The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered yet another late-inning loss on Monday night, falling 5-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals, in their series opener at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers did not go down without a fight though as they battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game. That was only to see All-Star closer Kenley Jansen give up back-to-back home runs to Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter in his first game back from the disabled list.
To tie the game the Dodgers had to rally against hard-throwing Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks, who is having a solid rookie season.
With two runners on and two outs in the seventh inning, pinch-hitter Max Muncy got a 103 mph fastball on the low and outside corner, and he went with it, lining a single to left to drive in the tying run.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, that was the fastest pitch that a player has recorded a hit on this season:
Max Muncy's game-tying single with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the bottom of the 7th inning came on a 103.0 mph sinker from Jordan Hicks. It's the fastest pitch anyone has recorded a hit on this season.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 21, 2018
That marked Muncy’s second clutch at-bat in a row dating back to Saturday night when he hit a game-tying home run off of Seattle Mariners closer Edwin Diaz with the Dodgers trailing by a run in the ninth inning.
After going into a bit of a slump after the All-Star break, Muncy seems to be heating up again as he has now hit safely in four straight games.
His second at-bat on Monday night was also a good one, although it wound up being a strikeout after an 11-pitch battle against Cardinals closer Bud Norris.
