Category: Sports News

LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy’s first home run on Friday night tied Steve Garvey for sixth on the all-time Dodgers home run list, and third since the team moved to Los Angeles. But that was just the start of the story.

Muncy hit two more home runs in the series opener against the Texas Rangers, including a walk-off shot in the ninth inning to finish off an 8-7 win at Dodger Stadium.

“Garvey is one of those guys, he’s a Dodger icon, the way he carried himself, the way he played the game, just a model of consistency,” Muncy said Friday night. “He really embodied what being a Dodger was, so to pass him is really, really special to me. It means a lot. Hopefully I can keep climbing.”

Many times in recent years, Muncy stated his desire to remain playing in Los Angeles, where he resurrected his career in 2018 and has kept hitting since. To that end, he and the team signed a contract extension in February that will keep the third baseman with the Dodgers through 2027, plus a club option for 2028, the fifth contract extension Muncy has signed here.

“He knows that we believe in him, and we’ve shown that many times over. I think there’s some peace with that,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday night. “That’s kind of the thought behind what Andrew [Friedman, president of baseball operations] and [general manager Brandon] Gomer [Gomes] did, to free his mind up and just let him play baseball. That’s really played out.”

He’s well aware of his place in Dodgers history, which includes two All-Star Game, five pennants, and three championships. He’s the all-time franchise leader in postseason home runs with 16, and he’s moving up the regular season list, too.

Most home runs, Dodgers history

1. Duke Snider 389
2. Gil Hodges 361
3. Eric Karros 270
4. Roy Campanella 242
5. Ron Cey 228
6. Max Muncy 213
7. Steve Garvey 211
8. Matt Kemp 203

The only two Los Angeles Dodgers with more home runs than Muncy are Eric Karros and Ron Cey. Just under 60 percent of Muncy’s home runs with the Dodgers have come at home. His 124 home runs at Dodger Stadium are only six behind Karros for the most in the 65-year history of the stadium.

Muncy on Friday also shared Dodgers lore with outfielder Don Demeter, as the only two Dodgers to finish off a three-home run game with a walk-off home run.

Demeter hit a two-run shot in the 11th inning on April 21, 1959 at the Los Angeles Coliseum to beat the San Francisco Giants, finishing off his three-homer game. Muncy’s final blast was a solo shot, as were all three of his home runs on Friday and all four so far this season.

Muncy has the somewhat-funny early season stat line of four home runs and four runs batted in. Entering Friday he was hitting .216/.326/.297 with a 32.6-percent strikeout rate in all of 43 plate appearances later.

“Even in Toronto, when he wasn’t getting hits, he was telling me numerous times, ‘Doc, I’m really close,’” Roberts said. “I think in years past you see a spike and some anxiousness bleed in. Where now he’s in a place where he’s really confident and trusting the process that if he’s in a good place and not getting results, to kind of stay the course.”

Now, with five more plate appearances under his belt, Muncy is hitting a robust .286/.375/.571, a tidy 323-point jump in OPS in one night. In addition to the home runs, Muncy also singled and reached on a fielder’s choice, and scored five times, setting a new career high.

But the home runs were the thing, with the first and third shots hit to right field, and the middle one to left center.

“His second home run was a short, compact swing, that he carried the left field wall,” Roberts said. “I just think that he’s a mch better hitter now. He’s checking down better because he has more time to see the baseball. His swing’s a little bit shorter. That’s something we always felt that he had in him.”

“When I can drive the ball to left center, that’s when my swing is at its best,” Muncy said. “I don’t know if it’s at its best right now — obviously, it was my best night — but anytime I can drive the ball to the opposite field, that’s telling me that what I’m doing is in a really good spot.”

Muncy also homered three times in a game on May 5, 2024, in a rout of the Atlanta Braves, another game at Dodger Stadium. He’s one of only six players to hit at least three home runs in a game twice for the Dodgers. That includes Shohei Ohtani, whose second three-homer game came in Game 4 of last year’s National League Championship Series, a game in which he also pitched six scoreless innings and struck out 10 to clinch the pennant. Friday night at Dodger Stadium, everyone in attendance got a bobblehead commemorating Ohtani’s three home runs in that NLCS game, then got to see a three-homer game themselves in person.

