Cease (4-3) allowed six runs (none earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out eight across 4.2 innings to take the loss Thursday against the Dodgers.
Cease started off with four scoreless innings, though things unraveled in his final frame. He got into a jam on his own by allowing a pair of one-out baserunners but wasn't helped by an error committed by third baseman Jake Burger (leg). After the miscue, Cease struck out the next batter but then gave up two doubles, a walk and an infield single prior to being yanked. While he's worked around a lack of control in recent starts -- he's handed out 14 free passes across his last 16.1 frames -- things game to a head against the Yankees. Given that all the runs he surrendered Thursday were unearned, Cease still owns a 3.14 ERA and 89:33 K:BB across 63 innings on the season.