You certainly don’t have to look very far or wide to find fans who were ready to throw in the towel on Dodgers utility infielder Max Muncy. After all, the 31-year-old Midland, TX native and fifth-round draft pick in 2012 by the Oakland Athletics out of Baylor University in Waco, TX is currently slashing .170 / .313 / .329 / .642 – the worst slash line on the team among all Dodgers regulars.

But just as he has done seemingly throughout his five seasons with the Dodgers, right when you are about to toss in that towel, Muncy comes up with a huge hit – usually a (very) timely home run – that causes you to pull back your towel.

Such was the case on Saturday night in front of a sold out Dodger Stadium crowd of 52,124 in Game-2 of the Dodgers three-game series with the NL West second-place San Diego Padres; albeit a now distant 14.5-games-back second place.

After striking out in his first at-bat on Saturday evening for the 90th time this season for third-most on the team behind only Cody Bellinger (110) and Chris Taylor (104), Muncy popped out in foul territory in his second at-bat. But in his third at-bat of the night, he pulled a 377-foot three-run home run into the Padres bullpen in right field to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 Dodgers lead.

“It’s definitely a little relief,” Muncy told reporters after the Dodgers 8-3 pounding of the Padres to extend their current winning streak to seven games. “This is a really hard game to not focus on results. But when you’re at a spot where I’m at, you kind of need to see a couple results here and there. To have one or two recently, it’s definitely been a huge relief for me, and, hopefully, we can keep it going.”

The one guy who has never – not even once – even remotely considered giving up on Muncy is the only guy whose opinion matters – Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.

“He’s been on the come the last 10 days,” Roberts said postgame. “Certainly the results [have been there], and it was a big at-bat, a big hit for us. That continues to build the confidence. Like all players, you still need to see results.

“It’s what got him on the map as far as at-bat quality, being able to drive in a run, hit to all fields, take the walk when you need to,” Roberts added. “I think right now he’s not chasing numbers, he’s trying to help us win ballgames … guys are really having to work to get him out these days.”

In his last eight games, Muncy is 8-for-29 (.276), with two home runs and six RBIs. With his clutch home run on Saturday, he has at least one hit in each of his last four games – his longest hitting streak of the season.

Thanks, Max, you (we) needed that.

Play Ball!

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