Los Angeles Angels at Chicago White Sox

CHICAGO – Those White Sox fans who sat out a 3-hour rain delay Monday night at Rate Field for a 9:40 p.m. CT first pitch, those fans who watched the South Siders trail the Angels for much of the night, certainly got their money’s worth in the end. Thanks to a seven-run seventh and a one-batter save from Bryan Hudson, the White Sox rallied for an 8-7 victory and moved within 3 games of Detroit atop the American League Central. Sure, it’s April 27, or actually April 28 when the game officially ended. But there hasn’t been much of a need to look at the standings during any point in the past three seasons of Chicago’s rebuild. Monday’s comeback started with Zach Neto’s error on Sam Antonacci’s slowly hit grounder, followed by Chase Meidroth’s bunt single to knock starter Jack Kochanowicz from the game. It was punctuated by Munetaka Murakami – who else – lofting a three-run home run off Drew Pomeranz to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 7-5 advantage. That long ball marked Murakami’s Majors-high 12th overall and tied him with Will Smith (2019) for the fourth most in 29 career Major League games. Aristides Aquino at 14 (2018-19) and Rhys Hoskins at 13 (‘17) are the only ones ahead of him. It’s little wonder the small number of fans still in place around 11:45 p.m. CT began chanting “MVP!” “MVP!” It’s a little early to be talking about the slugging first baseman from Japan as the top player in the American League. Maybe “Rookie of the Year” would be the better call, although not quite as rhythmic. “I wanted to hit it in front and get something out of it. That’s what I did,” said Murakami of his home run through interpreter Kenzo Yagi. “I didn’t think it was going in. But it somehow went in. So I’m happy.” Entering the game 0-for-9 with five strikeouts, Murakami broke the mini-drought with a first-inning single. He was 4-for-30 against left-handed pitchers until he faced Pomeranz. Murakami’s drive had a 48-degree launch angle and a 6.1-second hang time, according to Statcast. There have been only eight over-the-fence home runs since Statcast started recording data in 2015 with a higher launch angle. Murakami’s first 12 extra-base hits have been home runs, extending the longest such streak to start a player’s Major League career since at least 1900. For the season, Murakami has 13 singles and 12 homers to make up his 25 hits. “I remember watching him in the \[World Baseball Classic\