{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreifwhcroq3wb6433jsisycr33f3fepwqese2fq4amknlxy2zonmka4",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:ha7wpngv4f2qwrk5hta4ktbb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjsnqpbhljp2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreie6g6qv5hkporvfy53u4yzchbes6m27iksvwvdzjten3xcaiv2ove"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 252224
  },
  "path": "/white-sox/2026/04/18/white-sox-athletics-munetaka-murakami-walkoff",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-18T23:40:03.081Z",
  "site": "https://chicago.suntimes.com",
  "tags": [
    "@whitesox",
    "@MLB"
  ],
  "textContent": "<p>WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Athletics walked off the suddenly hot-hitting <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>White Sox</u></a> 7-6 on Saturday with an 11th-inning sacrifice fly from third baseman <b>Max Muncy</b> off reliever <b>Lucas Sims</b>.</p><p><b>Colson Montgomery</b> got the Sox on the board in the second inning with his fourth home run of the season, and the Sox kept piling on Athletics starter Luis Severino. <b>Everson Pereira</b> blooped a double to right field and came around on <b>Reese McGuire</b>’s single, before Andrew Benintendi thwacked a three-run homer, his first of the season.</p><p>A’s shortstop <b>Jacob Wilson</b> responded with a solo blast off <b>Erick Fedde</b> in the second inning, and <b>Lawrence Butler</b> scored on <b>Jeff McNeil</b>’s sacrifice fly in the third.</p><p>Fedde got into a jam in the fifth and <b>Tyler Soderstrom</b> knocked an RBI single off <b>Sean Newcomb</b>, who gave up another run in the sixth. Fedde gave up three runs on two hits and four walks with three strikeouts over 4 ⅔ innings.</p><p><b>Munetaka Murakami</b> slammed his second mammoth home run in as many days, this one a solo blast in the seventh, but <b>Nick Kurtz</b> tied it up with a no-doubt two-run bomb off <b>Jordan Leasure</b> in the bottom half of the inning.</p><div class=\"Enhancement\" data-align-center><div class=\"Enhancement-item\"> <div class=\"ExternalContent-wrapper\" > <div class=\"TweetUrl\"> <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"et\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨MUNETAKA MURAKAMI HOME RUN🚨 <a href=\"https://t.co/6HkumpBoWa\">pic.twitter.com/6HkumpBoWa</a></p>— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/2045624564739150314?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 18, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script> </div> </div> </div></div><p>The teams swapped bases loaded opportunities to no avail from the eighth inning on, before the game-winning sac fly.</p><h3><b>Measuring Mune’s moonshot</b></h3><p><b>Munetaka Murakami</b>’s Statcast-projected 431-foot grand slam sure felt like a lowball estimate in the Sox clubhouse the morning after the rookie slugger’s seventh-inning rocket cleared the batter’s eye in center field <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/04/17/white-sox-seranthony-dominguez-anthony-kay-athletics\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>to seal Friday’s 9-2 win</u></a>.</p><p>“I got more than 431. I don't know who's doing that calculation, but that ball was touched right there,” said manager Will Venable, who categorized it as “a majestic blast.”</p><div class=\"Enhancement\" data-align-center><div class=\"Enhancement-item\"> <div class=\"ExternalContent-wrapper\" > <div class=\"TweetUrl\"> <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">114.1 MPH<br>OVER the batter's eye<br><br>Munetaka Murakami's first MLB grand slam was a sight to behold! <a href=\"https://t.co/wFgHwqsLAg\">https://t.co/wFgHwqsLAg</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/YFlLGxwiCB\">pic.twitter.com/YFlLGxwiCB</a></p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MLB/status/2045352938231521432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 18, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script> </div> </div> </div></div><p>A similar moonshot at Sutter Health Park last summer by Tigers outfielder <b>Riley Greene</b> was clocked at 471 feet.</p><p>From the Sox’ dugout, starter <b>Davis Martin</b> thought <b>Denzel Clarke</b>’s leisurely strides indicated the A’s center fielder had a beat on the 114-mph laser that Murakami cranked off a 98-mph fastball from <b>Elvis Alvarado</b>.</p><p>Then Davis’ jaw dropped.</p><p>“I looked at our pitching coach [<b>Zach Bove</b>] like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Martin said. “Guy’s got stupid juice.”</p><h3><b>Acuna’s growing pains</b></h3><p><b>Luisangel Acuna</b> snapped an 0-for-21 skid at the plate with a single and followed up with an RBI double for his first extra-base hit in a Sox uniform during their offensive onslaught Friday on a night that encapsulated the 24-year-old’s potential upside and early struggles.</p><p>Acuna, who has learned center field on the job since arriving from the Mets in the <b>Luis Robert Jr.</b> trade, also lost a fly ball in the lights that bounced for a ground-rule double. But he gamely tracked down a few screaming liners and swiped his fifth bag of the season.</p><p>“He's been grinding, like so many of these guys have, and he's working so hard pre-game to get his swing right, to put himself in a good position out there. To get rewarded is great, and just really nice for him, nice for us,” Venable said. “He's a good player and he can hit.”</p><p>Acuna had a paltry .453 OPS entering play Saturday compared to .720 for Robert, who <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/04/18/luis-robert-jr-new-york-mets-chicago-white-sox-mlb-all-star\" >hit a double in his return to Chicago on Friday</a> against the Cubs but has scuffled at the plate himself over the last week.</p><h3><b>Roster shuffle</b></h3><p>The Sox claimed journeyman right-hander <b>Osvaldo Bido</b> off waivers from the Braves and transferred <b>Prelander Berroa</b> from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL in <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2026/02/11/erick-fedde-white-sox-return-prelander-berroa\" target=\"_blank\" ><u>his recovery from Tommy John surgery</u></a>.</p><p>Bido, 30, joins his fourth team with a 5.13 ERA over 64 career games (28 starts) with 185 strikeouts in 203 ⅔ innings. He gave up seven runs in six relief appearances before being designated for assignment by Atlanta.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Astros claimed outfielder <b>Dustin Harris</b>, whom the Sox DFA’d last week.</p>",
  "title": "Resurgent White Sox bats not hot enough as Athletics walk them off 7-6",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-18T23:41:45.727Z"
}