Dodgers with two 3-homer games

• Duke Snider (1950, 1955)
• Shawn Green (2001, 2002)
• Adrián González (2015, 2016)
• Corey Seager (2016, 2017)
• Shohei Ohtani (2024, 2025 NLCS)
• Max Muncy (2024, 2026)

“Anytime you hit a home run in a big league game is special, let alone three. Its the second time I’ve done that. I still think about the first time I did it,” Muncy said. “It’s just a special night, and to get the win on top of it, it’s great.”

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

As you know, the Cubs have had multiple starting pitcher injuries, including the loss of Cade Horton for the season.

Colin Rea and Javier Assad have stepped up admirably, at least in their first starts of the year, filling in for Horton and Matthew Boyd. And we now know that Boyd will likely head out for a rehab start next week, so hopefully he’ll be back soon.

Earlier this week in the SB Nation Reacts survey, I asked you who the Cubs should call on as a replacement starter if anyone else goes down (and let’s hope the answer to “anyone else” is “no one”!). Here’s who you chose:

Jaxon Wiggins appeared to be on a similar path to the one Horton was on last year. Horton was called up in mid-May and had a spectacular rookie season.

But here’s the thing about Wiggins, that we learned since that survey question: He was scratched from a start. And:

So… that’s not good. Fortunately, as noted, Rea and Assad have stepped up and Boyd will hopefully be back soon. So the Cubs’ starting pitcher depth has been tested and, so far, has held up well.

The national questions asked in the survey this week were about who will win each of the six MLB divisions. Here are the results to those six questions:

There’s a bit of recency bias in some of these results, I think. While it’s true that the Brewers have won the NL Central the last four years, many had picked the Cubs to win the division before the season started. It’s not surprising that the Brewers would come out on top of a survey like this, but the percentage of their vote surprises me a bit. Same for the Yankees over the Blue Jays in the AL East.

That’s why they play the games! I still think the Cubs will win the NL Central. As always, we await developments.

This edition of SB Nation Reacts is sponsored by FanDuel.

Jesús Luzardo dazzled in the second game of the road trip against the Colorado Rockies, striking out 11 in 6.2 innings of one-run ball. It was a strong bounce back start after struggling against Texas to begin the year.

There is one three-pitch sequence that can tell anyone how dialed in he was in Coors.

Jordan Beck’s first at-bat ended in a pop-out to Bryson Stott, seeing one sinker and two sweepers. He swung and missed at the first sweeper and then hit the pop-up.

JT Realmuto and the club did not think he looked comfortable against the pitch and immediately go back to it to start his second at-bat.

They tested him again on a sweeper, looking for a called strike, but Luzardo missed his spot. It was still a solid pitch (although maybe a bit up if you’re looking for a whiff) and Beck swung over it.

Of the five pitches Beck has seen, four of them have been sweepers and the other was a sinker down and away. It’s now clear that the hitter has the pitch locked into his mind, especially if he sees the ball inside again.

Realmuto knows this and calls for a fastball down and in, perfectly off the expected tunnel of his sweeper that gets chases. Beck was just browsing the store, not looking for anything.

Sometimes it’s cool to show quick sequences because they can capture the kind of rhythm a pitcher and catcher have on a particular night. Everyone was in sync which makes it even harder for a weak Colorado Rockies lineup.

Jonathan Bowlan Tweaks

Jonathan Bowlan has looked like a nice get by the front office. It’s early and the ERA is inflated because of the Nationals but there is a lot to like, especially with what the Phillies have tweaked.

Bowlan is now throwing nearly two ticks harder than in 2025 with the Kansas City Royals, while still maintaining the high ride. 97.5 mph with 17.8 Induced Vertical Break will play like one of the best fastballs in the sport and it has early on. Opponents are hitting just .167 on the offering with a 35.3% whiff rate.

The Phillies also gave Bowlan a sweeper for right handed hitters. Compared to his traditional slider, there is nearly 11 more inches of glove-side movement while maintaining the same drop. At 85 mph with 13.7 inches of glove-side movement and 37 inches of drop, it’s probably the second best pitch in a deep and effective arsenal.

There are now six different pitches in the big right-handers’ arsenal: the four-seam fastball, sinker, slider, sweeper, changeup, and occasional curveball.

The Phillies have been on a big trend of trying to find relievers with already established deep arsenals. Jhoan Duran now throws five different pitches with the addition of his split-change, Brad Keller throws five pitches, Bowlan throws six, and Orion Kerkering is working on a splitter, which would give him four different pitches.

