White Sox 9, Rays 6: Rookie Jose Abreu hit a walk-off grand slam in the ninth for his second homer of the game as Chicago scored five times to rally past Tampa Bay in the opener of a four-game series.

Alejandro De Aza’s double with one out started the rally off closer Grant Balfour (0-1) and he later scored on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice before Abreu belted a 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall with two outs. Abreu also had a run-scoring single and six RBIs overall while Tyler Flowers had two hits and knocked in two for the White Sox.

Matt Joyce worked his club-record fifth walk of the game to lead off the top of the ninth and scored when Evan Longoria hit his third homer of the season over the center-field wall to give the Rays a 6-4 lead. Ben Zobrist had two hits and an RBI for Tampa Bay and Balfour yielded two hits and three walks in the ninth to blow his first save.

Abreu singled home a run in the first for the White Sox, but the Rays sent 10 men to the plate in the second and knocked out starter Erik Johnson. Yunel Escobar and Ryan Hanigan gave Tampa Bay the lead with back-to-back RBI singles, Zobrist followed with a run-scoring double and Joyce’s bases-loaded walk made it 4-1.

After Abreu’s blast to center field in the third, Chicago tied the game 4-4 in the fourth when Flowers singled up the middle to plate a pair. The White Sox survived issuing 11 walks and Matt Lindstrom (2-1) gave up Longoria’s blast before Abreu gave him the win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Abreu’s nine homers are the most in March/April by a rookie in major-league history, passing Albert Pujols (2001), Carlos Delgado (1994) and Kent Hrbek (1982) - who all had eight. … Zobrist notched his ninth multi-hit game of the season and fifth in the last seven contests. … Johnson was charged with four runs on four hits and four walks over 1 2/3 innings while Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer allowed four runs on nine hits over six-plus innings.