A Pulse

Munetaka Murakami and the White Sox both showed a pulse last night at the Rate, beating Detroit 3-1 on a Murakami three-run homer in the first inning, after which pitching and defense dominated. Starter Erick Fedde did the Houdini thing through 4.2 innings. Fedde gave up one run on four hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch, stranding six Tigers’ baserunners along the way. Smoke, mirrors, guile, Fedde is doing something right. Last night, so did the defense. Left fielder Randal Grichuk saved Fedde a run in the fifth by barehanding a ball off the fence to keep Gleyber Torres to a single; Dillon Dingler followed with what would’ve been a run-scoring double. Grichuk also threw out Spencer Torkelson in the sixth when Torkelson tried to take an extra base on a single. The best play of the night, though, may have belonged to Murakami. With a runner on first and two out in the eighth, Mark Clark hit an infield single, beating the throw from third baseman Miguel Vargas. Brett Callahan, the lead runner, kept going and was called safe at third despite a strong throw across the diamond by Murakami. Sox manager Vibes Venable challenged the call, which was overturned upon review. I should also mention here Murakami collected his first MLB triple in the eighth. Which leads us to the bad news, such as it was. The Sox failed on two chances to score that insurance run. And Grant Taylor was scary. Yes, he went 2.1 innings for the save, but he put the tying runs on in the ninth. Lucky for Taylor that Vargas managed a 5-3 double play, with a tag of the runner going to third coupled with a strong throw to first. Now to see if Murakami can continue hitting—and if Braden Montgomery can break out of his slump. Montgomery went 0-for-3 batting ninth last night. The rookie has got to hit for his team to advance.