Browsing: Muncy

TORONTO — Will Smith unloaded on Kevin Gausmanâ€s inside fastball and dropped his bat the moment heâ€d completed his follow-through. The ball soared into the second deck, just inside the left-field foul pole. Smith flexed and let loose a roar. Rogers Centre went quiet. The visiting dugout erupted.

Sixteen innings into the 2025 World Series, the Dodgers†offense had come to life. Not a moment too soon.

Two batters after Smithâ€s homer, Max Muncy went deep as well. Los Angeles tacked on two more in the eighth. When the dust settled — and Yoshinobu Yamamoto had completed his complete-game masterpiece — the Dodgers had evened the World Series at a game apiece with their 5-1 victory on Saturday night in Toronto.

“[Smith] hit the homer, and there was just complete elation,†said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “We felt that the way Yamamoto was throwing, runs were certainly going to be hard to come by. And then when Max backed it up with another homer, just a huge relief.â€

All season long, the Dodgers†offense has been among the best in baseball. They led the National League with 849 runs and a 113 wRC+. But through the first game and a half of the World Series, theyâ€d mostly gone quietly. In Game 1, they failed to convert on several early opportunities. Shohei Ohtani hit a late homer. But by then, the game was settled.

Then, in Game 2, Blue Jays ace Kevin Gausman was practically untouchable through the first six innings. When Smith came to the plate with one out in the seventh, Gausman had retired 17 straight hitters.

“He was really good today,†Smith told the FOX broadcast. “He was really locating the fastball at the bottom of the zone. You don’t really want to swing at that pitch, with the splitter. We were just trying to get him up. It’s pretty standard. He threw me all fastballs, and I finally get one up in the zone, get a good swing on it and keep it fair.â€

It was perhaps fitting that Smith and Muncy sparked the offense to life. The Dodgers have three likely future Hall of Famers at the top of their lineup. But the strength of that lineup is still its depth. If you can get past Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman at the top, youâ€ll still need to navigate your way through perennial All-Stars with years of postseason experience.

Smith and Muncy? Theyâ€ve been here before.

“You can let the emotions of the moment get the best of you, try to hit a homer every time, try to be the hero every time,†Smith said. “It wonâ€t work out. I just try to simplify it, put together good at-bats, swing at good pitches.â€

Gausman wasnâ€t offering up many of them. But in the seventh, he finally did.

“It was kind of a classic pitchers’ duel,†said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “And they made a couple more swings.â€

Smithâ€s playoff status was in question after he sustained a hairline fracture in his right hand late in the regular season. He came off the bench in the Wild Card Series against the Reds and struggled in the Division Series against Philadelphia. But since the start of the NLCS, Smith is 9-for-22 — a .409 average across six games.

“It just lengthens it out,†Betts said. “He can face righties, lefties, it doesn’t really matter. He’s really good at separating … catching and hitting and offense and defense and vice versa. I wouldn’t say he’s a sleeper in our lineup. Because I think you definitely have to prepare for him.â€

Following Smithâ€s homer, the Dodgers†offense started to look like … the Dodgers†offense. What itâ€s supposed to look like, at least. They blended patience and power and quickly tacked on three runs. Muncy chased Gausman with his opposite-field solo homer, and L.A. added two more via two eighth-inning walks and two singles.

Not that Yamamoto needed the insurance. If anything, the late offensive surge was a statement of intent moving forward in the series. Much has been made about the Blue Jays†juggernaut of an offense. But the Dodgers†lineup is plenty deep, too.

It was the slumping Andy Pages who started the rally in the eighth with a one-out single. Ohtani followed with a broken-bat single of his own. After Mookie Betts worked a walk, Schneider called for closer Jeff Hoffman to keep the game within reach.

Hoffmanâ€s first pitch was in the dirt, and Pages scampered home. Ohtani scored later in the frame when Smith beat out a double-play grounder.

A once raucous Rogers Centre grew quieter with each tack-on run. Resignation was setting in. The Dodgers were heading back to Los Angeles with a split.

“Itâ€s going to be a long [flight],†Freeman told the FOX broadcast after the game. “But itâ€s going to be a good one.â€

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Oct 15, 2025, 01:34 AM ET

MILWAUKEE — Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Max Muncy set a franchise record by hitting his 14th career postseason homer in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.

Muncy’s 412-foot drive over the center-field wall in the sixth inning broke the Dodgers’ mark he had shared with Justin Turner and Corey Seager. The solo shot off starter Freddy Peralta extended Los Angeles’ lead to 3-1.

The Dodgers went on to win 5-1 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“It means a lot to me,” Muncy said. “The Dodgers are a franchise that have been around for a very, very long time. A lot of very successful players have played in this organization. And to be able to break that record is kind of huge for me.

