NLDS: Walker Buehler, Max Muncy Lead Dodgers Past Nationals

Players of the Day for Thursday, October 3, 2019

National League

Buehler: 1 hit over 6 innings

While Walker Buehler was frustrating Washington hitters, Max Muncy was busy building a lead for his starter as the Dodgers showed their NL East rivals what they were up against in a 6-0 game one victory.

Buehler, who was 14-4 over the course of the regular season, gave up just one hit over six innings: a second inning leadoff single by Juan Soto. Buehler walked three and struck out eight before leaving the mound after six full innings with a 2-0 lead.

Muncy went 2-for-3 with three RBI. In the first inning, he was credited with an RBI on his bases-loaded walk off Washington starter, Patrick Corbin. It was Corbin's fourth walk of the inning. LA scored their first run without benefit of a hit.

Muncy: 2-for-3, 3 RBI

In the fifth, Muncy reached on an error by first baseman, Howie Kendrick, scoring Cody Bellinger from third. In the seventh, Muncy added to the lead with a bases-loaded, two-run, two out single, giving the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.

The Dodgers used three relievers over the final three innings, holding the Nationals to one hit.

Game two of the series is Friday, 9:37 pm ET.

In the other NL divisional series, the St.Louis Cardinals rallied and held on for a 7-6 win over the Atlanta Braves, taking a 1-0 lead. Trailing, 3-1, St. Louis scored two in the eighth and three in the ninth for a seemingly safe, 7-3 advantage. Atlanta tallied three in the bottom of the ninth on homers by Ronald Acuna Jr. and Freddie Freeman before finally surrendering.

Game two is Friday, 4:37 pm ET in Atlanta.

American League

There were no American League games on Thursday. Both divisional series begin Friday. Tampa Bay is at Houston (2:05 pm ET), and Minnesota is at New York (7:07 pm ET).

Shane Bieber Goes Distance As Indians Keep Pace; Dodgers Rally Past Padres On Max Muncy's 4-for-5 Effort

Players of the Day for Sunday, August 4, 2019

American League

Bieber: Complete game W

The best race in the AL is clearly in the Central division, where the Minnesota Twins are clinging to a three-game lead over the streaking Cleveland Indians.

Over the weekend, the two front-runners each swept their series on home turf. The Twins took three from Kansas City while the Indians were busy taking down the visiting Angles, winning by scores of 7-3, 7-2, and Sunday, 6-2.

It's obvious that the Indians are getting timely hitting and quality pitching. Sunday's conquest was engineered from the mound by Shane Bieber, who went the distance, allowing two runs on five hits, with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Bieber improved to 11-4, and has been one of the top throwers in the league since before the all-star break. In his last seven starts, the 24-year-old righty is 5-1 with a 2.38 ERA, allowing 34 hits and 14 earned runs in 53 innings. During that span he's averaging more than seven innings per start and is a big reason the Indians are well paving a way to the post-season, whether they catch the Twins or not.

Cleveland leads the wild card race by two games over Tampa Bay and three over the Oakland A's.

Next up for the Indians are three games with the Rangers, starting Monday, after which they head to Minnesota for a crucial four-game series with the Twins, beginning Thursday.

National League

Muncy: 4-5, HR, 3R, 3RBI

Why are the Dodgers running away with the NL West?

Cody Bellinger? Clayton Kershaw?

How about Max Muncy?

Muncy's 4-for-5 effort in Sunday's comeback 11-10 win over the Padres was further evidence that he has been the unsung hero of 2019 for Los Angeles.

Not only did Muncy sock his 27th home run of the season with a second inning solo shot that got the Dodgers on the board, but he added a pair of doubles and a single, scored three times, drove in three runs, the last two in the bottom of the ninth, when he doubled home the game-tying and winning runs.

The Dodgers rallied from deficits of 6-3 and 10-7 to take the third of their four-game home series against San Diego, sending the Padres reeling into last place in the division, 21 1/2 games off the pace.

The scrappy 28-year-old infielder is on track to better his outstanding 2018 campaign in which he batted .263 with 35 home runs and 79 RBI. This season, he's batting .265 with 27 long balls and 74 ribbies and the Dodgers are looking to clinch the division by mid-September, if not sooner.

LA is clearly the class of the National League. Their 74-40 record is the best in the majors and far ahead of the pack in the NL. Atlanta has the second-best mark, at 66-47.

With San Diego put away, the Dodgers host St. Louis for three games beginning Monday at 7:10 pm PT.

Max Muncy's 18th-Inning Homer Lifts Dodgers Over Boston; Red Sox Lead Series, 2-1

Players of the Day for Friday, October 26, 2018

World Series Game Three: LA Dodgers 3 Boston Red Sox 2 (18 innings)

Muncy: Game-winning HR in 18th

The longest game in World Series history came down to one pitch, a 3-2 offering from Nathan Eovaldi to Max Muncy, a two-seam fast ball that Muncy deposited in the left field stands at Dodger Stadium.

It was well after midnight in Los Angeles (after 3:00 am ET) when Muncy finalized the 18-inning marathon, giving the Dodgers new life with a 3-2 win and the Red Sox up two games to one. Muncy, who scored a tying run in the 13th after Boston had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the inning, socked his third post-season home run with no outs and the bases empty.

