Steve Webb
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Now, that is more like it! After a horrible weekend in the desert, the cool night air of San Francisco did the Dodgers a world of good on Monday night. Barely 24 hours after embarrassing themselves with back-to-back blowout losses to the D-backs, the Dodgers put a hurt of their own onto the rival Giants, beating them by a tally of 9-1.
This time it was the mighty Max Muncy who led the way, smashing two homers en route to driving in a career high seven runs. Altering his swing approach slightly, Muncy went back to the little step back move that he was using to good success at the end of last season. Once again, the move bore fruit. After a Mookie Betts solo shot put the Dodgers on the board in the first, Muncy came to the plate with two men on in the top of the third. He absolutely pulverized a Logan Webb slider, sending over the center field fence just out of reach of the Giants’ centerfielder Bryce Johnson.
Then in the seventh, after Mookie drove in his second run of the night, the Dodgers loaded up the bases against reliever Sean Hjelle, and guess who’s coming up. Max, the Giant slayer. And this time, he pounced on the first pitch he saw, drilling a ball the opposite way for a grand slam. Two homers, seven RBI. So yeah, good little night for the Funky Muncy.
The two homers gave Max 23 in his career against the Giants, the most he’s hit against any single club. Nobody had to get anything out of the ocean, but it was an epic night just the same.
“Good results tonight,” Muncy said after the game. “So it’s hard to argue against it right now…It’s a lot of fun. Success in general is fun, but I guess it does mean a little more when it’s here.”
Meanwhile, Julio Urias decided that he was going to put an end to the Dodgers’ losing streak, with or without Max Muncy. He was a little shaky with command at times, but he was vintage Julio otherwise. He gave up a solo shot to Wilmer Flores, but other than that, kept the Gigantics off the scoreboard. His line for the night: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB.
“It was my turn in the rotation to kind of stop the bleeding,” Urías said in Spanish through team interpreter Juan Dorado. “Obviously we had tough games in Arizona, but I didn’t put extra pressure on myself to go out there and do my job.”
Short Hops…
- James Outman hit his league-leading third triple of the year in this one. Love that guy!
- Mookie had three hits and drove in a pair. He looks to have shaken off the early season blues.
- Another two-hit night for Freddie. What else is new.
- Great sliding catch from J. Hey in center.
- Gonsolin not due back until early May. That must have been a hell of a twisted ankle.
- It’s May Day on Tuesday as Code Red toes the rubber against our old buddy Alex Wood. Look for Doc to go with the right-handed bats in this one. Game time: 6:40.
