Third baseman Max Muncy smashed a key two-run home run in his first game back to the lineup, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Seattle Mariners 3-0 on Monday night.
Muncy’s 400-foot blast off reliever Yimi Garcia capped a three-run seventh inning. It was his third at-bat since being activated from the injured list before the game and his first homer since May 7. Muncy came off the injured list Monday after being out since May 17 with an oblique strain, batting seventh and manning third base against the Mariners.
“It’s just a relentless lineup,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When you got Max Muncy hitting seventh, that’s saying something. For Max to come up in a big spot and homer gave us some breathing room.”
Muncy, 33, was batting .223 with nine home runs and 28 RBIs through 40 games before his injury.
“It’s a little bit of a relief,” Muncy said. “The mechanics feel really good. Obviously the timing isn’t where I want it to be.”
Muncy endured a couple months where his injury couldn’t be pinpointed. He got numerous chiropractic adjustments, as well as scans, MRIs and an injection.
“Once we finally got it fixed, it felt like I wasn’t even injured,” he said.
Infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman, meanwhile, made his season debut in Monday’s game after being activated prior to the three-game series opener against visiting Seattle, batting ninth and going 1-for-3 with a single.
In related roster moves before the game, the Dodgers designated infielder Nick Ahmed for assignment, optioned outfielder Andy Pages to Triple-A Oklahoma City, placed catcher Austin Barnes on the 15-day IL with a fractured big toe and recalled catcher Hunter Feduccia from Triple-A.
Roberts also revealed that first baseman Freddie Freeman was diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his right middle finger but will continue to play. Freeman was in the lineup on Monday night and went 0-for-4.
The Dodgers acquired Edman, 29, from the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-team trade involving the Chicago White Sox last month. Edman had been on the 60-day IL due to both wrist surgery and an ankle sprain.
In his first five major league seasons, spent entirely with St. Louis, Edman batted .265 with 53 home runs, 222 RBIs and 106 stolen bases in 596 games.
Ahmed, 34, signed with Los Angeles as a free agent last month and got into 17 games, hitting .229 with one homer and two RBIs.
Pages, 23, made his major league debut in April and played in 98 games for Los Angeles. He batted .246 with nine homers and 36 RBIs.
Barnes, 34, was hitting .241 with one home run and eight RBIs through his 44 appearances this year. He has spent his entire 10-year big league career with the Dodgers, a lifetime .221 hitter with 35 homers and 157 RBIs in 589 games.
Feduccia, 27, made his first and only major league appearance on July 31 in a pinch-hitting situation in a loss to the San Diego Padres. He went 0-for-1 that day but is batting .282 with six homers and 46 RBIs across 73 games for Oklahoma City.
The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.
