Judging by social media (i.e., Twitter), Dodger fans were absolutely positively at wits’ end when nine Atlanta Braves batters came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning against Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda, three of whom scored. By every indication, it was blatantly obvious that the 31-year-old Senboku-gun, Japan just didn’t have it against the National League East first-place Atlanta Braves at Sun Trust Park on Friday evening.

Blatantly obvious to everyone except Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, that is.

As Dodger fans across America were screaming at their televisions for Roberts to get Maeda the (heck) out of there, Roberts didn’t so much as flinch when Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman finally lined out to Dodgers right fielder Joc Pederson to bring a close to the nearly 45-minute long half-inning … and with good cause.

Roberts’ patience and confidence with and in Maeda paid off in spades as, over the next seven innings, his omnipotent offense amassed nine additional hits (on top of the two they already had, including likely 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger’s [then] MLB-best 41st home run) with additional home runs by Max Muncy (30), Justin Turner (22), and Will Smith (10) to give the Dodgers their 82nd win of the season and a 19.5-game lead over the NL West second-place San Francisco Giants.

“I guess the numbers don’t lie, we do hit the ball out of the ballpark,” Roberts told reporters after his team’s remarkable 8-3 comeback win in front of a SunTrust Park sellout crowd of 41,413. “I still stand by the fact our bat quality is as good as there is in the big leagues.”

Good indeed. In fact, on the night, the Dodgers forced the combined four Braves pitchers to make a total of 138 pitches, of which 11 went for hits (including the four aforementioned home run) and four for walks.

Good bat quality indeed.

Asked about his clutch three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning which, according to Home Run Tracker, traveled 415 feet to (near) straightaway centerfield and proved to be the eventual game-winner, Muncy had this to say:

“He (Braves left-hander Sean Newcomb) started me with the two breaking balls, and at that point, I figured that was their plan of attack,” said Muncy. “I fouled off the heater, and in my mind I went back to the spin, figuring that would be what he’d try and it kind of popped out of his hand, didn’t go where he wanted it to, and I got the barrel on it.”

“I think we’re a pretty complete club all around,” Muncy said. “Obviously the home runs are what you notice, but if you look at the at-bats before the home run, very good at-bats. Before the home run, A.J. [Pollock] went in, pinch-hit single, that’s hard to do. [Kyle] Garlick had a pinch-hit walk, which is extremely hard to do … not trying to do too much.”

When asked what it meant to be the first Dodger with back-to-back 30-home-run seasons in 17 years, the normally stoic Midland, TX native and fifth-round draft pick by the Oakland A’s in 2012 out of Baylor University was clearly proud of his remarkable accomplishment.

“[It means] a lot,” Muncy said with a large smile “It’s a cool number to me. It’s fun. It just means a lot to me from where I came from not too long ago. It’s really fun.”

Where he came from – Oakland – he hit three and two home runs respectively in 2015 and 2016.

Like the old cigarette commercial used to say (for those old enough to remember): “You’ve come a long way, baby.”

Play Ball!

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