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“But the biggest thing I would say is it speaks to the fact that I’ve had a chance to play in so many postseason games. And that’s the biggest thing about being a Dodger. You know you’ll have a chance in October to play meaningful baseball games. To be able to have that chance every single year I’ve been here, that’s always been the most important thing to me. You get as many chances as you can to win that World Series. That’s the reason why you play this game.”

It was Muncy’s 70th postseason game with the Dodgers. Turner played 86 for Los Angeles from 2014 to 2022. Seager appeared in 61 from 2015 to 2021.

Muncy nearly set the team record in Game 1 when he hit a long drive to center that was inches from being a grand slam. That shot instead turned into an unusual 8-6-2 double play after the ball popped out of center fielder Sal Frelick’s glove.

Frelick attempted to make a leaping grab, but the ball bounced off the top of the wall before he controlled it and the Brewers ended up forcing runners out at home plate and third base.

Muncy was asked after Tuesday’s game whether he feared Frelick would make the catch when he saw the ball heading in that direction.

“I definitely thought he got it,” Muncy said. “That back wall is so close to the center-field wall. I didn’t see the ball bounce at all. When I didn’t see it bounce, I thought he came down with it again. And I was about to be very, very frustrated. But I saw him sit on the ground. That’s when I realized he didn’t have it.”

Muncy also holds the Dodgers record with 60 career postseason walks.

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MILWAUKEE — Max Muncy was inches away from hitting a grand slam for the Los Angeles Dodgers to open the scoring in the National League Championship Series.

Little did he know his 404-foot drive instead would end the top of the fourth inning in one of the most incredible plays of this or any postseason.

“Itâ€s definitely the worst fielderâ€s choice/double play Iâ€ve ever hit in my life,†Muncy said after the Dodgers†2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1.

Hereâ€s how Muncyâ€s potential grand slam turned into an unusual 8-6-2 double play:

With the bases loaded and one out, Muncy hit a long drive to center field, where Sal Frelick jumped and reached over the wall in an attempt to make the catch.

The ball popped out of Frelickâ€s glove and hit the top of the fence before Frelick caught it in the air. Muncy wasnâ€t ruled out because the ball hit the wall — but the Dodgers†runners scrambled back to their bases thinking the ball was caught on a fly.

“I didnâ€t see it hit the wall,†said Will Smith, who was on second base. “I just thought he kind of brought it back in and caught it.â€

Frelick fired to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who quickly relayed a strike to catcher William Contreras. Aware a force was still in effect, Contreras alertly stretched for the throw with his right foot on home plate, rather than position himself for a tag that would have been necessary if the ball hadnâ€t hit the wall.

Contreras caught the ball before Teoscar Hernández slid across the plate, forcing out Hernández after he had hesitated at third base.

“Teo knows the rule. I think right there he had just a little bit of a brain fart, appreciating that when it does hit the glove, you can tag (up) there,†Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But then he tagged, did it correctly, then saw he didnâ€t catch it, (and) he went back. That was the mistake. But he owned it. And after that, thereâ€s nothing else you can do about it.â€

After the force out at home plate, Contreras smartly got up and jogged to third to force out Smith, too.

Smith had gone back to second when he thought Frelick made a clean catch.

“From home plate, I had a pretty good view of it,†Contreras said through an interpreter. “I could tell pretty much right away it hit off the wall. Right away once it hits off the wall, you know that ball is played live. Tremendous job by the guys there just doing what we needed to do to finish that play off.â€

As all of it was developing, Frelick had his arms out with a quizzical look on his face, wondering what exactly had just happened — not unlike many fans.

The Dodgers challenged the call, but a replay review confirmed the force outs at home and third for a most unusual inning-ending 8-6-2 double play.

Umpires called it correctly in real time all the way through the play.

“Honestly, I didnâ€t know they ruled it a no-catch,†Roberts said. “I just wanted clarity on the whole situation. And then kind of making sure that they got a couple of force outs, which they did. And ultimately, those guys and replay, the guys on the field got it right. They nailed it.â€

At 404 feet, it was the second-longest projected distance on a batted ball resulting in a double play since Statcast tracking began in 2015 — regular-season games included. For Muncy, it goes down as a grounded-into-double play, even though the ball didnâ€t touch the ground.

There had not been an 8-6-2 double play in the postseason over the last 35 years, the Elias Sports Bureau said. Those type of official scoring details are not always clear in records going back any further.

The most recent 8-6-2 double play in the regular season involved a ball hit by Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa to Cincinnati center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. in April 2004 — though that one ended with a tag at the plate.

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