Muncy's 10th-Inning Single Lifts Dodgers Past Royals 5-4

Max Muncy singled in Shohei Ohtani in the bottom of the 10th inning, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Kansas City Royals 5-4 on Tuesday night.

Muncy lined the ball into the gap in right-center off reliever Lucas Erceg (4-4), scoring Ohtani, who began the inning as the automatic runner at second base. Ohtani went 0 for 5 at the plate with two strikeouts.

The Dodgers had tied the game 4-4 on Mookie Betts' RBI single off reliever Steven Cruz in the eighth. Seth Halvorsen (1-1) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief in his Dodgers debut.

Kansas City had taken a 4-3 lead in the eighth after Andy Pages committed a fielding error on Carter Jensen's flyout to center. Pages caught the liner but dropped it on the exchange, and the ball rolled to the wall, allowing Jac Caglianone to score from second. The Royals scored three runs in the inning off reliever Evan Phillips, with Caglianone's RBI single making it 3-2 and Salvador Perez's RBI single tying it 3-3.

Dodgers starter Blake Snell allowed three hits over six innings in his return to the mound after missing three months following elbow surgery. He struck out seven of the first 10 batters he faced before giving up back-to-back singles in the fourth, when Perez's sacrifice fly tied the game 1-1.

Alex Call had put Los Angeles ahead 2-1 with a run-scoring hit down the right-field line in an earlier inning, and pinch-hitter Teoscar Hernández's RBI double made it 3-1 before Kansas City rallied.

Royals starter Michael Wacha allowed three runs and seven hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out five.

Kansas City sends left-hander Daniel Lynch IV (4-3, 2.45 ERA) to the mound for Wednesday's series finale against Dodgers left-hander Eric Lauer (6-6, 4.89).