Munetaka Murakami momentarily had a share of the team lead in home runs, hitting his 30th in the first inning Saturday against the Minnesota Twins.
The two-run blast to left field put him in a tie with Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery. Briefly.
Montgomery hit a solo home run to right field later in the inning, his 31st of the year.
The early fireworks weren’t enough as the Sox squandered the three-run lead in a 6-4 loss to the Twins in front of 27,749 at Rate Field.
“Obviously I’m really happy about getting 30, but moreover it’s we lost the game,” Murakami said through an interpreter. “So that’s very much disappointing. We hope we can win one tomorrow.”
Ryan Jeffers hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the fifth inning, and the Twins held on for the victory.
“The team hands you a 3-0 lead in the first inning, you want to hold on to that,” Sox starter Anthony Kay said. “And obviously I didn’t do my job with that tonight and going to have to figure it out.
“Got in a groove early and then kind of just fell apart the second and third times around. They put a couple good swings on it and wasn’t able to hold the lead.”
The first-place Sox (74-68) still hold a 2½-game lead over the second-place Cleveland Guardians (72-71) in the American League Central. The Guardians lost 6-0 to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. The third-place Twins (68-74) are six games back.
The home runs from Murakami and Montgomery put the Sox ahead 3-0.
White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami follows through on a two-run home run in the first inning against the Twins on Sept. 5, 2026, at Rate Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami high-fives teammates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning against the Twins on Sept. 5, 2026, at Rate Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
“Obviously having Colson and Vargas is a strong point for us,” Murakami said. “But not just them, the whole team contributing in all aspects. It’s making us stronger. Keep continuing as a team to get stronger and hope for the win.”
Murakami, Vargas and Montgomery are the first trio of Sox to hit 30-plus home runs in a season since Carlos Quentin (36), Jermaine Dye (34) and Jim Thome (34) in 2008. Vargas and Montgomery reached 30 on Friday.
“It’s really cool, it’s special,” manager Will Venable said. “Obviously all these guys have done a great job really throughout our lineup. To have three guys in the middle of your lineup that have 30 homers, it means a lot. It speaks to what we do well. These guys hit the ball hard, hit the ball over the fence, and it’s cool to have three guys with 30.”
Murakami joined Eloy Jiménez (31 in 2019), José Abreu (36 in 2014) and Ron Kittle (35 in 1983) as the only Sox rookies to record 30-plus home runs in a season.
“The lone goal I had was not to get injured, and not about home runs,” Murakami said. “Results come at the end overall after the season. Just keeping that up.”
The Twins were down but not out.
They loaded the bases with one out in the fourth against Kay. Kody Clemens hit a grounder, but the Sox only were able to get a force at second. A run scored on the fielder’s choice. Brooks Lee drove in another with a double, cutting the Sox lead to 3-2.
White Sox starting pitcher Anthony Kay walks on the infield as Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning Sept. 5, 2026, at Rate Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Kay surrendered the three-run home run to Jeffers on a 1-0 cutter in the fifth inning, putting the Sox behind 5-3. Kay allowed five runs on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 4 1/3 innings.
“Really sharp there up front in the first few innings and then just got in some trouble,” Venable said. “Wasn’t able to work out of it, just left some pitches over the plate. Obviously, Jeffers’ homer was killer.”
Vargas drove in a run with a single in the fifth to get the Sox within 5-4. But the Twins extended their lead to 6-4 on a Kaelen Culpepper RBI double in the seventh.
The Sox brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh and eighth innings. Kyle Teel struck out and Sam Antonacci grounded out to strand a runner on second in the seventh. Montgomery struck out with a runner on second to end the eighth.
“Obviously nice first inning with the homers, cool to see Mune get his 30th and another good swing from Colson,” Venable said. “But just didn’t really get anything cooking after that.”