Munetaka Murakami hit two home runs to lead a five-homer barrage and right-hander Davis Martin delivered six strong innings as the host Chicago White Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs 8-3 on Saturday.
The White Sox regrouped from Friday’s 10-5 loss to even the crosstown series at one game apiece while improving to 6-2 on a nine-game homestand.
Murakami, in his first major league season, highlighted the power display with his first career multi-homer game. Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery each went deep for the second straight night while Andrew Benintendi contributed his first round-tripper since April 23.
Miguel Amaya had two hits for the Cubs, including a solo homer. Pete Crow-Armstrong capped the scoring with a two-run blast in the ninth.
Vargas vaulted the White Sox to an early lead with a three-run shot in the first, jumping on a 1-1 pitch from Cubs starter Jameson Taillon.
Murakami drilled a solo shot to center with one out in the third. Montgomery followed with a solo home run two batters later.
Murakami stretched the advantage to 7-0 with a two-run blast in the fifth, his American League-leading 17th home run of the season. Benintendi chased Taillon from the game with a solo shot to open the sixth.
Martin (6-1) retired the first nine Cubs before Nico Hoerner singled to lead off the fourth. Amaya led off the sixth with a solo shot and the Cubs put two men in scoring position with one out before Martin escaped further trouble with strikeouts of Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki.
Martin spaced one run and five hits in six innings with zero walks and seven strikeouts.
Taillon fell to 2-3 after allowing a career-high five homers. He yielded eight runs on eight hits in five innings with one walk and two strikeouts.
Alex Bregman and Amaya both had two hits for the Cubs, who left seven men on base.
Sam Antonacci, Murakami and Benintendi had two hits each for the White Sox.
The game was delayed 13 minutes in the bottom of the fourth after home-plate umpire Brian O’Nora took a Jarred Kelenic foul ball off the mask near his jaw. O’Nora left the game to undergo further testing. Erich Bacchus took his place behind the plate.
