As owners of the best record in baseball, with an 8 1/2-game lead in National League West going into Thursday’s games, the Dodgers took a glass-half-full approach to Max Muncy’s left knee injury.

Muncy went on the injured list with a bone bruise in the knee and is expected to miss six weeks, according to the initial timetable. But considering how severe the injury looked, when Muncy’s knee was bent backward by the helmet of a sliding Michael A. Taylor, the team’s worst fears were not realized.

Muncy was replaced on the roster by outfielder Esteury Ruiz, who was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

“It was obviously amazing hearing the news that nothing was torn, nothing was ripped. That was definitely a pleasant relief, but the timetable still kind of sucks for me, personally,” Muncy said in the clubhouse Thursday with his left leg in a tight blue sleeve. “You look at around six weeks, maybe a little before, maybe a little after. It was a tough blow, but at the same time, I still get to play baseball this year instead of coming back next year around April.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he did not watch the replay of the injury that occurred on a stolen-base attempt by Taylor in the sixth inning. Taylor’s hard slide upended Muncy, who still made the tag on a throw from catcher Will Smith for the out.

Muncy sprawled on his back as a Dodgers trainer came out to check on him. He had to be helped off the field and was barely able to put any weight on his left leg.

“The healing part of it is going to take time, but just to know that he’s going to be back for a good part of the back end of the season and beyond, we’re very relieved,” Roberts said.

Muncy is batting .250 with an .832 OPS, 13 home runs and 55 RBIs in 81 games this season. Over his last 28 games, though, he is batting .326 with nine homers and 31 RBIs.

“To be honest, the first thing that popped into my head was the end of the season in 2021,” Muncy said of an elbow injury that prevented him from participating in the 2021 playoffs and lingered throughout 2022.

“It just wasn’t a pleasant feeling. You immediately start replaying everything in your head, trying to say, ‘What did that feel? Did I feel a pop? Did I hear a pop?’”

Miguel Rojas got the start at third base in place of Muncy on Thursday with Kiké Hernandez also expected to get time at third as well. The Dodgers even have Tommy Edman taking ground balls at third. He last played third base in 2022 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

If Edman spends time at third, it would open up second base for Hyeseong Kim against right-handed pitching.

The thing that seemed to bother Muncy the most about the injury on Wednesday was that it happened immediately before Clayton Kershaw recorded the 3,000th strikeout of his career in the sixth inning.

“I was trying to be like, ‘Hey, get me off this field (so) Kersh can keep going. We can figure it out inside,’” Muncy said. “And then I’m in the X-ray room and you hear the crowd roar, and it was kind of like, ‘Oh, man, I missed it.’ That was honestly the most heartbreaking thing to me.”

— Doug Padilla

MAY DAY

Dustin May pitched two-run ball over seven innings after retiring the first 16 batters in the Dodgers’ 6-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night to complete a three-game sweep.

The 27-year-old right-hander struck out a season-high nine and walked one in the best start of his six-year major league career. He won for the first time since June 15 against San Francisco.

NETO, SORIANO LEAD ANGELS over braves

José Soriano, Zach Neto and the Angels rebounded nicely on Thursday night in Atlanta.

Soriano pitched seven scoreless innings and Neto broke out of his brief slump with three hits in a 5-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves, which helped him bury the memory of Soriano’s nightmare outing last week and the team’s disheartening loss a night earlier.

“I think we’ve shown that all year, that resilience,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “The guys give it their 20-30 minutes (to think about the loss) — and me maybe a little longer — and then they bounce back. Everybody came in today, and the attitude is the same. The energy is the same. We go day to day.”

The Angels (43-43) could have swept the Braves if they had held a sixth-inning lead on Wednesday, but they settled for winning the series. They were two outs away from a second shutout when Brock Burke gave up a ninth-inning homer.

Neto led the offense with three hits, including a home run. He had been hitless in his first 13 at-bats after injuring his right shoulder on a head-first slide last week.

Jo Adell, who has been on fire for more than a month, had three more hits, including an RBI single. First baseman Nolan Schanuel, who has been consistently productive for about six weeks, hit a two-run homer.

Catcher Logan O’Hoppe showed encouraging signs of shaking out of his slump with two hits, both of which had exit velocities over 108 mph.

Eight of the nine starters — all except for Chad Stevens, in his major league debut — reached by a hit or a walk.

Soriano took care of the rest.

“Really impressive, start to finish,” Montgomery said. “I thought his demeanor, the intent, the control of his body.

“Obviously, the stuff was really good, right from pitch one.”

— Jeff Fletcher

AROUND THE MAJORS

Robbie Ray threw his first complete game since 2017, Rafael Devers had three RBIs and the San Francisco Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2 on Thursday night to split the four-game series.

The veteran left-hander needed 102 pitches to navigate his nine innings, giving up three hits, including two solo homers, walking one and striking out seven.

The victory kept the Giants nine games behind the Dodgers in the NL West.

Cubs 11, Cardinals 3: Michael Busch hit three home runs, Pete Crow-Armstrong connected twice and host Chicago went deep a franchise-record eight times in pounding St. Louis on Friday for its fourth straight victory.

Busch finished 4 for 4 with five RBIs. Crow-Armstrong also went 4 for 4 for the Cubs.