Munetaka Murakami hits his first home run of the postseason, leads off by two runs, and the White Sox win Game 1 of the district series.

I can't contain my excitement. Murakami of the White Sox scored his first two-run homer in the postseason. The moment I hit it, I knew it was a hit and it flew about 134 meters to the right wing. He turned to his team's cheering bench and shouted, confidently circling the diamond amidst the commotion of the enemy.

The first game of the district series against the Guardians, who lost the AL Central Division championship by a small margin. Murakami hit a home run in August against Messick, a left-handed starting pitcher who had 12 wins and an ERA of 2.56 this season.

``In my first at-bat, I was able to hit the ball well in front of center field, so I just tried to swing hard without really thinking about it.'' No outs on 1st base in the 4th inning. The first pitch to the inside corner, a sinker of approximately 150 km, was spectacularly arched and became the winning hit.

They have won all three games so far in the playoffs. Murakami, who motivates his teammates even when playing defense, says, ``My goal was to go to the postseason like this and win as a team.'' ``We want to play our own baseball'' in the second game, which will be held one day apart. There's no chance of slowing down. (Cleveland Jiji)