Baseball briefly became a contact sport during a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
Both Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy and D-backs first baseman Ildemaro Vargas exited the game in the fifth inning after a violent collision at first base. The Dodgers later announced Muncy had been removed from the game “with shortness of breath and to rule out a concussion.”
Muncy ran hard into first on a grounder, while Vargas moved in from behind the bag to get the out. The two men reached the base almost simultaneously, with the play essentially becoming a game of chicken. Neither man got out of the way, leading to their heads slamming into each other.
Both men immediately fell to the ground in clear pain. Muncy’s helmet and glasses caused issues for both, as the brim of the helmet hit Vargas’ temple while the glasses got pushed into Muncy’s eye socket. They were clearly dazed, and were respectively replaced by Santiago Espinal on the basepaths and Pavin Smith at first base.
Muncy was called safe on the play, which wound up being significant as Ryan Ward doubled in Espinal one batter later to open the scoring. Ward then scored on a single from Dalton Rushing.
A significant injury for Muncy would be a blow for the Dodgers in particular. The veteran entered Thursday as the clear favorite to start at third base for the NL in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, slashing .251/.346/.513 with a team-high 14 home runs.
Vargas is a 10-year veteran on his third stint in Arizona. He entered Thursday slashing .286/.314/.448 and ranked second on the D-backs in hits with 60.
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