SAN DIEGO --
Three innings earlier, Muncy crushed a 3-1 slider from reliever Brad Wieck for a 399-foot, three-run home run that sparked the Dodgers to a five-run sixth. With one blow, Muncy counteracted [two solo home runs](https://www.mlb.com/news/manny-machado-homers-vs-dodgers-in-2nd-straight-game) hit by former Dodger
Muncy had three hits in Hill’s season debut last Sunday vs. the Pirates. He provided a go-ahead hit that day, as well -- an RBI single in the seventh inning.\n\n“When Max is going really well, he’s as good as anybody we have about staying in the strike zone,” manager Dave Roberts said.\n\nMuncy did just that when he came up against Yates with two outs in the ninth and Turner on first. After falling behind 1-2, Muncy watched three balls out of the zone, including Yates’ signature splitter on the 3-2 pitch. That provided the blueprint for Verdugo. After Yates hit Russell Martin with a pitch to load the bases, Verdugo sniffed at two splitters, missed a 2-0 fastball and then watched two more fastballs out of the zone.
“When it’s a key moment in the game,” Muncy said, “everyone who’s going up there is kind of slowing down, taking a breath and not making it seem like it’s that big of a moment. Even though it is.”\n\nThere may be big moments ahead for Hill, too, but they did not come Saturday. The 39-year-old lefty suffered a left knee strain in Spring Training, delaying his 2019 campaign. In his second start, he lasted four innings against the Padres, plus two singles to start the fifth inning. He allowed three runs, seven hits and a walk. Two of the runs came courtesy Machado, who lofted a curveball onto the Western Metal Supply Co. Building in the first inning and nailed a first-pitch fastball for a 425-foot blast to left-center field in the third inning.\n\n“I need to make better pitches,” Hill said. “My tempo and rhythm were awful. … I felt good. It wasn’t the stuff. It was location.”\n\nIn Hill’s season debut, Melky Cabrera tagged him for a homer in each of the first two innings.
One obvious difference from Hill’s opener is what happened after he departed. Previously, Julio Urias and