Dylan Cease had to deal with traffic in every inning of Tuesday’s start against the Kansas City Royals.
The Chicago White Sox right-hander made the big pitches each time.
Cease allowed seven hits and struck out nine in 5⅔ innings, leading the Sox to a 3-0 victory in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Kauffman Stadium.
“(The Royals) did a really good job of getting on,” Cease said. “There was a lot of traffic today, but fortunately I executed pitches with guys in scoring position pretty well and got some big strikeouts.”
Davis Martin watched Cease’s outing and then performed well in his major-league debut, a 2-1 loss in Game 2.
“Leading up to starting my routine, definitely nervous, definitely raring to go,” Martin said. “But once you get on the mound, it’s the fun part. The hard part is waiting all day to go. The fun part is getting out there and competing, seeing if your stuff plays at the highest level.
“Once you get on the mound, it was go time. And it was fun having Yasmani (Grandal) back there, a very veteran catcher who calms me down and helps me take it one step at a time and slows the game down for me a lot. He helped a ton back behind the plate.”
Martin allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk in five innings.
“What I liked about him, he keeps his delivery together, he has good composure,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “Checked every box as far as impressive.”
Martin said talking to players such as Cease before the outing was helpful.
“Seeing what he was doing and then picking his brain right after his start, it gives a huge advantage, a huge confidence boost for me,” Martin said. “Those guys have walked the walk, done the thing. Anything I can learn from those guys is what I want to do.”
Cease surrendered a season-high six runs in four innings in his last start Thursday against the New York Yankees. He bounced back, combining with four relievers for the shutout.
“He gave us all that he had,” La Russa said. “He got into the sixth with two outs and that’s outstanding.”
Cease faced challenges from the start, as Royals leadoff batter Whit Merrifield doubled in the first. He moved to third with one out, but Cease struck out Salvador Perez and Ryan O’Hearn to end the inning.
The Royals had runners on second and third with one out in the third. Cease again struck out Perez and O’Hearn.
“I have enough experience now to where I know when I’m doing too much and not enough,” Cease said. “It’s just staying the course and trusting it.”
All three runs came in the fifth, highlighted by a two-out, two-run double by José Abreu. The first baseman went 2-for-3 with a walk.
The Sox turned to reliever Joe Kelly with the three-run lead in the seventh. He allowed a double and two walks to begin the inning.
Kelly bounced back, striking out pinch hitter Carlos Santana (Perez left with a left thumb sprain) and O’Hearn and getting Dozier to pop out to second.
“His command you can tell, he hasn’t been here,” La Russa said of Kelly, who was on the injured list April 4 to May 9 as he recovered from a right biceps nerve injury. “He’s got outstanding stuff. He’s a great competitor. He’s got great guts.
“You see that pitch he made on Santana and O’Hearn. … He’s tough as nails. When he had to, he made pitches. It’s the sign of a champion.”
The Royals went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and struck out 14 times in Game 1.
“The way that I was taught to look at it is what did they have to hit,” La Russa said. “We pitched Perez (1-for-3 with two strikeouts) like the Hall of Famer he is. There were very few mistakes in RBI situations.”
The Sox had only four hits in the nightcap against Singer, who struck out nine and walked none in seven innings.
“Not only does he have talent but he made good pitches,” La Russa said.
After AJ Pollock doubled and scored on a groundout in the eighth to cut the Royals lead to 2-1, Yoán Moncada singled to left with Josh Harrison on second. But Andrew Benintendi threw out Harrison at the plate to end the inning.
“Two outs, secondary (lead), (Moncada) hit the ball and I’m ready to score and (third base coach) Joe (McEwing) waved me and it had to be a perfect throw,” Harrison said. “I still thought there might have been a chance as I was going around him (of) the ball possibly being dislodged or whatever. But he had to make a perfect throw and sometimes you live and die with that.
“I’m aggressive. Joe’s aggressive. We’re an aggressive team. I’m not ever looking to be shut down. We run until we are told to stop.”
Before the first game, the Sox selected Martin’s contract from Triple-A Charlotte, added reliever Kyle Crick from Charlotte as the 27th player for the doubleheader, placed starting pitcher Michael Kopech on the paternity list and transferred reliever Garrett Crochet (season-ending Tommy John surgery) to the 60-day IL.
Martin, 25, is 4-1 with a 2.50 ERA and 41 strikeouts in seven starts between Charlotte and Double-A Birmingham this year.
He allowed two runs or fewer in four of his five starts at Birmingham before being promoted to the Knights on May 5. He is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA and eight strikeouts in two outings with Charlotte.
“I just tried to take it one start at a time,” he said. “This year’s whole focus has just been getting one batter out at a time. That’s the only thing I can control, just going one at a time and not getting too far ahead of myself and really just enjoying the whole process of it.”
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