{"id":663773,"date":"2026-04-05T01:21:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663773\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T01:21:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:21:28","slug":"munetaka-murakamis-home-run-and-heads-up-throw-power-white-sox-past-blue-jays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/663773\/","title":{"rendered":"Munetaka Murakami’s home run and heads-up throw power White Sox past Blue Jays"},"content":{"rendered":"

The White Sox<\/a> got more of the power they expected from Munetaka Murakami. They also saw him redeem himself defensively during Saturday\u2019s 6-3 win over the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n

Murakami was not in the No. 2 spot in the Sox lineup. Instead, he was moved to fourth in response to Toronto using left-handed opener Mason Fluharty. The Sox pushed designated hitter Lenyn Sosa to second and shifted shortstop Colson Montgomery to sixth.<\/p>\n

Because this is how baseball can be, Murakami\u2019s two-run sixth-inning homer to give the Sox a 3-2 lead came off Toronto lefthander Brendon Little. Murakami\u2019s home run was his first since his three-game tear to begin the season in Milwaukee and answered the two-run blast by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that briefly put Toronto in front 2-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat last inning, they got to us,\u201d Murakami<\/a> said through a translator. \u201cSo, definitely I wanted to get a run in. It was more less I wanted to move the runner forward and not too much of it. It was the best result coming off the bat. I was really glad we were able to push that lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two batters later, the Sox did when Montgomery homered. That one was also against the lefty Little.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Mune both, we have all the confidence in the world that we can face whoever and we know we can compete against whoever because you kind of have to have that mindset that you\u2019re the best and no one\u2019s going to beat you,\u201d Montgomery said. \u201cWhen they move us down in the order and things like that, we don\u2019t get discouraged thinking something\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just know it\u2019s part of the game plan; you just have to trust the coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murakami likely earned even more trust in the field in the seventh.<\/p>\n

Charged with a fourth-inning error that created a bases-loaded jam Anthony Kay escaped, Murakami helped keep the Sox in the lead in the seventh. With one out and the bases loaded, Toronto\u2019s Nathan Lukes flew to Sox right fielder Tristan Peters. Myles Straw scored to make it 4-3 but Murakami cut off Peters\u2019 low and accurate throw into the infield, getting the Tyler Heineman at third to end the inning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was seeing the second-base runner so at that moment I was going to throw it to third,\u201d Murakami said. \u201cI made a good play out of it, so I\u2019m really happy I made that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peters wasn\u2019t tempted to make the throw straight home, even if it would\u2019ve been understandable for a right fielder to want to show off their arm and try for a highlight play.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really easy to want that out for yourself but the play there, especially with [the bases loaded] and the wind blowing in my face, I know it\u2019s going to be a tough throw to get it through there,\u201d Peters said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to keep it low. That\u2019s what we\u2019re taught.\u201d<\/p>\n

Munetaka\u2019s been doing a lot that should be taught.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only been eight games, but Murakami\u2019s impact is already being felt. He also showed that he can respond to a little bit of adversity. Entering Saturday, Murakami was 3 for 16 over his past four games, striking out seven times.<\/p>\n

Murakami snapped out of that mini-funk, helping the Sox clinch the series against the defending American League champions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s built for this,\u201d manager Will Venable said. \u201cHe\u2019s been everything that we imagined as far as his impact in the clubhouse, who he is as a person, his play on the field defensively as well as the power and plate discipline. Really good stuff from Mune.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The White Sox got more of the power they expected from Munetaka Murakami. They also saw him redeem…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[5,138,49,2561,4,396,2562],"class_list":{"0":"post-663773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-white-sox","11":"tag-chicagowhitesox","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-white-sox","14":"tag-whitesox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116349480767205324","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}