Monday was shaping up to be a forgettable night at Dodger Stadium.
Until the Dodgers delivered an unforgettable ending in the bottom of the ninth.
Trailing by two runs to the Marlins, the Dodgers mounted a three-run rally on the back of quality at-bats, a big swing from Shohei Ohtani and a walk-off hit from Kyle Tucker, who lined a two-run, two-out single to center to lift the Dodgers to a 5-4 win.
Entering the ninth, the Dodgers seemed to be lacking any semblance of life.
Kyle Tucker celebrates after his walk-off hit for the Dodgers on April 27. Imagn Images They hadn’t scored since Teoscar Hernández’s two-run single in the first. They had squandered that lead on Liam Hicks’ three-run homer against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the fifth. They had left the bases loaded in the seventh. They had gone 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, slipping back into the sluggish form that dogged them for most of last week.
But then Andy Pages drew a leadoff walk against Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks. Dalton Rushing pinch-hit and did the same in the next at-bat.
And though Miguel Rojas failed to get down a sacrifice bunt, instead popping it up to the catcher for the first out of the inning, Ohtani made sure it didn’t matter — ripping a ground-rule double into right to score one run.
Three batters later, Tucker came to the plate with the bases loaded, after the Marlins intentionally walked Freddie Freeman, removed Fairbanks from the game with an injury, then got a strikeout of Will Smith from right-hander Tyler Phillips.
Kyle Tucker delivers a walk-off hit during the Dodgers’ April 27 win. Imagn Images Phillips also got ahead of Tucker with a first-pitch strike, landing a splitter at the bottom of the zone.
But when he went there again, the team’s $240 million offseason signing was ready for it, slashing a line drive into center field for his biggest moment yet in what’s been a slow start to the year.
That, once again, the Dodgers (20-9) are never out of a game.
Between the second and sixth innings, the team had mustered just one hit. In that time, Yamamoto stumbled in a five-inning, four-run (three-earned) outing while lacking his typical stuff or command.
However, their superstar lineup means, as long as they’re within striking distance, they’re always capable of mounting a comeback.
That’s what happened in the ninth, with key walks and big swings giving the team its second walk-off win of the year.
Hernández is not known for drawing walks. But improved plate discipline has helped him not only earn a string of free bases lately, but also snap out of what had been a couple-week-long slump.
Hernández started his night Monday with a key hit, driving in the game’s first two runs with his opposite-field single in the first inning. After that, he walked twice, marking only the second time this season he has done so.
Following a 14-game stretch from April 7-24 in which he batted .154, Hernández is now 3-for-8 the last three days with four walks and four RBIs, raising his season average to .245.
At the very least, Smith was back in the lineup Monday after missing a couple games with back tightness.
However, he continued a recent slump by not only going hitless in five at-bats, but twice leaving the bases loaded in the seventh (when he broke his bat on an inning-ending grounder and the ninth.
That left Smith in a 1-for-18 rut in his last five games, with a three-run homer last Friday representing his only reprieve. His batting average is down to .231 and his OPS is down to .696. Among the club’s regulars, only Tucker has a lower mark in that latter category.
Ohtani (2-0, 0.38 ERA) will take the mound Tuesday opposite Marlins right-hander Janson Junk (1-2, 3.67 ERA). However, manager Dave Roberts made it sound Monday as if Ohtani would likely only pitch in the game, and not also serve as designated hitter. That would be partially because Ohtani is pitching on just five days’ rest for the first time this year, and partially because Wednesday’s series finale the following day is an afternoon start.
