Running on caffeine, Cease fights off cold to strike out 8

CHICAGO -- A 7-3 victory for the White Sox over the Giants on Wednesday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field might be one of the more action-packed games the South Siders play this season, let alone this month.

Let’s take a look at a few of the occurrences.

Cease at less than 100 percent

Dylan Cease walked five over five innings and 99 pitches after not issuing a single free pass during his masterful performance against the reigning World Series champion Astros at Minute Maid Park on Opening Day.

But there might have been a reason for Cease being less than sharp against San Francisco.

“He was under the weather today,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He battled, he gave us everything he had. Didn't have a good night last night, but I commend him for the effort that he gave us. He gave us what we needed to navigate through that game.”

Cold-like symptoms kept Cease from getting a good night’s sleep on Tuesday. But the ace right-hander played down the effects of the malady, smiling and adding that caffeine got him through the start.

“A good amount. Hopefully I can sleep tonight,” Cease said with a laugh. “Yeah, some coffee, some Red Bulls, mix it up.”

In general, Cease wasn’t happy with his pitch execution against the Giants. He was able to execute in big spots.

With the bases loaded in the third, after Joc Pederson’s line drive right at Andrew Vaughn tore the webbing of the first baseman’s glove for an error, Cease struck out Mike Yastrzemski looking on a 1-2 slider. Cease struck out eight overall, and the only hit he allowed was a J.D. Davis home run in the second.

“It's walking that tightrope, which I've done before and I'm pretty good at doing it, but it's just not going to consistently get me through 6, 7, 8,” Cease said. “We got the win, which is great, but I just didn't execute very well.”

White Sox pitchers walked nine total. Only one of those resulted in a run.

Anderson exits early

Tim Anderson is the energy behind this White Sox team, but that energy earned the shortstop his eighth career ejection and one he might not have deserved. Anderson was facing Giants starter Logan Webb with a 1-2 count in the third when he appeared to step out of the batter’s box.

No time was granted, and Webb threw a third strike right down the middle with Anderson not near the plate. Anderson shook his head as he walked back to the dugout and made his complaints known as Luis Robert Jr. was hitting and eventually called out on a borderline pitch.

According to Webb, those complaints were meant for him and not for home-plate umpire D.J. Reyburn, who ejected Anderson.

“He called time and he got back in the box. He was looking at me, I was looking at him, so I started my windup,” Webb said. “I wasn’t trying to quick-pitch or anything, but he took it that way, I guess. So he was yelling at me from the dugout for five straight pitches.

“I looked at the dugout more than a couple of times -- once, during the Robert at-bat and then after [his] at-bat. You can probably see what I said. He was just yelling back at me. I don’t necessarily think he should have gotten tossed. He was talking to me. He wasn’t talking to the umpires.”

Elvis Andrus moved from second to shortstop in Anderson’s absence and knocked out his 2,000th career hit with a single during a two-run fifth inning.

“He got called out on strikes,” Grifol said of Anderson. “I think he was OK with the strikeout, but emotions are emotions. That's what makes him good, man. That passion that he brings. I have no problems with it at all."

No Eloy? No worries

The White Sox placed Eloy Jiménez on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to April 4) with a low-grade left hamstring strain, and the power-packed designated hitter is estimated to miss 2-3 weeks. The offense didn’t miss a beat, though, with Robert knocking out three hits and Andrew Benintendi, Gavin Sheets and Yoán Moncada finishing with two apiece.

“People don’t have an idea how much this team can hit,” Andrus said.

“I’m excited about the opportunity,” said Sheets, who added three RBIs. “I talked to skip today and it’s about making the most of every opportunity you get.”