LOS ANGELES _ Max Muncy might never see Oklahoma City again, but he has two more months of rent to pay on an apartment there.
He and two teammates rented a place there in April. He played nine games in Oklahoma City, and the rest is history.
The rent is not. He still pays his share, lest Matt Beaty and Jake Peter have to further exhaust their minor league wages.
"I'm still helping those guys out," Muncy said. "I told them I would make sure I cover my part. I don't want to leave them hanging."
He is helping the Los Angeles Dodgers out too, in mysterious and unfathomable ways. Even the most dedicated fan had scarcely heard of him when he arrived, and now no Dodgers player has more home runs.
Muncy hit another home run Sunday, in the Dodgers' 7-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Enrique Hernandez and Logan Forsythe did too, and Ross Stripling rolled to his fifth consecutive win.
The Dodgers are 7-2 this month, and they have won 17 of their last 23 games. The three home runs gave the Dodgers 26 home runs in nine games this month, one more than they hit in 28 games over the first month of the season.
Stripling is 5-1 with a 1.65 earned-run average, the second-lowest of any National League pitcher with at least 50 innings.
He has won each of his last five starts _ lasting at least six innings all but once _ with a 1.15 ERA, two walks and 41 strikeouts in that span.
Muncy is this year's Chris Taylor, the career minor leaguer who had failed in previous major league trials elsewhere. Taylor, a career shortstop, made himself at home in center field for the Dodgers last year, then moved back to shortstop this year, when Corey Seager suffered a season-ending injury.
In his two months with the Dodgers, Muncy has advanced from useful to indispensable. He has made it possible for the Dodgers to rest third baseman Justin Turner, and to try first baseman Cody Bellinger in center field when Taylor moved to shortstop.
Muncy has 12 home runs in 44 games with the Dodgers, the same number of home runs he hit in 109 games last year, at Oklahoma City.
