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Awesome to the Max (Dodgers at Giants; 04.10.23)

Chris Tuite/ALOST

akoiki-passport2 – by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief

SAN FRANCISCO — No extra motivation is needed when playing against a rival, but Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy was desperate to turn around his slow start to the season, no matter the opponent.

Actually, I lied. In a way, the opponent did matter, as Muncy has made a living feasting off the San Francisco Giants throughout his career, and feeding time was extra delicious for him and the Dodgers on Monday night.

Munch cracked two home runs, including a back-breaking grand slam in the seventh inning — and drove in a career-high seven runs as the Dodgers defeated the Giants 9-1 at Oracle Park in the first game of the first series between the longtime rivals. Julio Urías allowed one run on four hits in six innings as Los Angeles snapped a three-game losing streak.

Muncy entered the game with his batting average barely registering on the interstate at .121, but even against Giants ace Logan Webb, Muncy found his stroke. His three-run homer to left-center field with two outs in the third inning gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. In the seventh inning, Muncy came up again with two outs and, with the based loaded, slammed a pitch from reliever Sean Hjelle into the left field bleachers to put the game out of reach and give Los Angeles a 9-1 lead.

In 73 games against San Francisco, Muncy has hit 23 home runs, and three of his 10 multi-homer games have come against the Giants.

Mookie Betts game the Dodgers the perfect start with a leadoff homer to left off Webb on a 2-2 pitch. Betts and Max Muncy each had three hits, while Freddie Freeman went 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

Wilmer Flores provided the only run of the game for the Giants with a solo shot off Urías to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the Giants deficit to 4-1.

*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday evening’s game, with all photos taken by Bay Area-based photographer Chris Tuite. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 40 pictures in total.

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