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PHILADELPHIA –– Max Muncy broke two ties with one swing on Wednesday night.
In the Dodgers’ 9-5 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, Muncy put the Dodgers in front for good with a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning off Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola, breaking what had been a 3-3 tie.
In the process, he also moved into sole possession of second place on the Dodgers’ Los Angeles franchise home run leaderboard, passing Ron Cey with his 229th long ball as a member of the club.
Before Muncy’s sixth-inning blast, the Dodgers had to dig themselves out of an early hole in the rubber-match game of this week’s showcase series.
Starting pitcher Eric Lauer gave up a two-run homer of his own in the first, on a hanging changeup to Alec Bohm. Nola, meanwhile, began his night with eight consecutive outs against the Dodgers’ star-studded lineup.
The tide turned, however, with a solo home run by No. 9 hitter Dalton Rushing with two outs in the third, snapping the second-year catcher’s 0-for-19 slump.
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When Rushing came up again in the fifth, he lined a two-run double into the right field corner to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead.
Though the Phillies briefly leveled things in the bottom of the fifth, Muncy made sure the score didn’t stay tied for long.
After Freddie Freeman hit his second double of the night to begin the sixth (he finished with three hits), Muncy jumped on a first-pitch changeup from Nola and sent it several rows deep to left-center.
It was the slugger’s third blast of this post-All-Star-break road trip, his 20th in what has been a resurgent All-Star-caliber season, and left him looking up at only Eric Karros’ 270 home runs for most in the Dodgers’ LA history.
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What it meansAfter briefly losing their status as the winningest team in the majors with a loss in Monday night’s opener, the Dodgers (65-38) are back atop the MLB standings again, winning their second consecutive series to begin the second half of the year.
Both series wins have been impressive, as well, coming against fellow World Series contenders in the Yankees and Phillies.
Who’s hotMuncy did not enter the All-Star break playing well, making errors in each of the final three games of the first half while hitting just one home run in a 24-game stretch.
Since then, however, the 35-year-old has rectified his form on both sides of the ball.
His three home runs on this trip –– all of which have come with a runner on base –– have given him the second most big flies on the team this year, behind only Shohei Ohtani’s 22. He’s also up to 47 RBIs on the season, 25 of which have come in his last 35 games.
Defensively, he flashed the leather on Wednesday, as well, making a diving stop in the fourth inning on a hard grounder up the third base line.
The Phillies’ baserunning –– yet again.
A night after running into an inexplicable game-ending double play, the Phillies cost themselves another scoring opportunity with another puzzling decision on the basepaths Wednesday, squandering a chance to take the lead with a runner on second and no outs in the fifth.
Immediately after Bryan De La Cruz had tied the score at 3 with a leadoff home run in the inning, Bryson Stott doubled to seemingly keep the pressure on.
But then, after Rafael Marchán popped out on a bunt attempt, Stott committed an even more frustrating mental error, attempting to advance on a ground ball to Muncy behind third only to get himself easily tagged out before he even got close enough to attempt a slide.
That would be the last trouble Lauer faced in his 5 ⅓-inning, three-run start.
It was also the last time the Phillies would have a runner in scoring position until the bottom of the eighth, by which the Dodgers had blown the game open with a four-run rally a half-inning earlier (which was keyed by a three-run triple from Tommy Edman, who had three hits).
Up nextThe Dodgers will make a side trek on this East Coast road trip on Thursday, when they visit the White House to celebrate their 2025 World Series title, before returning to the field Friday in New York to face the Mets. Roki Sasaki (3-5, 4.98 ERA) will start in the series opener against left-hander Sean Manaea (2-5, 4.74 ERA).
