June 21, 2019 will forever be remembered as the day that 24-year-old Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler not only etched his name into the Dodgers history books, but into Major League Baseball’s history books as well.

During his 111-pitch / 4-2 complete game win over the NL West second place Colorado Rockies, the Lexington, KY native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2015 out of Vanderbilt University struck out 16 Rockies batters while walking none, which:

• Were the most by a Dodgers pitcher in a game in which they also issued no walks in the Modern era (since 1900).
• Were the most by a Dodgers pitcher since Hideo Nomo struck out 17 Marlins on April 13, 1996.
• Made him the first Dodgers pitcher to strike out as many as 16 in a game without walking a batter.
• Made him the first Dodgers right-hander to record a complete game win since former Dodger Josh Beckett pitched a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 25, 2014.
• Made him the only pitcher in Dodgers history with more than 15 strikeouts and no walks in a game since the mound was moved to its current distance (60 feet 6 inches ) in 1893.
• Was the first complete game of his three-year MLB career.

“I just can’t picture a pitcher dominating a really good lineup like he did tonight,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “From the first throw, all 111 pitches had conviction. He had no stress, didn’t pitch out of the stretch until the ninth inning, changed locations, kept them honest inside, and he wanted that ninth inning.”

That ninth-inning stretch thing was important. Although Buehler gave up solo home runs to Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado in the fourth inning and right fielder Charlie Blackmon in the sixth inning, the only other hit allowed by Buehler was a one-out single to right by Blackmon in the top of the ninth inning. In other words, 110 of Buehler’s 111 pitches (of which 83 were strikes) were made from the windup.

“Got some calls, got some bad swings in some counts and just trying to throw strikes and good things happen,” said Buehler. “Arenado and Blackmon hit the two worst pitches of the night. But a pretty good night for us.”

Good things indeed happened.

But Buehler’s historic night wouldn’t have happened were it not for the dramatic two-run walk-off home run hit by Dodgers left fielder Matt Beaty with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off of Rockies right-hander Jairo Díaz on a 1-0 count. Beaty hit Díaz’s second pitch, a 96.7-mph two-seam fastball, 402 feet into the cool (first day of summer) night in front of a sold out Dodger Stadium crowd of 54,044. It was Beaty’s second home run in his brief 24-game MLB career.

“I was thinking [Buehler] had a really special night and it would be really fun to get a win for him,” a Gatorade soaked / talcum powder-covered Beaty told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo immediately after the game. “Friday night, sellout crowd … when the ball went over the fence I just heard the crowd erupt and it was pretty cool. It just felt like I was floating around the bases and I was trying to soak it in. My heart hasn’t stopped pounding yet.”

But buried under the well-deserved accolades of Buehler’s brilliant pitching performance and Beaty’s incredible walk-off home run was the plate appearance by Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy who, in the simplest of terms, made it all possible.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and wanting desperately to get Buehler the well-deserved win without having to go into extra innings (and use their heavily-taxed bullpen), Muncy had a plate appearance that rivaled his famous “Go get it out of the ocean” home run when he worked an outstanding seven-pitch walk off of Díaz. Without that walk, Beaty doesn’t come to the plate and who knows how the game would have ended.

“To take that walk, to keep the line moving and give us another opportunity was huge,” Roberts told reporters after the game. “A lot of times you see guys give those at-bats away. Two outs and nobody on base, the probability of scoring a run is slim. Really, after the first couple … two, three weeks (of the season) when [Muncy] was struggling, from that point on, man, he just hasn’t given away anything.”

“Muncy put together a good at-bat, got down two strikes early then battled back and got the walk,” said Beaty. “So I felt confident walking to the plate. Muncy saw a lot of pitches. I just wanted to get the barrel to the ball and that’s what happened.”

Yes, it did.

Play Ball!

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