LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy stepped in against Lucas Erceg with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium and lined a 2-2 fastball into center field, scoring Shohei Ohtani and finishing off the Kansas City Royals, 5-4. The walk-off single gave the Dodgers a series victory over Kansas City and extended their winning streak to two games at home after they had dropped eight of nine overall, including a season-high seven-game losing streak.
It was the second consecutive night Muncy delivered with the bases loaded. Kansas City had loaded the bases intentionally in the 10th by walking Freddie Freeman and Kyle Tucker after Ohtani entered as the automatic runner. Erceg's 2-2 pitch did not miss by much — Muncy sent it up the middle and the stadium played I Love L.A. for the second straight night.
"I think the results speak for themselves," Muncy said. "I think one of the big things for us was trying to get everyone back focused on what's happening today and not carrying each day over to the next one. There was a lot of us doing that, myself included, and it's just hard to play when you're letting the days kind of compound on you like that. You just have to keep moving forward."
Blake Snell made his return from the injured list Tuesday and kept the Royals quiet for most of his outing. The only run he received came in the second inning on a Mookie Betts solo home run. Snell exited with a no-decision despite what manager Dave Roberts called about as smooth a return as the club could have hoped for.
The game tightened in the seventh when the Dodgers took a brief lead on back-to-back RBI doubles from Alex Call and Teoscar Hernandez. That edge disappeared in the eighth when Evan Phillips, who had gone unscored upon in six straight outings during his return from Tommy John surgery, struck out the first batter he faced and then gave up consecutive singles to Jac Caglianone and Salvador Perez to tie the game.
Kansas City grabbed the lead on an error moments later. Center fielder Andy Pages caught a Carter Jensen liner but could not complete a clean transfer, and the Royals scored the go-ahead run on the botched play. Lefty Jack Dreyer entered for Phillips and struck out Michael Massey to keep the deficit at one.
The Dodgers answered in the bottom of the eighth. Betts, who was already 2-for-3 on the night, drove in a run with a single to tie the game again — his third hit of the evening. Edgardo Henriquez then threw a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, and Nate Pearson matched that for the Royals, pushing the contest to extras.
Seth Halvorsen handled the 10th for Los Angeles in his Dodgers debut, keeping Kansas City scoreless and setting up the walk-off opportunity. The sequence in the bottom half — Ohtani as the automatic runner, intentional walks to Freeman and Tucker — set up the situation. Muncy converted.
"It's just guys coming together and being ready when called upon," Roberts said. "It doesn't matter who's playing, where you hit, who's pitching. Just find a way to win a game."
Roberts had said publicly before the series that he wanted his team to play with more urgency after the recent losing stretch. The Dodgers responded in both of the first two games against the Royals, staging rallies and finishing them off at home. Coming in having lost three straight before Kansas City arrived, they leave the series having won it.
The deeper concern for Los Angeles remains the bullpen. Phillips had looked reliable over his previous six outings but could not retire more than one batter in the eighth. The error by Pages, a converted play that became a go-ahead run, added to a night where the Dodgers had to overcome their own mistakes to win. They did — but a club with title ambitions cannot depend on that path through October.
