Muncy went 3-for-6 with a three-run homer and an additional run scored in Friday's 12-2 win over the Blue Jays.
Muncy broke the game open in the third inning with a three-run blast off Chirs Bassitt, extending the Dodgers' lead to 6-0. The 33-year-old Muncy is now 5-for-9 in his last two contests after going 0-for-10 in his previous four games. Overall, he's slashing .258/.361/.494 with five homers, 18 RBI and 16 runs scored through 26 games this season.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Homer, four hits in win
Rotowire
Smith went 4-for-5 with a home run, a double and three total RBI in Friday's 12-2 victory over the Blue Jays.
Smith extended Los Angeles' lead to 3-0 in the third inning with an RBI single before adding a solo home run, his second of the year, off Trevor Richards in the fourth. It's Smith's second straight four-hit game (he's gone 8-for-11 with three extra-base hits in that span) and already his fourth this season. The 29-year-old backstop is off to an excellent start, slashing a robust .376/.413/.527 with 21 RBI and 14 runs scored through his first 104 plate appearances.
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Dodgers' Gavin Stone: Goes seven innings in second win
Rotowire
Stone (2-1) earned the win Friday against the Blue Jays, allowing one run on two hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out two.
Stone was impressive Friday, holding Toronto to one run on Danny Jansen's fourth-inning homer while the Dodgers' offense provided plenty of support in the eventual 12-2 victory. The 25-year-old right-hander's held opponents to two runs or fewer in each of his last three outings, lowering his ERA to 4.68 with a 1.44 WHIP and 18:12 K:BB across five starts (25 innings) this season. He's currently slated for a tough home matchup versus Atlanta in his next outing.
Dodgers' Walker Buehler: Making another rehab start
Rotowire
Manager Dave Roberts said Friday on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that Buehler (elbow) will make another rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday before potentially joining the Dodgers.
The right-hander threw 86 pitches and allowed five runs (three earned) over 4.1 innings Wednesday for Oklahoma City, and the Dodgers don't feel he's quite ready to make his 2024 debut. Buehler's performance in five starts during the rehab assignment has been underwhelming with a 4.86 ERA, 1.68 WHIP and 16:9 K:BB over 16.2 innings.
Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Reaches three times, swipes base
Rotowire
Betts went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run and a stolen base against the Nationals in Thursday's 2-1 victory.
Betts scored the decisive run in the contest by walking, swiping second base and crossing the plate on a Freddie Freeman double in the eighth inning. Betts seems to be running more frequently so far this season -- the stolen base was his sixth of the campaign through 27 contests, putting him well on pace to reach 20 steals for the first time since 2018. That has to be sweet music to his fantasy managers' ears, and Betts is paying huge dividends in other areas as well, slashing .374/.477/.636 with six homers, 21 RBI and 27 runs.
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Dodgers' Teoscar Hernandez: Goes deep in victory
Rotowire
Hernandez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Thursday in a 2-1 win over Washington.
Hernandez's second-inning solo shot put the Dodgers on the board and amounted for half of the team's total output of runs in the low-scoring win. The long ball was the slugger's sixth of the campaign and his first over his past 11 contests. Hernandez has trailed off a bit of late after a strong start to his Dodgers tenure, but he still ranks second on the team and is tied for 11th in the majors with 20 RBI.
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Dodgers' Evan Phillips: Keeps rolling with seventh save
Rotowire
Phillips earned a save against the Nationals on Thursday, striking out two batters in a perfect inning of work.
Phillips didn't have any trouble protecting Los Angeles' one-run, ninth-inning lead, striking out the first two batters he faced before inducing a game-ending groundout. The right-hander has yielded just one earned run over 10.2 innings on the season, giving him a minuscule 0.84 ERA. Phillips has converted all seven of his save chances as he continues to build his case as one of the league's most reliable closers.
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Dodgers' Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Impressive again Thursday
Rotowire
Yamamoto (2-1) earned the win over Washington on Thursday, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out seven batters over six scoreless innings.
Despite a rough season debut, Yamamoto has thus far lived up to the billing that netted him a 12-year, $325 million contract in the offseason, as he's tossed a scoreless outing of at least five frames in half of his six starts so far. The Japanese hurler's outing Thursday was his second straight quality start and lowered his season ERA to 3.54. Yamamoto also holds a 1.07 WHIP and 37:6 K:BB through 28 innings.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Thursday that Paxton's next start will be at Arizona on Monday, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.
Paxton would be on regular rest Sunday after he started Tuesday's game against the Nationals, but the Dodgers will go with a bullpen game Sunday in Toronto and give Paxton an extra day of rest. The southpaw has managed a 2.61 ERA but a 1.55 WHIP and 11:17 K:BB through 20.2 innings this season.
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Dodgers' Walker Buehler: Goes four-plus in rehab start
Rotowire
Buehler (elbow) was charged with five runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out five over four-plus innings in a rehab start Wednesday with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Buehler's line wasn't pretty, but it bears mentioning that he was pitching at high altitude in Albuquerque, so the results were mostly secondary to how he felt physically during the outing. He got his pitch count up to 86 and averaged 94.1 miles per hour with his four-seamer, which is down 1.1 mph from what he averaged during the 2022 season prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery. Buehler has now made five rehab starts, and it's possible that he could return from the 15-day injured list to make his next outing with the Dodgers. If he's activated during the upcoming week, the earliest his season debut would come would be Tuesday on the road versus the Diamondbacks.
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Dodgers' James Outman: Gets Thursday off
Rotowire
Outman is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals.
With the Dodgers and Nationals concluding their series with a day game after a night game and with southpaw MacKenzie Gore on the bump for Washington, Outman is one of three lefty-hitting regulars who will get the afternoon off. Outman will be joined on the bench by Gavin Lux and Max Muncy.
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Dodgers' Max Muncy: Takes seat against southpaw
Rotowire
Muncy is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals.
With the Dodgers and Nationals concluding their series with a day game after a night game and with southpaw MacKenzie Gore on the bump for Washington, Muncy is one of three lefty-hitting regulars who will get the afternoon off. Muncy will be joined on the bench by Gavin Lux and James Outman.
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Dodgers' Gavin Lux: Sits against lefty
Rotowire
Lux is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals.
With the Dodgers and Nationals concluding their series with a day game after a night game and with southpaw MacKenzie Gore on the bump for Washington, Lux is one of three lefty-hitting regulars who will get the afternoon off for Los Angeles. Lux will be joined on the bench by Max Muncy and James Outman.
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Dodgers' Austin Barnes: Draws starting nod Thursday
Rotowire
Barnes will start at catcher and bat ninth in Thursday's game against the Nationals.
Barnes will pick up his sixth start of the season while top backstop Will Smith gets a breather as the Dodgers and Nationals close their series with a day game after a night game. Over 19 plate appearances to date, Barnes has batted .250 with no extra-base hits, one RBI and one run.
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Dodgers' Will Smith: Receives rest day
Rotowire
Smith is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Nationals.
Smith will get a breather for the day game after he pounded out four hits, scored twice and drove in a run in Wednesday night's 11-2 win. Austin Barnes will fill in for Smith behind the plate.
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Dodgers' Mookie Betts: Four hits in rout
Rotowire
Betts went 4-for-6 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI in Wednesday's 11-2 win over the Nationals.
The 31-year-old continues to rake. Betts has had three or more hits three times in the last 10 games, batting .395 (17-for-43) over that stretch, and on the season he's already delivered a .365/.468/.625 slash line with six homers, five steals, 21 RBI and 26 runs in 26 contests. He hasn't produced a 30-30 campaign since 2018, but Betts seems intent on reaching that milestone again.
