White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami leaves game with hamstring issue

This was the last sight the resurgent White Sox and their fans wanted to see.

Slugger Munetaka Murakami seemed to hesitate for a second as he exited the batter's box after hitting a grounder to second base in the third inning as the South Siders’ hosted the Detroit Tigers at the Rate.  

The play forced out Sam Antonacci at second. Murakami ran to first, but decelerated cautiously after reaching the bag. Then he turned, grabbed the back of his right thigh and appeared to be in discomfort.

Manager Will Venable, training staff and interpreter Kenzo Yagi dashed out on the field toward Murakami, who entered Friday tied for the American League lead with 20 homers. As the big first baseman grimaced a couple of times, they all walked slowly walked back to the dugout 

Luisangel Acuna replaced Murakami as a pinch runner and Venable shifted his infielders. Minutes later, the White Sox announced their rising star from Japan had right hamstring tightness and was being evaluated.

No matter the outcome of the game, the mood in the crowd of 30,019 at the Rate changed in a hurry. The 26-year-old Murakami, who signed a two-year, $34 million contract with the Sox in December, has been the biggest reason and attraction in turnaround season on the South Side.

Murakami entered Friday batting .242 with a .381 on-base percentage and 41 RBIs in 56 games. His 44 walks ranked fifth in the majors.

Earlier this week, Murakami joined Frank Thomas and Jim Thome as the only White Sox players to go deep 20 times before June. He was hearing chants of “MVP” from fans.

The Tigers led 2-1 after seven innings, but heading into the night, the White Sox hoped to fatten up their record against divisional opponents as they took on slumping Detroit.

After just taking three of four games from Minnesota at on the South Side, the Sox improved to 8-3 against  opponents from the American League Central. They entered in second-place at 29-27 and were trying to climb three-games above .500 for the first time since Sept. 21, 2022.

Injury depleted themselves, the Tigers entered having lost 18 of their last 22 games in a dreadful May that has seen them plunge to 13 games below .500. Detroit was tied for first in the AL Central on April 24 at 14-12.

Venable’s strategy of using left-hander Brandon Eisert as an opener against Tigers worked. He retired Detroit’s first four hitters, including dangerous left-handed batters Kevin McGonigle and Riley Greene, before Erick Fedde entered with one out in the fourth and finished that frame.

“Give Eis an opportunity to get those guys” Venable said before the game. “These guys are going to do a great job with their lineup to be able to continue to match up, so we wanted to drop Fedde into a spot that is good for him.

Right-hander Fedde struck out McGonigle for the second out of the third inning after he walked Zack Shots. But then he lost a battle with right-handed slugging catcher Dillon Dingler.

Dingler, who entered with a .231 average, golfed his team-leading 11^th homer to left on a 1-0 changeup that crossed the plate well below the the strike zone. 

After Murakami left, the Sox cut it to 2-1 in the bottom half.  Acuna scored from first on Miguel Vargas’ RBI double down the left field line.  Vargas took over at first for Murakami in the fourth, with Colson Montgomery moving from shortstop to third and Acuna entering at shortstop.

Fedde pitched four innings, allowing just the two runs on Dingler's homer. He gave up a total of four hits and three walks, while striking out three before Sean Newcomb took over in the sixth.

Detroit right-hander Troy Melton was sharp again in his his second start after beginning the season on the 60-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. 

Through seven innings against the Sox, the 25-year old allowed just one run on six hits, walking one, striking out one. Against Baltimore last Sunday, Melton yielded just two hits and one run in 5 2/3 innings.