Murakami's AL-leading blast, Romo's 2-run shot get White Sox back to winning ways

CHICAGO -- The White Sox have feasted on the long ball this season.

Entering Monday, they had scored 48.1% of their runs via the home run, which ranked second in the Majors.

However, during their six-game West Coast road trip, they hit just four solo home runs, scored 24 runs and went 2-4 against the Mariners and Giants.

The White Sox went back to their mashing ways upon their return to Rate Field on Monday, clubbing a pair of home runs -- a solo blast from Munetaka Murakami and a two-run shot from Drew Romo -- to beat the Twins 3-1 in the series opener.

Murakami’s AL-leading 18th home run came in the bottom of the first on a 97.5 mph four-seamer by Twins starter Zebby Matthews, tying the game after Brooks Lee had given Minnesota a lead in the top of the frame. It left the bat at 105.7 mph, traveled 375 feet and would have been a home run in every MLB park but Fenway.

The slugging first baseman’s home run was a welcome sight for White Sox fans. He had been in a home run drought by his standards -- the Japanese rookie went seven games without a long ball, the second-longest stretch without one since an eight-game stretch in April. Murakami’s was his first since a two-homer game against the Cubs on May 16.

An inning later, Romo hit his fifth of the season to give the White Sox a lead they would not relinquish.

Murakami also made a bit of history on Monday with his teammate, Rikuu Nishida. The White Sox became the third team in MLB history to have two Japanese-born position players in the same starting lineup with the duo, joining the Phillies (2008) and Mariners (2012). Nishida, making his MLB debut, collected his first Major League hit in the fourth on a single to center field.

The two blasts were enough support for White Sox starter Anthony Kay, who settled in after Lee’s first inning home run by turning in six innings of one-run ball on five hits with five strikeouts.