Smith walk-off caps epic Dodgers comeback

LOS ANGELES — Hooboy! Talk about going from despair to ecstasy in the course of about an hour. On the verge of dropping their second straight home game to the hated Giants, somehow, some way, the Dodgers got up off the mat and staged a comeback for the ages. Trailing 6-1 at one point, the Dodgers got two home runs from Chris Taylor to make it close and then an awesome walk-off three-run shot from pinch hitter Will Smith to send the Dodger faithful home very, very happy.

Muncy knocks in Taylor for early lead

This game was always going to be the tough one of the series. Throwing yet another bullpen game (thanks, Trevor), the Dodgers had to just throw their relief corps out there tonight and hope for the best. First up was rookie Darien Nunez, who did okay, pitching a scoreless first. Then, in the Dodgers’ half of the inning, the home squad got on the board quickly thanks to a lead-off double from Chris Taylor (no Mookie again) and a run-scoring single from Max Muncy.

Giants score six unanswered runs

Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost the lead pretty quickly when Nunez got dinged for a double and a two-run Alex Dickerson home run in the top of the second. Then, with the Dodgers bats pretty quiet, the Giants slowly built a pretty sizable lead in the middle innings. Rookie Josiah Gray made his major league debut tonight, and though he pitched okay, he served up too many tasty strikes to the Giants’ hitters and ending up giving up three home runs in four innings of work. Though he did strike out seven, he ended up leaving the game with the Dodgers down 6-2.

CT3 starts comeback

The Dodgers had to come back in this one little by little by little. They got things started in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Chris Taylor hit a solo shot to center field for the Dodgers second run of the game. Then, in the next inning, they were able to pull within a run. First, they scored one when Cody Bellinger walked and came home on a double from Austin Barnes that sailed over the head of Giants left fielder Alex Dickerson.

CT3 does it again

Then, Chris Taylor came up and drilled his second home run (and third extra-base hit) of the night. He took the first pitch he saw from reliever Alex Brebbia and crushed it, sending it over the center field fence to score both Barnes and himself. Suddenly, it was 6-5 and the Dodgers were showing a pulse.

Turner and Muncy both pulled after HBP

However, this comeback wasn’t going to be easy. Earlier in the game both Justin Turner and Max Muncy had to be pulled after they’d been plunked by pitchers from former Dodger Alex Wood (gee, thanks, Alex). So the Dodgers were in the unenviable position of trying to win the game without Muncy, Turner, Seager, and Betts. In other words, everybody good. One would never imagine referring to the LA Dodgers as a rag-tag band of misfits, but that is exactly what seemed to be left on the field at the end of the game.

The awesome ninth inning

Undaunted, the Dodgers went into the bottom of the ninth needing just one run to tie it up and send the game into extra innings. But they were facing submarining Tyler Rogers, who had a 1.43 ERA going into Tuesday’s game. However, the baseball gods were smiling on the Dodgers, as the usually reliable Rogers couldn’t find the plate. He walked lead-off man Chris Taylor on four pitches and then walked Matt Beaty after that. Suddenly, there were no outs and the go-ahead run was on first.

Dave Roberts grabbed catcher Will Smith off the bench and sent him in to hit in the pitcher’s spot. What followed was destined for Dodgers’ history. He took a strike on the inside corner for the first pitch, but was waiting for the Rogers slider on the second. Rogers hung the pitch a bit, and Smith just walloped it. It flew off his bat and deep into the right field seats. Three-run walk-off. Game over. Cue Randy Newman.

Urias and Buehler to wrap up the series

Now, after splitting the first two games, the Dodgers still have a chase to finish this series in first place. Julio Urias gets the ball on Wednesday, followed by Walker Buehler in the series finale. Get out the popcorn, Dodgers fans. It ought to be a great finish.