CHICAGO -- The previous three starts for White Sox ace Dylan Cease were  …

Uncharacteristic for the 2022 American League Cy Young runner-up? Off the mark for the right-hander? Too early in the season to make a true value judgment?

“They were pretty bad,” said Cease with a laugh.

That pretty bad stretch ended on Saturday during a 3-1 victory over the Astros at Guaranteed Rate Field. After allowing 17 earned runs over his last 14 innings against the Rays, Twins and Royals, Cease struck out five and walked two over six scoreless innings.

Houston scored in the seventh to tie the game and leave Cease with a no-decision. But the start was a step in the right direction.

“Finally, I think some of the work going into it paid off. Any time you get a win and hold them scoreless, it’s fantastic,” Cease said. “Just working on some mechanical stuff to help me execute more consistently.

“I think especially after that first [inning], I was able to get into a rhythm with it. It finally became kind of automatic, like it should be when everything is going well. Basically, it was just executing.”

In that first inning, Cease allowed two singles and walked José Abreu on eight pitches to load the bases with two outs for Jeremy Peña. But Peña grounded out to third baseman Yoán Moncada to end the inning.

It was a 26-pitch opening frame.

“We had chances to get to Cease early,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “If you don’t get him early, then he gets tougher as the game goes on."

“He was pretty locked in from pitch one,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “Again, every outing, you're going to have a crisis once or twice. He had it in the first inning with two outs. He made pitches, and then he was able to settle down from there with two outs and continue to do what he did.”

Of Cease’s 97 pitches, he threw 44 four-seam fastballs and 42 sliders. He recorded six swings-and-misses on both of those pitches, according to Statcast, and was in the zone consistently with his fastball.

“I just got in a good flow with it, which is basically when you can kind of trust what your body’s doing, that the ball’s going to get delivered there,” Cease said. “Then it really just becomes all focus on the little things, [like] where you’re aiming them, what are you doing, all different stuff. Being able to get in such a good rhythm with my body kind of allowed me to really loosen up and focus on other things.”

“Six innings [of] shutout ball. Mixed all of his pitches, attacked with his fastball to both sides of the plate. That's the Dylan that we all know,” Grifol said. “He felt good coming in. He felt good during the start; he felt good last start to this start. The work he put in between [starts] -- there was some good work being done -- and it was good to see him go out there and execute.”

As Cease continues to work his way back from a rough stretch, entering Saturday with a 5.58 ERA, the resurgent and now dominant month of May continued on for Luis Robert Jr. He homered for the second straight game and drove in Moncada with the go-ahead single during a two-run eighth, giving him five RBIs in his last three games.

Robert now has five homers, 13 RBIs and 13 runs scored in 12 games this month, during which the White Sox are 6-6. He also made a sliding catch in center to end Saturday’s contest and a three-game losing streak for the White Sox (14-27).

“[Robert has] got every tool,” said White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, who had three hits along with Moncada. “It's just a matter of continuing to try to be consistent with it. If he can be consistent with it, he can be for sure [a] top five [player] in the game."

When Cease pitches as he did vs. the Astros, he rightfully stands as one of the game’s best. It was a good overall look for a struggling White Sox team as well.

“If we play like that consistently, we’re going to be pretty deadly,” Cease said. “We’re showing what we’re capable of. Now it’s just consistency with it.”