LOS ANGELES -- When it comes to career milestones, accomplishing something for the first time can be just as special as doing it hundreds of times.
Veteran third baseman Max Muncy hit the 200th homer -- and later, the 201st -- of his career, and top prospect Dalton Rushing followed suit with his first in Saturday's 18-2 victory over the Yankees at Dodger Stadium.
“To hit as many as I’ve hit in a Dodger uniform, that’s kind of what this organization has meant to me. So it’s a blessing for sure," Muncy said. "It’s a number that I’m definitely proud of. Hopefully, I still got a lot more in me."
Muncy led the charge for the Dodgers as they stormed past the Yankees, securing at least a series win for L.A. in the weekend's World Series rematch. He matched a single-game career high with seven RBIs, last accomplished on April 10, 2023, in San Francisco.
Muncy drove in his first run on an RBI single in the first, and he plated the other six via the long ball. He swatted a pair of three-run blasts -- one to chase Yankees starter Will Warren in the second, and another off reliever Mark Leiter Jr. in the fifth -- for his 16th career multihomer game.
Rushing entered the game as a pinch-hitter in Shohei Ohtani's spot in the sixth, and his three-run blast two innings later put a bow on the perfect birthday gift for manager Dave Roberts.
"Just what the doctor ordered," Roberts said with a smile. "That was a good one. Now I can enjoy some dinner."
With the Yankees trailing by 13 runs, position player Pablo Reyes was called on to pitch the eighth inning. Rushing, with a chuckle, recounted how he not only had to supply some of his own power to leave the yard in that spot -- but how he almost didn't do it with his own lumber.
Rushing had been thinking about giving Ohtani's bat a try in that spot before some wise words from veteran backstop Will Smith caused him to reconsider.
"I was gonna grab it and just say, 'Let's go. He hits plenty of homers. I'm sure it can work for someone else, too,'" Rushing said. "But then the message from Will was, 'Get your bat and just go hit a home run.' … Obviously, it worked out in my favor."
By the time the game was over, Rushing had the ball from his first home run and was planning on giving it to his mom -- who will also get the ball from his first homer hit off a real pitcher when the day comes.
But in order to reach a milestone like 200, all homers count the same. Just ask Muncy -- who is starting to more closely resemble his usual self.
It has been a trying first couple of months for Muncy, both in the field and at the plate. His eight errors are tied for second most among Major League third basemen. He endured the longest homerless stretch of his career, which ended on the final day of April.
Muncy ended April hitting .194 with a .610 OPS, and just the one homer. But as the calendar flips to June, he seems to be rounding into form. He hit .250 with an .851 OPS in 25 games in May, a stretch that roughly coincides with when he began wearing prescription glasses in games to correct astigmatism in his right eye.
"It’s not necessarily something that I need," Muncy said. "But just any chance at all it evens out both eyes for me, I’ve been taking it. And the results have been there since I’ve been wearing them. So it’s hard to argue against it. You don’t necessarily believe in coincidence when it comes to baseball.”
Although there are months of the regular season remaining, the matchup against the Yankees has felt bigger than a typical three-game at the end of May.
For the Dodgers, it has been a chance to remind the baseball world just how dangerous they can be.
“You could say it was a statement," Muncy said. "For us to do it without Mookie [Betts] also, I think that’s huge for everyone trying to pick up the slack in the lineup. It’s just a really good day offensively all around. Even last night was a really good night offensively for us. So just having several good games in a row, it’s big for the boys.”