Murakami hits 20th home run of the season, achieving the milestone before Ohtani and Judge! Leads AL with three consecutive home runs

*This content was translated by AI.

Munetaka Murakami (26, Chicago White Sox) moved into a tie for first place in home runs in the American League (AL) with three consecutive home runs.

On the 28th (Korea time), Murakami started at the designated hitter and batted second in the home game against the Minnesota Twins at Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois, USA, during the 2026 Major League Baseball (MLB) regular season. He went 2-for-4 with one home run, one RBI, three runs scored, one walk, one strikeout, and one stolen base, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 15-2 victory.

The opposing pitcher for the day was Minnesota rookie left-handed pitcher Connor Prielipp. Murakami was retired in his first two at-bats with a strikeout and a shortstop fly ball. He came to bat as the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the fifth inning, setting the stage for a five-run big inning.

Even with a 1-2 count, Murakami endured two outside breaking balls from Prielipp. Unmoved by a 97.2 mph (approximately 156.4 km/h) fastball, he drew a walk to reach base. He later scored on Miguel Vargas and Randall Grichuk's sacrifice flies to left field.

In the bottom of the sixth, with the White Sox leading 8-1, Murakami again came to bat as the leadoff hitter. He hit a single to left field after fouling a pitch from reliever right-handed pitcher Eric Orze in the middle of the plate. He stole second base during Vargas's at-bat and scored on Grichuk's sacrifice fly to left field.

The highlight came in Murakami's final at-bat in the bottom of the seventh. With no runners on base and one out, he crushed Travis Adam's fourth pitch, a fastball, over the left-center field wall. Although Adam tried to avoid giving up extra-base hits by pitching low and outside, Murakami technically drove a 93.9 mph (approximately 151.1 km/h) fastball, hitting his 20th home run of the season. According to Statcast, the ball would have been a home run in all 30 MLB stadiums, traveling 432 feet (approximately 131 meters).

With this, Murakami hit a home run in every game of the three-game series against Minnesota. His season stats stand at a .240 batting average (196 at-bats, 47 hits), 20 home runs, 40 RBIs, 42 runs scored, a .375 on-base percentage, a .561 slugging percentage, and an OPS of 0.936, placing him in a tie for first in the AL in home runs.

Murakami reached the 20th-home run plateau before senior stars like Shohei Ohtani (32, Los Angeles Dodgers) and Aaron Judge (34, New York Yankees), moving into a tie for second place overall in MLB home runs. Only Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies) with 21 home runs is ahead of him.

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*This content was translated by AI.