PHOENIX – For a brief moment during an 11-5 White Sox victory over the Diamondbacks Tuesday night at Chase Field, it looked like Home Run Derby for the South Siders.
The White Sox scored four in the first off Merrill Kelly, but that was only the appetizer for the second inning main course. Munetaka Murakami went deep, covering 426 feet to right and a 113 mph exit velocity, according to Statcast. That blast marked Murakami’s fourth straight game with a home run, but we’ll get back momentarily to the slugging first baseman from Japan.
Miguel Vargas followed with a 372 foot drive to left field with a 111.7 mph exit velocity, while Colson Montgomery completed the trifecta with a 440 foot cannon shot and a 107.2 mph exit velocity. It was the first time the White Sox went back to back to back since Sept. 19, 2020, when Tim Anderson, Yasmani Grandal and Jose Abreu accomplished said feat in the eighth inning.
Over the last four games, the White Sox have knocked out 12 homers with Sam Antonacci’s ninth-inning inside-the-park homer representing the first of his career. Over the prior 10 games, they hit just six. The weather warms up, and the White Sox appear to get going.
“We're very much connecting from top to bottom in the lineup,” said Murakami through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “It's just really important that we continue as a team to get good results.”
“Yeah, I was trying to hit a homer. I tried in that scenario,” Montgomery said. “The guy was throwing great pitches. It was just one of those nights where we were flowing, the hits were contagious, the homers were contagious.”
As for Murakami, he seems to be setting records with each game played. Murakami’s nine home runs are the most of any Japanese-born player in his first 23 MLB games, with three more than any other Japanese-born player, ahead of Shohei Ohtani, who had six in his first 23 games as a hitter.
Murakami became the 23rd White Sox player to homer in 4-plus straight games, covering 31 instances. He joined Ohtani (twice) and the Cubs Seiya Suzuki, who also homered in a victory on Tuesday, as the only Japanese-born players to homer in four straight games.
If Murakami homers again on Wednesday, he will equal the longest streak by an MLB rookie, done 12 times, including by Ron Kittle with the White Sox in 1983, per Elias Sports. Murakami also would match the White Sox individual mark of five straight games with a home run.
A.J. Pierzynski (2012), Paul Konerko (2011), Carlos Lee (2003), Frank Thomas (twice in 1994), Kittle (1983) and Greg Luzinski (1983) already have homered in five straight for the White Sox. On Tuesday, Murakami singled twice, walked and scored two runs, raising his OPS to .978.
“I still have a lot of pitchers that I've faced for the first time,” Murakami said. “But I'm really analyzing the pitchers with as much as possible so that I'm getting ready into the at-bat. I'll just try to keep doing whatever I'm doing right now.”
This sort of offense was on display for much of the post All-Star break action for the 2025 White Sox, and that stretch was without Murakami. Their current run is without starting catcher Kyle Teel.
“We wanted to get the ball up,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Kelly's a really good pitcher, and we forced him into the parts of the zone where we wanted him, and the guys didn't miss those pitches.”
All of this support made a winner of Sean Burke, who had been winless in his last 16 appearances including 11 starts. His last victory came against the D-backs on June 25 of last season, posting an 0-6 record with a 4.28 ERA since that date.
Burke, who was surprised by that lack of individual mound success, yielded two runs over six innings while striking out three. Most importantly, he walked one after being staked to a 7-0 lead. The White Sox improved to 3-1 on their first of three West Coast road trips prior to the end of May and won consecutive games for the second time this season after sweeping three straight from Toronto at home from April 3-5.
“It’s been fun,” said Burke of the outburst from the offense on this road trip. “Just watching the versatility of it, the power, the small ball, stringing hits together, guys working walks. It’s been cool.”
“Coaches are giving us a great game plan of what to do and how to attack these pitchers,” Montgomery said. “Everyone is playing free, easy and just committed to their plan.”