The Los Angeles Dodgers have largely played middling baseball of late as they deal with another season of injuries within their pitching staff that has particularly impacted the starting rotation.
It’s been exacerbated by playing a stretch of 19 games in 20 days that concludes Wednesday with a rubber match against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers are in position to potentially win the series after snapping a season-worst four-game losing streak.
“It was kind of a big game for us,” Max Muncy said after delivering a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th inning. “We were definitely in a slide. To get that one, against a division opponent, kind of a big game for us. Hopefully it gives us a little bit of momentum to build on moving forward.”
The Dodgers held a 1-0 lead for much of the night on Tuesday as Yoshinobu Yamamoto turned in a gem. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and threw a career-high 110 pitches.
“I thought he was going to go the distance tonight. I thought he had the stuff to get the no-hitter,” Muncy said. “He was really, really good. Commanded all his stuff. It really sucks we only gave him one run.
“Obviously not a great job by us, but to get away with a win, that’s obviously the biggest part.”
Tanner Scott blew the save opportunity in the ninth inning by surrendering a game-tying home run to Gabriel Moreno. It was Moreno’s third homer of the season, each of which has come against the Dodgers.
Scott then gave up a two-run home run to Corbin Carroll in the 10th inning.
“I think it showed a lot out of us,” Muncy said of the Dodgers responding. “We got punched in the mouth, and for us to punch right back, I think that was really big of the guys.
“Everyone not giving up or hanging their head, we still have a chance in this game. There was still a chance to win it, and the guys went out there and did it.”
Prior to Muncy’s game-winning fly ball, the Dodgers’ rally started on Tommy Edman’s RBI double. Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked and Mookie Betts had a productive out. Freddie Freeman’s intentional walk was followed by Will Smith getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to then give Muncy an opportunity.
Max Muncy’s consistency
The 2025 season has primarily been a struggle for Muncy, who’s only recently turned a corner. Even with some of the encouraging signs, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts mentioned wanting to see more consistency with Muncy’s swing.
“He seems to always find himself in a hole at some point in time during the season, but he always seems to dig his way out and get to the other side, which I think right now we’re on the other side of it,” Roberts said.
“I think there’s some confidence in knowing you can get out of it. I just want him to be a little bit more consistent with his swing. I think his mindset has been fantastic this year, I think the intent on defense has been really good. So hopefully he can mechanically stay more sound and consistent.”
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