Murakami ties Judge with blast as White Sox top Angels

ANAHEIM – Add Angel Stadium to the list of home run locales for Munetaka Murakami.

The White Sox first baseman, who was mired in a 4-for-32 slump coming into his fourth inning at-bat against the Angels on Monday night, blasted a 429-foot home run off José Soriano, according to Statcast. It landed in the greenery beyond the shrubbery in straightaway center. The drive had an exit velocity of 109 mph, although it sounded off the bat even greater, and propelled the White Sox to a 6-0 victory.

Murakami ranks third in Major League Baseball history with his 14 home runs in 35 career games. He trails Rhys Hoskins at 18 (2017) and Aristides Aquino at 15 (2018-19). Murakami also tied Darrin Jackson, the longtime, popular radio analyst, for home runs on the White Sox career list. Murakami and the Yankees' Aaron Judge share the MLB lead in homers.

Of even greater importance was Murakami picking up his first career double in the sixth inning, following 14 homers and 14 singles. He finished a triple short of the cycle with his three-hit game in the series opener.

Soriano gave up five runs on eight hits over four innings, walking Sam Antonacci and Murakami to start the game and allowing them to score. Davis Martin threw dominant, shutout baseball over seven innings, setting a career-high with 10 strikeouts and not issuing a walk. His ERA dipped to 1.64.