Cease strikes out 11, White Sox beat Royals 7-1
There's even more to like about the White Sox's pitching these days.
They have a pair of all-star starting pitchers in Lance Lynn and Carlos Rodon.
An all-star closer in Liam Hendriks.
Two young relief pitchers - Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet - who could be front-line starters sooner than later.
Add another all-star closer to the list - Craig Kimbrel. He was acquired from the Cubs in a major trade last Friday.
Kimbrel reunites with middle reliever Ryan Tepera, who came over from the Cubs in a deal the day before.
Trying not to get lost in the shuffle of quality arms, Dylan Cease got the start for the Sox Tuesday night against the Royals and delivered one of his better outings of the season.
"That was definitely one of my better ones," Cease said after allowing 1 hit over 6 shutout innings to go with 11 strikeouts, which tied a career high. "I still need to be a little bit more efficient but the stuff was good and to get through 6 was solid."
Backed by Andrew Vaughn's 441-foot home run in the second inning, Tim Anderson's 2-run shot in the third and a 4-run seventh fueled by four straight walks to open the inning, the White Sox rolled to a 7-1 win in front of 19,369 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
It remains to be seen how Cease fits into the Sox's postseason plans, but he should definitely be a factor with a current 8-6 record and 3.92 ERA.
"We're definitely confident in him," Anderson said. We know he's giving us everything he has. He had good stuff tonight. He was confident in all his pitches and he had a pretty good mix."
Eloy Jimenez returned to the Sox's starting lineup after missing four straight games with right groin tightness. Sidelined for four months after rupturing his left pectoral tendon late in spring training, Jimenez was just happy to be back, even if he was at designated hitter instead of left field.
"I'm very happy that I'm here so whatever they decide to do, I'm happy," said Jimenez, who was 0-for-4 in the win over Kansas City. "I'm still not happy being DH but in this situation I understand."
As he gets healthy and back into the flow, Jimenez wants to play left field as much as possible.
"I like to be in the field because I feel more in the game," he said. "I feel more in the game and I like to talk with the fans and all that. When I'm DH I can't do anything like that. If you don't play and you are DHing, sometimes it's boring, for me, not for other guys. But for me it's boring. It is what it is right now."
• White Sox broadcast legend Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 24 - one year late due to COVID-19 - will throw the ceremonial first pitch before Wednesday night's White Sox-Royals game at Guaranteed Rate Field.
• The Sox recalled relief pitcher Matt Foster from Class AAA Charlotte Monday. In 27 games over two stints with the White Sox this season, Foster was 1-2 with a 6.04 ERA.