Muncy carries the day with 2 HRs -- and does something unprecedented

LOS ANGELES -- Max Muncy’s impact is always felt. When he’s struggling, the Dodgers’ overall production takes a significant dip. But when Muncy is on one of his hot stretches, he has the ability to carry the load offensively.

Right now, he’s on one of those hot streaks, and the Dodgers benefited from it the most on Saturday as Muncy’s 14th career multihomer game was all they needed in the 3-2 win over the Reds at Dodger Stadium.

According to Elias, Muncy is the first Dodgers player since RBI became an official stat in 1920 to record all of the team's hits and drive in all of the team's runs in a win (min. two hits).

“Max is a big cog in what we're trying to do,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “It was pretty much Max Muncy and Emmet [Sheehan] versus the Reds tonight. He had a big night. He had a big night and we couldn't figure [Reds starter Luke] Weaver out clearly, but we scored enough runs to win a ballgame.”

Muncy didn’t waste any time getting the Dodgers on the board, smacking a two-run homer in the first off a Weaver changeup that caught too much of the plate. Then in the sixth, after the Reds tied the game at 2, Muncy jumped on a 3-0 fastball and sent it into the visitor’s bullpen in right field.

“I thought he was really good,” Muncy said of Weaver. “He was getting the fastball up, the cutter up and in to lefties consistently. He wasn’t missing out over the plate and we were all having troubles with it. First at-bat, he just left a changeup up for me and I was able to get the barrel on it, thankfully. And then 3-0, I was cheating a little bit.”

The Dodgers typically give their best hitters the green light on 3-0, but of the group, Muncy is right at the top of the list because of his plate discipline. That paid off on Saturday.

“We get the green light quite a bit,” Muncy said. “They usually trust me knowing that I’m not just going to swing to swing. If it’s a pitch where I’m looking, I’ll take a hack at it. But I’ve taken plenty of 3-0 strikes this year when I’ve had the green light.”

Despite being held hitless over the last three games, Muncy has been the most productive hitter in the Dodgers’ lineup over the last seven games. During that span, Muncy now has five homers and has driven in 13 runs. Muncy’s 27 homers this season are tied for the team lead with Mookie Betts, who missed Saturday’s game with right ankle soreness.

“I get a good vantage point from the side, and when he's right, he certainly controls strike zone. And the other part, he doesn't get too jumpy,” Roberts said. “I think that you know spin typically gets him when he's out in front on his front side, but when he's kind of in his legs and staying balanced, he's as good as anybody there is.”

While Muncy took care of all the offense, the Dodgers’ pitching staff held its own for the first time this homestand, allowing just two runs. Sheehan had a big bounce-back outing, tossing five scoreless innings after allowing a career-high eight runs in his last start against the Rangers.

“Just being on the attack, trusting my stuff in the zone,” Sheehan said. “I think before, I was a little on the defensive, which is not the way I like to pitch. Got back to it this week, for sure.”

Behind Sheehan, the Dodgers’ bullpen also did just enough. Caleb Ferguson was the first reliever up and struggled, retiring just two batters and allowing both Reds runs. But new (and old) reliever Joe Kelly came in to a huge ovation and stranded the bases loaded by striking out Will Benson to end the sixth.

In the end, it was a win the Dodgers needed after starting the nine-game homestand by going 1-3.

“It’s always fun to pitch here, especially on this side of it instead of being an away player, because every night is basically sold out and you get to play in front of a crowd that pays a lot of money to come watch us play,” Kelly said. “The whole game was great. Pitching, defense, full team win.”