Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández each hit two home runs, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 12–6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers entered the game as -160 betting favorites and backed those odds with a breakout offensive performance, recording 17 hits and snapping a brief stretch of run-scoring struggles.
In just his second game since returning from a month-long absence caused by a bone bruise, Muncy went 4 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. He hit his first home run of the night in the second inning, driving a 416-foot shot off Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas to right field. In the third inning, Muncy followed up with a 404-foot homer, marking his first multi-homer game since May.
Hernández matched Muncy’s output, scoring 4 for 5 with four RBIs and two runs. His home runs included a solo shot in the third and another in the sixth inning, helping to keep the Dodgers’ momentum rolling. The third inning featured back-to-back home runs by Muncy and Hernández, the first such occurrence for the Dodgers since Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts did so against Arizona in May.
Betts, mired in a 0-for-22 slump, broke out with a double in the third inning. He finished with three hits, a walk, and scored a run as part of a Dodgers lineup that combined for nine extra-base hits.
Ohtani contributed with a pair of hits and crossed the plate three times. The Dodgers (66–48), who managed just three hits in Monday’s loss to the Cardinals, matched that total in the first inning alone and built a 5–2 lead by the end of the third.
Emmet Sheehan made his return to the Dodgers’ rotation and delivered five shutout innings. The right-hander allowed four hits, walked one, and struck out five to improve his record to 3–2. Sheehan is expected to remain in a six-man rotation for at least another week.
St. Louis briefly narrowed the deficit in the second inning when Nolan Gorman hit a two-run homer, but the Cardinals struggled to keep pace. Mikolas was lifted after three innings, allowing five earned runs on nine hits. The Cardinals’ bullpen also faltered, surrendering six more earned runs in the later innings.
The loss dropped Mikolas to 6–9 on the season, and the Cardinals (53–60) could not recover after their early scoring. Despite a three-run rally in the ninth inning, the deficit was too large to overcome.
The series concludes Wednesday afternoon, with the Dodgers set to send Shohei Ohtani (0–0, 2.40 ERA) to the mound for his eighth pitching appearance of the season. To avoid a series loss, the Cardinals will counter with left-hander Matthew Liberatore (6–9, 3.96 ERA).
