The Chicago White Sox won two of three against the Detroit Tigers in the season-opening series at Comerica Park. Here are four takeaways from the series.

1. Tim Anderson contributed quickly after returning from his suspension.

Manager Tony La Russa inserted Anderson at the top of the lineup for the first time this season Sunday.

“Happiness,” La Russa said before the game. “With all letters in caps. … He’s our igniter.”

Anderson was out the first two games, serving a suspension that was handed down in the final week of the 2021 season. The All-Star shortstop didn’t waste any time contributing, doubling on the game’s first pitch.

“I waited two days to swing at the first pitch,” Anderson said. “(Tigers starter Tarik Skubal) gave me something good to handle and I didn’t miss it.”

Anderson scored on a grounder by José Abreu to give the Sox a 1-0 lead.

He singled in the third and doubled in the seventh, finishing 3-for-5 with two runs in the 10-1 victory. The seventh-inning double was the 150th of his career.

Anderson enjoyed being back on the field with his teammates.

“I was at the hotel watching the game with nobody around,” he said. “I was definitely bored. But for the most part, I learned a little bit watching from the outside looking in and definitely watched from a different view.

“But I was just excited to get back out there for sure.”

2. Dylan Cease continued his impressive stretch against the Tigers.

Cease said he felt like a “one-trick pony” Saturday, relying on his slider.

“But we won, so it was solid,” he said.

Cease gave the Sox a lift, allowing one run on two hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in five-plus innings in the 5-2 victory. According to MLB Statcast, 36 of his 79 pitches were sliders. He got nine misses on 15 swings with the pitch.

“Sometimes you have those games where you’ve got to compete with what you’ve got,” Cease said.

Cease’s outing included four consecutive strikeouts, with three coming in the fourth and one to begin the fifth.

Pitching coach Ethan Katz called it “a great first start.”

“There were things we already talked about that we want to improve a little bit,” Katz said Sunday, “but for start No. 1, it was what we needed and a good way to get started.”

Cease continued an impressive stretch against the Tigers, improving to 9-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 10 career starts against them.

3. Relievers Bennett Sousa and Tanner Banks had weekends to remember.

Sousa was the first pitcher out of the bullpen Friday after starter Lucas Giolito exited because of abdominal tightness on his left side.

The left-hander came through in his big-league debut, retiring the side in order in the fifth.

“It was a dream come true,” Sousa said before Saturday’s game. “I’ve been wanting to do that my whole life, and for it to happen (Friday) was awesome.

“I was super locked in, just trying to do my job for the team.”

The Sox called on Sousa again Saturday, and he pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings while recording his first major-league strikeout.

“Since being here, I’m more focused than ever. It’s pretty easy (to focus) when you’re pitching in the major leagues,” Sousa said after Saturday’s game. “But I’m just trying to not get too amped up and stay within myself and do the things that made me successful thus far.”

Sousa is one of three left-handed relievers on the roster with Aaron Bummer and Banks. Lefty Garrett Crochet is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Banks made his major-league debut Sunday, striking out four and walking two in the final two innings.

“I told myself, ‘You are only going to debut once,’” Banks said. “When I came out of the bullpen gate, I just told myself, ‘Deep breath. Breathe it in. Enjoy this moment.’ And I started to get a little emotional. I was like, ‘Keep it together. You’ve got to go perform.’

“I wasn’t nervous per se, but I needed to collect myself a little bit. The first strikeout, (Spencer) Torkelson, gave me that confidence boost that I needed. Kind of that reassurance. After that I was able to pitch my game and attack the way I wanted to. It was a matter of settling those little bit of nerves.”

4. The Sox racked up runs in the first inning.

Eloy Jiménez had an RBI single in the first Friday and a two-run single in the first Saturday. Both hits came with two outs.

In Sunday’s first inning, Anderson scored on Abreu’s grounder and Jiménez brought home Luis Robert on a sacrifice fly.

“You see the lineup and if we get good pitches to hit, we can jump out on people real quick,” Anderson said.

It’s the fourth time in franchise history the Sox scored in the first inning in each of their first three games. They last did it in 2007.

“That’s one of the most impressive things we did (in the series),” La Russa said. “Being ready to hit offensively. Give the hitters a lot of credit — I do whenever I can. (And) I think the preparation of our (hitting) coaches, Frank (Menechino) and Howie (Clark), was impactful and the players know that they’ve got real good support there.”

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