CHICAGO (Interstat) — Miguel Vargas homered twice and drove in three runs, and the Chicago White Sox defeated the Seattle Mariners 6-1 on Saturday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Colson Montgomery also went deep for Chicago, which snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 18-21. The White Sox won for only the third time in their last eight games.

Anthony Kay pitched five innings of one-run ball, scattering three hits and striking out five without walking a batter to earn his second win of the season. Kay, who allowed two earned runs over five innings in a loss at San Diego on May 3, lowered his ERA to 3.86.

Seattle dropped to 19-21. The Mariners had won the series opener 12-8 on Friday but could not solve Kay or the Chicago bullpen.

Luis Castillo took the loss, his fourth straight defeat without a victory this season. The right-hander allowed five hits and four earned runs over four innings, walking none and striking out six. Castillo’s ERA rose to 6.75.

The White Sox struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Sam Antonacci led off with a line-drive single to left field off Castillo. After Munetaka Murakami flied out to right, Antonacci advancing to third, Vargas struck out for the second out. Montgomery then crushed a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall for his 10th home run of the season, scoring Antonacci and giving Chicago a 2-0 lead. Chase Meidroth grounded out to end the inning.

Seattle threatened in the top of the third when Mitch Garver reached on a throwing error by Kay and advanced to second. Cole Young struck out, Leo Rivas walked and Rob Refsnyder grounded into a force out that erased Garver at third. Cal Raleigh then grounded into another force out to end the inning.

The White Sox doubled their lead in the bottom of the third. Antonacci was hit by a pitch to lead off, and Murakami struck out. Vargas then hit his first home run of the night, an opposite-field shot to left-center, scoring Antonacci and making it 4-0. Montgomery flied out and Meidroth struck out to end the inning.

Seattle got on the board in the top of the fifth. Garver walked to lead off, and Cole Young reached on a fielder’s choice when Garver advanced to second on a fielding error by first baseman Murakami. Rivas sacrificed the runners to second and third, and Refsnyder lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Garver to cut the deficit to 4-1. Raleigh struck out to end the inning.

Chicago answered immediately in the bottom of the fifth. After Antonacci struck out and Murakami flied out, Vargas homered again, this time a solo shot to left field, his ninth of the season, extending the lead to 5-1. Montgomery flied out to end the frame.

The White Sox added an insurance run in the eighth. Meidroth doubled to left field off Seattle reliever Josh Simpson. Jarred Kelenic walked, and Tristan Peters sacrificed both runners into scoring position. After a successful challenge overturned a hit-by-pitch call, Randal Grichuk was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Edgar Quero then hit a fly ball to right field that was caught by Refsnyder, but Meidroth tagged and scored on the force out at first base, making it 6-1. Antonacci struck out to end the inning.

Seattle managed only four hits in the game. Julio Rodríguez singled twice, once in the first and again in the fourth, but was caught stealing after his first hit. Randy Arozarena singled in the fourth, and Josh Naylor singled in the eighth. The Mariners struck out 11 times.

Chicago’s bullpen held Seattle scoreless over the final four innings. Grant Taylor worked two perfect innings, striking out three. Tyler Schweitzer pitched a scoreless eighth, and Bryan Hudson finished the ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one.

The White Sox offense collected nine hits. In addition to Vargas’ two homers, Montgomery drove in two runs with his first-inning blast. Antonacci scored twice, reaching base on a single and a hit-by-pitch. Meidroth doubled and scored in the eighth. Peters doubled in the sixth.

Seattle’s bullpen performed adequately after Castillo’s exit. José Suarez struck out three over two innings, allowing one earned run on two hits. Nick Davila pitched a scoreless seventh, allowing one hit. Josh Simpson gave up one earned run on one hit in the eighth.

The game took 2 hours, 51 minutes. Attendance was 25,438.

Chicago improved to 18-21 with the victory, a stark contrast to last season when the White Sox were 11-28 after 39 games. The Mariners fell to 19-21.

Seattle’s recent slide has been pronounced. After going 7-3 over a 10-game stretch from April 24 through May 6, the Mariners have lost two of their last three. The White Sox had lost four of five before Saturday.

The series concludes Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field. Seattle then travels to Houston for a four-game set, while Chicago hosts Kansas City for a three-game series beginning Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago White Sox 6, Seattle Mariners 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Seattle with a 61.90 percent probability to win. Seattle had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 7 went over the over/under line of 9.