LOS ANGELES -- After missing a month with a left knee bone bruise, Max Muncy predicted it could take him a couple of games to get his pitch recognition back.
Turns out, he needed just one.
A day after being activated from the injured list, Muncy collected four hits, including two home runs, in the Dodgers’ 12-6 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
If you ask his manager, Muncy was the catalyst in the Dodgers tallying their first double-digit run total since June 22, when they put up 13 vs. the Nationals.
“Max picked up where he left off,” said Dave Roberts. “... That presence in the lineup is so additive and just makes everybody around him better.”
Batting cleanup, Muncy delivered the first blow in the bottom of the first inning with a solo drive off St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas. Muncy deposited a first-pitch middle-middle sinker a Statcast-projected 416 feet, into the right-field seats.
In the bottom of the third, with Mookie Betts on third base, Muncy got to Mikolas again, this time taking a four-seamer at the top of the zone to right-center for his 15th long ball of the year and his 19th career multihomer game. That ties Muncy with Mike Piazza for the Dodgers’ most multihomer games since the club moved to Los Angeles in 1958.
Muncy tacked on an RBI single in the seventh and another base hit in the eighth. The offensive performance more than offset a second-inning fielding error, though Muncy acknowledged a desire for better results on that front.
“Still not moving as good as I’d like on the defensive side,” said Muncy. “But getting first to third, that was big for me. More importantly was getting the slide in. I think that was actually my first slide since I got hurt. So it's good to know that nothing's going to break when you slide.”
Muncy will get a scheduled day off in Wednesday’s rubber game, but there’s little doubt he makes the Dodgers’ lineup a stronger unit. Since the last day of April, when Muncy started rebounding from a season-opening slump, until his July 2 injury, L.A.’s .804 team OPS was the highest in MLB. With Muncy out, that dropped to .665, third worst in the Majors.
“Max takes a professional at-bat,” said Roberts. “He sees pitches. When it's in the hitting zone, he can hit it hard. I think this year in particular … he understands now how to get a base hit and drive in a run. It's not that three-outcome thing anymore. He hits left, hits right, and it just kind of adds that presence in the middle of the order.”
Around Muncy, Teoscar Hernández contributed a two-homer, four-RBI effort and Betts ended a career-worst five-game hitless streak by going 3-for-4 with a double, two singles and a walk. Hernández, who’s had an up-and-down year, has been trending in an encouraging direction in recent games. But it was Betts’ showing that gives the Dodgers the most optimism heading into the stretch.
It’s been a difficult season for Betts, beginning with a mysterious illness that saw him drop 18 pounds. He was recently away from the team following the death of his stepfather. On the field, his numbers haven’t reflected the caliber of play the eight-time All-Star and former MVP knows he’s capable of.
Tuesday was much closer to that level.
“The hits are kind of Mookie-esque, as far as hitting the ball hard to the pull side,” said Roberts. “Up the middle, hitting it flat to the shortstop’s left, that’s kind of what he does. And the misses are the right misses. When he’s popping it up to the first baseman, or shallow to right field, those aren’t his misses. And so when he’s taking the swings that he’s accustomed to taking, then I feel like it’s sustainable.”
If the Dodgers can get Betts to turn things around ahead of another October run, suddenly, the lineup is looking pretty unstoppable. Everyone in Betts’ orbit attests to the hard work he’s putting in to try to get himself right. And the fans at Dodger Stadium have been doing their part to will Betts to success, greeting him with a warm reception these past two nights.
"It's been beautiful, so thank you to all the Dodger fans that just gave me that,” said Betts. “It's super special. It's the first time I've ever gotten anything like that. Obviously, I would prefer not to. But if I'm in this situation, then I know that Dodger Stadium is behind me. It's just another thing to know that you're supported."