Murakami shakes off traffic delay ahead of Cactus League debut with the White Sox

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Munetaka Murakami was a late arrival for his first spring training game with the Chicago White Sox.

Once he got to the ballpark, everything went pretty smoothly.

Murakami had two hits and two RBIs in his Cactus League debut on Friday. The Japanese slugger is learning his way around the major leagues after reaching a $34 million, two-year contract with the rebuilding White Sox in December.

The 26-year-old Murakami was momentarily removed from the starting lineup after he got caught in some traffic on his way to Sloan Park. But he arrived about 20 minutes before the first pitch and bounced to second base in his first at-bat in the first inning of an 8-1 victory over the Cubs.

“There was a big, big accident in the highway,” Murakami said through a translator. “I was just concerned the whole time. ... To be really, really honest, I wasn't able to prepare fully, but I made it in time I think.”

Murakami was part of a slate of debuts on the first day of spring training games. Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso and Diamondbacks third baseman Nolan Arenado homered for their new teams, and Alex Bregman went 0 for 2 while playing three innings in his first game with the Cubs.

“It was a great to be out here and play in a spring training game with the Cubs,” said Bregman, who signed a $175 million, five-year contract with the team in free agency. “It was fun. Obviously super cool to have all that energy in the ballpark.”

Alonso got a warm ovation before his first at-bat against the Yankees. He was robbed of a hit on Kenedy Corona's diving catch in the third, but he drove Bradley Hanner's first-pitch curveball deep to left for a two-run shot in the sixth inning of Baltimore's 2-0 win in Florida.

Alonso hit 38 homers last year in his final season with the New York Mets. He agreed to a $155 million, five-year contract with the Orioles in December.

Arenado hit a leadoff drive in the second inning of a 3-2 victory over the Rockies in Scottsdale. The eight-time All-Star was acquired in a trade with St. Louis in January.

Murakami is hoping to provide a lift for the White Sox after they dropped a whopping 324 games over the previous three seasons. He hit .270 with 246 homers and 647 RBIs in 892 games over eight years with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Central League.

Murakami, who started at first base, got his first hit when he drove a 91.9 mph sinker from Connor Schultz the middle in the third inning. The one-out single had a 108.3 mph exit velocity.

With one out and the bases loaded in the fourth, Murakami hit a drive to center off Porter Hodge. Cubs center fielder Seiya Suzuki lost the ball in the sun, and it landed on the back of the warning track for a two-run double.

“I’m really happy how it went, without any injuries,” Murakami said. “I had butterflies inside me the first few minutes of it. But after I started fielding and I got an at-bat, I felt a bit more comfortable and felt myself.”

Murakami and Suzuki are going to play together for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, and the two talked in the offseason about what it's like to play in Chicago.

“I loved him, but after the popup, I hate him. So I’m not going to support him," Suzuki joked through a translator.

Murakami looked at a called third strike in his final at-bat in the sixth. He was replaced in the field before the bottom half of the inning.

Manager Will Venable praised Murakami for collecting himself after his trouble getting to the game.

“This guy is so committed and such a professional,” Venable said. “We’ve asked him to do some things that he hasn’t necessarily been accustomed to and how he prepares and his adaptability and flexibility to do those things has been awesome. That adjustability gives you confidence that he’s going to be able to go out there and make adjustments throughout the year.”

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Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami, of Japan, arrives at second base after hitting a two-run double against the Chicago Cubs during the fourth inning of a spring training baseball game Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami, of Japan, watches the flight of his two-run double against the Chicago Cubs during the fourth inning of a spring training baseball game Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami, of Japan, tosses the ball to White Sox pitcher Jonathan Cannon at first base to get Chicago Cubs' BJ Murray out during the second inning of a spring training baseball game Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Chicago White Sox's Munetaka Murakami, of Japan, connects for a two-run double against the Chicago Cubs during the fourth inning of a spring training baseball game Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, in Mesa, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s debilitated health care system has been pushed to the brink of collapse by the U.S. blockading the country’s oil supply, a Cuban official said Friday.

