CHICAGO -- The focus of a 9-3 White Sox victory over the Twins on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field will fall upon José Abreu, whose two-run homer in the sixth inning put the team ahead for good.

Reliever Garrett Crochet also will receive deserved attention after picking up his first career victory, brought about by replacing Matt Foster with runners on first and third and one out in a tie game in the sixth and retiring Mitch Garver on a flyout to shallow right and striking out Luis Arraez looking with a nasty slider.

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But White Sox manager Tony La Russa wanted to make sure Dylan Cease’s starting effort wasn’t overlooked as the White Sox won a fourth straight, improved to 14-5 in their past 19 games and jumped to a season-high seven games over .500 at 20-13 atop the American League Central.

Cease had his 14-inning scoreless streak ended via a three-run second, but he gave the White Sox a chance by battling through five with seven strikeouts and a career-best 20 swings and misses, per Statcast.

“As soon as he got through the fifth, I thought we had a great chance to win,” La Russa said of Cease, who has a 2.80 ERA this season. “He deserves a huge pat on the back.

“After that rough second, he showed so much composure and toughness. That’s the first place we won the game, because he held that game and got himself back together and competed his butt off. We had a bunch of guys help.”

That three-run second for Minnesota featured a Jorge Polanco solo home run and Cease hitting Ben Rortvedt with a 1-2 slider to force home a second run with the bases loaded. Earlier this year, that might have let the game slip away a bit more for the right-hander. But his mound presence and composure now clearly match his immense raw ability.

Cease stranded two runners in the third and struck out the side in the fourth. With runners on second and third and two outs in the fifth, Cease fanned Polanco looking for his seventh strikeout on a 75.8 mph changeup, checking in at 20 mph less than his top fastball.

“I don't know if normal's the right word, but I like where it's at right now,” Cease said of his changeup. “I'm not searching for mechanics at all.

“It's a matter of, 'Where do I have to aim this pitch?' And if I didn't execute the previous pitch, it's trying to feel out, 'What happened here? Did I yank it? Did I do this, did I do that?' Right now, it's really not a whole lot of thinking. It's just going out there and competing."

Yasmani Grandal’s three-run homer off Kenta Maeda tied the game in the second, setting up Abreu’s sixth-inning heroics.

Abreu connected on the first pitch following a walk to Yoán Moncada from reliever Jorge Alcala, launching the slider for his 205th career homer and RBIs No. 698 and 699. He had a chance for another homer taken away by center fielder Max Kepler leaping over the wall to make the grab and ending the third.

Abreu’s seventh homer of the season also was his 98th career home run at Guaranteed Rate Field, tying him with Jim Thome for fourth-most in ballpark history, and the fourth-most by a White Sox player. He is 11 shy of tying Magglio Ordóñez (109) for third place, while recording his 16th career go-ahead home run in the sixth inning or later.

During this first matchup between the 2021 AL Central preseason favorites, the White Sox showed at least for one night they appear to be the team to beat. Minnesota fell to 12-21 overall and eight games behind the White Sox, looking a bit in disarray, as the Twins finished 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and their bullpen allowed six runs in three innings.

It’s only May 11, and as La Russa mentioned before the game, this three-game series certainly won’t decide either team’s fate. Nonetheless, the Twins will need a week or two just to get close to .500 and -- maybe more to close the gap with the White Sox.

“We're feeling great. Any time you can be at the top of the division and be on a nice streak like we are right now, it's about as good as it gets,” Cease said. “These games are huge. And those teams, it's never easy, so when you walk away with a win, you feel accomplished. There's really no better feeling in the world.”

“You start building some confidence,” La Russa said. “You start understanding how we won those games. ... Just as long as you don't lose an edge.”