Cease (11 K's) finishes strong, White Sox roll 

CHICAGO -- The White Sox have an issue, in that they have too much top-flite pitching.

Take Dylan Cease, as an example, who picked up his eighth win of the season during Tuesday night’s 7-1 victory over the Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field. The right-hander matched a career high with 11 strikeouts in six innings of work, with his fastball topping out at 98.9 mph per Statcast, and marking his sixth career double-digit strikeout effort and his fifth this season.

Cease now has 149 strikeouts over 114 2/3 innings in his 22 starts.

So how is that a problem, one might ask? Well, it really isn’t, except when it comes time for the White Sox brass to decide the four-man starting rotation for the postseason as Chicago raised its American League Central lead to 9 1/2 games. Otherwise, it’s really just an ongoing issue for the opposition.

“That was definitely one of my better starts. I still need to be a little bit more efficient. But you know my stuff was good and to get through six was solid,” Cease said. “I think I’m taking something out of every start. So, for me it’s still just consistency, but I do feel like I’m getting stronger at this point.”

“There toward the end, he did the shut it down thing,” manager Tony La Russa said. “He got better as he went along. Very impressive start. Much-deserved win."

Cease only had one trouble spot in the third inning, when the Royals had runners on first and third with one out. Cease kept them scoreless, and then exited on a high note.

In the fifth inning, Cease threw a total of 10 pitches to retire the side in order. He then struck out Carlos Santana, Salvador Perez and Jarrod Dyson during the sixth at the end of his 103-pitch, one-hit outing.

“Feel like I kind of had a little dip in my command like the second, third and fourth. I kind of wasted a lot of pitches,” Cease said. “But yeah, I finished strong. It means a lot to me and it’s solid. That last inning, I felt like I was definitely in control of where the ball was going. It’s hard to beat that.”

“Definitely a confidence builder when you know he’s going to take the mound and give it everything he’s got and compete,” White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson said. “Going to make the guys behind him play for him as well knowing he’s going to give it everything he has.”

Tuesday’s contest marked Cease’s first start since July 27 in Kansas City, when he allowed two earned runs and struck out six over six innings. All five of the White Sox starters are getting extra rest as they push toward October, a strong plan they easily can execute with a magic number of 48 to clinch the division title.

“Oh, I feel great right now,” Cease said. “They’ve done a really good job of giving me the extra couple of days every once in a while. But for the most part, I feel really good. I just have to keep trending.”

Andrew Vaughn and Anderson provided the offense against Kansas City starter Kris Bubic. Vaughn went deep in the second, a blast to left-center that traveled a projected 441 feet with an exit velocity off 111 mph, per Statcast, while Anderson hit a two-run shot to right in the third.

A four-run seventh put the game out of reach, thanks in part to four straight walks from relievers Kyle Zimmer and Richard Lovelady to start the frame. Anderson singled home a run and José Abreu singled home two, giving him a sixth season (out of eight) with at least 80 RBIs.

At 38-18, no team has a better home record or more home victories than the White Sox (63-44). They are providing a plethora of big moments for fans to enjoy, and the fans, in turn, are providing needed ballpark electricity.

“We’re at home. That’s where you’re most comfortable. Our ballpark,” Anderson said. “And playing in front of our fans. They’re going to cheer us on as well. They really bring the energy and we feed off them. We got a win for them tonight. Stayed in all nine.”

“You can’t deny the fact that you have a little bit more comfort at home, but I think another big thing is just how electric the atmosphere is with the fans,” Cease said. “We definitely feed off that energy.”