CHICAGO - Munetaka Murakami hit his 25th home run but could not prevent the Chicago White Sox from losing 8-2 against the Cleveland Guardians on Friday for their fourth straight defeat.
The slugger scored the game's last run with a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth inning at Rate Field, crushing a 0-1 four-seamer from Parker Messick (9-6) to center for his first homer in six games.
That was the only hit of the game for Murakami, who was "really frustrated" to suffer a defeat a day after the White Sox lost to the Boston Red Sox 12-11 in 13 innings.
"I wanted to win in any way possible after losing like that yesterday," said Murakami, who was pleased with his home run, nonetheless. "I thought it went up too high, but I had connected well and got a good feeling."
The Red Sox stretched their winning streak to nine games by battering the Athletics 13-1, as Masataka Yoshida went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, doubling in a run in the fourth and plating another in the sixth with a sacrifice fly.
Seiya Suzuki helped the Chicago Cubs to their fifth straight win as they beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4, doubling in two runs in the second as he went 2-for-5.
Roki Sasaki held the Arizona Diamondbacks to two runs on four hits over six innings but did not get a decision as the Los Angeles Dodgers were walked off 4-3 by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
