Things looked bright for the Texas Rangers entering the bottom of the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. They beat up Dodgers elite reliever Edwin Díaz to tie things up in the top of the ninth inning.
But Max Muncy spoiled that comeback, hitting a solo home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Los Angeles Dodgers an incredible 8-7 win.
Muncy was the man of the night, even though it was Shohei Ohtani Bobblehead Night for the Dodgers faithful. He hit three home runs in the game, making his presence felt in a big, big way for the Dodgers and manager Dave Roberts.
Jacob Latz was making his way through the Dodgers lineup in the bottom of the ninth, recording the first two outs. It looked like the game was headed into extra innings. But Muncy connected on a Latz pitch, sending Dodger Stadium into a frenzy.
In the bottom of the second inning, Muncy hit his first homer of the night off of Rangers starter Kumar Rocker.
But, in the top of the third, Corey Seager smoked a three-run homer over the center-field wall. Josh Smith and Brandon Nimmo scored ahead of Seager, putting the Rangers up 3-1 at that point.
Muncy's second homer of the night, again off Rocker, put the Dodgers within 3-2.
Then, in the top of the fifth, Wyatt Langford hit his first home run this season and pushed the Rangers ahead 4-2. In the home half of the fifth, Alex Freeland singled to left and Andy Pages moved to third base. But the Dodgers got a run in that inning, inching them closer to 4-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Pages doubled and it brought in Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez to give Los Angeles a 5-4 lead. Pages hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Dodgers a 7-4 lead and making it time for Díaz to come on and get a save.
Well, that didn't quite work out that way. Evan Carter hit a two-run homer off of Díaz and the Rangers were right back in the game at 7-6. Ezequiel Duran's two-out RBI single tied things up at 7-7. It was a rare weak moment for Díaz on the mound.
And, it was going to take a miracle for the Dodgers to get him off the hook.
Enter Muncy, who hit his third dinger and gave Los Angeles the win.
It was a tough loss to take for the Rangers and manager Skip Schumaker.
The Rangers and Dodgers continue their weekend series on Saturday before closing it up with a Sunday showdown.
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