Cease (3-6) struck out nine and picked up the win in Friday's 8-3 victory over the Rangers, allowing three runs on four hits and a walk over six innings.
It looked like the rookie was in for another shaky performance when Willie Calhoun blasted a three-run homer in the first inning, but Cease shook it off and shut Texas down after that, eventually setting a new career high in strikeouts while delivering his second quality start in nine trips to the mound in the majors. The right-hander will carry a 5.76 ERA and 50:22 K:BB through 50 innings into his next outing Thursday, at home against the Twins.