Muncy hits homer trifecta on Aviators' wild night

They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but Max Muncy seemed to be trying to send baseballs out of town on Sunday.

The A's No. 8 prospect launched three consecutive home runs in his final three at-bats, capping off his performance with a grand slam in the Triple-A Aviators' to a 21-5 rout of Albuquerque at Las Vegas Ballpark.

Oakland’s 2021 first-round Draft pick set single-game professional bests in home runs, RBIs (eight) and hits (five). And the milestone night was only part of the story.

“That'll probably go down as the greatest game of my career,” Muncy said. “That's something I'm going to cherish. I'm going to bottle up that feeling and just hold it.”

The significance of Muncy’s performance extended beyond the box score. The native of Camarillo, California, landed on the injury list twice this season, with the most recent stint shelving him for two months. It was a dark time for Muncy, who felt like he was playing at the best level of his career and on track for the Majors.

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But while at the A’s complex in Mesa, Arizona, the 21-year-old found solace in rehabbing organization members like Drew Swift and Jack Weisenburger, who reminded him to keep pushing because he was so close to The Show.

Muncy admitted he had some doubts when he returned from injury about whether or not he was matching the level he had been at before he was sidelined. And the three-homer performance offered a reminder of the player who matured over his three years in the A’s system.

The right-handed hitter beat out a single to third, then doubled in a run when Las Vegas batted around in the third inning. He homered to center in the fifth, then to right in the seventh before capping his night with the grand slam, his sixth homer of the year, in the eighth.

“I am the same guy I was before the injury,” Muncy said. “I can still do these things. Obviously, I've never done anything like tonight before, so maybe I'm doing more than I used to.

"The biggest thing for me was how my teammates reacted. That was more special than actually doing it. Having a team like this that when you do well, they're excited, really just makes a night like that much better.”

And the teammates also got in on the fun. The game started off like a normal series finale game. In the the third, the Aviators scored 10 runs without the benefit of a long ball. That was in stark contrast to what happened in the sixth.

Score 10 runs in an inning without hitting a homer?

See how @Athletics prospects did just that for the @AviatorsLV in the third: pic.twitter.com/FfNwvi8V2L

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 5, 2024

Ryan Noda smashed a 487-foot homer to center field that not only cleared the batter’s eye, but bounced off a building beyond the concourse. It was the fourth-longest homer hit at Triple-A this season, according to Statcast.

“I can't speak highly enough of Noda,” Muncy said. “He is one of the best teammates you can have. So when he gets a knock, you're rooting for him. That's a guy that you love to see succeed, just because of how he carries himself with the team.”

Diaz followed up by launching a 455-foot homer to left-center in the next at-bat and Colby Thomas completed the trifecta by going deep onto the berm in right-center.

Known for his power, Thomas -- the club's No. 11 prospect -- also showed off his wheels in the eighth by racing for an inside-the-park homer.

“He's one of the most talented Minor League players I've ever seen,” Muncy said of Thomas, who is also his roommate. “He's not going to stop at one hit a night. He wants a hit in every at-bat. The numbers he's putting up this year are unreal.”

Muncy hopes the night fuels him toward his goal of playing at Oakland Coliseum at some point this season. With the team moving to Sacramento in 2025, he knows the clock is ticking, but it would check off a box he’s had since being drafted 25th overall in 2021.

“The fans have followed me so thoroughly the last three years of my career that I want to give back a little bit,” Muncy said. “To be able to debut in front of them and kind of just show your appreciation for all the support I've gotten, it would be special."