Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami was removed in the third inning of Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers after tweaking his hamstring.
Murakami, whose 20 home runs share the American League lead with Houston’s Yordan Alvarez, grabbed at his right hamstring after hustling down the first base line to avoid a 4-6-3 double play.
Murakami walked slowly back to the dugout without needing assistance.
“He’ll be evaluated and we’ll see what we got,” White Sox manager Will Venable told CHSN after the inning ended. “Obviously, it grabbed on him. In that instance, you just want to make sure he’s all right and not push it. Obviously with all our guys, we want to protect them and make sure they’re healthy.”
Luisangel Acuna ran for Murakami and scored on Miguel Vargas’ double. In the top of the fourth, Vargas moved from third to first, Acuna took over at short and Colson Montgomery slid from short to third. Montgomery stayed in the game despite tweaking his lower back while popping out to close the third inning.
Murakami has been a revelation for a White Sox squad that entered Friday’s game as the No. 2 wild card in the American League. The 26-year-old first baseman has appeared in all 57 games and delivered a .240/.378/.560 slash line with 20 homers, 41 RBIs and 44 walks.
