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The White Sox have won all six games against the A's this season and have won seven straight overall. Chicago nursed a one-run lead before Martinez's homer broke the game open in the fifth by putting the Sox up 7-3. "I'd say the last couple of weeks I'm starting to hit the ball pretty good," said Martinez, who has three homers. "It's good to win a couple of games, let's hope we finish strong tomorrow."
Danny Darwin(1-2) picked up his first American League win since August 21, 1995. The 41-year-old right-hander allowed four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in six innings with two walks and five strikeouts. He improved to 11-9 lifetime against Oakland.
"I think I've thrown the ball well enough to have three or four wins, but it just hasn't worked out," said Darwin. " With this lineup, we've struggled a bit and everybody knows it. But with the guys we have we're going to average five runs."
Roberto Hernandez pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to record his ninth save.
Steve Karsay fell to 0-5 after giving up seven runs in just 4 1/3 innings. Oakland has lost nine of its last 11 games.
"I think I might be putting a little too much pressure on myself to get my first win," said Karsay. "I'm tired of not making the pitch when I need to, I'm tired of losing, and I'm tired of getting my (butt) kicked, so that's got to change."
Chicago's Albert Belleextended his hitting streak to 14 games with an eighth-inning single. The White Sox improved to 10-8 against the AL West while going only 7-14 against the rest of the league. Ray Durham had three hits and scored two runs for Chicago, which improved to 3-3 on its seven-game road trip.
Oakland's Mark McGwire connected on a solo homer in the fourth inning to give him 14 for the season. Down by three runs, the Athletics rallied in the eighth inning. Dave Magadan's two-out, two-run single with narrowed the margin to 7-6.
