Sam Antonacci delivered a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and Munetaka Murakami homered as the host Chicago White Sox edged the Washington Nationals 5-4 on Friday.
Seranthony Dominguez worked around a Luis Garcia Jr. double in the ninth for his sixth save, sending the Nationals to their third straight loss.
Garcia had two hits for the Nationals, while Miguel Vargas had a pair of hits for the White Sox, who have won four of their last five.
After producing two baserunners against White Sox opener Bryan Hudson but failing to score, the Nationals broke through for a second-inning run against Erick Fedde. Garcia had a sacrifice fly after successive singles and a fielding error gave Washington two runners in scoring position with one out.
Murakami blasted a solo home run against Nationals bulk reliever Miles Mikolas in the fourth to tie the game at 1.
Murakami’s club-leading 11th homer marked his sixth round-tripper in the past seven games. Murakami tied Paul Konerko’s 2010 franchise record for most home runs hit in March and April.
Washington answered with two runs in the fifth despite Nasim Nunez getting picked off on an attempted steal of home. Daylen Lile worked a run-scoring walk after catcher interference and another walk loaded the bases. Brady House hit an RBI forceout to score Drew Millas and give the Nationals a 3-1 lead.
Chicago drew to within 3-2 on Colson Montgomery’s RBI single in the sixth. An inning later, the White Sox capitalized on wildness from Washington’s Riley Cornelio in his major league debut to take the lead.
Cornelio walked the first two batters he faced and committed an error on a bunt single that allowed the tying run to score. The White Sox took a one-run lead on Andrew Benintendi’s sacrifice fly before House hit a game-tying homer against Jordan Leasure leading off the Washington eighth.
Leasure (2-0) was the winner, yielding one run and one hit in one inning with a strikeout.
Cornelio (0-1) allowed three runs (two earned) and two hits in two innings. He had four walks against one strikeout.
Fedde permitted three runs (one earned) and three hits in 5 2/3 innings with four walks and a strikeout.
Mikolas spaced two runs and four hits in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out one.
James Wood walked three times for Washington.
–Field Level Media
