Trouncing known Dodgers hater Miles Mikolas might be just what LA’s offense needed

Sometimes it just takes a little taste of home to get things back on track. Entering Tuesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offense was mired in the worst slump we’d seen all season, which is perhaps the biggest reason why they limped to a 10-14 record in July.

Enter Miles Mikolas. 

While the Dodgers had started August with a 2-2 stretch, they broke out in a big way against Mikolas and the Cardinals on Wednesday in a 12-6 win highlighted by a two homer game from Max Muncy. Yes, it was only one game, but it was the first time in seemingly a month where the Dodgers got production from everyone in their lineup. 

Trouncing known Dodgers hater Miles Mikolas might be just what LA’s offense needed to wake up

The Dodgers entered play on Tuesday having one of the worst offenses in baseball since the start of July, which has led to some unrest bubbling up among the Dodgers’ fanbase. 

And the unrest was understandable. While Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman are in the midst of their customary strong seasons, the same can’t be said for everyone else in the lineup. Michael Conforto has been a black hole in left field, while Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman are both struggling through rough seasons. 

But none of that mattered on Tuesday. Mikolas said last year that the Dodgers were playing “checkbook baseball,” which understandably lit a fire under the team and the fanbase.

Karma comes around for everyone, we guess. 

Muncy, who has quietly hit .318 over his last 48 games, jump-started things with a first inning solo home run, and the floodgates just poured open from there. 

In the end, the Dodgers tagged Mikolas for five runs in three innings before tacking on more against the bullpen. It marked the first time the Dodgers had scored double-digit runs in a game since the end of June. 

Muncy logged his 19th career multi-homer game with the Dodgers, tying him with Mike Piazza for the most since the team moved to Los Angeles. 

He was also one of six Dodgers with multiple hits, and was one of two Dodgers to hit multiple home runs (along with Teoscar Hernández).

Now the Dodgers will need to do everything in their power to keep those good vibes going for the rest of the month when they face off against better pitching. Mikolas now has a 5.11 ERA after Tuesday’s beatdown, which is the sixth-highest ERA among pitchers who have thrown 111+ innings this year. 

The Dodgers are still a lock to make the postseason, but they’re going to need more performances like Tuesday if they want to play deep into October.