Max Muncy’s last swing before heading to the All-Star Game was a three-run game-ending home run in the ninth inning Sunday as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 7-4 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
After Albert Pujols led off the ninth inning with a single and Mookie Betts was intentionally walked, Muncy clubbed a no-doubt home run off Arizona’s J.B. Bukauskas into the right-field bleachers for his third hit of the game. It was his 19th home run of the season.
Betts led the game off with a home run and had three hits as Los Angeles won its final two games before the All-Star break.
Down 4-1, Los Angeles loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth inning against Arizona’s Noe Ramirez on a walk and two singles. Justin Turner drove in a run with a long single to the right-center field wall on a ball that Josh Reddick failed to catch. Ramirez then hit Will Smith with a pitch to make it 4-3 and Chris Taylor tied it with a soft single to center.
Arizona’s Stephen Vogt hit a home run for one of his two hits and scored on Daulton Varsho’s two-run home run in the seventh. The lowly Diamondbacks are a league-worst 40 games under .500 and have dropped 30 of their last 32 on the road.
After the Dodgers matched a franchise record with eight home runs in Saturday’s 22-1 rout of Arizona, Betts opened the bottom of the first with a homer to left-center field off Arizona’s Merrill Kelly. Betts had a grand slam Saturday.
Arizona tied it in the fourth when Vogt took Los Angeles starter Tony Gonsolin deep to right field. That was the only run Gonsolin allowed on four hits while striking out six with a walk. He threw 83 pitches over four innings.
The Diamondbacks went ahead 2-1 in the fifth against Dodgers reliever Darien Nunez. Josh Rojas, who had three hits, doubled and scored on Josh VanMeter’s single.
Kelly allowed four hits and a walk with three strikeouts. He exited with one out in the sixth due to a right leg cramp.
After Vogt singled in the seventh, Varsho delivered his first homer of the season on an opposite-field shot to left. It was his first extra-base hit in 30 games.
Pujols’ ninth-inning single was the 3,283rd hit of his career to tie Willie Mays for 11th on the all-time list.
–Field Level Media