CLEVELAND — Munetaka Murakami belted a two-run homer off All-Star Parker Messick and five pitchers combined on a three-hitter as the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Saturday afternoon.
Murakami, a 26-year-old rookie from Japan, hammered a 440-foot shot to right field off Messick in the fourth inning. His first postseason homer — and 36th overall this year — plated Miguel Vargas to put the White Sox up 2-0.
“I was ready, this was the moment I was preparing for the entire season,” said Murakami, who yelled toward the visiting dugout as his homer cleared the fence. “I can’t explain what I said in words (to the team), but it was a little bit dirty.”
Chicago extended its lead to 3-0 in the seventh when Colson Montgomery doubled just inside third base against Erik Sabrowski, bringing home Kyle Teel. The White Sox have won three consecutive games to begin their postseason.
Bryan Hudson retired the only batter he faced in the third inning for the victory, and closer Grant Taylor tossed the final four innings for the save. Taylor struck out six and allowed a pair of hits.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Monday afternoon in Cleveland. The White Sox have won eight of the 14 contests between the teams this season, splitting eight games at Progressive Field, the home of the AL Central champion Guardians.
“The first game in the series is very important. Now, we’ll get the one day (of) rest and focus on winning again,” Murakami said.
“I can’t speak English too much, so the one thing I know is ‘Let’s go,’ and that’s it,” he added.
Messick, a rookie making his postseason debut, struck out six over 4 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks. The left-hander threw 87 pitches before being replaced by Daniel Espino.
Cleveland was held hitless until the fourth, when Travis Bazzana doubled with two outs against Anthony Kay. The Guardians would load the bases with two out for the second straight inning, but Brayan Rocchio lined out to right.
“Of course, you’re frustrated when you get shut out,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We just couldn’t get it going early in the inning to get some action going. But we didn’t get down.”
White Sox rookie Hagen Smith worked as an opener for the second time this week, tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings. The left-hander did not give up a hit, struck out four and walked three.
Smith retired the first eight Cleveland batters before walking Rocchio, Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez in the third, prompting White Sox manager Will Venable to lift him for Hudson. The 6-foot-8 left-hander retired lefty-swinging Chase DeLauter on a fly to left to end the inning.
Jordan Hicks followed Hudson and recorded two outs before Kay entered.
The Guardians’ Jo Adell struck out four times in four plate appearances in the first playoff game of his seven-year career. He was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline.
“I was definitely in a blender today, getting different looks every time up from a different pitcher,” Adell said. “We’ve got to adjust because we were trying to find it all day. Postseason is a pitcher’s duel and we’ve got to bounce back.”
Chicago catcher Teel was unsuccessful on his first ABS challenge after going 5-for-5 in the wild-card round.
–Brian Dulik, Field Level Media
