SAN DIEGO -- The White Sox story of Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery has been told, told again and then deservedly told one more time during the first 32 games of this 2026 season.
That tale added another chapter during an 8-2 victory over the Padres at Petco Park Friday night, with the duo both going deep against San Diego starter Germán Márquez.
Murakami’s three-run blast broke a tie with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez for the MLB lead. His 13 homers are third-most for a player in his first 32 career games, behind only 2017 Rhys Hoskins (16) and 2018-19 Aristides Aquino (14).
But for a better snapshot of the team’s season-best fourth straight victory, moving the White Sox to 15-17 overall, take a look at starting pitcher Noah Schultz.
More specifically, take a look at Schultz exiting the third inning after Miguel Andujar grounded into an inning-ending double play turned smoothly by second baseman Chase Meidroth. Schultz pumped his fist and let out a yell as he walked off the mound, a slightly more fired up demeanor from the usually low-key 6-foot-10 southpaw.
It’s an exciting time overall for the White Sox, who are 9-4 in their last 13 games.
“Adrenaline is pumping. Something that just came out,” said a smiling Schultz of his reaction. “But it’s the most fun I ever had playing baseball.
“Hopefully I keep saying that moving forward. Getting better and better. It’s just an amazing time we are having and winning games.”
Friday’s effort marked the rookie’s fourth big league trip to the mound, but it looked as if it would be an abbreviated effort when Schultz walked the bases loaded with two outs in the first. Pitching coach Zach Bove raced to the mound, had a few words with Schultz and he retired Ty France on a groundout to Meidroth.
Schultz threw 28 pitches in that first inning. Over the next three innings combined, he threw 28. For the game, Schultz hurled six scoreless with two strikeouts, two hits allowed and those three first-inning walks.
“I’ve had a couple of rough first innings,” Schultz said. “In cleaning that up, maybe I can get the seventh inning and stuff. We are winning games and it’s awesome. That’s what matters.”
“You feel like he’s not really pitching his best and he’s still really tough to deal with for the opposition,” said White Sox manager Will Venable of Schultz. “That’s how good Noah is. He’s still figuring it out and can be effective even when he doesn’t have his best command.”
This first-inning escape act was rewarded by a six-run second for the White Sox. They only had two hits to go with three walks and an Andrew Benintendi sacrifice fly, before Murakami drove out Marquez’s offering at a Statcast-projected 413 feet to right-center field with a 111.1 mph exit velocity.
Montgomery’s long ball in the fifth gave him nine for the season and 30 for his career. He ranks second for the most homers in franchise history after 103 games, trailing Jose Abreu’s 31 in 2014. Eloy Jiménez (2019) is next behind Montgomery at 24, followed by Zeke Bonura (1934) and Josh Fields (2006-07) at 23.
This is already the seventh game this season in which both Murakami and Montgomery have homered. That’s the most by any teammate duo in their team’s first 35 games of a season in MLB history and it’s only Game 32, according to Elias Sports.
Their winning combination at the plate led to an interesting dugout celebration between Murakami and Montgomery, which came about from an off-day sushi dinner hosted by Murakami on Thursday in San Diego.
“He came up to me and said, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ I was like ‘OK,’” said a smiling Montgomery of the celebration. “Having guys from the left side who are able to put the ball in the seats and kind of change the game with one swing of the bat … we’re both process-oriented, we’re not going up there trying to do too much.”
“There’s still a lot of learning curve of the game,” said Murakami through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “I’m very focused right now and building on every single day.”
Meidroth, Schultz, Sam Antonacci, Yagi, Mike Vasil and Sean Burke were among those who joined Murakami and Montgomery for the authentic sushi dinner. This team not only wins together but also seems to truly enjoy each other’s company.
Having players such as Murakami, Montgomery and Schultz at the forefront certainly doesn’t hurt the cause.
“He’s a centerpiece of the team,” said Murakami of Montgomery.
“I’m glad we got him,” said Montgomery of Murakami.
“When you have guys in the middle of the order that are able to change the score with one swing, obviously it’s going to make a big difference,” Venable said. “Really proud of the guys around them, too. Just quality at-bats throughout the lineup.”