White Sox loving Munetaka Murakami’s home-run bonanza, but they're striving for balance on offense

The White Sox completed their seven-run rally in the seventh inning of their comeback victory late Monday against the Angels the way they have racked up most of their runs early this season: with the long ball.

No one on the South Side will complain about a go-ahead, three-run home run from rookie sensation Munetaka Murakami, who entered play Tuesday with a major-league-high 12 homers in his first month.

Nor will anyone turn up their nose at third baseman Miguel Vargas going back-to-back with Murakami with his sixth homer of the season for some needed insurance. That came just a week after the two joined with infielder Colson Montgomery to hit three in a row.

But to stay close in the bunched-up American League Central, the Sox likely will need to diversify an offense that has generated more than half its runs via the long ball early in the season, according to Baseball Prospectus. The Sox have 38 homers (tied for seventh in the majors) and 126 runs scored (19th).

Manager Will Venable said the Sox are proving that when they’re executing, they can score however they need to. In modern baseball, that includes a healthy dose of dingers.

‘‘The long ball is great, and we’ve certainly benefitted,’’ Venable said. ‘‘And when we hit home runs and multiple home runs, we probably are winning those games. At the same time, there’s been a lot of other things that these guys are doing well, specifically at the bottom of the order, with the situational hitting, the bunting, being aggressive on the bases. And for us as an offense, that’s what it’s going to take.’’

The situational hits were lacking for the Sox in their weekend series against the Nationals. They scored nine runs in three games, including two extra-inning losses, underscoring the hot-and-cold nature of their bats after exploding for 22 runs against the Diamondbacks to close a high-octane West Coast trip.

Their 25 homers from April 12 to April 27 were the third-most in the majors, thanks in no small part to Murakami’s five-game homer streak. His homers have accounted for 31.6% of the Sox’ total, with his .940 OPS buoying an offense ranking 21st in the majors at .701.

‘‘We do need the slug; everyone needs that slug,’’ Venable said. ‘‘At the same time, you’ve got to find production throughout your order and throughout your lineup and find different ways to get guys on base and score.’’

To that end, Venable also has the Sox thinking small. Their 24 bunt attempts were the most in the majors as of Tuesday.

‘‘We’re gonna to have to use that tool,’’ hitting coach Derek Shomon said last weekend. ‘‘We’re gonna value that tool, just as anything else. We absolutely have to practice that, and the guys have done that.’’

Shomon said the Sox have a ‘‘multifaceted offense when [it’s] firing off on all cylinders.’’

‘‘We have guys that can slug, we have guys that can move the baseball forward, we have guys that can and will lay down a bunt,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s cool. It’s not just a one-trick pony, even though some nights it feels like it is. When it is firing off, there’s a lot of different solutions to score runs.’’

Second baseman Chase Meidroth, who clubbed a leadoff homer for the Sox on Opening Day and has dropped four bunts since then, tipped his cap to the heart-of-the-order power from Murakami, Vargas and Montgomery, who hit his eighth homer in the second inning Tuesday.

‘‘Whether it’s small ball or the long ball, stringing together good at-bats, there are a lot of different ways to win a baseball game,’’ Meidroth said. ‘‘Those three guys have done a great job of hitting the long ball. As much as we can get those guys up with runners in scoring position, it’s what we are going to do right now.’’