Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease threw a scoreless first inning for the American League while mic'd up in the MLB All-Star Game. While on the mound, Cease wore a microphone and communicated directly with Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers and Joe Davis and John Smoltz in the FOX broadcast booth. This allowed viewers to hear his thoughts and game strategy in real time as he faced batters.
Cease began the inning by facing Kyle Schwarber, whom he struck out swinging for the first out. He then faced Juan Soto and secured a second consecutive strikeout, also swinging, to quickly put two outs on the board. After tossing a pair of strikes to Soto, Cease could be heard asking, "Front door sinker is probably a bad idea, huh?" before responding to himself, "Let's do it." Smoltz even called a pitch at one point during the inning.
The next batter, Freddie Freeman, drew a walk to temporarily extend the inning and put a runner on first base. Cease recovered by facing CJ Abrams, getting him to strike out swinging to end the inning and secure the final out. Cease has thrown 15 consecutive scoreless innings in his last two starts for Toronto, having allowed just four hits and four walks while striking out 20.
He has been stellar in the first year of a seven-year contract he signed as a free agent during the offseason. In 17 starts, Cease has a 2.56 ERA with 148 strikeouts in 98 1/3 innings. The American League took a lead in the first inning, scoring three runs off Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez, who pitched in the top half of the frame for the National League.
