Munetaka Murakami Makes MLB History, Joins Shohei Ohtani, Seiya Suzuki With HR in 4 Straight Games

Chicago White Sox rookie sensation Munetaka Murakami continued his scorching start to the 2026 season and made some history along the way.

Murakami launched a solo home run in Tuesday's 11-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, marking his fourth straight game with a homer. He is now just the third Japanese-born player ever to hit a home run in four straight MLB games, joining Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and Chicago Cubs slugger Seiya Suzuki.

Murakami went 3-for-5 in Tuesday's victory, raising his batting average to .234 through 23 games this season. He's now tied with New York Yankees star Aaron Judge for second in MLB with nine home runs while also adding 17 RBI. Per MLB.com's Scott Merkin, his nine homers are the most of any Japanese-born player in his first 23 MLB games, three more than Ohtani hit during that stretch.

If Murakami hits another home run in Wednesday's matchup against the Diamondbacks, he will tie the longest streak by an MLB rookie. Despite his impressive run, the 26-year-old has remained humble while acknowledging that he's still getting used to life in the majors.

"I still have a lot of pitchers that I've faced for the first time," Murakami said through interpreter Kenzo Yagi, per Merkin. "But I'm really analyzing the pitchers with as much as possible so that I'm getting ready into the at-bat. I'll just try to keep doing whatever I'm doing right now."

The White Sox rank fourth in the AL Central with a 9-14 record, but they've won three of their last four games. Murakami said that he's hoping to help the team continue to turn things around this season.

"We're very much connecting from top to bottom in the lineup," he said. "It's just really important that we continue as a team to get good results."