Miguel Vargas’ grand slam helps White Sox shake off season-opening ‘jitters’ for first win

MIAMI — Maybe they just needed a few extra days to warm up.

Only showing signs of life late in a disastrous opening weekend, Sox hitters found their stride against the Marlins on Monday, clubbing their way to a 9-4 victory, their first win of the season.

A monster six-RBI night from first baseman Miguel Vargas in humid Miami made the Sox’ season-opening misery in blustery Milwaukee feel hundreds of miles away, even if their pitching woes kept things more interesting than fans would like.

Right fielder Everson Pereira warmed the Sox up in the third inning by lining a double down the left-field line. He later scored on a single from Vargas.

Munetaka Murakami didn’t extend his historic three-game homer streak, but he did notch the first hit to stay in the yard of his career. It was a dribbling grounder down the third base line that set the stage for an Austin Hays three-run homer, his first blast since signing with the Sox.

Marlins starter Chris Paddack hit Sox shortstop Luisangel Acuna with a pitch to load the bases after singles from Tristan Peters and Pereira. Then Vargas, a Miami resident, launched one 402 feet into the left-field seats for the Sox’ second grand slam in as many days. The Havana, Cuba, native had throngs of supporters in attendance at loanDepot Park.

But no lead feels particularly comfortable for Sox pitchers, and Martin served up a two-run blast to Marlins catcher Liam Hicks in the fourth. Miami struck again the next inning with an RBI single from center fielder Jakob Marsee.

Martin went five innings, surrendering three runs on five hits and two walks to go with six strikeouts.

Offseason addition Sean Newcomb was strong in relief until a Marsee triple and an RBI single from shortstop Otto Lopez narrowed the gap in the eighth inning. He left a bases-loaded jam for Jordan Hicks to shut down.

Acuna eased stress by manufacturing a run for the Sox by walking, stealing second and third and then sliding home on a shallow sacrifice fly from Vargas, his 6th RBI on the evening.

After thwacking the grand slam for naught in the Sox’ 9-7 bullpen implosion to the Brewers, Montgomery said he and other Sox hitters were finally shaking off some early-season nerves. He notched a single Monday.

Outscored 20-3 in the first two games of the year, the Sox have stacked up 16 in two days.

“We all just progressively just kept getting better. We are seeing the ball a lot better, having better quality at-bats,” said Montgomery, who only needed 74 career games to sock his first two grand slams, the fastest in Sox history. “I think it was the jitters and we were all really excited… Everyone started to chill out and be like, ‘Alright, same game we’ve been playing in spring training.’ Take the crowd and jitters out of it.”

Pereira acknowledged as much before his second-straight multi-hit game after flailing through three ugly strikeouts on Opening Day.

“I’m one of those players that is really excited and I want to crush every single pitch. Just try to slow the game down and breathe,” he said.

Now the Sox are hoping the offensive results multiply. “You settle in more quickly if you’re able to get a knock,” manager Will Venable said.

“It’s just part of the game where you spend all this time in spring training and going about your business and then the lights come on and it means something and it changes a little bit,” he said. “You’ve just got to find your bearings again.”