Max Muncy hits three homers, lifts Dodgers on walk-off

LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy gave Dodger Stadium a finish worthy of the big screen Friday night.

With one swing in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers’ slugger delivered his third home run of the game, a no-doubt walk-off shot off Rangers’ Jacob Latz, to cap an 8–7 win over the Rangers. It was thunder, redemption, and history all wrapped into one.

A Hollywood ending as it felt in the moment, became reality the instant the ball left Muncy’s bat.

“Anytime you hit a home run in a big league game is special, let alone three,” said Max Muncy. “It’s the second time I’ve done that. I still think about the first time. It’s just a special night.”

Special, and increasingly historic. Muncy’s fourth career walk-off homer doubled as his second three-homer game, and his 213th blast in Dodger blue pushed him past Steve Garvey for third-most home runs in Los Angeles Dodgers history.

Muncy opened the scoring in the second inning, turning on a 93 mph cutter and sending it soaring to right-center for a 1–0 lead. At the time, it felt like an early spark. By night’s end, it was merely the first act.

The Dodgers appeared in control as late as the eighth, thanks in large part to the breakout performance of Andy Pages. Pages continued his torrid start, reaching base four times—single, walk, double—and then hammering a two-run homer to left to stretch the lead to 7–4. Pages finished with four RBIs and lifted his average to a staggering .449, tied for the MLB lead in RBIs.

Then came the ninth.

Edwin Díaz found trouble quickly—and unexpectedly. After striking out Joc Pederson, an ABS challenge overturned the call, extending the at-bat and flipping the inning’s momentum. Pederson reached. Moments later, Evan Carter launched a two-run homer to pull the Rangers within one.

The unraveling continued. With two outs, Ezequiel Durán lined a game-tying single, handing Díaz his first blown save as a Dodger.

Inside the dugout, there was no panic.

“We know Edwin is gonna have 50-plus saves for us this year,” Muncy said. “Just wasn’t his night. It’s baseball.”

Manager Dave Roberts echoed that sentiment postgame, noting Díaz’s velocity typically builds as the season progresses.

Lost in the chaos was a steady, if imperfect, outing from Tyler Glasnow. The right-hander struck out seven over six innings, flashing swing-and-miss stuff—13 whiffs on 25 swings.

Both came with two strikes.

In the third, former Dodger Corey Seager turned a 97 mph fastball into a three-run homer. Later, Wyatt Langford punished a hanging curveball for another long ball.

“Not good game management on my part,” Glasnow admitted. “But I felt good.”

There were quieter milestones, too. Shohei Ohtani extended his on-base streak to 44 games, surpassing Ichiro Suzuki for the longest such streak by a Japanese-born player. Ohtani went 1-for-4 with a walk.

“I like walks,” Ohtani said on Wednesday in Toronto.

“I think he’s trying to convince himself,” Roberts joked postgame.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) singles in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers at Dodger Stadium.

But the night belonged to Muncy.

After Díaz escaped the top of the ninth with the game tied, Muncy stepped in with one job: end it. He did, emphatically—launching a drive into the night air that sent 50,000 to their feet and his teammates pouring out of the dugout.

A game that slipped away was suddenly over. A blown save became an afterthought. And Max Muncy, once again, was at the center of it all.

The Dodgers improved to 10–3 and will hand the ball to Emmet Sheehan on Saturday.

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