White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami lived up to the buildup.
The rookie hit two home runs to end a 13-game drought without one and finished with a career-high six RBI on his first bobblehead day Sunday at Rate Field.
Fellow All-Star Miguel Vargas broke out of a homer drought, too, with a tiebreaking two-run drive in the sixth inning. The Sox then pulled away late and pounded the Astros 12-3 to avert a three-game sweep before 32,581 on a steamy afternoon.
Chase Meidroth smacked a solo shot in the seventh and Junior Perez went deep in the eighth as the Sox hit five homers after not hitting any in their previous five games. The South Siders improved to 55-49 and opened a 2½-game lead over the Guardians in the American League Central as they head into a four-game series against the Yankees.
Murakami hadn’t gone deep since the Sox’ 15-2 victory against the Twins on May 27, when he launched his 20th and was tied for the major-league lead. He suffered a strained right hamstring while running out a grounder two days later and missed the next six weeks.
After Murakami’s father and mother each threw a ceremonial first pitch Sunday, he lofted his 21st homer in the first, then added a solo drive in the eighth. He also had a two-run single in the seventh and an RBI grounder.
It was Murakami’s second two-homer game, following one May 16 against the Cubs.
‘‘Every one of his at-bats today were huge, and that’s what it takes,’’ manager Will Venable said.
In his first 11 games since returning from the hamstring injury, Murakami batted only .184 with one RBI. He had four doubles, 10 walks and scored seven runs but struck out 17 times in 48 plate appearances.
‘‘I’m just really happy,’’ Murakami said through an interpreter. ‘‘It’s been long since I’ve been back, and to have a day like this, it means a lot.’’
The Sox rebounded after dropping the first two games of the series.
‘‘It was disappointing the past two games, so I was really happy I was able to contribute,’’ Murakami said.
Murakami said he liked the bobblehead, which commemorated the first homer of his major-league career in the season opener in March, and revealed he had a bobblehead once before in Japan.
He was also confident that a breakout was coming, and it turned out the timing couldn’t have been scripted better.
‘‘It was going to come sooner or later,’’ Murakami said. ‘‘I was really happy. I mean, a lot of people welcomed me, and it was just a great feeling to get out there and have a good result.
‘‘I wasn’t hitting home runs, but [my plate] approach itself was good, so it was all about just being patient at the box. And I think the results came up.’’
After the Astros’ Jeremy Pena hit the first of his two solo homers against Erick Fedde to lead off the game, Murakami sent a high drive to left to put the Sox ahead 2-1.
Vargas hadn’t gone deep since July 10 in a 14-1 rout of the Athletics, a drought of 10 games during which he had only two RBI. He barreled up a line-drive no-doubter in the sixth that cleared the left-field bullpen, snapped a 3-3 tie and put the Sox ahead 5-3.
Still, the story of the day was Murakami.
‘‘It’s just Mune being Mune,’’ Vargas said. ‘‘We all know that when he came back here, he was going to be able to help the team.’’
Fedde was tagged for three solo homers and allowed five hits in 4⅓ innings. Five relievers finished, allowing no runs, two hits and three walks.
Sean Newcomb (1-2) earned the victory by getting two outs and working out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth.