First inning Wednesday night at Truist Field: Munetaka Murakami ripped a double into the left-centerfield gap, Rikuu Nishida came all the way around from first base to score, and the Charlotte Knights had a 1-0 lead off the bat of a Chicago White Sox superstar wearing a Knights uniform. An RBI double, in his second game as a Knight. Folks, the man is not easing into this.
Let me back up for anybody who spent the week at the lake. Murakami is the White Sox superstar first baseman, and he is playing for your Charlotte Knights right now on a Major League rehab assignment. He suited up Tuesday night for the opener of the Nashville series, and just like that, a ballclub that closed out a winning first half in June has a big-league swing in the middle of its summer. (As a South Side kid, I have watched a lot of White Sox first basemen in my day. This is the good kind.)
Tuesday was the storybook opener, and I covered the whole night right here. Murakami went 1-for-3 in his debut, hitting back-to-back singles with Nishida in the first before Caden Connor's sacrifice fly brought Nishida home, and the Knights never looked back in an 8-2 win. Ryan Galanie cleared the left-field wall with a grand slam in the second. Nolan Jones doubled home two, Andy Weber chipped in an RBI single on a 2-for-4 night, and Jason Matthews reached base in all four of his trips. Six Charlotte pitchers split the nine innings, including Tanner McDougal, who threw a scoreless frame in his first appearance with the Knights since early May.
Wednesday was tighter, and it got away late. After Murakami's double made it 1-0, David Sandlin walked three in the second and two Sounds came home. That was all Nashville got off him: the right-hander settled down and finished five innings without further damage. Edgar Quero tied the ballgame 2-2 in the sixth with an RBI single, Nishida crossing the plate again, and then came the seventh: four Nashville runs, the inning that decided it. Nolan Jones singled home a run in the eighth, and the Knights loaded the bases with a chance to take the lead, but the potential go-ahead run flew out to deep left field. Final: Sounds 6, Knights 3. The series is even at a game apiece.
So here is the Murakami Watch, two games in: 2-for-7 with a walk, an RBI double, and a hit in each ballgame. (And a free one for your scorecard: Rikuu Nishida has scored the Knights' first run of the game both nights. The table-setter is setting the table.)
What the numbers can't tell you is how long this lasts. The Knights' releases call it a Major League rehab assignment and leave it at that. No timetable, no return date. I'm not saying you should get to the ballpark while the getting is good. But I'm not NOT saying it.
Game Three is tonight, 7:04, down at Truist Field. The gap in left-center will be waiting.
Update, July 10: Game 3 went to the Knights 9-2, on a four-homer night led by new arrival Riley Unroe. Murakami did not appear, per the official box score. The full story is here.