That might be something to watch for in the future when they acquire a right-handed reliever; there have been too many examples over the last year that indicate this is a new part of the front office pitching philosophy.

The New York Mets (7-7), ranked third in the NL East, will host the Athletics (6-7), ranked third in the AL West, for the second game of their series. The Mets are favored with a -160 moneyline and a -1.5 spread. Starting pitchers are Jacob Lopez for the Athletics (0-1, 6.48 ERA) and Kodai Senga for the Mets (0-1, 3.09 ERA).

How to Watch Athletics vs New York Mets

• Date: Saturday, April 11

• Time: 4:10 p.m. ET / 1:10 p.m. PT

• Where: Citi Field, Flushing, Queens, NY

• TV Channels: SNY, NBCSCA

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Athletics: 6-7 (third in AL West)

• New York Mets: 7-7 (third in NL East)

Odds (via BetMGM)

• Spread: New York Mets -1.5

• Moneyline: New York Mets -160 (59.1%) / Athletics +135 (40.9%)

• Over/Under: 7.5

Starting pitchers

Athletics: Jacob Lopez (0-1, ERA: 6.48, K: 6, WHIP: 2.28)

New York Mets: Kodai Senga (0-1, ERA: 3.09, K: 16, WHIP: 1.20)

Weather: 65°F at first pitch

1917
The world championship season began in St. Louis, where the White Sox battered the Browns, 7-2. Jim Scott picked up the win, giving up four hits and a run in six innings of relief work for Lefty Williams. Buck Weaver drove in three runs for the Sox on the day. Slightly more than six months later, the Sox would win the World Series in six games over John McGraw and the New York Giants. Jim Margalus provided a detailed snapshot of the Opening Day win back in 2017.

1959
Early Wynn won his 250th career game, throwing a seven-hitter vs. Detroit. The victory put the White Sox at 2-0 to start the season, and the streak would reach four as a tip-off of a season that would end with the team’s first pennant in 40 years. Sherm Lollar homered twice, and Luis Aparicio clouted a round-tripper in the top of the seventh inning that broke a 3-3 tie.

Wynn went the distance, racking up six Ks against three walks, for a 68 game score.

1969
The White Sox helped initiate Major League Baseball in Seattle, as the first home opponent for the expansion Pilots. The Sox promptly rolled over and died to the new team, 7-0. They were shut out by future Sox pitcher Gary Bell,who went the distance — and was traded to the Sox that June! That afternoon, the Sox would have nine hits but strand 14 baserunners.

1982
When a great blizzard hit the Midwest and forced cancellation of the first five games on the schedule, the White Sox had to open on the road the following week, in New York, with a doubleheader. No problem, as the franchise that had already won a regularly-scheduled Opening Day twin bill in 1971 put the wood to the Yankees, winning 7-6 in 12 innings, and then 2-0. It was the start of an eight-game winning streak to open the 1982 campaign — the best start to a season in franchise history. The White Sox beat the Yankees twice, Boston three times and the Orioles three times.

1995
Despite his career clearly being on the wane, Chris Sabo was inked for the White Sox bench/platoon DH. And boy, it did not work out: The former Reds standout was released less than two months later, on June 5, having cost the White Sox -0.3 WAR over 20 games, slashing .254/.295/.366 with one homer.

2000
For a man with no speed, he got around the bases fast enough this time! 

Paul Konerko hit an inside the park home run in Tampa Bay. It came in the first inning, off of Esteban Yan, and drove in two runs. The Sox won, 13-6.  

2008
To commemorate their World Series win three years earlier, the White Sox unveiled their “Champions Plaza” and “Championship Moments” monument prior to the game against the Detroit Tigers. Current players still on the team from the 2005 championship roster assisted in the unveiling of a white, bronze and granite sculpture weighing more than 25 tons that honored the title and featured timeless 2005 playoff images of Paul Konerko, Joe Crede, Orlando Hernández, Geoff Blum and Juan Uribe.

Later that night, the White Sox dropped a game to the Tigers, 5-2, as World Series hero José Contreras took the loss.

