lefty the Sox need in the bullpen but he looked the part in a 4-1 win over the Red Sox Sunday, retiring all four batters he faced, including Rafael Devers on a flyout with two runners on to end the seventh and then pitching a perfect eighth against the 4-5-6 batters in the Red Sox lineup.
But when he entered in the ninth inning of a 1-1 game to face Ohtani after Reynaldo Lopez walked Trout leading off the inning, Bummer walked Ohtani and after a double steal on a pitch in the dirt, struck out Brandon Drury before a wild pitch scored Trout with the winning run.
Bummer’s slider and sinker are tough to handle, but he has found it tough to command those pitches, which explains in large part his 6.66 ERA in his first 32 games.
“Most of the time I’m fighting a battle against myself,” Bummer said before the game. “That’s the way it’s been my entire career. I know that if I make my pitches and execute and stay in positive counts, I’m going to be successful. Too many times I’ve fallen into bad counts, not executed pitches and sometimes you get whacked for it.”
Grandal OK
Catcher Yasmani Grandal did not start but passed all concussion protocols after taking a foul ball off the mask Sunday and entered the game in the eighth inning. Just in case, Triple-A catcher Carlos Perez was with the team.
Seby Zavala caught Dylan Cease but Grifol said Grandal would be available.
Zavala had caught four of 19 runners attempting to steal second base and Grandal six of 46. Pitchers have much to do with shutting down the running game as well and “we’re not very good at it right now,” Grifol said.
“As far as throwing guys out, we’re more focused on eliminating attempts and we’re OK at that, not great,” he said. We’re more focused on it, but at the same time we have a lot of room to get better.”
This and that
Infield prospect Jose Rodriguez was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte and outfielder Adam Haseley recalled from Charlotte.
*After playing second base Friday and Saturday and sitting out Sunday, Tim Anderson returned to shortstop for the first time in 10 days while nursing a sore right shoulder.
*Right-hander Jonathan Cannon will represent the Sox at the 2023 All-Star Futures Game in Seattle. Cannon is 5-1 with a 3.27 ERA in 12 starts for High-A Winston-Salem.