Several factors resulted in the Los Angeles Dodgers losing to the San Diego Padres in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, but Max Muncy not getting to second base on a line drive that carried over Juan Soto’s head is among the most glaring.
With the Dodgers trailing 4-3 and Will Smith just having hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth, Muncy scorched a 357-foot single. Smith and Muncy were fooled by Soto’s deke, resulting in the Dodgers only having runners at the corners instead of two in scoring position.
Robert Suarez took over for Yu Darvish at that point and struck out Justin Turner before getting Gavin Lux to ground into an inning-ending double play.
“I thought Soto was going to catch it and I didn’t know if Will was going to make it to third or not,” Muncy explained after the Dodgers’ 5-3 loss.
“By the time I saw him going to third, it was too late for me to make my decision. I didn’t want to get thrown out at second.”
The single nonetheless was Muncy’s second hit of the night, which tied with Freddie Freeman, Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth and Lux for the game-high.
Although Muncy was not part of the Dodgers leaving 10 runners on base and going 0-for-8 with men in scoring position, he felt the frustration.
“We had some good situations in our favor there, and we didn’t get the job done,” Muncy said. “So a little frustrating, but tomorrow is a new day. We’ll recover a little bit, head down to San Diego and get ready for the game on Friday.”
Max Muncy credits Padres bullpen
Although the Dodgers scored off Mike Clevinger and Darvish in their respective NLDS starts, they have found tough sledding against the Padres’ bullpen. Up until Cody Bellinger’s one-out single in the seventh inning, the Dodgers hadn’t collected a hit against a Padres relief pitcher in the series.
“They’re just executing pitches really well,” Muncy said of San Diego relievers. “They’re not leaving a whole lot over the plate for us to hit, and we’re not taking advantage of some situations that we have.”
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