Max Muncy’s 3-homer night ends with a stunning 9th-inning winner as Dodgers top Rangers, 8-7

Audio By Carbonatix

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Muncy hit three homers, including a game-winning, two-out solo shot in the ninth inning after Edwin Diaz blew his first save, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied past the Texas Rangers 8-7 Friday night in the opener of a series between the last three World Series champions.

Diaz (1-0) blew his first save in six appearances with a three-run ninth that tied the game, 7-7. He gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Joc Pederson before Evan Carter hammered a first-pitch fastball to right. After two outs, Josh Jung singled. Pinch-runner Sam Haggerty stole second and Brandon Nimmo was intentionally walked. Ezequiel Duran followed with a tying single to left.

After Will Smith and Freddie Freeman struck out, Muncy hit a 401-foot shot to right off Jakob Latz (0-1).

The Dodgers first rallied in the sixth on Andy Pages' go-ahead, two-run double.

The NL West-leading Dodgers trailed by two runs before ending the AL West-leading Rangers' three-game winning streak. Texas won the World Series in 2023, and the Dodgers followed with back-to-back titles in 2024 and '25.

Muncy hit solo shots in the second and fourth innings off Rangers starter Kumar Rocker. Muncy had his second career three-homer game and moved into sole possession of sixth all-time with 212 career homers for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers rapped out 15 hits, with Muncy reaching base four times. In the eighth, the ball went off the glove of first baseman Jake Burger in foul territory, triggering a foot race to the bag. Muncy collided with reliever Luis Curvelo, who went down. Curvelo tossed a couple warmup pitches and remained in the game.

Shohei Ohtani singled in the fifth, extending his on-base streak to 44 games and surpassing Ichiro Suzuki for the longest such streak by a Japanese-born player. It was Ohtani's only hit on his first bobblehead night of the season.

Pages also reached base four times with four RBIs, falling a triple short of the cycle. He singled in the second, walked in the fifth, doubled in the sixth and hit a two-run blast off Curvelo in the eighth, making it 7-4.

The Rangers led 3-1 on Corey Seager's three-run homer with two outs off Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow.

Wyatt Langford extended the Rangers' lead to 4-2 with a two-out solo homer — his first of the season — in the fifth. He was replaced in the sixth because of right quad tightness.

Rangers RHP Jack Leiter (1-0, 2.45 ERA) starts Saturday against RHP Emmet Sheehan (1-0, 8.00).

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb