Murakami's Two Homers Kept the White Sox Alive for One More Night

Munetaka Murakami did his part on Friday. The rookie homered twice, giving him 35 for the season and his third multi-homer game, and the White Sox beat Colorado 6-1 to stay within a game of Cleveland.

Sean Burke gave up one run over 5 1/3 innings and three relievers finished a four-hitter. Kyle Teel drove in two, and Sam Antonacci had three hits. The same night, Colson Montgomery took a called third strike from Tomoyuki Sugano for his 224th strikeout, a new single-season record.

The problem was happening in Kansas City, where Cleveland scored five in the ninth to win, so the gap stayed at one game with two to play.

Update: the race is over

It ended on Saturday. Chicago lost 9-6 to the Rockies, and Cleveland clinched the division with a win over the Royals. The White Sox had already locked up a wild card, so their season continues in the wild-card round.

Colorado, meanwhile, is 57-103 after losing 17 of 20. That ties 2023 for the second-worst record in team history, after last year's 119 losses, and makes the Rockies the first team since the 1962-65 Mets with four straight 100-loss seasons.