2011
White Sox utility player Brent Lillibridge belted the franchise’s 10,000thhome run, driving out a fastball from Oakland’s Dallas Braden at U.S. Cellular Field. It came in the fifth inning of a game the Sox eventually lost, 2-1, in 10 innings. Jim Margalus had game coverage for South Side Sox, although it being the 10,000 team homer apparently was not yet known, as it’s not in the piece.

Lillibridge hit a career-high 13 home runs that season.

2016
The White Sox beat Minnesota, 4-1, in the Twins home opener. Josh Nelson had South Side Sox coverage. The loss dropped the team to 0-7, which was the worst start for the Twins since moving to Minnesota.

2025 
It was a wonderful start to a major league career for White Sox infielder Chase Meidroth, acquired in the deal with Boston involving All-Star pitcher Garrett Crochet. 

Called up to the team and starting against the Red Sox, Meidroth drew three walks and singled in a 11-1 win. He also scored two runs. Meidroth became the first player to get a hit and walk three times in his major league debut since Larry Walker of the Expos on Aug. 16, 1989.

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The Boston Red Sox panic meter is cranking up, and they’ll try to turn around a dismal road start in today’s matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Boston slipped to a 3-2 loss at Busch Stadium last night, falling to 1-6 on its travels this year, and my Red Sox vs. Cardinals predictions signal another nervy contest here, with St. Louis chasing a fourth straight win.

Get the lowdown on this April 11 battle with my free MLB picks and betting nuggets.

Who will win Red Sox vs Cardinals tonight: St. Louis Cardinals (+122)

At 4-9, the sky is already threatening to fall for this Boston Red Sox squad. While it’s still early days, Boston is tied for the third-fewest runs this season and managed just five hits last night against Dustin May, admittedly without Roman Anthony in the lineup.

Then you layer on some concerns around the Red Sox’s starter tonight, Ranger Suarez, who drags in an ugly 8.64 ERA and hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in either of his outings this year.

That opens the door for the St. Louis Cardinals here at plus odds, and I’m buying into their 5-2 home record.

COVERS INTEL:Suarez’s stuff hasn’t traveled well lately – he’s given up 3+ earned runs in five of his last seven road starts.

Red Sox vs Cardinals Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 (-117)

Despite Boston’s struggles at the plate, I like the Over on this total, particularly with St. Louis sitting inside the Top 10 in runs and OBP.

The Over is 6-2-2 in the past 10 meetings between these teams, and the Cardinals have plated 5+ runs in five of their last six contests, led by the in-form Jordan Walker, who’s put together a six-game hit streak.

Both of Suarez’s outings this year have gone past this O/U number, so given his search for form and the 5.40 ERA for St. Louis starter Kyle Leahy, we should see steady offense in this one.

Red Sox vs Cardinals odds

• Moneyline: Red Sox -127 | Cardinals +122
• Run line: Red Sox -1.5 (+133) | Cardinals +1.5 (-144)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-117) | Under 7.5 (+113)

Red Sox vs Cardinals trend

Dating back to last season, the Cardinals are 13-7 in their last 20 home games. Find more MLB betting trends for Red Sox vs. Cardinals.

How to watch Red Sox vs Cardinals and game info

Red Sox vs Cardinals latest injuries

Red Sox vs Cardinals weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Boston Red Sox, ranked fifth in the AL East with a 4-9 record, face the St. Louis Cardinals, who are tied for first in the NL Central at 8-5. Boston's Ranger Suarez (0-1, 8.64 ERA) will pitch against St. Louis's Kyle Leahy (1-1, 5.40 ERA). Despite being the away team, Boston is favored with a -145 moneyline.

How to Watch Boston Red Sox vs St. Louis Cardinals

• Date: Saturday, April 11

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET / 4:15 p.m. PT

• Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO

• TV Channels: FOX

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Boston Red Sox: 4-9 (fifth in AL East)

• St. Louis Cardinals: 8-5 (tied for first in NL Central)

Odds (via BetMGM)

• Spread: Boston Red Sox -1.5

• Moneyline: St. Louis Cardinals +110 / Boston Red Sox -135

• Over/Under: 8.0

Starting pitchers

Boston Red Sox: Ranger Suarez (0-1, ERA: 8.64, K: 5, WHIP: 1.92)

St. Louis Cardinals: Kyle Leahy (1-1, ERA: 5.40, K: 5, WHIP: 1.80)

Weather: 72°F at first pitch