The country’s medical system was already perpetually crisis-stricken along with the island’s economy, with lack of supplies, staff and medicine long being the norm. But the turmoil has reached a new extreme in recent weeks. Ambulances are struggling to find fuel to respond to emergencies. Persistent outages have plagued deteriorated hospitals. Flights bringing vital supplies have been suspended as Cuba’s government says it’s now unable to refuel airplanes in its airports.

Experts and some leaders of other countries have warned that the island could be on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Cuba’s Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda said that U.S. sanctions are no longer just crippling the island's economy, they're threatening “basic human safety.”

“You cannot damage a state’s economy without affecting its inhabitants,” Portal said. “This situation could put lives at risk.”

According to Portal, 5 million people in Cuba living with chronic illnesses will see their medications or treatments affected. This includes 16,000 cancer patients requiring radiotherapy and another 12,400 undergoing chemotherapy.

Cardiovascular care, orthopedics, oncology and treatment for critically ill patients who require electrical backup are among the most impacted areas, he said. Kidney disease treatments and emergency ambulance services have also been added to the list of impacted services.

The energy crisis Cuba has been grappling with for years entered new extremes last month when U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would impose a tariff on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. It came just weeks after Trump deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and announced no more Venezuelan oil would go to Cuba.

Cuba, which produces only 40% of its own fuel and largely depends on oil to power the island, has long relied on allies like Venezuela, Mexico and Russia to fill its energy deficit. But those shipments have now dried up.

Trump has openly said that his larger hope is to push regime change in Cuba by intensifying economic pressure on the island, which has already struggled to cope with decades of U.S. sanctions.

Cuban people — who the U.S. government has said it seeks to defend — are the ones feeling the harsh ripple effects of the U.S. fuel blockade as hardship mounts every day. Buses have slashed routes, gas has been put under strict rationing and is only being sold in foreign currency, and endemic blackouts have reached a new extreme.

“There’s been a drastic change since January,” said Aniliet Rodríguez, a 25-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted that month to a maternal care center for an extreme case of anemia. “There’s no bread, no milk for nutrition … . There are no medicines.”

Cuba's health care system follows a universal and free model, providing local clinics on nearly every block and state subsidized medicine. But it's also entered a state of crisis in recent years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of doctors being paid state wages that can hardly afford them a carton of eggs have emigrated from the country and hospitals have rapidly deteriorated.

Medicine shortages have forced many to buy them on the black market instead.

Such problems are expected to worsen in the coming weeks even though Cuba's government has struggled to adjust to the new reality, Portal said. Solar panels have been installed in clinics while authorities prioritize care to children and the elderly.

But he also said they have placed restrictions on some more energy-reliant technologies like CT scans and laboratory tests, noting doctors will have to rely on more basic methods to treat patients, effectively cutting many off from high levels of care.

"We are facing an energy siege with direct implications for the lives of Cubans, for the lives of Cuban families," Portal said.

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Jorge Elias speaks with the doctor after his radiotherapy session at the National Institute of Oncology and Radiology in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Niala Gonzalez, a cancer patient is kissed by her mother at the National Institute of Oncology and Radiology in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Carolina Silva Matos, a cancer patient, rests in a hospital bed at the National Institute of Oncology and Radiology in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Doctors assist in a birth at the Ramón González Coro Maternity Hospital in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A doctor hands Daimara de la Fe Viera her newborn baby at the Ramón González Coro Maternity Hospital in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Cuba's Minister of Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, poses at the ministry's entrance in Havana, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Daimara de la Fe Viera sits in an operating room before her cesarean delivery at the Ramón González Coro Maternity Hospital in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A man rides his bicycle at sunset in Havana, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

State-run bodega manager Roberto Roman carries bags of donated Mexican humanitarian assistance to be delivered to a family, in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People walk past a mural of Che Guevara in Havana, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)