CHICAGO (AP) Munetaka Murakami hit his team-leading 32nd home run and the Chicago White Sox moved into a tie with idle Cleveland for first place in the AL Central with a 3-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday night.
Bryan Hudson (5-4), the second of four White Sox pitchers, got four outs for the win. Grant Taylor went the final 2 1/3 innings for his ninth save.
Chicago rebounded from a 6-3 loss at Cleveland on Wednesday that knocked them out of a share of first for the first time since July 4. Both the Guardians and White Sox are 78-75.
The White Sox are trying to become the first team in MLB history to make the postseason after losing 100-plus games in each of the previous two seasons.
Gleyber Torres drove in the Tigers’ run in the third inning on a fielder’s choice.
Murakami’s three-run homer, a 423-foot three-run drive to center in the first, was just the Japanese rookie’s third in his last 28 games. He launched the first pitch he saw, a high sinker from Framber Valdez.
Murakami also had a triple and struck out twice and is batting .111 in his last 28 games.
White Sox starter Erick Fedde allowed one run on four hits in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out six, walked two and hit a batter before Hudson relieved.
Valdez (10-11) yielded three runs on three hits in five innings. He struck out eight and walked four.
With two outs in the fifth, Torres was held to a single on a drive to the base of the left-field wall on a quick retrieval by left fielder Randal Grichuk.
Dillon Dingler followed with a double and Hudson entered and struck out Riley Greene. Spencer Torkelson led off the sixth with a liner to the left field corner, but Grichuk threw him out at second.
Tigers LHP Andrew Sears (0-1, 5.40 ERA) faced White Sox RHP David Sandlin (2-2, 5.64) on Friday.
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| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K. | McGonigle 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .275 | G. |
| Torres DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .265 | D. |
| Dingler C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .242 | R. |
| Greene LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .284 | S. |
| Torkelson 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .227 | Z. |
| McKinstry RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .203 | a- B. |
| Malgeri PH-RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .238 | b- B. |
| Callahan PH-RF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .214 | M. |
| Clark CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .278 | J. |
| Peck SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .222 | J. |
| Baez 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .234 | c- C. |
- a-grounded out for McKinstry in the 6th
- b-walked for Malgeri in the 8th
- c-walked for Baez in the 9th
| HITTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. | Meidroth 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .271 | T. |
| Pham DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .050 | a- A. |
| Benintendi PH-DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .245 | M. |
| Vargas 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .248 | R. |
| Grichuk LF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .284 | T. |
| Peters LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .273 | M. |
| Murakami 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | .205 | B. |
| Doyle CF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .226 | J. |
| Rogers C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .161 | L. |
| Acuna SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .227 | B. |
- a-flied out for Pham in the 7th
- 2B – D. Dingler (26)
- RBI – G. Torres (38)
- Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out – D. Dingler 2 (2), R. Greene 2 (2), J. Peck
- 3B – M. Murakami
- HR – M. Murakami (32)
- RBI – M. Murakami 3 (68)
- 2-Out RBI – M. Murakami 3 (3)
- Runners left in scoring position, 2-Out – C. Meidroth 2 (2), J. Rogers, B. Montgomery
- SB – B. Doyle (14)
- E – K. McGonigle (19)
- Outfield Assist – R. Grichuk
- DP – (Vargas-Murakami)
- Pitches-Strikes – F. Valdez 90-56, J. Waguespack 12-10, T. Madden 25-19
- Ground Balls-Fly Balls – F. Valdez 9-2, J. Waguespack 2-0, T. Madden 2-3
- Batters Faced – F. Valdez 23, J. Waguespack 4, T. Madden 7
- Pitches-Strikes – E. Fedde 89-52, B. Hudson 11-9, J. Hicks 25-15, G. Taylor 35-19
- Ground Balls-Fly Balls – E. Fedde 3-1, B. Hudson 2-0, J. Hicks 1-0, G. Taylor 5-1
- Batters Faced – E. Fedde 21, B. Hudson 4, J. Hicks 4, G. Taylor 9