Cease strikes out 10 for South Bend

Dylan Cease was confident that his start would smooth out after he cleared his first hurdle. The frustrating part was that he built the blockade himself.
"Just a poor first inning, honestly. Other than that, it was all right," Cease said. "It was just one of those innings where I was just bad. So after that, I was able to settle down. Honestly, besides that first inning, that was the best my fastball command has been all year."

The Cubs' No. 3 prospect tied his career high with 10 strikeouts and allowed a run on two hits over 4 2/3 innings Saturday as Class A South Bend defeated Fort Wayne, 4-1, to earn a doubleheader split at Parkview Field.
Box score
Cease ran into early trouble, sandwiching walks to Jack Suwinskiand Fernando Tatis Jr. around a single by Reinaldo Ilarraza to load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the first inning. After a mound visit, Cease registered his first punchout, getting G.K. Young to go down looking on three pitches.
The right-hander wasn't out of the woods as Eguy Rosario drew another walk to push across a run for the TinCaps. He eventually got out of the inning on 32 pitches by fanning Brad Zunica and getting Webster Rivas to fly out.
"Honestly, I think you just need to keep attacking the zone," Cease said. "You can't try to sit there and change or make an adjustment every single pitch because you'll never get in a rhythm, so it's more just, keep getting after it and eventually it will come."
Cease struck out the side in the second and added two punchouts in both the third and fourth innings. The 10 strikeouts tied the career high he established in a five-inning start  for Class A Short Season Eugene last Sept. 5. 
"It's really just fastball command, that's what it comes down to," Cease said. "Pretty much just being able to get ahead with it and then go down-up and then if I get 1-2, 2-2, I got plenty of spots I can throw to and pitches to throw."

After striking out Suwinski on his 91st pitch for the second out in the fifth, the 21-year-old Georgia native exited. He fell one out shy of qualifying his first Midwest League win.
"I would have loved to have pitched, but the pitch count drove me out," Cease said. "It was my fault anyway -- I threw 30-whatever pitches in the first inning, so I can't complain."
Matt Swarmer (2-1) worked the final 2 1/3 innings, scattering three hits and striking out four.
Kevonte Mitchell doubled, singled and drove in a pair of runs for South Bend, which lost the first game, 7-3.