CHICAGO -- James Shields said he had too many walks and erratic moments on Thursday, but the outcome was still quite encouraging for a pitcher who lost 19 games last year.

Shields allowed one run on two hits over 5 1/3 effective innings as the Chicago White Sox cruised to an 11-2 rout of the Detroit Tigers on a cool, but rain-free Thursday afternoon.

"Sometimes you have your really good stuff and sometimes you have your okay stuff," said Shields, who went 4-12 with a 6.77 ERA in 22 starts with the White Sox following a June 2, 2016, trade from the San Diego Padres. "Today, I didn't have the best stuff but I went out there and grinded it out.

Shields (1-0) struck out five and worked around five walks.

"I know he had a few walks today, but he was trying to attack the strike zone early," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "He was mixing his pitches well, secondary pitches, off speed, he was taking a little more off which was very effective for him."

Geovany Soto hit a three-run home run and a solo shot in his fourth career multi-homer game. Matt Davidson went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer and a triple in the finale of a season-opening series that was interrupted by two rainouts.

"It helps when the team's scoring runs for you early," Shields said. "It kind of gives you confidence to go out there and make some pitches."

The Tigers jumped to a 1-0 lead in the second as Tyler Collins sent Shields' 0-1 pitch to right for a leadoff homer.

The White Sox matched that run and more in the bottom of the inning off Tigers starter Matt Boyd (0-1), who allowed five runs and five hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Besides homering, Davidson also recorded his first career triple. He also scored on a sacrifice bunt by Jacob May.

Both runners advanced as Boyd had a throwing error to catcher James McCann. May then came home for a 2-1 lead on Tim Anderson's two-out single to left-center.

Soto made it 5-1 in the third with a one-out, three-run homer to left, scoring Avisail Garcia and Davidson and spelling the end for Boyd.

Boyd, who is 0-2 in four starts in Chicago, threw 80 pitches.

"I think Boyd was out of sync," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "(He didn't) have command of the fastball, breaking balls look flat. He didn't look as crisp as he did in Florida. I'm sure it's just a speed bump."

Chicago added four more runs in the fourth off Tigers reliever Anibal Sanchez, including a Davidson three-run homer.

Jose Abreu's sixth-inning single brought home Melky Cabrera with none out for a 10-1 lead. Soto made it 11-1 with a solo homer in the seventh off reliever Alex Wilson.

Detroit scored once in the eighth as Alex Avila's two-out double drove in Nick Castellanos.

Chicago produced an 11-hit attack as Anderson, Abreu and Garcia also had two hits apiece.

The Tigers had 10 baserunners but went 1-for-17 with men on base.

"We had some people on base but we just couldn't that big hit." Ausmus said.

NOTES: The Tigers send RHP Michael Fulmer, the 2016 AL rookie of the year, to the mound against the Boston Red Sox in Friday's home opener at Comerica Park. Fulmer was 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA and 132 strikeouts last season. Two rainouts this week led Tigers manager Brad Ausmus to shuffle his pitching rotation as RHP Jordan Zimmermann moved from an original Wednesday start to Saturday. LHP Daniel Norris goes on Sunday while RHP Justin Verlander (1-0) gets his second start of the season in Monday's series finale. ... Chicago placed RHP Jake Petricka on the 10-day disabled list (strained right lat) on Thursday, retroactive to April 5, and called up RHP Tommy Kahnle from Triple-A Charlotte. ... After having two games postponed this week by rain and cold, conditions are expected to improve as the White Sox host the Twins in a weekend series with temperatures in the mid-50s on Friday and mid-70s by Sunday. ... LHP Derek Holland makes his White Sox debut in Friday's series opener against Minnesota.