Deadspin | White Sox ride offensive surge into rematch vs. A’s 
Apr 17, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Chicago White Sox third baseman Munetaka Murakami (5) celebrates with team mates after hitting a grand slam against the Athleticsduring the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images The Chicago White Sox will look to build on an elite offensive performance when they face the Athletics on Saturday afternoon in the middle contest of a three-game set at West Sacramento, Calif.
Chicago equaled its top scoring output of the campaign and racked up a season-high 15 hits during Friday’s 9-2 shellacking of the Athletics.
Munetaka Murakami smacked his first major league grand slam as part of a 3-for-5 outing. The left-handed-hitting Murakami’s seventh-inning blast cleared the tall batter’s eye beyond the center-field wall.
“I struck out the at-bat before, so I was trying to see the ball well and really get a good swing at it,” Murakami said through an interpreter. “And the result was the best I did.”
The grand slam, off Elvis Alvarado, was Murakami’s sixth homer in his 20 games with the White Sox. The 26-year-old starred in Japan with five seasons of 30 or more homers before signing with the White Sox in the offseason.
His wallop was the highlight of a standout offensive showing for Chicago, which has scored three or fewer runs 13 times this season. In fact, the White Sox had only 60 runs — second fewest in the majors — before Friday’s feast.
Murakami raised his batting average to .200, with 13 RBIs. He struck out twice and has fanned 28 times in 65 at-bats.
Andrew Benintendi was 3-for-6 with two runs and one RBI for Chicago, which won for just the third time in the past 11 games.
“It was really nice,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Those guys have been putting together really good at-bats; just nothing to show for it. To be able to come out, continue that and get rewarded was really nice. It was up and down the lineup.”
The Athletics had just four hits while losing their second straight game. Nick Kurtz had an RBI single when he won a 13-pitch battle with White Sox right-hander Davis Martin.
“That was our best at-bat of the night,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “He fought off a lot of pitches. It’s an at-bat we’ve seen from Nick in the past, and we’re starting to see more of those at-bats. We did some early work (before the game) with Nick, and it looks like things are turning in the right direction.”
The A’s committed just one error Friday, but Kotsay was concerned about the defense.
“We have to play clean games, and (Friday’s game) wasn’t one of those,” he said.
Athletics right-hander Luis Severino (0-2, 5.59 ERA) will take another swipe at ending his woes inside Sutter Health Park on Saturday.
Severino lost to the Texas Rangers 8-1 on Monday when he gave up four runs and six hits over six innings. He served up two homers, walked three and struck out seven in his first 2026 home outing. The setback leaves him 2-10 with a 6.01 ERA in 16 starts in West Sacramento since joining the A’s prior to last season. Severino sharply criticized the ballpark last June.
Severino is 2-3 with a 4.44 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) against the White Sox. Benintendi (13-for-38) is batting .342 with two homers, one triple, four doubles and 10 RBIs against Severino.
The White Sox will turn to right-hander Erick Fedde (0-3, 3.38 ERA) on Saturday. He has allowed only 14 hits and three walks in 16 innings, but Chicago has just three total runs in his three outings.
Fedde’s lone career appearance against the A’s was rough. He allowed six runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings during a 10-6 loss on Aug. 30, 2022, when he was a member of the Washington Nationals.
Jeff McNeil is 7-for-18 against Fedde from when both players were in the National League.
–Field Level Media
#Deadspin #White #Sox #ride #offensive #surge #rematch
Apr 17, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Chicago White Sox third baseman Munetaka Murakami (5) celebrates with team mates after hitting a grand slam against the Athleticsduring the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images The Chicago White Sox will look to build on an elite offensive performance when they face the Athletics on Saturday afternoon in the middle contest of a three-game set at West Sacramento, Calif.
Chicago equaled its top scoring output of the campaign and racked up a season-high 15 hits during Friday’s 9-2 shellacking of the Athletics.
Munetaka Murakami smacked his first major league grand slam as part of a 3-for-5 outing. The left-handed-hitting Murakami’s seventh-inning blast cleared the tall batter’s eye beyond the center-field wall.
