Dylan Cease ties White Sox record 10 strikeouts on Opening Day

Dylan Cease ties White Sox Opening Day record originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Dylan Cease impressed on Opening Day.

The 2022 Cy Young runner-up struck out 10 Houston Astros batters, including former teammate Jose Abreu, on Thursday. He tied Jack McDowell for the most strikeouts by a White Sox pitcher on Opening Day.

Cease got through 6.1 innings, allowing two hits and zero runs. He pitched 18 of 22 first-pitch strikes of the 86 pitches he threw in his first start.

You couldn’t chalk up a better start for the White Sox’ ace. He got right back to business as usual on the mound, picking up from the electric season he performed last season.

Some drew concerns from Cease’s spring training. He held a 7.31 ERA over the preseason. However, his poor performance on paper was due to one rough start, when he gave up 11 runs in one inning.

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Cease scorched batters with his mean fastball, peppering the Astros with his slider and knuckle curveball. His dominance over the World Series champions should signal how this season will go for Cease.

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