BASEBALL: Munetaka Murakami homes again as White Sox top Angels

Munetaka Murakami delivered a standout performance with three hits, three runs scored, and his 14th home run to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 6-0 shutout win over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night in Anaheim, California.

Miguel Vargas also went deep as Chicago defeated Los Angeles for the fourth time in the past eight days. The White Sox have now won six of their last seven games to move within one game of .500.

Andrew Benintendi went 4-for-4 with an RBI, while Jarred Kelenic added three hits. Vargas and Sam Antonacci contributed two hits each as Chicago piled up 16 hits in the game.

Davis Martin (5-1) was dominant on the mound, allowing five hits over seven shutout innings. He struck out a career-high 10 batters without issuing a walk, earning his third straight win. Martin has allowed one run or fewer in five of his last six starts.

Sean Newcomb closed out the game with two perfect innings and four strikeouts to complete the shutout.

On the other side, Angels starter José Soriano (5-2) struggled for the second straight outing after beginning the season with a strong 0.24 ERA through six starts. He allowed five runs on eight hits over four innings, striking out five and walking three. His ERA rose to 1.74.

Nolan Schanuel and Travis d’Arnaud each had two hits for Los Angeles, which has now lost 13 of its last 15 games.

Chicago set the tone early, scoring twice in the first inning after Chase Meidroth and Benintendi delivered RBI singles. Murakami and Vargas then broke the game open in the fourth with back-to-back home runs, extending the lead to 5-0.

The White Sox added another run in the eighth, as Murakami, Vargas, and Colson Montgomery strung together consecutive two-out singles to close out the scoring.

-Field Level Media/Reuters