Cease, White Sox shut down Angels

CHICAGO — Dylan Cease struck out 11 to match a career best and gave up just one hit in seven sparkling innings, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 win over the Lost Angeles Angels on Monday.

Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout struck out in all four at-bats, three against Cease. The Angels star, who homered and doubled in a win Sunday to raise his OPS to a whopping 1.247, fanned against Liam Hendriks to end the game.

Cease called it “by far” the best start of his career. “(Trout) is pretty much one of the greatest players there’s ever been,” Cease said. “You try not to think about that too much. You’ve kind of got to go in knowing what you’ve got to do. I kind of had a plan and stuck to it.”

Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani didn’t start, a day after making an early exit because of groin tightness. The reigning AL MVP grounded out as a pinchhitter in the eighth.

The White Sox won for the third time in 12 games. Los Angeles has won seven of nine.

Cease (3-1) threw 64 of 93 pitches for strikes and walked none. Taylor Ward got the only hit against him, a leadoff double in the fourth.

“Still a long way to go, we’ve got a lot of season, but (Cease) takes the mound knowing that we’ve got a chance to break even (in the series),” White Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “He’s embracing the pressure, which is really a great sign of what he can do for this organization, this year and in the future.”

Cease’s most recent 11-strikeout performance came on Aug. 29, 2021, against the Chicago Cubs.

Kendall Graveman pitched the eighth and Hendriks recorded his fifth save in the combined two-hitter.

Cardinals 1, Royals 0: Paul Goldschmidt hit an early home run and Steven Matz and the St. Louis bullpen made it stand up, leading the host Cardinals over Kansas City.

Goldschmidt connected with one out in the first inning against Zack Greinke.

“It’s nice to relax and come in fresh today,” Goldschmidt said. “It’s a long-term benefit. We’re in the middle of 20 in a row and 30 of 31, so it was a great time for it.“

It was the 71st career homer in the first inning for Goldschmidt and that ranks third among active players. Teammate Albert Pujols is first with 154.

“It was a bad pitch to him,” Greinke said.

The Royals lost their fourth in a row overall, and have dropped 21 of their last 28 to St. Louis.