Simplicity Itself

Dylan Cease hurled seven shutout innings, and Luis Robert Jr. went the opposite way in the ninth inning, putting a ball just this side of the Pesky Pole down the rightfield line at Fenway. White Sox win, 1-0. This is Cease when he wants to pitch, which hasn’t been often this season—no walks and eleven strikeouts on 108 pitches. But, unlike the story on the team website today, best not to get too excited about Cease becoming only the third Sox pitcher in team history with three or more seasons of 200-plus strikeouts. Jerry Reinsdorf says his team won’t be signing pitchers to ten-year deals anytime soon, and Cease will be a free agent after 2025. Better to enjoy the luck Robert had. If he were a left-handed hitter, right fielder Alex Verdugo would’ve been shaded closer to the line and might’ve had a play on the ball before it landed in the seats all of 311 feet from home plate. Why, it’s almost enough to make up for Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada going a collective 0-for-8 with four strikeouts (two apiece) or Jake Burger hitting a three-run homer for the Marlins. Almost.