LOS ANGELES — The home run wasn’t a thing of beauty and was hardly a difference-maker, but it definitely marked the start of a trend.
Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux reached out for a four-seam fastball from Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola on July 11 and lifted an opposite-field fly ball that slid just inside the left field foul pole and barely cleared the fence.
Lux came into that game batting ninth and lugging a .207 batting average, and his third homer of the season represented the only run for the Dodgers in their fourth straight loss, 5-1, at Citizens Bank Park.
Lux was even lifted for a pinch-hitter in his next plate appearance, but that home run marked the turning point of an offensive onslaught by the second baseman that has carried on for six weeks.
Hitting from the No. 5 spot, Lux belted his seventh home run in the past 33 games on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series against the visiting Seattle Mariners. The solo blast to left-center field broke a scoreless tie and ended a 10⅓-inning scoreless streak for the Dodgers, who went on to win, 3-0.
Lux’s OPS has climbed from .562 at the All-Star break to .704 heading into Tuesday’s matchup against the Mariners. More importantly, he’s helped the Dodgers hold off the hard-charging San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the National League West.
“We’ve needed every bit of that performance,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Lux’s contribution on Monday. “I expect him to keep going because I think this is who he is now.”
Roberts said he has seen players who routinely get hot following a slow start. As an example, Roberts named former Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, who now plays for the Mariners and was honored in his first return to Dodger Stadium since 2022 on Monday.
Lux fits into a different category, however.
“As far as a guy that’s in his prime, I haven’t seen anything like this,” Roberts said of Lux’s hot streak. “To be able to homer to the big part of the field, slashing balls the other way, taking balls down below the zone, that’s the Gavin that, I’ve said before, is as good as I’ve seen him.”
Max Muncy also homered on Monday in his first game in three months. The third baseman had been on the injured list with oblique and rib injuries.
Muncy said his goal is to continue stringing together productive plate appearances, hit the ball hard when the opportunity arises and be an example for the younger players.
“You watch this team, it felt like guys were trying to be people they weren’t,” Muncy said. “Hopefully, I can just go up there, do what I do best, see a lot of pitches and, even if I’m making outs, I’m still seeing pitches and that allows everyone else to kind of just gear up for what they need to do and not try to be someone else.”
Dodgers utility player Chris Taylor is expected to be activated as soon as this weekend, Roberts said.
Taylor has been sidelined since injuring his groin on July 24 against the San Francisco Giants. He was hitting just .167 with a .542 OPS at the time of his injury, well off his .249 career batting average and .752 OPS.
With the Dodgers’ lineup getting close to 100% with the returns of Muncy and fellow utility player Tommy Edman, Roberts needs Taylor to hit the ground running.
“Obviously, he’s got to handle the fastball,” Roberts said of Taylor. “It’s got to be a swing that works well enough to not play every day, to come off the bench and take some good at-bats. … He’s certainly a mechanics guy, but once we get him back, I expect him to be back to helping us win because we’re going to need all 26 guys to be productive.”
The Dodgers considered activating right-handed reliever Blake Treinen for Tuesday’s game, but Roberts wanted to keep a long reliever in the bullpen for another day.
Roberts said Treinen will be activated for the series finale on Wednesday.
“We’re almost to that off day (Thursday),” Roberts said. “We’ve got to make sure that we have some length, so (Ben) Casparius is going to be for length and then once we get through (Tuesday), that’s probably a different conversation.”
Treinen had back-to-back rough outings in late July, but then he threw consecutive scoreless innings against the Oakland A’s on Aug. 3-4 before landing on the injured list with a hip injury.
Mariners (RHP Logan Gilbert, 7-9, 2.96 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Jack Flaherty, 9-5, 3.06), Wednesday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, MLB Network, 570 AM
