Max Muncy broke open the game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning after White Sox Manager Tony La Russa ordered an intentional walk to Trea Turner with a 1-2 count, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Chicago 11-9 Thursday.
Muncy had five RBI in his return after missing 11 games with left elbow inflammation. He entered hitting .150 to Turner's .303.
"The baseball mind in me gets it," Muncy said. "Obviously, my year has sucked up to this point. Trea's been really good."
"At the moment, I was animated and I'll just leave it at that," Muncy added. "But at the same time, I don't know if walking someone with two strikes is even the right move.
"It kind of gave me something that I really haven't had a lot of this year," he said. "In the past I've always been the guy who very fiery and had a lot of edge. To kind of get that back felt really good, to be honest."
Los Angeles trailed 4-0 before a six-run fifth and took a 7-5 lead when Freddie Freeman hit an RBI single in the sixth off Bennett Sousa. a 27-year-old rookie left-hander.
Sousa bounced an 0-2 slider for a wild pitch that allowed Freeman to take second. Wanting to set up a left-on-left matchup, La Russa ordered the intentional walk to the right-handed-hitting Turner, who had singled in a run in the fifth.
"He's got two strikes, Tony!" a fan yelled.
"I was just confused," Turner said. "I didn't know if I should go to first or not, but I guess they liked the matchup."
Muncy, whose two-run double off Dylan Cease put the Dodgers ahead 5-4 in the fifth, worked the count to 2-2 and sliced a slider to the opposite field and into the left-field seats, his fourth home run this season.
"Is there some question about whether that was good move or not?" said La Russa, a 77-year old Hall of Famer. "Do you know what [Turner] hits against left-handed pitching with 0-1 or two strikes? Do you know what Muncy hits with two strikes against a left-handed pitcher? Is that really a question? We had an open base and Muncy happened to be the guy behind him and that's a better matchup. That wasn't a tough call."
RAYS 2, CARDINALS 1 Shane McClanahan (7-2) allowed an unearned run and 2 hits in 8 innings and struck out 9, winning his fifth consecutive start as Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep. Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Miles Mikolas (4-4), who pitched a three-hitter.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PHILLIES 8, BREWERS 3 Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Odubel Herrera homered as interim manager Rob Thomson and the streaking Philadelphia Phillies won their season-high seventh straight game, beating the sagging Milwaukee Brewers. Thomson, 6-0 since replacing Joe Girardi, is off to the best start by a first-time major league manager since Boston's Joe Morgan won his first 12 games from July 15-25, 1988, the Elias Sports Bureau said.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, REDS 4 Josh Rojas hit a two-run single to spark a four-run rally in the ninth inning as the Diamondbacks gained a four-game split. Mark Melancon (2-6), the second of three relievers for the Diamondbacks, got the win. Ian Kennedy pitched the ninth for his fourth save, despite allowing Matt Reynolds' solo homer.
ROCKIES 4, GIANTS 2 Yonathan Daza looped a tiebreaking single into right field, capping a three-run fourth inning fueled by three errors. San Francisco made a season-high four errors, including a pair in the fourth by second baseman Thairo Estrada.
BRAVES 3, PIRATES 1 Max Fried won his sixth straight decision by pitching six sharp innings and the Atlanta Braves earned their eighth consecutive victory. Adam Duvall, Dansby Swanson and Travis d'Arnaud each drove in a run for the defending World Series champion Braves, whose winning streak is their longest since they took nine in a row last August.
MARLINS 7, NATIONS 4 Jazz Chisholm bunted for a single on the first pitch of Stephen Strasburg's return from a one-year absence, stole second and the Marlins kept on going in a victory that finished a three-game sweep.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
GUARDIANS 8, ATHLETICS 4 Andres Gimenez drove in the go-ahead run with a single in Cleveland's four-run eighth inning, and the Guardians rallied over the Oakland Athletics, who dropped their ninth straight.
ROYALS 7, ORIOLES 5 Carlos Santana and MJ Melendez homered, leading the Kansas City Royals to a victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
YANKEES 10, TWINS 7 Gerrit Cole gave up home runs to his first three batters and a career-high five in 2 1/3 innings but the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins behind two home runs from Joey Gallo.
Thursday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Arizona 5, Cincinnati 4
Philadelphia 8, Milwaukee 3
Colorado 4, San Francisco 2
Miami 7, Washington 4
Atlanta 3, Pittsburgh 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland 8, Oakland 4
NY Yankees 10, Minnesota 7
Kansas City 7, Baltimore 5
Boston at LA Angels, (n)
INTERLEAGUE
Tampa Bay 2, St. Louis 1
LA Dodgers 11, Chicago White Sox 9
Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper is congratulated by J.T. Realmuto after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)