Murakami Homer Sends White Sox Past Guardians 3-0 in ALDS Opener

Munetaka Murakami snapped a scoreless tie with a 440-foot, two-run drive in the fourth, and the White Sox took Game 1 from the Guardians 3-0 in Cleveland.

Munetaka Murakami wanted to be the player who put the Chicago White Sox on the board in October baseball, and he fulfilled that wish on Saturday. His two-run home run in the fourth inning decided a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in Game 1 of their American League Division Series.

Cleveland threatened first, filling the bases in the third without pushing a run across, and Chicago made the Guardians pay an inning later. Miguel Vargas opened the fourth with a line-drive single, and Murakami attacked the very next offering, sending a sinker up in the zone 440 feet over the wall in right for the first home run of his postseason career.

The 26-year-old let the moment linger, holding his finish at the plate for a couple of seconds while Japanese broadcasters described the drive as a "priceless two-run blast," before dropping his bat and jogging toward celebrating teammates. Asked what he had shouted toward the bench, Murakami said through an interpreter: "I can't really explain it in words right now but it was something a little bit dirty."

Manager Will Venable highlighted the timing of the swing, which came immediately after his club had escaped danger. "That's what playoff baseball is about, is your big dogs going out there and making big plays," Venable said, noting that Murakami has produced in the middle of the order all year and that the home run is a core part of how his team scores. "Obviously a huge swing right there especially after we had just gotten out of a tough jam there," he added. "So really well timed homer. We needed it."

Murakami arrived in December on a two-year, $34 million contract, with the White Sox paying a posting fee of $6,575,000 to Japan's Yakult Swallows. He delivered 35 home runs and 75 RBIs across the regular season and is one of eight rookies on Chicago's postseason roster.

Recent history gave little indication of Saturday's display. Murakami managed one hit in eight at-bats as the White Sox swept Houston in the Wild Card Series, and he had gone 3 for 19 versus Cleveland this year, though one of those hits was a homer off Guardians pitcher Parker Messick. A second-inning single to center helped settle him in. "In the first at-bat, I had a very clean hit. So I was very comfortable going to that at-bat, and that was pretty much the approach, and I swung really clean," Murakami said.

Messick said the decisive pitch caught the inner half of the plate but suspected Murakami had been looking for exactly that location. Catcher Austin Hedges viewed it as a quality pitch met by superior contact. "He's just a stud. He can hit a home run every pitch in every spot," Hedges said, adding: "Man, he's fun to watch hit, just not when he's playing against us."

The win ran Chicago's record to nine victories in its past 11 games, a stretch that reaches back into the regular season, and Murakami believes the club may be rounding into its best form. "If you score one run, I have so much confidence that we can win the game, which is really good," he said, calling the series opener essential to how the matchup will unfold and promising a rested, focused effort after Sunday's day off.

Game 2 is scheduled for Monday, October 5, at 5:00 PM EDT at Progressive Field in Cleveland, with television coverage on TBS and truTV.