“I struck out the at-bat before, so I was trying to see the ball well and really get a good swing at it,” Murakami said through an interpreter. “And the result was the best I did.”
The grand slam, off Elvis Alvarado, was Murakami’s sixth homer in his 20 games with the White Sox. The 26-year-old starred in Japan with five seasons of 30 or more homers before signing with the White Sox in the offseason.
His wallop was the highlight of a standout offensive showing for Chicago, which has scored three or fewer runs 13 times this season. In fact, the White Sox had only 60 runs — second fewest in the majors — before Friday’s feast.
Murakami raised his batting average to .200, with 13 RBIs. He struck out twice and has fanned 28 times in 65 at-bats.
Andrew Benintendi was 3-for-6 with two runs and one RBI for Chicago, which won for just the third time in the past 11 games.
“It was really nice,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Those guys have been putting together really good at-bats; just nothing to show for it. To be able to come out, continue that and get rewarded was really nice. It was up and down the lineup.”
The Athletics had just four hits while losing their second straight game. Nick Kurtz had an RBI single when he won a 13-pitch battle with White Sox right-hander Davis Martin.
“That was our best at-bat of the night,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “He fought off a lot of pitches. It’s an at-bat we’ve seen from Nick in the past, and we’re starting to see more of those at-bats. We did some early work (before the game) with Nick, and it looks like things are turning in the right direction.”
The A’s committed just one error Friday, but Kotsay was concerned about the defense.
“We have to play clean games, and (Friday’s game) wasn’t one of those,” he said.
Athletics right-hander Luis Severino (0-2, 5.59 ERA) will take another swipe at ending his woes inside Sutter Health Park on Saturday.
Severino lost to the Texas Rangers 8-1 on Monday when he gave up four runs and six hits over six innings. He served up two homers, walked three and struck out seven in his first 2026 home outing. The setback leaves him 2-10 with a 6.01 ERA in 16 starts in West Sacramento since joining the A’s prior to last season. Severino sharply criticized the ballpark last June.
Severino is 2-3 with a 4.44 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) against the White Sox. Benintendi (13-for-38) is batting .342 with two homers, one triple, four doubles and 10 RBIs against Severino.
The White Sox will turn to right-hander Erick Fedde (0-3, 3.38 ERA) on Saturday. He has allowed only 14 hits and three walks in 16 innings, but Chicago has just three total runs in his three outings.
Fedde’s lone career appearance against the A’s was rough. He allowed six runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 innings during a 10-6 loss on Aug. 30, 2022, when he was a member of the Washington Nationals.
Jeff McNeil is 7-for-18 against Fedde from when both players were in the National League.
–Field Level Media
![Caitlin Clark rewrites record books with historic 45-point outing INDIANAPOLIS — Even before Caitlin Clark took the floor on Friday, she had the feeling something special was in store. If nothing else, she was trying to will it into existence.Individually, she had struggled to find a rhythm since returning from injury. As a team, the Fever needed a big night from their superstar with fellow All-Star Aliyah Boston out.But even by Clark’s lofty standards, Friday was something special.Clark tallied a franchise record 45 points to go along with 10 assists, becoming the first player in WNBA history with a 40-10 game, to lead the Fever to a dramatic 110-107 win over the Seattle Storm.“I feel like you just have to believe you’re going to have those types of nights and you have to visualize having those types of nights and I feel like that’s what I did,” Clark said. “It’s not always going to go your way…I know all the time and the work that I’ve put in and people believe in me and, more than anything, I believe in myself.“You just got to dig your feet in a little bit and, when it’s not going your way, nobody cares. Like you find a way to make it better and find a way to help your team win and make this team better and I feel like that’s what I always try to do.”When her team needed her most on Friday, Clark dug in for a fourth quarter masterpiece. Not only did she finish with 16 points in the frame, but she scored or assisted on 17 of the final 19 points for Indiana. No shot was bigger, though, than her stepback three with 39 seconds left to put the Fever up 105-102, giving them a lead they would not relinquish.“It’s incredible,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said. “It’s special. She does things that we haven’t seen…In the moment, sometimes it’s surreal to see. Heck, I looked down at the stat sheet at the end of the game and it’s like, ‘Holy s—, 45 [points] and 10 [assists].’ I mean, it’s just incredible.”After starting the season hot, things haven’t been smooth sailing for Clark. A back injury has plagued her in recent weeks, limiting her to just four games since June 24. For most of those outings, she’s looked like someone searching for her rhythm.But Friday felt different from the jump. Not only did Clark sense it, but her coach could see it, too.“She seemed lighter,” White said of Clark pregame. “She seemed positive. She seemed like she was bouncy. I think she felt good. I think every day we’ve seen a little bit more of it.”Ironically, it was Clark’s backcourt mate who looked destined for the big night in the first quarter. Kelsey Mitchell scored 17 of her 30 points in the opening frame, helping the Fever to an early double-digit lead. In another bit of history from the night, Clark and Mitchell’s 75 combined points are the most by a duo in franchise history.It wasn’t until the second quarter that Clark really found her groove, doing so predominantly at the free throw line, helping her to 14 points in the period. The Fever desperately needed it as the Storm pulled themselves back into the game to trail by just three at the break.Seattle only kept coming in the second half and eventually built up an eight-point lead in the fourth with 5:23 remaining. However, that became the turning point for both Clark and the Fever as they steadily chipped away at the deficit.Clark showed off her growing array of ways to get buckets, mixing mid-range jumpers with drives to the basket and her patented stepback jumper. A 3-pointer with 2:23 gave her a career-high 38 points and closed the deficit to one. A few possessions later, Clark found Monique Billings for an and-one layup with 1:11 left to tie the game.The sequence of the night, though, came shortly after.Following a Fever turnover in a tie game with just under a minute remaining, Clark raced back on the fastbreak to strip Flau’jae Johnson and win back possession. She followed that up with the biggest shot of the game, turning a broken play into the go-ahead 3-pointer to blow the roof off the arena.“I just think that when she’s really in a flow, [she] reads the game as good, if not better than anybody,” White said. “I think she’s grown into taking what the defense gives her and we always know she has the ability to make big shots and she did all of that tonight.”There’s never a bad time for a 45-point night, but this could hardly come at a better one for Clark. Limited by injury and a minutes restriction, Clark hadn’t found a groove since returning to the lineup on July 8. Finding her rhythm again, then, was a positive in itself on Friday.The 45 points? A welcome bonus.“It’s tough when you come back from injury,” White added. “Your body feels different. Mentally, you want it to happen so badly. Sometimes you second-guess yourself and that’s part of it. Rhythm, timing, all the things that happen when you haven’t played for a little while. So it was huge. It was big time for her and for us.”Funnily enough, White noted pregame that Clark was still on a minutes restriction that had hovered right at 25. That number came and went in the fourth quarter without a hint of Clark coming off the floor.Nothing was taking her out of that game. Not on a night as special as Friday.“Steph knows better than that,” Clark joked with a smile. “Trainers know better than that. They would get an earful. But I told Steph at halftime, like I felt really good and I didn’t want to lose this game…I’ve spent a ton of time on [my body] and I trust the people around me that have really helped me. I always find confidence in that, so I know I’m doing all the right things and there’s no way I was ever coming out of the game in the 4th quarter.“It didn’t matter. I would play with one leg.” #Caitlin #Clark #rewrites #record #books #historic #45point #outing](https://i0.wp.com/platform.sbnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/gettyimages-2285922189.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.732984293194%2C100%2C78.534031413613&w=1200&ssl=1 "Caitlin Clark rewrites record books with historic 45-point outing INDIANAPOLIS — Even before Caitlin Clark took the floor on Friday, she had the feeling something special was in store. If nothing else, she was trying to will it into existence.Individually, she had struggled to find a rhythm since returning from injury. As a team, the Fever needed a big night from their superstar with fellow All-Star Aliyah Boston out.But even by Clark’s lofty standards, Friday was something special.Clark tallied a franchise record 45 points to go along with 10 assists, becoming the first player in WNBA history with a 40-10 game, to lead the Fever to a dramatic 110-107 win over the Seattle Storm.“I feel like you just have to believe you’re going to have those types of nights and you have to visualize having those types of nights and I feel like that’s what I did,” Clark said. “It’s not always going to go your way…I know all the time and the work that I’ve put in and people believe in me and, more than anything, I believe in myself.