CLEVELAND — The White Sox arrived at Progressive Field with their middle of the order still looking for a postseason breakthrough, and Miguel Vargas and Munetaka Murakami found it in the fourth inning of Saturday’s American League Division Series opener against the Guardians.
Chicago had swept through two American League Wild Card Series wins over Houston despite Vargas and Murakami going a combined 1-for-17 without an extra-base hit. That quiet stretch did not follow them for long against Cleveland.
A fourth-inning answer after a tense third
- Rookie White Sox starter Hagen Smith ran into trouble in the bottom of the third, issuing three consecutive two-out walks to load the bases.
- Bryan Hudson took over and faced Chase DeLauter, who worked the reliever to a full count before lifting a routine fly ball to left. Randal Grichuk settled under it to end the threat.
- Vargas opened the top of the fourth with a single off Guardians rookie left-hander Parker Messick.
- Murakami followed by attacking Messick’s first pitch, turning on a sinker that came in and caught too much of the upper part of the zone.
- The ball left Murakami’s bat at 112.2 mph and carried an estimated 440 feet, a towering two-run homer that gave the White Sox a jolt after Hudson’s escape.
Murakami paused to admire the drive, and much of the ballpark did the same. The blast was his first home run in postseason play and delivered the kind of damage Chicago had not received from its Vargas-Murakami tandem during the Houston series.
Murakami joins a short White Sox list
The homer made Murakami the fourth White Sox rookie to go deep in the postseason. He joined Gavin Sheets, who did it in the 2021 ALDS; Luis Robert Jr., who homered in the 2020 AL Wild Card round; and Tadahito Iguchi, who accomplished it in the 2005 ALDS.
Iguchi’s place on that list also connects him with Murakami in White Sox history. They are two of only four Japanese players to appear for Chicago, alongside reliever Shingo Takatsu and outfielder Kosuke Fukudome.
For one afternoon in Cleveland, the White Sox turned a frustrating Wild Card Series stat line into a cleaner October formula: escape the inning that could have gotten away, put a runner aboard, and let the heart of the lineup finally make a loud mark.
