Munetaka Murakami highlighted a nine-run fourth inning with a bases-clearing double, Davis Martin coasted to his fifth straight win and the Chicago White Sox opened a three-game road series with a 9-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.
Andrew Benintendi had a two-run double and major-league hit-by-pitch leader Sam Antonacci got plunked twice and scored twice in the same inning, helping the White Sox win for the ninth time in their last 12 games.
Giants starter Trevor McDonald (2-1) had traded zeroes with Martin (7-1) for three innings before hitting Antonacci with his third pitch of the fateful fourth.
Murakami also got hit three pitches later, and after a one-out infield single by Colson Montgomery, McDonald walked Chase Meidroth to open the scoring.
Benintendi’s double made it 3-0, and after a run-scoring infield out and an RBI single by Derek Hill made it a five-run uprising, McDonald was pulled with two on and two outs.
Ryan Borucki came on and hit Antonacci – his 10th HBP of the season – to load the bases for Murakami, who went the opposite way for a three-run hit that blew the game open at 8-0.
Murakami then scored on an infield single by Miguel Vargas, giving the White Sox nine runs in an inning in which they had only five hits.
Martin lost his shutout bid in a three-run fifth, then was pulled two outs into the sixth, having allowed a fourth run to score. He gave up six hits and two walks in his 5 2/3 innings, striking out seven.
McDonald was charged with seven runs in 3 2/3 innings despite allowing just three hits and one walk. He struck out four.
Murakami and Antonacci scored twice apiece for the White Sox, who posted all five of their hits in the fourth.
Luis Arraez had an RBI single among two hits for the Giants, who have lost four straight and seven of nine.
–Field Level Media
