Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay Rays

Colson Montgomery has a team-best 25 home runs for a White Sox squad now holding a season-best three-game lead in the American League Central after a 6-1 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field on Friday. Munetaka Murakami ranks next at 24 homers, with that number slightly skewed by the powerful first baseman from Japan missing 35 games due to a Grade 2 right hamstring strain. Miguel Vargas trails close behind at 23 long balls. It’s a tough middle of the order for any opposing pitcher to attack. When they all go deep, as they did in this opener of a six-game road trip, the South Siders are tough to beat. “That’s kind of our identity,” said White Sox starting pitcher Erick Fedde, who earned the victory Friday. “We’ve kind of morphed into this slugging team and when the guys are hot and swinging like that, we are arguably one of the best lineups in the league.” “Having three guys who can hit the ball really well is always a threat to the opposing team,” said Murakami, through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “So we just want to continue that and contribute to the team win and keep going.” Vargas connected off Nick Martinez in the first, with a Statcast-projected 433-foot blast. Andrew Benintendi followed in the second, going a Statcast-projected 405 feet, and Murakami joined the club by going the opposite way on a breaking ball for a Statcast-projected 389 feet in the third. Murakami has reached base in 17 straight games and has four homers in six games after not previously homering since May 27. When Montgomery crushed one a Statcast-projected 425 feet in the sixth off the catwalk, Martinez (10-3) had equaled a season-high in runs allowed, having already surpassed his previous high in homers allowed (two). This is already the fifth time this season that Vargas, Murakami and Montgomery have homered in the same game, tied for the most all-time by any teammate trio in a season, per the Elias Sports Bureau. It’s the ninth game Murakami and Montgomery have homered together.