SAN FRANCISCO -- For the second night in a row, third baseman Max Muncy was removed from the game a half-inning after being hit by a pitch. The Dodgers do not believe there are any long-term concerns from either incident.
Muncy was struck on the right side of his head by a 94.1 mph sinker from Giants left-hander Matt Gage in the top of the sixth inning of Saturday night's eventual 13-7 win at Oracle Park. Muncy stayed down for several moments, holding his right hand to the side of his head.
After being checked out by team trainers, Muncy initially stayed in the game to run the bases, but was replaced by Kiké Hernández at third base in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Manager Dave Roberts said he took Muncy out as a precaution, but the third baseman is expected to be fine. Muncy will get a preplanned day off in Sunday's rubber game, when the Giants will send lefty Robbie Ray to the mound.
"As of right now, we’re OK. Jaw hurts a little bit, but I did get hit in the face," Muncy said. "But I played enough football growing up. Know all the signs I need to be looking for, and I don’t have any of those, so it’s obviously good. Sucks to get hit again, but that’s baseball.”
The Dodgers will monitor how Muncy feels in the coming days, but they are optimistic that he has not sustained a concussion.
On Friday night, Muncy was hit on his right hand/wrist area. Similarly, he stayed in to run but was replaced in the field afterward. Per Roberts, X-rays on the hand came back negative, but Muncy was worried that his ability to throw might have been compromised.
Muncy was back in the starting lineup on Saturday. Before the game, Roberts noted that he and Muncy would continue to monitor how his hand was feeling in case another situation where a defensive replacement would make sense arose.
Instead, another hit-by-pitch forced Roberts' hand.
"Scary moment, but he came out of it fine," Roberts said. "But at that point in time, I just felt that [it was] best to cut his night short."