Steven Souza, Jr. makes a statement in win against D’backs

PHOENIX – It wasn’t quite Roy Hobbes in The Natural, but it was pretty darn good just the same. Recent call-up Steven Souza Jr., in only his second start for the Dodgers, returned to the scene of a life-changing injury on Friday night. He made a brilliant catch in the field to help preserve a scoreless tie, and then jacked his first home run in nearly two years to break that tie and propel the Dodgers to 3-0 victory against the Arizona Diamondback. The Dodgers got a great bounce-back start from Trevor Bauer as well to hand the D’backs their 15th straight loss.

Souza battling back from injuries

First a little background on Souza, who is probably new to most Dodger fans. He had some good years early in his career, especially with Tampa Bay. His best year was in 2017, when he blasted 30 home runs and drove in 78 for the Rays. However, things took a bad turn after he was traded to Arizona the following year. He had a few good moments with the D’backs in 2018, but had a lot of injuries that first year in Arizona, and ended up appearing in only 72 games.

Then, in late spring training in 2019, he had a freak accident crossing home plate and tore his ACL, effectively ending his career in Arizona. He had a little action with the Cubs last year, but was cut loose by the Astros this spring. He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers on April 12, and was in OKC prior to his call-up last week. For those of you who don’t mind a little cringe, here is a link to the injury that made tonight so meaningful.

Caleb Smith holds Dodger bats at bay

Enough with the flashback. Back to 2021. On Friday night, the Dodgers found themselves in a heck of a pitchers’ duel with the Diamondbacks. A little surprising against a team whose ERA lately has been essentially the same as the Gross National Product of Papua New Guinea. Nevertheless, D’backs starter Caleb Smith was dealing in the early going. He held the Dodgers scoreless through six innings and only gave up one hit. Of course, the Dodgers helped out a bit as well, grounding into three double plays to kill some early traffic on the paths.

Bauer bounces back with a gem

Trevor Bauer, on the other hand, was coming off the worst start of his season. He gave up the first half-dozen runs in a 12-1 loss to the Rangers on Saturday and struggled with his command much of the night. However, he was much better in this latest start in Phoenix. Though there were a few hits, three walks, and some early jams that he had to work out of, Bauer ended up with a lot of goose eggs on the scoreboard when all was said and done. His line for the night. 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 8 K.

Souza’s spectacular grab

When Bauer exited the game, it was still deadlocked at zero, thanks in large part to our first Steven Souza “moment” of the game. In Bauer’s last inning of work, D’backs shortstop Nick Ahmed hit a long foul ball toward the corner in right field. Enter Souza from stage left. Souza covered a lot of territory, but timed the flight of the ball perfectly and made a sliding catch for the second out before smashing into the padded wall just beyond the foul line. It was just the start of Steven’s Very Good Night.

After one more out, the Dodgers headed into the eighth inning, looking to finally put a run on the board. After being shut out on Wednesday, it had been a hot minute since the Dodgers had scored, and the LA fans were starting to get a little restless. Not to fear; by this time in the game, Los Serpientes had started to dip into their bullpen. First man up Noe Ramirez pitched a scoreless seventh, but in the eighth, who should meet new reliever Joe Mantiply to lead off the inning? None other than our very own Steven Souza Jr., of course.

Souza’s sweet swing puts the Dodgers up

Souza worked the count full, and then on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, he got a 90-mph sinker that he could handle. He ripped it down the left field line, and deposited into the D’backs’ bullpen. It was 1-0 Dodgers, and it was like a weight had lifted over the visitors’ dugout. As he rounded the bases, he had to have been thinking about the last time he’d crossed the plate, and that horrific injury that robbed him of so much. “The last time I touched home plate here, it didn’t end well for me,” Souza said after the game, “so being able to touch it and walk away, being up 1-0 was definitely emotional.”

Though the extra runs wouldn’t be needed in this game, the Dodgers did tack on a couple more after the homer. First, on a Mookie Betts sac fly to score Gavin Lux, and then on a balk with a man on third base. That was all the scoring that they needed.

Relief Pitching Perfect

After Bauer was done, the relief corps was perfect once again. Jimmy Nelson looked unhittable in the eighth, and Kenley Jansen came in in the bottom of the ninth for a very business-like 1-2-3 inning to secure the win.

It was a good victory for the Dodgers, and an especially nice night for Steven Souza, Jr. It was nice to see that at least for tonight, the Dodgers’ belief in this 32-year-old paid off. And may Steven Souza cross home plate without incident many more times before he’s through. Tomorrow, the Dodgers try to hand the Diamondbacks their 16th straight loss, sending Walker Buehler to the mound to face Matt Peacock. Hopefully, the late inning heroics will jump start the Dodgers’ offense and the Boys in Blue can get yet another series victory.