Max Muncy Beats Three Aces as the Los Angeles Dodgers Roll Through New York and Philly

The Los Angeles Dodgers came out of the All-Star break with a schedule designed to test a contender — three in the Bronx, three in Philadelphia, all on the road — and left it with an MLB-best 65-38 record, a 4-2 trip, and a third baseman who apparently collects ace pelts. Max Muncy took Gerrit Cole, Zack Wheeler, and Aaron Nola deep in the span of six days, and every one of those swings either gave the Dodgers the lead or won them the game. If you're scanning Los Angeles Dodgers news for a single storyline this week, that's the one: the champs limped into the break, then went into two hostile ballparks and took both series.

The Week That Was: Dodgers Take the Bronx, Again

Remember, this team stumbled into the break by dropping three straight in Arizona. A weekend in the Bronx — the same building where they clinched the 2024 World Series — was a reasonable place to find out whether the skid meant something. Any lingering doubt lasted exactly one game. On Friday, July 17, the Dodgers beat the Yankees 2-1 in a game New York mostly gifted and Muncy mostly stole. The Yankees scratched out a run in the fourth on a Jasson Dominguez double, an error, and a passed ball — the full unearned-run experience. Then in the seventh, Muncy got a hanging slider on Cole's 103rd pitch and put it into the right-field second deck for a two-run shot, his 18th homer of the year. Jack Dreyer got the win in relief, Tanner Scott closed for his 14th save, and Cole took the loss.

Saturday's game was rained out, which set up a Sunday doubleheader — and a Yoshinobu Yamamoto showcase. In the opener, Yamamoto threw a complete game with seven strikeouts in an 8-2 rout, while Shohei Ohtani, Muncy, and Tommy Edman each collected two hits and chased Yankees starter Cam Schlittler before the end of the fifth. The nightcap flipped the script: Edman tied it 1-1 with a solo homer in the eighth, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. answered with a solo shot of his own in the same inning, and the Yankees salvaged the split, 2-1. Series to Los Angeles, two games to one.

Surviving Philly: Dodgers Beat Wheeler and Nola Back-to-Back

Monday in Philadelphia went sideways early and stayed there, a 10-7 loss in which the Dodgers' seven runs never felt like enough. Then came the part of the week that should worry the rest of the National League. On Tuesday, Justin Wrobleski outdueled Zack Wheeler, 2-1. Wrobleski went 6.1 innings with seven strikeouts and one run allowed to move to 11-2; Wheeler struck out nine over seven and lost anyway, because Muncy hit a two-run homer off him in the fourth that scored Andy Pages. Tanner Scott banked save number 15.

Wednesday's finale was messier and more fun. Alec Bohm staked the Phillies to a 2-0 lead with a first-inning homer, the Dodgers tied it 3-3 through five, and then Muncy — who else — hit a go-ahead two-run homer off Aaron Nola in the sixth. Los Angeles piled on four in the eighth, capped by Edman's bases-clearing triple, and won 9-5. Eric Lauer picked up the win. Dalton Rushing, filling in behind the plate, drove in three with a solo homer and a two-run double, and Freddie Freeman went 3-for-4 with two doubles. Two series, two road wins against playoff-caliber teams, no full-strength lineup required.

Standout Performances: Muncy's Week Against Aces

The headliner is obvious. Muncy homered off Cole, Wheeler, and Nola in the same week — three pitchers with Cy Young votes on their mantels — and each blast was worth two runs. Beyond him, the honor roll is deep:

• Yoshinobu Yamamoto: a complete game with seven strikeouts in the doubleheader opener at Yankee Stadium, exactly the kind of start a taxed pitching staff needed.
• Tommy Edman: two hits in the doubleheader opener, the game-tying homer in the nightcap, and a three-RBI, three-hit day in Wednesday's finale, triple included.
• Justin Wrobleski: 6.1 innings of one-run ball against the Phillies to improve to 11-2, quietly one of the best records in the sport.
• Dalton Rushing: three RBIs Wednesday while holding down the catching job with Will Smith sidelined.
• Tanner Scott: two saves in the week's two one-run wins, numbers 14 and 15.

Where the Dodgers Stand in the NL West

At 65-38, the Dodgers own the best record in baseball, a game up on Milwaukee's 64-38 for the top mark in the National League. The NL West race, such as it is, has them 11.5 games clear of second-place Arizona. The Diamondbacks are the hottest team in the division at 8-2 over their last ten — some of that damage done directly to Los Angeles in that pre-break sweep — and it has barely moved the needle. That's what a double-digit cushion in late July buys you. San Diego sits 14.5 back at 50-52, San Francisco and Colorado are playing out the string, and the realistic stakes for the next two months are seeding, not survival. With Milwaukee breathing down their neck for the NL's top record, every one of these late-July wins doubles as a down payment on home-field advantage through October — no small thing for a club chasing a third straight World Series title.

Injury Report and Trade Deadline Posture

Here's the caveat to all the winning: the Dodgers are doing it shorthanded, and this week in Los Angeles Dodgers news included some sobering health updates.

• Shohei Ohtani: still hitting, but ruled out from pitching indefinitely with left knee trouble. He last pitched July 3 and has been scratched from multiple scheduled starts since; a return to a mound could come soon, but there's no timetable.
• Will Smith: out since the first week of June with an inflamed disc in his neck. What was first described as stiffness has dragged on, and his return date is genuinely uncertain.
• Blake Snell: began a rehab assignment over the weekend — real progress for the rotation.
• Tyler Glasnow: still limited to fastballs only in bullpen sessions, so he remains a ways off.

Despite all that, reporting out of Los Angeles says the front office isn't changing its deadline plans, with the focus more on adding to the farm system than on splashy rentals. Whether standing mostly pat is wisdom or hubris depends a lot on Smith's neck — catcher depth is the one spot where the roster looks thin if he can't get right by September.

What's Next for the Dodgers: A Weekend in Queens

The road trip rolls on with three at Citi Field against the Mets, starting Friday, July 24. On paper it's a breather — New York is 43-60 and buried 17 games back in the NL East — but this Mets team just shut out the Brewers behind rookie Zac Thornton, so "on paper" only gets you so far. After Queens, the deadline arrives in earnest, and the next week of Dodgers news will be as much about the July 31 buzzer as anything on the field. Watch three things: whether Ohtani gets back on a mound, whether Snell's rehab stays on schedule, and whether the front office really holds its cards.

Add it up and this was about as reassuring a week as the Los Angeles Dodgers could have drawn up — series wins over the Yankees and Phillies, an 11.5-game division lead, and their slugging third baseman treating Cy Young resumes like batting-practice arms. The injuries are real and the deadline questions are fair. But 65-38 with this much talent still rehabbing is a scary thought for everyone else, and the three-peat chase looks very much on track heading into August.