After hitting his 14th homer Monday, White Sox' Munetaka Murakami finally got his first double

ANAHEIM, Calif. — When rookie slugger Munetaka Murakami hit his 14th home run Monday against the Angels to tie Aaron Judge for the major-league lead, White Sox radio voice Len Kasper made it even more special by channeling late Yankees play-by-play man John Sterling, who died that day of heart failure. He was 87.

‘‘It’s high. It’s far. It’s gone,’’ Kasper said as he described Murakami’s prodigious two-run blast into the shrubbery beyond the center-field fence in the fourth inning. ‘‘A moon shot for Mune.’’

The homer landed 429 feet away from home plate and gave the Sox a 4-0 lead on their way to a 6-0 victory. The shot came on a 98.1 mph four-seam fastball from Angels starter Jose Soriano.

But the bigger at-bat might have come two innings later, when Murakami slashed a one-out double to right, his first in the majors in his 35th game.

‘‘It was going to come sooner or later, so I’m really happy the double is out of the way,’’ Murakami said through an interpreter.

Murakami wasn’t in the starting lineup in the second game of the series Tuesday. He was told to take a day off, but he entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, stayed in the game at first base and finished 1-for-2 in the Sox’ 4-3 loss.

‘‘We gave him a heads-up ahead of time,’’ manager Will Venable said. ‘‘He and every one of us wants him to be in the lineup every day, but we just have to be mindful. We want to make sure he continues to play at a high level, and one way to do that is to give him a day off every once in a while.’’

It’s not as though Murakami hasn’t hit doubles before. He hit 148 in eight seasons for the Yakult Swallows in Japan and 173 overall between foreign play and the World Baseball Classic.

It was his first extra-base hit for the Sox aside from the 14 homers. He has had 30 hits overall, including 15 singles. Add 28 walks, and he has an on-base percentage of .377, an OPS of .961 and an OPS+ of 164 even though he’s batting only .240.

‘‘He just continues to impress you with his power,’’ Venable said. ‘‘You saw a double, which was also great, his first one of the year. And, yeah, he has tremendous power. He puts himself into position to get to that power by making good swing decisions.’’

Sox add another pitcher

The Sox acquired right-handed reliever Trevor Richards from the Phillies for cash considerations. Right-hander Drew Thorpe, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was moved to the 60-day injured list to make room for Richards on the 40-man roster.

Richards will join the team Friday, when the Sox return to Chicago to play the Mariners, and another move will be made so he can be put on the active roster, Venable said.

‘‘I’ve seen him from the other side, and I’m excited about getting him,’’ Venable said. ‘‘He has a really good changeup; that’s his pitch. He’s in a really good spot right now.’’

Venable also said he’s pleased that general manager Chris Getz continues to try to improve the team.

‘‘Yeah, absolutely,’’ Venable said. ‘‘I really appreciate that about [Getz] and the [front-office] group. They’re always trying to improve this roster. There’s big moves he’s made, there’s little moves. They’ve all been pretty impactful. We’re trying to build, and that’s really important.’’