DETROIT -- The White Sox already have lost right-handed starters Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito, left-handed reliever Garrett Crochet, third baseman Yoán Moncada and right-handed reliever Ryan Burr to injuries, and the team has yet to play a full weekend during the 2022 regular season.

Let’s not forget outfielder AJ Pollock, who logged four hits in his first two games with the White Sox, but left with tightness in his right hamstring in the third inning of a 5-2 victory over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park. Not exactly an ideal opening for a team with serious World Series aspirations, but it also gives an extra emphasis to the phrase “next man up” for a squad that dealt with significant injury issues in 2021 as well.

"Pretty much,” said catcher Yasmani Grandal, who belted a two-run home run in the victory. “At least all the teams that I've been on that have had the same problem. It's always the next guy up and we've got guys in the Minor Leagues that can do the job, guys that might open some eyes. We're excited for those guys to come up."

“I think just not getting that mentality of feeling bad for ourselves,” winning pitcher Dylan Cease said. “It's one of those things that's unfortunate, but we're not going to sit here and feel sorry for ourselves. We still have plenty of talent to get it done."

Cease against Detroit was the perfect weekend combination for the White Sox after they let a lead evaporate and lost in walk-off fashion during Friday’s season opener. He was a consistent starting force in 2021 with 226 strikeouts and 12.3 K/9, but with Saturday’s victory, he’s now 9-0 lifetime against the Tigers in 10 starts.

Detroit managed one run on two hits in five innings off Cease, who had a scoreless road streak of 17 1/3 innings dating to Sept. 25 of last season come to an end. He fanned eight, striking out Javier Baez, Jeimer Candelario and Miguel Cabrera in the fourth, and Jonathan Schoop to start the fifth.

Even when Cease walked two after the Schoop strikeout, he managed to quickly get matters settled and put up another zero.

“Honestly, I don't think my execution was great today,” said Cease, who recorded 13 swings and misses and nine off his slider, per Statcast. “Sometimes you have those games where you kind of have to compete. I got a little sporadic at times. … But at the end of the day, it's good to get the win."

“Overall, it was just a solid performance from him,” Tigers catcher Eric Haase said. “We were really one hit away from blowing it open. We had him on the ropes a couple different times, stringing together a lot of good ABs, just needed one kind of punch to get us rolling.”

Right-hander Kendall Graveman and closer Liam Hendriks were not available due to high pitch counts and two bullpen warmups each in the opener. So the relief work fell upon rookie Bennett Sousa, pitching in back-to-back games to start his career, Reynaldo López and José Ruiz to get the baseball to Aaron Bummer with a three-run lead in the ninth.

Cabrera and Schoop singled to start the last inning, but Bummer bounced back to strike out the side. The flat ground work Bummer did earlier Saturday with assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler helped get his slider in sync and helped avoid a repeat of Detroit’s comeback on Friday, when Bummer threw 24 pitches as well.

“Sometimes you get punched and it’s a matter of whether or not we can punch back,” Bummer said. “It’s a long season. So, trying to stay healthy and continue to do things the right way and get the job done as much as we can. That’s the goal.”

Shortstop Tim Anderson returns from a two-game season-opening suspension for Sunday's rubber game at Comerica Park, and the White Sox will get Giolito, Moncada, Lynn and Burr back sooner than later. Reliever Joe Kelly also is gradually on his way after dealing with a nerve issue in his right biceps.

So fortunes will improve for the White Sox, as long as they can hold things down in the interim.

"When the starters start going down, then the ‘pen has to pick up the slack,” Grandal said. “And then vice versa, once the starters are back, then the ‘pen can take a breather. We're going to take it one day at a time, get whatever it is that we can get from the starters and then go to the ‘pen."