LOS ANGELES — Nearly buried by the jeers and sneers following the latest collapse by the Dodgers’ bullpen on Thursday night was another club record for Max Muncy.
The burly third baseman clubbed his 131st home run at Dodger Stadium, moving him past Eric Karros for the most in franchise history.
The three-run blast into the center-field seats in the sixth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers was even more meaningful at the time because it gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead in the opener of a four-game series between two of the top teams in the National League.
The Dodgers’ bullpen surrendered three runs in the ninth, however, resulting in a 5-4 defeat.
“He does everything you want as a manager, everything,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Muncy before Friday’s game. “He’s cut from the same Freddie Freeman cloth.”
Muncy took a much different route to Dodger Stadium than Freeman, the first baseman who signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers in March of 2022 after five All-Star seasons with the Atlanta Braves.
Muncy was released by the Oakland A’s toward the end of spring training in 2017, and the Dodgers signed him to a minor-league deal 3½ weeks later.
He wasn’t called up to the majors until nearly a year after that, but he quickly proved he was an MLB-quality slugger, blasting 20 home runs in his first 183 at-bats, becoming the quickest to hit that mark in franchise history.
“I remember a guy that just got DFA’d, that was sort of kicked to the curb by an organization that didn’t believe in him,” Roberts said. “He was close to being out of baseball.”
Muncy also passed Ron Cey for the second-most home runs by a Los Angeles Dodger on July 22, hitting a two-run shot off the Philadelphia Phillies’ Aaron Nola to give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead in a game they went on to win, 9-5.
Muncy came into Friday with 237 home runs as a Dodger, trailing only Karros (270) on the L.A. era list – Duke Snider (389), Gil Hodges (361) and Roy Campanella (242) are still ahead of him if you include the Brooklyn era.
“He’s one of the leaders on our ball club,” Roberts said. “I just have nothing but praise.”
SIX ON ONE, SEVEN OF ANOTHER
Despite the recent struggles holding late leads, Roberts said he doesn’t plan to add to his weary seven-man bullpen anytime soon, or subtract from his six-man starting rotation.
He said providing the relievers with a wider run cushion would help.
“It seems like every outing for our relievers has been a leverage situation,” Roberts said. “That makes it tougher, and margins are smaller. We’ve got to find ways to give them a little bit of a margin too.”
Roberts said his six-man rotation is something the team is “emboldened to” because the Dodgers hope it will leave their primary starters fresher come playoff time.
“It’s tough to navigate,” Roberts said of the shortened bullpen. “We have a seven-man ’pen in the middle of 13 (games) in a row. … Essentially, all of our relievers are overworked right now, and so trying to be mindful of their performance and health.”
THE OTHER MIZ
Getting a win on Saturday won’t be any easier.
The Brewers plan to start hard-throwing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, who leads MLB with 204 strikeouts and a 1.76 ERA.
“He’s probably the best pitcher in baseball, the best this year,” Roberts said. “He’s going to get his strikeouts. He’s incredibly talented. I think you’ve just got to fight, get the pitch count up.”
The Dodgers faced Misiorowski twice last season during his rookie year.
He earned the win in his first outing against the Dodgers, limiting them to one run and four hits in six innings of a 3-1 victory on July 8, 2025, and then took the loss in Game 3 of the NLCS after giving up one earned run in five innings in a 3-1 defeat, which gave the Dodgers a 3-0 series lead on their way to a sweep.
REGGIE TIME
Reggie Smith, a Los Angeles native who spent six seasons with the Dodgers, making three All-Star teams and helping them win the World Series in 1981, will be named the 10th member of the Legends of Dodger Baseball during a ceremony before Saturday’s game.
The current members are pitchers Don Newcombe, Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser, infielders Steve Garvey, Maury Wills and Cey, and outfielders Kirk Gibson, Manny Mota and Dusty Baker.
Roberts reiterated how close he remains to Smith, even getting together every MLK holiday weekend for a vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
“I lean on him for just counsel and thoughts,” Roberts said. “Not a weekly thing, but I adore him.”
UP NEXT
Brewers (RHP Jacob Misiorowski, 11-5, 1.76 ERA) at Dodgers (LHP Justin Wrobleski, 11-4, 3.44 ERA), Saturday, 4:15 p.m., FOX (Ch. 11), 570 AM