CHICAGO -- With a 5-1 victory over the Royals on Saturday afternoon, the White Sox clinched their first winning homestand of the 2023 season.

Chicago (18-29) improved to 4-1 in a stretch of 19 games where it will face the American League Central 16 times, trying to dig out from a significant early-season hole.

“We’re still well under .500. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito said after earning his third victory of the season. “In this division, I think that [if] we keep playing the way we’re playing, we’ll be in a good spot. That’s about it.”

Here’s a look at three significant moments from Saturday’s victory:

Home cooking
Let’s be honest: Jake Burger is hitting the heck out of the ball pretty much anywhere he plays. But his home numbers are among baseball’s best.

Burger delivered a bases-clearing double off Royals right-hander Jose Cuas with one out in the sixth, extending his hitting streak to a season-high six games. He is now hitting .355 at home this year, with four doubles, one triple, nine home runs and a total of 21 RBIs.

“Yeah, I mean, there’s nothing I can describe or explain,” said Burger of his home dominance. “I love playing in front of our fans. It’s always fun interacting with them. It definitely makes me feel at home. Hopefully I can transition that to the road.”

The designated hitter connected on a slider low and out of the zone against Cuas. Getting the ball in the air and trying to add some distance to what was a one-run game helped Burger’s approach.

“It’s one of those situations [where] you step up and you don’t want to ground into a double play, take the bat out of our hands,” Burger said. “You have to stay through the middle, and fortunately I got the pitch to do that.”

Making the plays
There were five standout defensive plays made by the White Sox to keep the Royals (14-33) at bay and help Giolito keep his pitch count down. The most impressive came in the second, when first baseman Andrew Vaughn completed a 5-3-5 inning-ending double play by nailing Nick Pratto going from second to third after Freddy Fermin’s groundout.

The result of this play surprised White Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada, who took the throw from Vaughn.

“Honestly yes, because I wasn't expecting the runner to come to third, and Vaughn made a really good throw,” said Moncada through interpreter Billy Russo. “I was able to make a good tag, too.”

“Massive,” Giolito said. “Finding outs like that is so huge because you’re taking runners off the basepaths, keeping my pitch count down. I [can] continue to keep going, going, going. Really made my job much easier.”

Right fielder Adam Haseley made a diving catch to take a hit from Michael Massey to open the third. And Luis Robert Jr. threw out Fermin at second on pinch-hitter Edward Olivares’ apparent single to center, turning a bases-loaded, one-out situation into runners on the corners with two outs.

“We put it together as a club,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “Big hits when we needed them. Really good starting pitching. Good bullpen, good defense, good baseball."

Starting strong
Giolito allowed one run over six innings with four strikeouts, meaning the White Sox rotation has put together five straight quality starts during their 4-1 run. The starters are piggybacking off each other’s excellence.

“I had a tough act to follow today. Michael [Kopech] was brilliant last night. That was so fun to watch,” Giolito said. “That’s what he can do. I’m looking forward to seeing him continue to do that as he continues to find his consistency. It’s true though, we want to go out and have fun and do better than the last guy.

“Obviously, we want to see each other shine, but having that competition and having that camaraderie, the five of us, we’re a tight group. Just continuing to motivate each other and support each other and keep doing our thing.”

The bullpen took over after Giolito threw 89 pitches. Garrett Crochet, Reynaldo López, Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman allowed one hit and one walk over three scoreless, with Kelly having retired 28 of the last 29 hitters faced.

“Can’t wait to see them keep that up,” Giolito said. “I’m liking where our starters are at; I think this turn we all went deep. Keep going on that same path.”