Much like last season where Chris Taylor emerged from nowhere to help carry the Los Angeles Dodgers, the honor has seemingly been passed on to Max Muncy in 2018. He was called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City in mid-April and been a mainstay in the lineup ever since.
On Friday night, Muncy factored heavily into the Dodgers’ 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It marked the fourth one-run game in this year’s Freeway Series, which have been split by the two teams.
Muncy provided early fireworks by clubbing his 22nd home run of the season to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. But it was washed away by a pair of solo home runs from Kole Calhoun.
He entered the night batting a lowly .180 and finished with his first career multi-home run game. Calhoun’s two homers held up until the Dodgers got to the Angels’ bullpen in the seventh inning.
After Logan Forsythe led off with a pinch-hit single, Joc Pederson followed with a double. Muncy then dropped a two-run single into right-center field, giving him three RBI on the night and the Dodgers a decided lead.
Muncy’s three RBI were one shy of matching a career high that was set June 3 when he hit two home runs against the Colorado Rockies.
Scott Alexander allowed the game to get interesting in the ninth as he allowed a pinch-hit double to Shohei Ohtani followed by an infield single. But Alexander lived up to his billing by inducing a grounder to Muncy for the start of a 5-4-3 game-winning double play.
That too came with some drama, as Forsythe’s throw pulled Cody Bellinger off the bag but he was able to apply the tag for the third out.
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