Dylan Cease Unpacks One of Worst Starts of Season for Padres

Not a strong game for Cease.

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres were shutout 7-0 on Tuesday by the Texas Rangers. The loss came in large part because of a disastrous pitching outing by Dylan Cease. Cease lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing at least one run in every inning. He gave up a total of eight hits, two home runs, two walks, and six earned runs before he was pulled.

“I didn’t execute well,” Cease said of the poor start, via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I really didn’t get anything going, didn’t give us a chance. So not a good night.”

This start was also disappointing because Cease was coming off one of his best starts of the season last week against the Washington Nationals. In that game, Cease pitched seven full innings and allowed just one hit and zero earned runs while notching nine strikeouts. It was a significant step up from his two starts before that, when he allowed 11 earned runs over the two games.

Still, Padres manager Mike Shildt also eased any concerns about Cease after the start. “Dylan is gonna be fine,” Shildt said. “We’ll take his start every time. Just wasn’t his night and wasn’t our night.”

It certainly would not have been easy to win with the performance from Cease, but it also doesn't help that the Padres had no offense the entire game. The Padres managed just two hits and zero walks or runs, so the Padres likely would not have gotten the win anyway with a better game from Cease.

Cease is still looking for the early season consistency that he had when he posted a 2.61 ERA back in April. His ERA has been above four in each month since, and he has a 4.24 overall ERA on the year.