Murakami, Vargas and C. Montgomery homer in a rare, fifth-game feat for the White Sox

The White Sox found another way to separate a good start from a big night on Friday, beating the Rays 6-1 at Tropicana Field. Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery were central to the swing of momentum, each coming through with homers in the same game, a convergence the club described as rare enough to be placed in “rare company” after it occurred for a fifth time together.

The significance of that group homering goes beyond the box score detail. The publication noted that the Rays swept Chicago earlier in the season at Rate Field on April 14-16, dragging the White Sox to a 6-13 record at the time. Framed against that early low point, Friday’s win read as evidence that the team has been able to build momentum and produce at a higher level for longer stretches since.

In the game itself, the White Sox turned a matchup into a statement through power, repeatedly forcing Tampa Bay to respond to damage rather than recover. The described homering trio helped make those moments cumulative, and the final run line reflected the control Chicago maintained once the game tilted.

Nick Martinez, listed in the report as the Rays’ pitcher for the evening, also figures into the story mainly as the opponent of record for the White Sox’s offense. When an offense can land three homers in a night against the starting pitching of record, it is usually less about one swing and more about sustaining pressure across the lineup, and that is the through line implied by the “together” framing of the homers.

What makes the “fifth game” note notable is that it treats the three-player homering pattern as a kind of statistical marker. Instead of one isolated outburst, the report suggests a repeatable lineup outcome, which is the kind of pattern that tends to matter as a season progresses and managers look for consistency from the same group of hitters.

For White Sox fans, the timing adds another layer. Coming months after an early-season sweep that left the team with a 6-13 record, Friday’s win at Tropicana Field shows Chicago can still impose itself in late-season travel and interleague matchups. The next practical question is whether the homering connection can keep showing up as the Rays adjust pitch sequencing and the Sox’s order continues to face lineups with different scouting priorities.

For the Rays, the lesson is straightforward: even in games where the opponent’s scoring is concentrated, the cost of allowing damaging contact quickly becomes a deficit that can be hard to erase. Chicago’s three-man homering moment, repeated enough to reach “rare company” status and connected to a fifth such game, made that point in tangible fashion and sets the bar for what Tampa will need to prevent in their next meetings with the White Sox.