Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Wow! What a difference one homestand can make. A week ago, a grumpy group of Dodgers rolled into town after dropping two straight to the Pirates to fall to an incredibly mediocre record of 13-13. And collectively, they all seemed to have said, “Enough of this noise.” If the team goes on to do great things this year, and it may, you can point to April 28 – May 3 as the time when it all started to come together.
Wednesday afternoon’s finale of the homestand might have been the most thrilling game of the bunch. The Dodgers got down early, rallied to take a lead in the 8th, only to see the Phillies tie it in the 9th, only to walk it off in grand fashion in the bottom of the inning on a Max Muncy blast over the right field fence with the bases loaded. Woo-boy!
It was the Major League debut for the Dodgers’ hot rookie Gavin Stone on Wednesday, and it didn’t go that great. He battled through some jams, had some lax defense behind him, and by the time he exited the ballgame after four innings, the Dodgers were in a 1-5 hole and Stone was looking at not only his first start, but his first L of his career.
Let the comeback begin. While the bullpen held the Phillies at bay, the Dodger bats started to chip away at the lead. Miguel Vargas‘s two run homer in the bottom of the 4th made it a 5-3 ballgame. Freddie Freeman got a sacrifice fly in the 7th to bring the Blue Crew to within one run. And then, in the bottom of the 8th, they finally made it all the way up the mountain. Austin Barnes, who’s had some clutch hits of late, came through with a two-out, two-run single to put the Dodgers up 6-5 and in position to win the game.
However, the baseball gods had an even better ending in mind for this one. Thanks to a Bryce Harper single, a walk, and another single from Bryson Stott, the Phillies were able to rally off of Brusdar Graterol. When Harper touched home plate on the RBI single from Stott, the game was knotted at 6 apiece, and there would indeed be a bottom of the 9th.
Now, there was a time when the word “Kimbrel” sent me into fits of apoplexy, but through therapy, I have been able to move beyond that pain. In fact, when the aforementioned Mr. Kimbrel strode onto the Dodger Stadium mound for the bottom of the 9th, I was licking my chops with anticipation. And Craig Kimbrel did not disappoint.
First, Chris Taylor banged a single into center field and stole second on the next pitch. With the winning run in scoring position, Kimbrel showed flashes of his old self and struck out Mookie Betts on a couple of great pitches for the first out. The Phils decided to walk Freddie Freeman on the intentional pass, and Philadelphia was one double play ball away from getting the game into extra innings. However, matters were complicated when Will Smith drew a walk of his own. With the bases now loaded, Max Muncy came to the plate looking to do damage.
And damage he did. On the very first pitch of the at-bat, Muncy got a four-seamer in his wheelhouse, and the Dodger slugger pounced. He drilled the ball to deep right field, plenty deep enough to score Taylor with the winning run. As the ball flew through the LA afternoon, it was only a matter of whether it would be a sacrifice fly or a home run. It was the latter. The ball landed 353 feet from home, among the paying customers in the right field stands. A walk-off grand slam. Awesome. Just awesome.
“We’re still finding out our personality, our identity and knowing who we are as an offense, as a pitching staff,” Muncy said in postgame interviews. “It just takes time to get all the guys in the clubhouse. You go on road trips. You’re hanging out with the guys. You start learning who everyone is. … Once you do that, you start finding your identity as a team. We really did that on this homestand.”
They certainly did.
Cans of Corn…
- Gavin Stone’s final line on the day: 4.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. There will be better days, son.
- Gonzalez, Almonte, Ferguson, and Graterol pitched the last five innings of the game and gave the Dodgers a chance to win this one.
- Graterol had that odd duck stat, the blown save and win in the same game.
- Bryce Harper of the Phils was in only his second game after coming back from Tommy John surgery. He got three hits and was on base all five times. So yeah, I think he’s good.
- Miguel Rojas had an insane play in the top of the 9th that kept Trea Turner off the bases. Critical to the holding the Phils to just the one run.
- Chris Taylor was gifted a triple early in the game by some shoddy defense from Nick Castellanos.
- This was such a great homestand. Let’s keep the good vibes going down in San Diego. It’ll be Kershaw vs. the newly returned Joe Musgrove (1-0, 10.80 ERA) on Friday night from PetCo. I am so ready. First pitch is 6:40 pm.
