Dodgers News: Max Muncy Explains Turning a Double Into a Single
In the bottom of the sixth inning of last night’s NLDS Game 2, the Dodgers trailed the Padres, 4-3, but mounted a rally against San Diego starter Yu Darvish. Will Smith led off with an infield single up the middle, and Max Muncy followed with a single off the wall in right field to put runners on first and third.
A single off the wall, you say? Yeah, that’s what we were thinking, too, although the FS1 crew seemed remarkably uninterested in addressing why — or even that — Muncy didn’t make it to second base on what looked like an easy double.
After the game, Muncy explained to the media what happened on the play.
Max Muncy on the Juan Soto deke: said he thought Soto would catch it, then saw Will Smith in front of him. When Smith headed to third, it was too late for him to make a move to second – didn't want to make an out on the bases. pic.twitter.com/UwI3fG36wW
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) October 13, 2022
“I thought Soto was going to catch it,” Muncy said, “and then when he didn’t catch it, Will was right in front of me and I wasn’t sure if he was going to go to third or not. By the time I saw him going to third, it was too late for me to make my decision and I don’t want to make an out at second right there.”
Again, we didn’t see any replays of where Smith and Muncy each were when the ball dropped, because, again, it never crossed the mind of anyone on the production crew that a ball hit like that is usually a double, so it was never mentioned. So all we have is Muncy’s statement.
Dave Roberts said that Soto in right field deked Muncy on the play, making it seem like he had a bead on the ball and that’s how we ended up with runners on the corners instead of runners and second and third.
In the end, it turned out to be extremely important that Muncy stopped at first base, because Robert Suarez came in and struck out Justin Turner before inducing a double-play grounder from Gavin Lux. We have no way of knowing how the inning would have played out if Muncy had made it to second, but the one thing we do know is that Lux wouldn’t have hit into that inning-ending double play.
It was just one of many things that went wrong for the Dodgers in their 5-3 loss. Let’s hope they got all that garbage out of their system.
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