CHICAGO - Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami homered for the third straight game in Wednesday's 15-2 win against the Minnesota Twins, following in Shohei Ohtani's footsteps as just the second Japanese player to hit 20 home runs in his Major League Baseball rookie season.
He reached the milestone in his 55th MLB game with a solo shot to the opposite field in the bottom of the seventh inning at Rate Field, giving the White Sox a 14-1 lead.
Murakami also stole second base in the sixth inning for his first MLB steal during his 2-for-4 outing while batting second in the lineup as designated hitter.
The 26-year-old jointly leads the American League home run race with Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros and is one behind overall MLB leader Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Murakami joined the White Sox during the offseason after being posted by the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League.
He tied the MLB record by homering for five games in a row as a rookie and is on track to eclipse Ohtani's rookie total of 22 home runs for the Los Angeles Angels in 2018.