Eovaldi was starting his seventh inning of relief work after being called out of the bullpen by manager Alex Cora to start the 12th inning. He was the ninth Boston pitcher to go to the mound. The Dodgers also employed nine hurlers. Alex Wood worked a hitless top of the 18th for Los Angeles to receive the win.

Muncy finished the game 2-for-6 with two runs and the lone RBI from his walk-off homer. His other hit was a two-out, ground rule double in the 10th inning, but he was left stranded when Manny Machado popped out to short. Muncy had come close to ending the game in the bottom of the 15th when he lofted a fly ball down the right field line that hooked just short of the foul pole and into the stands.

The game lasted seven hours and 20 minutes, and was four innings longer than the previous record of 14, which had been done three times, according to USA Today. In 1916, Game 2, the Brooklyn Robins beat the Red Sox, 2-1. In 2005, Game 3, the Chicago White Sox beat the Houston Astros, 7-5, and in 2015, Game 1, the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Mets, 5-4.

Noteworthy numbers:

• Red Sox hitters went 7-for-57; LA batters were 11-for-61.
• There were three home runs, all solo shots: one by Boston's Jackie Bradley Jr. which tied the game in the eighth inning at 1-1, and two by the Dodgers: Joc Pederson's third inning blast, and Muncy's game-winner.
• 18 pitchers were used, nine by each side
• Red Sox hurlers threw 283 pitches, 186 for strikes, struck out 15 and issued five walks.
• Dodger pitchers threw 278 pitches, with 173 strikes. They fanned 19 and walked seven.

Game four is scheduled for 8:09 pm ET Saturday at Dodger Stadium. Eovaldi had been scheduled to start for the Red Sox, but he threw 97 pitches in relief. Left-hander Rich Hill starts for the Dodgers. The Red Sox will likely start Drew Pomeranz, who was 2-6 during the regular season.

Christian Yelich Leads Brewers Over Rockies; Max Muncy's 3-Run Homer Enough For Dodgers' Win Over Braves

Players of the Day for Thursday, October 4, 2018

National League

Yelich stars again

Milwaukee's 3-2 win over Colorado took 10 innings but when Mike Moustakas singled home the game winner, guess who scored the winning run?

Who else? It was none other than Christian Yelich skipping home run Milwaukee's third run after he had walked to open the inning, took second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on Curtis Granderson's fielder's choice.

Not only did Yelich reach base safely four of the five times he appeared at the plate, he was also responsible for the Brewers' first two runs, socking a third-inning, two-run homer which, until the ninth inning, had held up.

The Rockies plated a pair of runs in the ninth inning to tie the game, but Yelich and Moustakas made sure their hard work didn't go for naught.

The win gives the Brewers a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series, with game two slated for Friday, 4:15 pm ET.

Muncy: 3-run homer

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In Los Angeles, the Dodgers grabbed game one from the visiting Braves, 6-0.

Max Muncy's three-run homer in the second inning provided more than enough runs for LA, as Hyun-Jin Ryu worked seven scoreless innings, giving up just four hits, fanning eight Braves.

Muncy had 35 homers and 79 RBI during the regular season. Braves hurlers couldn't deal with the second year first baseman, walking him the other three times he appeared at the dish.

Game two is Friday, 9:37 pm ET.

American League

There were no games in the American League on Thursday. The two division series open on Friday with Cleveland at Houston at 2:05 pm ET and the Yankees at Boston at 7:32 pm ET.

J.D. Martinez, Boston Tear Up Nationals; Chris Taylor, Max Muncy Propel Dodgers Past Pirates

Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 3, 2018

American League

Martinez: Plenty of pop

Boston leads the Yankees in the AL East by one game with the best record in the majors at 58-29.

A large contributor to their success has been the play of right fielder, J.D. Martinez, who is tearing up the major leagues, leading in home runs (26), RBI (71) with a .325 average, fourth in the AL and sixth overall.

In Boston's 11-4 Tuesday thumping of Washington, Martinez drove in a pair with a single as the Red Sox blew the game open with six fifth-inning runs. He capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the ninth, sending the home town fans away unhappy.

The win was Boston's ninth in their last 12 games, and sent Washington to their fourth straight defeat and 17th in their last 23.

The series wraps up on Wednesday at the odd 11:05 am EDT game time, as Nationals' Park will be readied after the game as the staging area for the Capitol's 4th of July fireworks.

National League

Max Muncy

In their relentless pursuit of first place Arizona (4-2 winners over St. Louis), he LA Dodgers banged out six home runs against the visiting Pirates for an 8-3 victory in game two of their three-game series.

Chris Taylor

Five of those long balls were given up by Pirates' starter, Ivan Nova, who was rocked for nine hits and seven earned runs over five-plus innings, the final insult delivered by Yasmani Grandal with none out in the sixth.

Chris Taylor fell a single short of hitting for the cycle, with a double, triple and a two run homer. Max Muncy singled and swatted a pair of home runs - both solo shots - in four at-bats, putting his season's total at an even 20, with 38 RBI.

Muncy, acquired from Oakland in 2017, didn't get into the Dodgers lineup until mid-April, but he's proven to be a gamer, capable of playing multiple infield positions (mostly second and third base). He's been solid in 63 games this season.

The Dodgers will be looking for a sweep on Wednesday. Game time is 5:10 pm PDT.