When Dodgers infielder Max Muncy hit his now legendary ‘Go get it out of the ocean’ home run off of Giants bad boy Madison Bumgarner on June 9, it was his 13th round-tripper of the season and his 10th off a right-hander. He then hit two off of Angels right-hander Felix Pena on June 11 at Angel Stadium, his 14th and 15th of the season and 11th and 12th off a righty.

But on Thursday night, the extremely popular 28-year-old Midland, TX native and 2012 fifth-round draft pick (by the Oakland A’s) hit his sixth home run of the season off a left-hander, and not just any left-hander. It was off of Chicago Cubs premier left-hander Jon Lester, who had retired the first seven Dodger batters he faced, three via strikeout.

In the bottom of the fourth inning with the Dodgers trailing 3-2, Muncy hit an opposite-field 394-foot two-run home run to left-center field off of the five-time All-Star that would prove to be the game-winner in the eventual 7-3 Dodgers win to snap a two-game skid.

“Really good at-bats tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “Just collectively, really nice to see.”

Even though the Dodgers were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Thursday night, they left only five runners on base. They also had five consecutive hits (including home runs by Cody Bellinger and Muncy) off of Lester in the fourth inning, and three consecutive hits (including a David Freese home run) off of him in the fifth inning.

“I would like to think that pitching to the big part of the field is still beneficial, but I guess it’s not,” said a very respectful Jon Lester after suffering his fifth loss of the season to go along with his five wins. “I don’t want to take anything away from their hitters – they’ve got really good hitters.”

Obviously, it’s impossible to talk about the Dodgers ‘really good hitters’ without mentioning 23-year-old / soon-to-be two-time All-Star Bellinger, who snapped his 12-game home run drought by hitting two home runs on Thursday.

“Bellinger’s probably one of the better hitters I’ve seen, as far as his approach and not chasing and playing the game and doing all that,” said Lester. “That’s why he’s hitting .350-something with 20-something homers. When you don’t chase, it makes the pitcher come into the zone a little bit more and then, with their lineup, you definitely don’t want to give free passes. I think his numbers and everything kind of speak for themselves when it comes to that.”

Like ‘Splash Muncy’ (as Max is now affectionately called after taking Bumgarner deep into McCovey Cove last week), Belly is also feasting off of left-handers. Of his 22 home runs thus far this season, nine have come off of southpaws.

“Of course, they have every reason to panic if he hasn’t hit a homer in 12 games. He’s that good,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters, after being told that Dodger fans were beginning to panic because of Bellinger’s 12-game home run drought. “You don’t make a mistake, because he’s able – like you saw – to go left-center or pull it right down the right-field line. He’s a great athlete. Just don’t think of him as a hitter. He’s a great athlete. He plays all over the place. He plays every position well. He can throw. He can run. He’s just a good baseball player.”

That’s some pretty high praise from a guy who has been around the game for a very long time and destined for Cooperstown.

Play Ball!

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