Muncy Plays the Long Game — Dodgers Walk It Off Against Rangers, 8–7

Some nights, baseball makes perfect sense.

Other nights, you throw three straight sliders to Max Muncy with the game on the line and hope for the best.

Friday was not one of those sensible nights.

Muncy was the story from the start and made sure he was the ending too. His first home run came in the second inning, a cutter from Kumar Rocker that found its way over the right-center field wall to give the Los Angeles Dodgers an early lead. He added another in the fourth, and by then it was clear he had settled into one of those nights pitchers try not to remember.

Still, the biggest swing was waiting.

After the Texas Rangers clawed their way back to tie the game in the ninth, closer Jacob Latz got ahead of Muncy 0–2. From there, the decision to go with three straight mid-80s sliders is one that might be revisited. The last one didn’t come back. Muncy didn’t miss it — launching a 401-foot walk-off shot to right to seal an 8–7 Dodgers win.

That made it three home runs on the night for Muncy, his second career three-homer game and another reminder that when he gets locked in, the results tend to follow in bunches.

Lost slightly in the late-inning chaos was a strong bounce-back performance from Andy Pages. After a four-strikeout game his last time out, Pages responded by going a perfect 3-for-3, collecting a double, a home run, and driving in four runs. Whether he “found it” or never really lost it is up for debate — but the production was there.

Somewhere along the way, Shohei Ohtani quietly did what he’s been doing all season — reaching base again, now 44 consecutive games, the longest streak ever by a Japanese-born player in MLB history. It almost feels routine at this point, which is probably the most remarkable part.

Tyler Glasnow’s line will look respectable in the morning—seven strikeouts, one walk—but the fine print tells a different story. Both of the runs he allowed came via the long ball, including a three-run blast from Corey Seager that briefly gave the Rangers the upper hand and reminded everyone that this wasn’t going to be a quiet night. And to their credit, the Rangers took full advantage late.

It started with a familiar face. Pinch-hitter Joc Pederson appeared to strike out to open the ninth, only to challenge the call successfully. Given new life, Pederson reached with a single — and from there, things unraveled quickly. Evan Carter jumped on a first-pitch fastball for a key hit, while Josh Jung and Ezequiel Duran helped complete the rally with timely at-bats, tying the game at seven.

For Edwin Díaz, it was a rare misstep. Charged with his first blown save of the season, he still walked away with the win — thanks entirely to what happened a half inning later. It looks clean in the box score. Anyone watching knows it wasn’t quite that simple.

Earlier in the game, the Dodgers had already shown their usual resilience. A two-run double from Pages in the sixth pushed them ahead after trailing, continuing a trend that’s becoming less of a surprise and more of an expectation.

In the end, though, this one belonged to Muncy.

Three swings, three home runs — and one final reminder that in a game that rarely makes sense, sometimes it’s best not to overthink it.