Munetaka Murakami wallops slam as White Sox rout A's

Munetaka Murakami launched a towering grand slam and Davis Martin tossed seven solid innings to help the Chicago White Sox trounce the Athletics 9-2 on Friday night at West Sacramento, Calif.

Murakami and Andrew Benintendi (one RBI) each had three hits and two runs as Chicago matched its highest scoring output of the season. The White Sox had scored the second-fewest runs in the majors (60) entering the contest.

Colson Montgomery had two hits and two RBIs, Edgar Quero and Luisangel Acuna each had two hits and one RBI and Chase Meidroth also recorded two hits for Chicago, which had lost eight of its previous 10 games. The White Sox had 15 hits in the opener of the three-game set.

Martin (3-1) gave up one run and three hits while pitching seven innings for the second straight turn. He struck out four and walked two.

Nick Kurtz and Andy Ibanez drove in runs for the A's, who lost their second straight game.

Aaron Civale (2-1) allowed five runs and 11 hits over 4 2/3 innings for the Athletics. He struck out four and walked one.

The White Sox led by four runs with two outs in the seventh when the Athletics' Elvin Alvarado walked Meidroth and Acuna and allowed an infield single to Benintendi.

Murakami then walloped a full-count fastball 431 feet to center field that cleared the high batter's eye beyond the wall to give Chicago a 9-1 advantage.

Benintendi led off the game with a double and scored on Montgomery's two-out two-bagger.

In the third, Murakami, Miguel Vargas and Montgomery started the inning with singles to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, Quero's RBI grounder plated Vargas.

Davis retired the first 10 Athletics he faced before Acuna lost a fly ball hit to center by Shea Langeliers and it bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double. Kurtz followed with his RBI single to get the A's on the board.

Acuna and Benintendi hit back-to-back run-scoring doubles in the fifth to make it 5-1.

After Martin exited, the A's pushed across a run in the eighth against Doug Nikhazy when pinch hitter Ibanez's groundout scored Max Muncy. Nikhazy pitched a scoreless ninth to end the four-hitter.

--Field Level Media