Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Ever since last spring, this page has been a big fan of Number 5 in Dodger Blue. And he just keeps giving us reasons to like him. Tuesday night was his 34th birthday, and he decided to celebrate in the most Freddie-like way possible: with a four-hit night that propeled the Dodgers to victory over the San Diego Padres. It was just another chapter in the story of the most relentlessly excellent baseball player that has ever played in Los Angeles. In addition to Freddie’s night, Will Smith came up big and even Lance Lynn came up with a halfway decent performance to wash Monday night’s collapse clean away. This one was all Dodgers in an 11-2 win.
After Lance Lynn labored through a scoreless first inning, the Dodgers got right to work in the bottom of the frame. And right away, a pattern for the night emerged. Freddie Freeman and Will Smith hit the Padres’ starter Michael Wacha with both barrells. In the first, Freeman hit a single and took third on a double from Smith, finally coming around to score on a Max Muncy sac fly.
In the third, the duo repeated their success with even greater results. Freddie hit a two-run homer, and Will Smith drew a walk and came around to score on a David Peralta ground out. However, the dynamic duo reached their apex in the bottom of the fourth. Kiké started off the rally with a one-out single. Then, after Mookie Betts struck out (it was a quiet night for him), Freeman promptly singled into right field to put a couple of runners on the bags for Smith. And Smith, finally feeling it again after some midseason struggles, walloped a three-run homer to put the Dodgers way out in front.
From that point on, the game was essentially over. They would tack on four more runs late, but they were not needed. The highlight of the final few frames was yet another double that Freddie Freeman seems to fall out of bed hitting, this one to set up a two-run RBI single from J.D. Martinez. Though Martinez was thrown out trying to advance to second, both runs scored, giving Freeman a near perfect night on his birthday: 4-for-5, one homer, one double, four runs scored and two RBI. That’ll work. Long may you run, sir.
“You’ve got a four-deck stadium. It’s the only one in baseball. You’ve got 50,000 people, every single night here,” Freeman said after the game, noting the support he’s found in his new home. “For them to go out of their way to make you feel good when you’re doing your job, it means a lot. I do appreciate it. It does make you feel good inside and also just means you’re doing your job pretty good. That’s what I’m also happy about.”
“I think if you look at Freddie’s career, a lot of it has gone unnoticed,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “There’s no self-promotion to his game and he just loves to compete. And he wins. When you talk about Most Valuable Players, for me, he’s right at the top of the conversation.”
As for Lance Lynn, the veteran righty managed to navigate through some traffic early on and turn in a quality start: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. It was great to see, especially given the rocky outings he had against Atlanta and Miami. And in some very good news from the bullpen, new call-up Kyle Hurt made his Dodger debut by pitching two perfect innings, striking out two while mowing down the heart of the Padres lineup along the way. More of this please.
“The last two were ugly. There’s no other way to say it,” Lynn said. “But offense did a great job giving me the lead, defense made great plays behind me. Bullpen needed it. So it was a good win all the way around.”
So, having traded a win apiece, the Dodgers and Friars go at it for the last time this season on Wednesday night. It will be a pitching matchup that looks a little uneven until you think about it. It will be Cy Young candidate Blake Snell (13-9, 2.52 ERA) against rookie Ryan Pepiot. It sounds like the Padres would have the advantage in this one until you think about the Pepiot’s been pitching lately. I doubt very much that you’re going to see anybody get eleven runs off these two guys. Game time for this sayonara game: 7:10 pm. See you at the Ravine!
