Murakami Homers Twice as White Sox Top Rockies, Stay a Game Back of Cleveland
The short version
- Munetaka Murakami hit two home runs and drove in three as the White Sox beat the Rockies 6-1 Friday.
- Chicago remains one game behind Cleveland in the AL Central with two games left but holds the tiebreaker.
- Colson Montgomery set a major league record with his 224th strikeout of the season.
- Burke, Smith, Taylor and Hudson combined to limit Colorado to four hits and 11 strikeouts.
Munetaka Murakami collected three hits and three RBIs in a 6-1 win over Colorado that kept Chicago within one game of the AL Central lead with two to play.
Munetaka Murakami went deep twice and drove in three runs Friday as the Chicago White Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 6-1 before a sellout crowd of 35,778 at Rate Field. The victory came one day after the club had secured a postseason berth and celebrated accordingly.
Starter Sean Burke said he had no concerns about the team's focus following Thursday's festivities. He noted that many players on the roster played college baseball and are used to balancing celebration with the next day's demands. Manager Will Venable had made a similar point during the clincher, telling the group that the party belonged to Thursday and that Friday marked a reset with the division still the goal. Murakami, speaking through an interpreter, said that was exactly how the night played out.
Chicago stayed one game behind the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central with two contests left in the regular season. Cleveland beat the Kansas City Royals 12-9 the same night, but the White Sox own the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series. Venable acknowledged the club keeps an eye on the Cleveland results given what is at stake, while stressing that the Sox must handle their own games for any of it to matter.
The White Sox scored in the first inning for the second consecutive game. After putting up three first-inning runs in Thursday's 9-1 win at Kansas City, they struck for two against Colorado. Kyle Teel reached on a fielder's choice, moved to second on a wild pitch and took third when catcher Hunter Goodman threw the ball away. Teel came home on Miguel Vargas' sacrifice fly to center before Murakami launched a home run to right.
TJ Rumfield answered with a solo shot to open the second, trimming the margin to 2-1, but Chicago pushed the lead back to two in the third. Braden Montgomery singled, went to third on Sam Antonacci's base hit and scored on another Teel sacrifice fly to center. Murakami then led off the seventh with a blast to left-center, his third multihomer game of the year. His 35 home runs lead the team. He capped his night with an RBI single off reliever Juan Mejia during a two-run eighth.
Colorado starter Tomoyuki Sugano worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with five strikeouts. One of those strikeouts was Colson Montgomery, the 224th of the season for the White Sox shortstop — a major league record. Venable said Murakami's surge is arriving at the ideal moment and highlighted how dangerous the slugger is when healthy and locked in.
The White Sox combined on a strong pitching night, with Burke, Hagen Smith, Grant Taylor and Bryan Hudson holding the Rockies to four hits and fanning 11. Burke was charged with one run on four hits across 5 1/3 frames, walking one and striking out seven. He praised the fan support, saying the crowd's energy all season has been a big part of the team's turnaround after several difficult years for the fan base.
The series continues at Rate Field, where the Rockies visit the White Sox on Saturday, September 26 at 7:10 PM EDT. The game airs on MLB.TV, Rockies.TV and CHSN.
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