- Eric Karros had held the Dodger Stadium record at 130 home runs until Muncy’s 131st on Thursday.
- The 426-foot pinch-hit homer came on a full-count 100.1 mph fastball from Antonio Senzatela in the sixth.
- Milwaukee won 5-4 anyway, moving to 75-47, with Atlanta 73-48 and the Dodgers 73-49 behind.
- Los Angeles is -20000 to win the NL West and, at +165, the shortest World Series price on the board.
LOS ANGELES – Max Muncy broke the Dodger Stadium home run record on Thursday night, reaching 131 in the ballpark and moving one clear of Eric Karros. The go-ahead three-run shot came as a pinch-hit in the sixth inning of a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
A Ballpark Record, Not The Franchise Record
No player has hit more in the ballpark since it opened in 1962.
Karros had held the mark at 130 across a Dodgers career that ran from 1991 to 2002. He was working the SportsNet LA broadcast when the ball that passed him landed.
Karros said on the call, “You did it, Munce, you did it! Now the all-time home run leader at Dodger Stadium, Max Muncy.”
Karros still owns the bigger mark. His 270 home runs remain the most by any Dodger since the club left Brooklyn. Muncy sits at 232 as a Dodger, 10 short of tying Roy Campanella for fourth on the franchise list.
Pinch-Hit, Full Count, Triple Digits
Muncy did not start. He came off the bench in the sixth against Senzatela, worked the count full and turned around a 100.1 mph fastball, a triple-digit pitch few hitters square up, for a projected 426 feet to right-center. It was the fourth pinch-hit home run of his career and the 19th that gave his team the lead.
The lead did not hold. Milwaukee scored again and won 5-4. Muncy finished the night with 23 home runs on the season, second on the club.
The NL West Is Priced As Finished
The Dodgers are -20000 to win the division, a price that implies roughly 99.5% and asks $200 to win $1. San Diego is next on that board at +4000 and Arizona at +6000, prices that pay like lottery tickets because the market has stopped treating the division as a race. California has not legalized in-state wagering, so offshore operators remain the only California sportsbooks quoting the division.
Milwaukee Holds The Seed, Not The Division
The race Los Angeles still has in front of it is seeding, and it is not a two-team race. Milwaukee is 75-47, Atlanta is 73-48 and the Dodgers are 73-49. The National League’s best record carries home field through the NL playoffs, and the Dodgers sit third in line for it.
The World Series board reads the other way around. Los Angeles is +165, the shortest price of the 30 teams, against +900 for the Brewers. A +165 price implies about 38%, and whether the Dodgers’ real chance beats that number is the bet. Tribal casinos, cardrooms, horse racing and the lottery make up the rest of gambling in California, and none of them book a bet on a baseball game.
The four-game series continues at Dodger Stadium on Friday.