“You just got to dig your feet in a little bit and, when it’s not going your way, nobody cares. Like you find a way to make it better and find a way to help your team win and make this team better and I feel like that’s what I always try to do.”When her team needed her most on Friday, Clark dug in for a fourth quarter masterpiece. Not only did she finish with 16 points in the frame, but she scored or assisted on 17 of the final 19 points for Indiana. No shot was bigger, though, than her stepback three with 39 seconds left to put the Fever up 105-102, giving them a lead they would not relinquish.“It’s incredible,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said. “It’s special. She does things that we haven’t seen…In the moment, sometimes it’s surreal to see. Heck, I looked down at the stat sheet at the end of the game and it’s like, ‘Holy s—, 45 [points] and 10 [assists].’ I mean, it’s just incredible.”After starting the season hot, things haven’t been smooth sailing for Clark. A back injury has plagued her in recent weeks, limiting her to just four games since June 24. For most of those outings, she’s looked like someone searching for her rhythm.But Friday felt different from the jump. Not only did Clark sense it, but her coach could see it, too.“She seemed lighter,” White said of Clark pregame. “She seemed positive. She seemed like she was bouncy. I think she felt good. I think every day we’ve seen a little bit more of it.”Ironically, it was Clark’s backcourt mate who looked destined for the big night in the first quarter. Kelsey Mitchell scored 17 of her 30 points in the opening frame, helping the Fever to an early double-digit lead. In another bit of history from the night, Clark and Mitchell’s 75 combined points are the most by a duo in franchise history.It wasn’t until the second quarter that Clark really found her groove, doing so predominantly at the free throw line, helping her to 14 points in the period. The Fever desperately needed it as the Storm pulled themselves back into the game to trail by just three at the break.Seattle only kept coming in the second half and eventually built up an eight-point lead in the fourth with 5:23 remaining. However, that became the turning point for both Clark and the Fever as they steadily chipped away at the deficit.Clark showed off her growing array of ways to get buckets, mixing mid-range jumpers with drives to the basket and her patented stepback jumper. A 3-pointer with 2:23 gave her a career-high 38 points and closed the deficit to one. A few possessions later, Clark found Monique Billings for an and-one layup with 1:11 left to tie the game.The sequence of the night, though, came shortly after.Following a Fever turnover in a tie game with just under a minute remaining, Clark raced back on the fastbreak to strip Flau’jae Johnson and win back possession. She followed that up with the biggest shot of the game, turning a broken play into the go-ahead 3-pointer to blow the roof off the arena.“I just think that when she’s really in a flow, [she] reads the game as good, if not better than anybody,” White said. “I think she’s grown into taking what the defense gives her and we always know she has the ability to make big shots and she did all of that tonight.”There’s never a bad time for a 45-point night, but this could hardly come at a better one for Clark. Limited by injury and a minutes restriction, Clark hadn’t found a groove since returning to the lineup on July 8. Finding her rhythm again, then, was a positive in itself on Friday.The 45 points? A welcome bonus.“It’s tough when you come back from injury,” White added. “Your body feels different. Mentally, you want it to happen so badly. Sometimes you second-guess yourself and that’s part of it. Rhythm, timing, all the things that happen when you haven’t played for a little while. So it was huge. It was big time for her and for us.”Funnily enough, White noted pregame that Clark was still on a minutes restriction that had hovered right at 25. That number came and went in the fourth quarter without a hint of Clark coming off the floor.Nothing was taking her out of that game. Not on a night as special as Friday.“Steph knows better than that,” Clark joked with a smile. “Trainers know better than that. They would get an earful. But I told Steph at halftime, like I felt really good and I didn’t want to lose this game…I’ve spent a ton of time on [my body] and I trust the people around me that have really helped me. I always find confidence in that, so I know I’m doing all the right things and there’s no way I was ever coming out of the game in the 4th quarter.“It didn’t matter. I would play with one leg.” #Caitlin #Clark #rewrites #record #books #historic #45point #outing")
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