Dodgers Interview: “Walk-Off Homers Are Always Fun”
Will Smith Walks It Off Against Padres
LOS ANGELES — Will Smith’s night didn’t last too long. He sat on the bench for eight and a half innings, and then just saw two pitches before he blasted a Robert Suarez changeup into the home run seats in right field for the walk-off winner.
“Walk-off homers are always fun,” Smith said after the game, still grinning from the celebration. “They’re exciting. The crowd loves them. It’s fun to go home, you know, with fireworks and everything. So yeah, it’s cool.”
The blast came on a 1-1 count after Suarez had gotten Smith to foul off a pitch with home run distance just moments earlier. Despite the temptation to chase the dramatic moment, Smith stuck to his approach.
“You think about [hitting a home run] all the time,” Smith admitted. “But if you try to do it, you’re probably not going to. So you get back to your approach, try to do what you do, get the barrel on the ball, and move forward.”
The result: a no-doubt rocket to right-center that gave the Dodgers their third straight win over San Diego and yet another highlight for the All-Star catcher, who’s been red-hot at the plate.
Smith said that familiarity with Suarez played a small role in the at-bat. “I’ve definitely seen Suarez enough to know what his pitches look like, how the ball plays,” he said. “Experience helps. But if he executes, he’s tough. So I just had to execute against him.”
The win capped off another grind-it-out effort by a Dodgers team that has navigated a brutal stretch of the schedule while dealing with injuries, bullpen fatigue, and a string of high-leverage games against divisional opponents.
“It’s definitely been a long few weeks,” Smith said. “We’ve been playing some really good ball clubs, dealing with injuries and everything. But we’re sticking together as a team, grinding through it—one day at a time. Fill up the strike zone as pitchers, take good at-bats as hitters, and try to play good baseball.”
That resilience was on display again Wednesday. After rookie Justin Wrobleski gave up a two-run lead in the ninth, the Dodgers didn’t blink. Smith’s walk-off turned what could’ve been a frustrating night into yet another thrilling victory at Chavez Ravine.
Asked if wins against the Padres hold extra meaning, Smith downplayed the rivalry aspect. “Is it special against the Padres? No,” he said. “But we just keep fighting. Keep putting together good at-bats, keep pressure on the other team. When they mess up, we try to capitalize.”
And when the Dodgers need a moment of magic, Will Smith is increasingly the guy who delivers.
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