ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays swept the White Sox at Rate Field back on April 14-16, dropping Will Venable’s crew to a 6-13 record at the time.
That was the low point of this otherwise tremendous 2026 season for the South Siders. A 6-1 victory over the Rays and Nick Martinez at Tropicana Field on Friday night serves as one of the many high points to take place since that day more than three months ago.
Dialing long distance did the job for the White Sox, who at 58-51, equaled their season-best at seven games over .500. Miguel 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 Munetaka Murakami joined the club by going the opposite way a Statcast-projected 389 feet in the third.
When Colson Montgomery crushed one a Statcast-projected 425 feet in the seventh for his 25th homer this season, Martinez (10-3) 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 Colson Montgomery have homered in the same game, tied for the most all time by any teammate trio in a season, per Elias Sports.
The other trios that have achieved that include:
2019: Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Joc Pederson (Dodgers)
2018: Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy, Joc Pederson (Dodgers)
2016: Manny Machado, Mark Trumbo, Chris Davis (Orioles)
2005: Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, Jeromy Burnitz (Cubs)
2004: Jose Valentin, Paul Konerko, Joe Crede (White Sox)
2002: Robin Ventura, Alfonso Soriano, Jason Giambi (Yankees)
1994: Tino Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner (Mariners)
1982: Gary Ward, Gary Gaetti, Tom Brunansky (Twins)
1953: Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo (Dodgers)
Erick Fedde (6-6) allowed one mammoth Junior Caminero home run over five innings, striking out six without a walk. Tyler Schweitzer pitched three of the final four innings to help preserve a worn down bullpen. The White Sox have won three straight, all against the American League East and are 3-2 in this stretch of 13 games against playoff teams.