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\nMunetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox hits a home run during an MLB game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on July 31, 2026. (Kyodo) <\/p>\n
\n ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Kyodo) — Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami hit his 24th home run on Friday as Shohei Ohtani also reached the same number for the season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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\n Murakami got his fourth homer in six games as the White Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1, connecting on a 3-1 changeup from Nick Martinez (10-3) in the third inning at Tropicana Field as a two-run shot to left center gave his team a 4-0 lead.
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\n It was a repeat of the Tokyo Olympics final from 2021 when Murakami hit a similar solo shot to the opposite field for Japan in the third inning off the same pitch from Martinez of the United States, helping the host nation to a 2-0 win and its first Olympic gold medal in the sport.
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\n “I knew to an extent what kind of pitch he’d throw. I had an image,” Murakami said of Martinez, who played for the Nippon Ham Fighters and the SoftBank Hawks in Japan from 2018 to 2021. “I was able to give it a good swing. I managed to react well.”
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\n A single in the sixth meant Murakami finished the day 2-for-4 as the Kumamoto Prefecture native stretched his hitting streak to eight games.
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\n Ohtani also hit a two-run homer, joining compatriots Murakami and Toronto Blue Jays rookie Kazuma Okamoto with 24 homers, as the Dodgers lost 9-4 against the Boston Red Sox.
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\n Having missed a game with left knee pain, Ohtani hit a double in the fourth before giving the Dodgers a 4-3 lead in the fifth when he pulled a 2-1 changeup off Jovani Moran. The two-way star went 2-for-5, as did Masataka Yoshida for the Red Sox.
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\n Tomoyuki Sugano (11-4) got another win after holding the Kansas City Royals to a run over 6-2\/3 innings on five hits as the Colorado Rockies prevailed 3-1.
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\n Kodai Senga (0-8), starting for the first time since June 23, was tagged with the loss after giving up three runs on two hits in the New York Mets’ 5-2 defeat by the Miami Marlins.
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\n Yuki Matsui (2-1) earned the win after hurling three shutout innings of relief on one hit in the San Diego Padres’ 7-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.
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