Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery homered to key a go-ahead sixth-inning rally and Miguel Vargas had two hits as the host Chicago White Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 on Saturday.
Chicago earned a series victory against the reigning American League champion Blue Jays, losers of four of five after winning three straight to start the season.
Seranthony Dominguez worked around a leadoff walk and pinch-hit single in the ninth to pick up his first save.
Murakami drove in three runs, including the first of the afternoon on an RBI sacrifice fly in the first inning. That staked left-hander Anthony Kay to an advantage before he entered the game.
Kay followed opener Grant Taylor, who retired the Blue Jays in order in the top of the first. Kay walked Kazuma Okamoto to begin his outing before settling in. Toronto threatened in the fourth inning, loading the bases with one out, but Kay escaped trouble by getting a pair of fly-ball outs.
The Blue Jays broke through with a pair of runs in the sixth, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smacked his first home run of the season, a two-run blast to left-center. Kay exited after retiring Okamoto on a groundout one batter later. He scattered two runs and three hits in 4 1/3 innings with two walks.
Chicago answered the Guerrero Jr. blast quickly, reaching left-hander Brendon Little (0-2) for three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Vargas led off with a double and Murakami followed with his first home run at Rate Field and fourth of the season. A former slugger in Japan’s Central League, Murakami signed a two-year, $34 million contract with the White Sox in December.
Montgomery homered two batters later for a 4-2 Chicago lead. The Blue Jays loaded the bases in the seventh with one out but scored just one run. Nathan Lukes flied into a sac fly double play, and Myles Straw scored before Chicago erased Tyler Heineman at third.
Heineman, the Blue Jays’ catcher, committed a throwing error in the eighth that allowed two runs to score for the final margin.
Chris Murphy (1-0) got the win, allowing one run and two hits in one inning of relief.
Toronto placed catcher Alejandro Kirk (left thumb fracture) on the 10-day injured list before the game.
–Field Level Media
