Max Muncy punishes Yankees strategic mistake in Dodgers comeback win
NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole talked Aaron Boone into letting him face one batter in the seventh inning Friday night.Max Muncy said thank you very much.In the Dodgers’ 2-1 win over the Yankees, Muncy delivered the most important swing of the night after Boone made the most consequential decision of the night, with the Yankees manager leaving Cole in only to watch Muncy take him deep for a go-ahead two-run home run that landed in the second deck.Before that pivotal at-bat, Cole’s leadoff walk to Mookie Betts had dragged Boone out of the dugout.Muncy, the left-handed slugger, was due up next.Brent Headrick, a Yankees lefty with a 1.58 ERA this year, was warming in the bullpen.However, after a brief conversation on the mound, Cole convinced Boone to keep him in the game.
Having already pitched six scoreless innings to that point, the former Cy Young winner then even got Muncy in an 0-2 hole. But once Muncy worked the count even, Cole threw a slider that hung over the middle of the plate.Muncy didn’t miss it, launching his 18th home run of the year — and first since June 29 — on a no-doubt trajectory of 416 feet.Just like that, the Dodgers had erased a 1-0 deficit, backing up an impressive 5 ⅔-inning, one-unearned-run start from Roki Sasaki.And then in the eighth, they denied the Yankees their best chance to rally, throwing out a runner at the plate on an impressive relay play between Andy Pages, Betts and Dalton Rushing.After getting swept going into the All-Star break, the Dodgers kicked off the second half with a marquee win in this 2024 World Series rematch.They continue to hold the best record in the majors (62-36) and improved to 31-23 against opponents with winning records.Sasaki embraced the Yankee Stadium spotlight, not only by turning in a strong start but doing so with an extremely encouraging uptick in stuff.In the first, the right-hander punctuated a 1-2-3 inning with a tantalizing strikeout of Paul Goldschmidt, getting ahead with fastballs of 101....