Max Muncy and Roki Sasaki power Dodgers to win

NEW YORK — Dodgers All-Star third baseman Max Muncy didn’t get a break this week, touring to Philadelphia to compete in the Midsummer Classic. But even without the additional relaxation, he put a charge into his go-ahead swing Friday.

The Dodgers struggled against veteran Yankees starter Gerrit Cole — until he hung a slider to Muncy in the seventh inning. Muncy launched it for a two-run blast to carry the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory.

“Anytime you can find a way to win a game when Gerrit Cole’s pitching, it’s a good thing,” supervisor Dave Roberts said.

Between the come-from-behind win, a strong displaying from Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki and a defensive turnaround, the Dodgers (62-36) got here out of the All-Star break on a optimistic be aware.

It was clear early on that Sasaki, who didn’t give up an earned run in 5 ⅔ innings, had one thing a little further.

Pitching at Yankee Stadium for the first time, he punctuated a clean first inning by getting forward of Paul Goldschmidt with 101.8- and 101.7-mph fastballs, en route to a five-pitch strikeout.

“I got a big smile on my face when I saw 102,” Roberts said.

It was the first time Sasaki topped 101 mph in a regular-season recreation, according to Statcast. He threw 21 pitches at 100 mph or more durable, the most of any Dodger since pitch monitoring started in 2008. Sasaki pointed to the remaining he received over the All-Star break and a supply tweak for his increase in velocity.

“I kind of changed the way I use my lower body,” Sasaki said. “So I’m really happy to get that velo up.”

The Yankees (54-43) scored their only run against Sasaki by taking benefit of a pair of defensive errors.

With two outs in the fourth, heart fielder Andy Pages bobbled Jasson Domínguez’s double in right-center discipline, giving him time to get to third. The next pitch, a forkball, received past catcher Dalton Rushing, and Domínguez raced home.

Pages later discovered some redemption with a defensive gem to end the fifth. He made a full-speed tumbling catch in the right-field hole to rob Austin Wells of an extra-base hit.

Cole held the Dodgers to just 4 hits in six-plus innings. Before the seventh, only one Dodgers runner reached second base, when Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández hit back-to-back singles in the second.

Cole got here back out for the seventh and walked Mookie Betts to lead off the inning. After a mound go to, he stayed in to face Muncy.

“It was a tough decision for [Yankees manager Aaron Boone],” Roberts said. “You’re pondering about going to the ‘pen, or do you let your ace go after Max and Tucker. And Max spoiled some good pitches and then got a pitch in his wheelhouse and put a good swing on it.”

Muncy fell into a two-strike count, but he kept battling. On the seventh pitch, he saw something he could drive — 416 feet at a 30-degree launch angle, to be exact.

“The swing felt great,” Muncy said on the Spectrum SportsNet LA broadcast. “The result was better and it gave us a chance to win.”

Dodgers relievers Jack Dreyer, Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott chipped in a combined 3⅓ scoreless innings to secure the win. The Yankees came inches away from tying the score in the eighth, but the Dodgers, shaking off their pre-All-Star break rough patch, delivered on defense.

With Trent Grisham on first after a walk, Ben Rice hit a double into the right-field gap off Vesia. Pages chased down the ball and quickly fired to shortstop Betts, who threw it home. Rushing’s sweeping tag beat Grisham to the plate.

“I think it was huge,” Betts said. “We still had a couple mishaps in this game. We’ve got to clean that up for sure. You can’t win a World Series doing what we did today. But we’ll keep working and try to clean it up.”