Munetaka Murakami goes 1-for-3 with two strikeouts in first rehab game

White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami went 1-for-3 with a single and two strikeouts while playing five innings at first base Tuesday in his first rehab game at Triple-A Charlotte. There’s no set timeline for his return, but it’s plausible that he’s in the Sox’ lineup Friday for the opener of a series against the Athletics.

“There’s a game plan to build him up throughout the week,” Sox manager Will Venable said. “Take it day by day to see how he’s feeling and recovering and see if he’s getting enough at-bats. And then hopefully at some point before the break, we’ll activate.”

Venable has said he expects Murakami, who strained his right hamstring May 29, to play a couple of games in Charlotte. If that’s the case, Murakami could play Wednesday and travel Thursday to Chicago.

His return will necessitate a difficult roster decision. Jacob Gonzalez is playing well at first base and coming on at the plate. But there might not be playing time available elsewhere on the infield, where he actually has more experience.

“Every one of these guys has contributed,” Venable said. “We’ve been talking about that in every one of these wins, every one of these games. That makes it tough when you have guys that you’re bringing back and getting healthy because everyone has done such a good job. Good problems to have, but we’ll figure it out when we get there.”

Injury updates

With rain pouring and the field covered before the game Sunday in Cleveland, injured Sox outfielder Austin Hays ran sprints in right field under the supervision of trainer Brad Lawson. Hays is on the 60-day injured list with a strained left calf.

“He looked really good running, and so he’ll continue to run and take [batting practice], and then we’ll see how it goes over the All-Star break relative to being able to move around,” Venable said. “And then if he’s in a good spot, we’ll look at what a rehab assignment would look like.”

Outfielder Everson Pereira still is battling symptoms from a concussion. Venable described him as day-to-day.

“Still working through getting the intensity up with the activities without having symptoms,” he said.

Oh, Noah

Left-hander Noah Schultz had another rough outing in his second start since returning from the injured list (tendinitis in right knee). In five innings, he allowed four runs, seven hits (two home runs) and three walks with three strikeouts. In 10 starts this season, he has a 6.00 ERA (32 earned runs in 48 innings).