Murakami streak – Munetaka Murakami’s homer streak ended, but Andrew Benintendi’s 9th-inning blast capped a red-hot White Sox road trip after Davis Martin’s strong start.
PHOENIX — A rare quiet at the plate from Munetaka Murakami didn’t break the White Sox’s momentum. In the desert, Andrew Benintendi stepped forward late, delivering a three-run homer in the ninth to seal a 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks and finish a successful trip.
The streaky heat at the heart of Chicago’s lineup was impossible to miss for nearly a week. and Thursday became the first day it didn’t fully show up the same way.. For the first time in almost a week. the White Sox didn’t get a home run from Murakami. Colson Montgomery. or Miguel Vargas. even though the rest of the offense kept finding ways to move runners.
Benintendi’s swing did the heavy lifting when the game tightened.. With the Sox still in striking distance. the veteran took Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald deep in the ninth inning. turning a close contest into a comfortable finish.. The blast didn’t just add runs; it also matched the tone the Sox have carried lately—trusting timing. staying aggressive. and making contact count.
Murakami’s recent production had reached a franchise-record level. with him homering in five straight games as part of a rare simultaneous run by three teammates.. Montgomery stretched his own stretch to four straight. and Vargas kept going as well. all of it happening at once in a way that had not previously shown up in Major League Baseball history.. Thursday snapped that rhythm. and even the outs and near-misses stood out—Vargas. for example. put a ball in the air that fell just short of the stands.
What remained, though, was the connective tissue between the hitters.. Manager Will Venable framed the difference less as luck and more as chemistry that keeps building.. When players share approaches in meetings. recognize the same patterns in pitch selection. and believe in one another’s adjustments. runs tend to show up in clusters—exactly what Chicago has been experiencing on this road trip.
Starting pitching added another layer to the win.. Davis Martin delivered another performance the team could build around, trading zeros into the middle innings while working through traffic.. He finished his outing after giving up hits that kept Arizona connected to the at-bats. but he also struck out seven and kept the damage controlled.. Venable pulled him in the seventh after a walk and six hits through 6⅓ innings set up the next phase of the bullpen.
Grant Taylor came in and managed the final stretch before Benintendi’s late homer decided things.. The Sox have been treating those bullpen moments like opportunities rather than interruptions—clean frames that hold the lead. preserve the game for the lineup. and let the hitters continue to press.. Martin’s own comments captured the mental shift that has helped him recently: he described responding well after a rough moment. trusting defense. and competing without drifting.
There’s a broader story here that goes beyond a single series.. Chicago’s offense has surged in a relatively short window. and the numbers have matched the eye test: during the six-game road trip. the Sox boosted their overall offense by a dramatic amount while scoring heavily and hitting multiple home runs. with the bulk coming from the top of the order.. That kind of output tends to change how opposing pitchers plan—when teams believe their best hitters are a threat in every at-bat. the margins get thinner for everyone else.
For fans, the most noticeable shift is the confidence.. It’s one thing to win with occasional big swings; it’s another to create the feeling that scoring is inevitable when the lineup comes to the plate.. Benintendi. reflecting on the early-season rough patches that many hitters face. described the discipline of not panicking when averages look ugly early on.. When a lineup starts to click, he said, it pays to take advantage while the rhythm lasts.
The streak ending is a reminder that baseball doesn’t pause for narratives.. But it also raises the question of what happens next: if the Sox can win when the franchise-record run pauses. that suggests their success isn’t only dependent on one player.. The real test will be whether the clubhouse can keep the same shared approach once the spotlight moves off one hot run and onto the next matchup.
For now. Chicago leaves Phoenix with momentum headed back to Chicago. energized by a rare combination—strong starting work. steady bullpen execution. and a late homer that arrived exactly when the game needed it.. In a sport where slumps can appear quickly. the ability to stay dangerous even with the streak over may be the clearest sign that the White Sox’s current surge is more than a flash.