SAN DIEGO -- Munetaka Murakami started the month of May as he started his Major League career: hitting a home run.
Murakami connected on a 3-2, center-cut knuckle curve with two outs in the second inning Friday night at Petco Park, driving Germán Márquez’s offering a Statcast-projected 413 feet to right-center field with a 111.1 mph exit velocity.
Murakami’s 13th home run was a three-run blast, completing a six-run frame and breaking a tie with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Astros’ Yordan Alavarez for the MLB lead.
Murakami’s 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).
The inning featured just three hits as the White Sox pushed for their fourth straight victory.