CHICAGO (AP) — Dylan Cease struck out 10, Yermín Mercedes homered and drove in three and the Chicago White Sox earned a 5-1 win to hand the Baltimore Orioles their 10th straight loss Thursday night.
Cease (3-1) threw a career-high 111 pitches and allowed one earned run over six innings. He stumbled following a 19-minute rain delay before first pitch, allowing a single and hitting a batter before retiring his next eight and 15 of the next 18.
Baltimore first baseman Trey Mancini was hit by a pitch in the first inning and left with a bruised right elbow. X-rays were negative. He entered Thursday second in MLB with 42 RBIs a year after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
Billy Hamilton gave Chicago a 2-1 lead with an RBI single grounded up the middle against Dillon Tate (0-2) in the sixth. Jose Abreu doubled in a run and Mercedes plated two more with a double in the seventh.
AL Central-leading Chicago bounced back after losing to St. Louis on Wednesday and still hasn't lost consecutive games at home this season.
Baltimore left-hander Bruce Zimmermann allowed a run and six hits over five innings after allowing five earned runs in three innings against the Washington Nationals on Saturday.
The 10th straight loss matched the Orioles' longest skid since dropping 10 in a row from June 12-21, 2019.
Mercedes hit his seventh home run of the season in the second inning, drilling Zimmermann's 3-0 fastball into left field to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
Freddy Galvis tied it in the fourth when he hit Cease's knuckle curve just over the right-field fence for his seventh home run of the season.
Cease allowed two hits to start the sixth inning before getting out of a jam with two strikeouts and a flyout to center field. The right-hander allowed four hits with two walks.
UP NEXT
Orioles right-hander Matt Harvey (3-5, 6.31 ERA) and White Sox left-hander Dallas Keuchel (3-1, 4.28 ERA) start Friday. Harvey has allowed at least five earned runs in his last three starts. Keuchel matched his shortest outing (4.0 IP) of the season against the Yankees on Sunday.
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