Munetaka Murakami is on his way back to the Chicago White Sox.
And just in time after the team scored just two runs over three losses to the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox completed the series sweep Thursday, topping the White Sox 2-1 in front of 19,148 at Rate Field.
The White Sox (47-45) are back in a tie for first place in the American League Central with Cleveland (48-46) after the loss and the Guardians’ 5-2 win against the Minnesota Twins.
They’ll hope to get an offensive boost from Murakami, who has been on the injured list since May 30 with a right hamstring strain.
“We anticipate activating Mune tomorrow,” manager Will Venable said. “He was challenged running the bases, defensively, had a really long game yesterday (with Triple-A Charlotte). So feel good about the workload, recovered well today so he’s ready to go.”
Murakami played two injury rehab games this week with the Knights and went 2-for-7.
“I think it’s going to be a great jolt,” Venable said. “That’s real. We understand the impact he makes on the field and in the clubhouse, so to activate him is going to mean a lot for our group. Really excited about him.
“This ramp-up in this rehab was very quick, so want to be mindful of where he’s at day to day. We’ll be in communication with him on how he feels.”
The Sox are 17-18 since Murakami went on the IL. They’ve lost six of eight, including being swept for the fifth time this season with the three straight losses to the Red Sox.
The White Sox had four hits in each of the first two games of the series. They collected seven hits Thursday, two by Colson Montgomery.
“Same story today, just couldn’t solve for some really good left-handed pitching,” Venable said. “You have to give those guys on the other side credit. They were extremely tough. They were able to neutralize some guys who we’ve seen, especially versus left-handed pitching, play really well — (Miguel Vargas) and (Randal Grichuk), they’ve done such a great job all year.
“We just got beat. We tried to make a bunch of adjustments. These guys were working really hard pregame to solve for some of these dynamic fastballs these lefties had and we weren’t able to solve for it. I don’t want to label this one a slump, but a series where we weren’t able to produce offensively, which is something we are used to doing.”
The team’s lone run Thursday came on an Andrew Benintendi RBI infield single in the fifth inning.
“It’s a long year,” Benintendi said. “We played really well at home for 10 series in a row. It was bound to happen at some point. You’ll go through a rough stretch. Credit to them, they pitched really, really well. We scored two runs in three games. That’s not something we typically do here.”
White Sox starter Anthony Kay pitched well in the loss, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. The two runs came on a Caleb Durbin home run in the fourth inning.
“Obviously one of the walks (to Romy Gonzalez) led to the two-run homer, which I wish I could have that walk back,” Kay said. “But overall everything felt pretty good. Felt like I commanded the game pretty well.”
Red Sox starter Patrick Sandoval and four relievers made the lead hold up. The visitors outscored the White Sox 15-2 in the series.
“There’s a reason you play this many games,” Benintendi said. “If you go through a whole year without going through (ups and downs), it’s one of the best seasons ever. The best teams go through it. Just one of those things you move on from.”
The White Sox move on to their final series before the All-Star break, which starts Friday against the Athletics at Rate Field. And they’ll have a big bat back in the lineup in Murakami, who had 20 home runs before June.
“It’s huge,” Benintendi said of Murakami’s return. “Obviously he’s a presence in the lineup. He’ll bring the energy. It seems like the vibe in here is kind of down right now but I’m sure seeing him tomorrow will spark it back up.”
