Yermín Mercedes homered and drove in three runs and Dylan Cease struck out 10 in six innings, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Billy Hamilton drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single in the sixth, and the Sox tacked on three runs in the seventh to win the opener of the four-game series in front of 9,671.
The homer was his seventh of the season and first since the May 17 solo blast against Minnesota Twins utility player Willians Astudillo on a 3-0 pitch in the ninth of a blowout win that set off the “unwritten rule” debate.