The Los Angeles Dodgers kept their momentum rolling in Friday night’s series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies, slugging four home runs and 12 hits to earn a 6-3 victory.
Much of the talk and focus during the offseason was on Bryce Harper and the record-breaking contract he signed with the Phillies, but it was the Dodgers’ left-handed batters who stole the show in their first time facing the star outfielder and Philadelphia.
Max Muncy got the scoring started in the bottom of the third inning when he launched a two-run home run to right field off Jake Arrieta.
There were question marks regarding Muncy during the winter and if he would be able to replicate his 2018 success, and he has quickly put an end to all of those. He has 12 home runs and an .892 on-base plus slugging percentage through the first two months of the season.
The Dodgers resumed scoring in the fifth when Joc Pederson led off the inning with a home run, his 17th of the season. The homer was one of Pederson’s longest of the season, traveling an estimated 445 feet as it sailed into the right-center field pavilion and nearly cleared Dodger Stadium.
Muncy followed Pederson’s home run with a single up the middle and scored when Corey Seager hit a two-run shot. Seager got off to a slow start to the year after undergoing Tommy John and hip surgeries that cost him almost the entire 2018 season, but he has begun to regain his pre-surgery form in recent weeks.
Arrieta tied a career high by surrendering three homers. The final home run of the night came off the bat of Kiké Hernandez, his ninth of the year, to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning. He had a solid night at the plate, going 2-for-4.
After another win, the Dodgers concluded the month of May tied for the best record at 39-19, including a 23-7 record at Dodger Stadium. Their 39 wins are the most in baseball, besting the Minnesota Twins by one.
