Murakami's 431-Foot Bomb Changes Everything in Chicago, Makes History as Fastest Japanese Player to 4 HRs
Munetaka Murakami just made his first appearance in front of White Sox fans count in a big way. His home run in the sixth inning Saturday at Rate Field turned a one-run deficit into a 3-2 lead, and Chicago cruised to a 6-3 win over Toronto. This wasn't just any homer, either. Murakami connected on a 1-0 sinker from Blue Jays left-hander Brendon Little right over the heart of the plate and sent it 431 feet to center field with an exit velocity of 111.1 mph. That blast gave him his fourth home run and his seventh RBI on the season, with three of those RBIs coming Saturday alone, including a first-inning sacrifice fly.
Breaking Records Before Anyone Saw It Coming
Four home runs through his first eight career MLB games. That's the most any Japanese-born player has hit in that span, and Murakami is doing it faster than anyone expected. The fact that he's already got four dingers and seven RBIs tells you everything about what kind of force he's become at the plate right out of the gate. This isn't a guy easing into the majors. He's been a difference-maker from day one.
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But Murakami wasn't just swinging heat on Saturday. With the bases loaded and one out in the seventh, he made a play that could've changed the entire trajectory of that inning. Nathan Lukes lifted a fly ball to right fielder Tristan Peters, which turned into a sacrifice fly, but Murakami cut off the throw from Peters and nailed Tyler Heineman trying to go from second to third. That inning-ending throw kept Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had crushed a two-run homer in the sixth, from doing more damage.
The White Sox got the job done Saturday with Seranthony Dominguez picking up his first save. Miguel Vargas opened that crucial sixth with a double and scored on Murakami's homer, while Colson Montgomery followed with a solo shot for a 4-2 advantage.
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