White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami sure had an eventful Friday.
So did No. 9 hitter Tristan Peters, third baseman Miguel Vargas and starter Sean Burke.
The Sox’ offense woke up and pounded the Athletics 14-1 at Rate Field, ending a three-game slide and remaining in a tie with the Guardians for first place in the American League Central.
Murakami returned to the South Siders’ lineup at first base and batted second, exactly six weeks after being sidelined by a Grade 2 strain of his right hamstring suffered while running out a grounder May 29.
Even bigger news: At the start of the game, the Sox announced Murakami, who has 20 home runs and 42 RBI in his first 58 major-league games, was named as a reserve for the AL squad at the All-Star Game on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
He also will take part in the Home Run Derby on Monday, facing players such as former Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies, who leads the majors in homers and was added Friday, too.
Murakami struck out in four of his five at-bats but pulled an RBI double down the right-field line in the Sox’ eight-run seventh. He also made a nifty diving snare of Lawrence Butler’s smash just inside the first-base line in the fourth to prevent an extra-base hit.
‘‘I didn’t really have an image of coming back at the plate,’’ Murakami said through an interpreter. ‘‘So I try not to get caught up in the game and kind of relax to it.
‘‘Unfortunately, I ended up with four strikeouts, so I think I’ll be more excited and anxious tomorrow and really get into the game.’’
Murakami will join Vargas — who finished with a homer, two doubles and three RBI against the A’s — as the Sox’ representatives for the All-Star Game. Murakami is replacing Twins outfielder Byron Buxton, who has a strained right hip, on the AL roster.
‘‘I’m just really happy to overcome my injury, and it’s a really long, long rehabilitation process,’’ he said. ‘‘Because of the injury, I thought I was not going to be playing for the All-Star [Game], so I’m just really happy that they called my name.”
The news was leaked on the Rate Field videoboard with the words ‘‘Home Run Derby Participant, Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox All-Star’’ while the Sox took batting practice. The same message appeared in the first inning after the Sox confirmed it.
Peters became the seventh Sox player to hit for the cycle and the first since Jose Abreu did it in September 2017. He already had a single, double and two-run homer when he pulled the first pitch he saw in the seventh down the right-field line.
Peters was flying and beat Lawrence Butler’s throw from the corner to third.
‘‘I’m honored,’’ Peters said. “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever done.’’
He said he was thinking triple all the way.
‘‘I hit that and saw it go down the line, [so] I’m going three, no matter what,’’ said Peters, who joined the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Phillies’ Bryce Harper with cycles this season.
Burke, meanwhile, was dominant again, allowing only four hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in seven innings. He retired the first 13 A’s before Jacob Wilson singled with one out in the fifth and didn’t allow a run until Tyler Soderstrom homered in the seventh.
‘‘I felt kind of in rhythm from the get-go, and [the offense] kind of broke it open there in the fifth inning and made my job a little easier,’’ Burke said. ‘‘Just throwing strikes. Stuff is good. Me and [catcher Kyle] Teel, we’re working real well back there.’’
Burke improved to 6-4 overall and is 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in his last five outings. He admitted it didn’t hurt that A’s slugger Nick Kurtz, who is out with an injury to his right thumb, didn’t play.
The game was tight early until the Sox scored four times in the fifth to chase A’s bulk reliever Aaron Civale, who pitched for both the Sox and Cubs last season.
The Sox poured it on with eight runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth against mop-up man Carlos Cortes, an outfielder.