Max Muncy makes Yankees pay for keeping Gerrit Cole on mound in Dodgers' win

Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times on Jul 17, 2026

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Dodgers All-Star third baseman Max Muncy didn’t get a break this week, traveling to Philadelphia to compete in the Midsummer Classic. But even without the extra rest, he put a charge into his go-ahead swing Friday.

The Dodgers struggled to get anything going against veteran Yankees starter Gerrit Cole — until he hung a slider to Muncy in the seventh inning. Muncy launched it for a two-run blast to carry the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory.

Between the come-from-behind win, and a strong showing from Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki, the Dodgers (62-36) came out of the All-Star break on a positive note.

It was clear early on that Sasaki, who didn’t allow an earned run in 5 ⅔ innings, had something a little extra.

Pitching at Yankee Stadium for the first time, he punctuated a clear first inning by getting ahead of Paul Goldschmidt with 101.8- and 101.7-mph fastballs, en route to a five-pitch strikeout.

It was the first time he’d topped 101 mph in a regular-season game, according to Statcast.

The Yankees (54-43) scored their only run against Sasaki by taking advantage of a pair of defensive mistakes.

With two outs in the fourth, center fielder Andy Pages bobbled Jasson Domínguez’ double in right-center field, giving him time to get to third. The next pitch, a fork ball, got past catcher Dalton Rushing, and Domínguez raced home.

Pages later found some redemption with a defensive gem to end the fifth. He made a full-speed tumbling catch in the right-field gap to rob Austin Wells of an extra-base hit.

Cole held the Dodgers to just four hits in six-plus innings. Before the seventh, only one Dodgers runner reached second base, when Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández hit back-to-back singles in the second.

Cole came back out for the seventh and walked Mookie Betts to lead off the inning. After a mound visit, he stayed in to face Muncy.

Muncy fell into a two-strike count, but he kept battling. On the seventh pitch, he saw something he could drive — 416 feet at a 30-degree launch angle, to be exact.

Dodgers relievers Jack Dreyer, Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott chipped in a combined 3⅓ scoreless innings to secure the win. But the Yankees came inches away from tying the score in the eighth.

With Trent Grisham on first after a walk, Ben Rice hit a double into the right-field gap off Vesia. Pages chased down the ball and fired to shortstop Mookie Betts, who hurled it home. Rushing’s sweeping tag beat Grisham to the plate.

Vesia induced former teammate Cody Bellinger to fly out to escape the inning.

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