Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy took things into his own hands with the Los Angeles Dodgers trailing 2-0. He beat the shift with a bunt, bringing Justin Turner to the plate — and Turner responded with a three-run homer.
Muncy added his own three-run blast in the eighth to help the Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 7-3 on Wednesday.
The NL West leaders reduced their magic number to six games. The Dodgers could clinch a postseason berth Friday in San Diego.
“We’re obviously winning a lot of baseball games, but we still got to get some guys back to health, number one, and we’re still in the mode of trying to get some guys on track,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Trea Turner doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth after being hitless in his first four at-bats. Austin Barnes, who reached on an infield single, scored for a 4-3 lead.
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Freddie Freeman walked and Trea Turner took third on a wild pitch by Zack Littell (2-3) to set up Muncy, whose blast into the right-field pavilion made it 7-3. Muncy went 3 for 4 a day after hitting two homers in a 6-3 win.
“I wanted to get the ball in the air on that one. We have the fastest guy in baseball on third base,” Muncy said, referring to Trea Turner.
The Dodgers took their first lead, 3-2, on Justin Turner’s three-run homer in the fifth.
Justin Turner has been as hot at the plate as the triple-digit temperatures that have gripped Southern California for over a week. He extended his hitting streak to 16 games, with 10 multi-hit games in his last 18.
David Villar homered twice and drove in all of the runs for the Giants, who led 2-0 in the fifth. Villar’s second homer — a solo shot off Justin Bruihl — tied it 3-all in the seventh of a game that began with a temperature of 99 degrees (37 Celsius).
The teams combined for 16 homers in the three-game series.
“When the weather stays warm like this, it’s fun to hit here,” Muncy said. “With it being in the triple digits the last few days, the ball was definitely flying and it showed.”
After leaving eight runners on base through four innings, the Dodgers rallied in the fifth.
Freeman led off with a single, Muncy bunted up the third-base line, and Justin Turner followed with his 11th homer of the season to center for a 3-2 lead. Lewis Brinson leapt at the wall, but couldn’t make the play.
“It’s not so easy, especially when you don’t do it very much,” Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw said of the bunt. “That was an awesome play by Max right there.”
Evan Phillips (6-3) got the win with 1 1/3 innings of relief.
Kershaw allowed two runs and five hits in six innings and struck out eight in his third straight no-decision. He’s made two starts since coming off the injured list a week ago.
“Another good step forward for me. I’ve been bouncing back good,” Kershaw said. “Now you just want to pitch well leading into October.”
Giants starter Alex Cobb gave up three runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked three.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: OF Joey Gallo left the game with a right elbow contusion after getting hit by a pitch. He said he couldn’t feel his fingers, although X-rays were negative.
UP NEXT
Giants: Haven’t announced a starter Thursday for the series opener at Milwaukee.
Dodgers: After an off-day, RHP Dustin May (1-2, 3.94) starts Friday at San Diego in the opener of a three-game series.
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