The Chicago White Sox began the season with an impressive four-game split against the Houston Astros.
Here are four takeaways from the series against the 2022 World Series champions at Minute Maid Park.
1. Pedro Grifol liked the ‘grit’ the Sox displayed.
“We were playing the world champions in a tough environment, a tough place to play,” the first-year Sox manager said after Sunday’s 6-3 victory. “And we had chances to win all four games.”
The Sox opened the season with stellar pitching from Dylan Cease and a timely late hit by Andrew Vaughn for a 3-2 victory.
They had leads in the second and third games before falling 6-3 and 6-4. The Astros had big two-out hits in both games.
The Sox rebounded Sunday, getting homers from Luis Robert Jr. and Yoán Moncada. They had double-digit hits in all four games.
Moncada had eight hits in the series, including two homers and three doubles. Tim Anderson had seven hits and stole two bases.
All four starters — Cease, Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito and Mike Clevinger — came through. They combined to allow five earned runs in 22 innings, striking out 30.
“Our pitching was really good,” Grifol said. “We played well and I think we showed them we’re a pretty good ballclub too. I was proud of our guys.”
2. Reminders paid off for right fielder Oscar Colás in his debut.
Colás said he was “very tight” after being called on to hit for Romy Gonzalez in the seventh inning Thursday.
“But I told myself, ‘Relax, you’ve done this before,’” Colás said through an interpreter. “I did it and I was able to hit the ball.”
Colás ripped a single up the middle in his first major-league at-bat. He went 1-for-2 Thursday and became the first Sox player since Joe Hall in 1994 to record his first major-league hit as a pinch hitter.
He’s the fifth Sox player since at least 1961 to record a pinch hit in his first career plate appearance, according to Elias.
“First time playing (with) that many people,” Colás said. “It was loud. But I told myself, ‘I’ve worked for this,’ and then, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Colás went 5-for-14 in the series. He went 2-for-5 with his first RBI on Sunday.
“I’ve learned through these four days a lot of stuff,” he said. “Playing against a full house with this crowd for the first time. Learning about specific situations of the game. I’m learning. I think it was a very good experience for me.”
Clevinger said Colás “saved the day” by catching a sinking liner with two on and two out in the fifth Sunday.
“This guy is going to be a dynamic player,” Grifol said.
3. Dylan Cease joined ‘The Big Train’ with his opening-day gem.
Cease struck out Alex Bregman on a 97 mph fastball. He struck out the next hitter, Yordan Alvarez, with a curveball. He went to the slider to strike out José Abreu to end the first inning.
The right-hander was locked in from the start Thursday, retiring 19 straight after allowing a leadoff single to Jeremy Peña. Cease allowed one run on two hits with 10 strikeouts and no walks in 6⅓ innings.
“I felt really calm, much more calm than I thought I was going to,” Cease said of his first opening-day assignment. “And I really just focused on what I wanted to do. And fortunately I was able to execute at a high clip.”
He became the fourth pitcher in American League history with no walks and at least 10 strikeouts on opening day, joining Hall of Famers Walter “Big Train” Johnson (1916) and Mike Mussina (1998) and Jered Weaver (2012), according to ESPN Stats.
Cease didn’t factor in the decision, but he set the tone for the 3-2 victory.
“They’re one of the best teams around, so to go toe to toe with them and put that much pressure on them and then to ultimately walk out with the win, you couldn’t ask for more,” Cease said. “We played clean baseball. It’s not like they beat themselves. We couldn’t ask for a better start to a season.”
4. The Sox briefly come home.
Monday marks a number of firsts for Michael Kopech.
It will be the right-hander’s first start of the season, his first career start against the San Francisco Giants and his first time starting the home opener.
Kopech will be the 10th Sox pitcher to start the home opener since 2014. He had a 3.01 ERA in 13 home starts last season, limiting opponents to a .157 average.
“I want to be able to just treat it like it’s any other start,” Kopech said after his final spring training start on March 28 against the Cubs in Mesa, Ariz. “The first one of the season is always a little bit of jitters. I know firsthand that the electricity of a Chicago crowd when it’s really bumping is something different.
“I am looking forward to it, I’m excited about it and hopefully we can give the fans something special to start the year.”
Monday’s game was moved up by one hour to 2:10 p.m. because of inclement weather forecast in the late afternoon and evening. It’s the start of a three-game series before trips to Pittsburgh and Minnesota.
“I think our guys are going to really enjoy (the home opener),” Grifol said. “We all are.”
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