Munetaka Murakami homers twice as playoff-bound White Sox top Rockies 6-1

CHICAGO (AP) — Munetaka Murakami homered twice to increase his season total to 35, and the playoff-bound Chicago White Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 6-1 on Friday night to remain one game behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central.

Already assured at least a wild card, Chicago (83-77) has won five of six. The White Sox failed to gain ground on the Guardians (84-76), who pulled out a 12-9 win at Kansas City by scoring five runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Both the White Sox and Guardians have two games remaining. Chicago has the tiebreaker if they finish with identical records.

Sean Burke (11-7) allowed one run and four hits in in 5 1/3 innings, and three relievers completed a four-hitter.

Chicago's Colson Montgomery set the season record for strikeouts with 224 when he was set down looking in the fifth inning by Tomoyuki Sugano. Montgomery topped Mark Reynolds’ 223 in 2009.

Colorado has lost 17 of 20 and dropped to a major league-worst 57-103, matching 2023 for the second-most losses in club history behind 119 last year The Rockies are the first team with four straight 100-loss seasons since the 1962-65 New York Mets.

Murakami had the third multi-homer game of his rookie season. Kyle Teel drove in two runs and Sam Antonacci lined three hits for the White Sox.

TJ Rumfield homered for the Rockies.

Sugano (12-12) lost his seventh straight decision, allowing four runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Up next

Colorado LHP José Quintana (2-3, 5.44 ERA) faces one of his former teams Saturday night. The White Sox start RHP Davis Martin (9-7, 3.84).

___

See AP’s full MLB coverage here