Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — That’s just what this team needed. Finally, Dodger fans were the ones celebrating after a come-from-behind walk-off win. About time. When Freddie Freeman‘s flyball landed in the outfield grass in the bottom of the eleventh inning, it was a 5-4 win over the White Sox, a series win, and boost of confidence for a team that has been looking very mediocre these last few weeks.
And while there were heroics at the plate in this overtime victory, we have to give credit to where credit is due: to the much beleaguered Dodger bullpen. After starter Michael Grove gave up a pair of back-to-back home runs in the early going, the Dodger relievers were tasked at limiting the damage to just that. And they performed beautifully. Shelby Miller, Yency Almonte, Evan Phillips, and Caleb Ferguson combined for six innings of scoreless relief and gave the Dodgers a chance to claw their way back into the ballgame. It was huge.
“I think the difference tonight was the bullpen,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “When you look at those guys and how they covered six innings, to not give up a run was pretty remarkable. Every single one of those guys. We’re proud with how they responded.”
The yeoman’s work from the pen allowed the Dodgers to wait out starter Dylan Cease, who looked every bit like a Cy Young finalist in his first couple of times through the batting order. However, in the bottom of the sixth, the home team was finally able to break through. And they did so in the biggest way possible.
This time, it was the bottom of the order that led the way. The Dodgers got singles from Will Smith, David Peralta, and James Outman between a couple of outs to give the team its best scoring opportunity of the night: bases loaded, two out for third baseman Chris Taylor.
The flurry of singles had chased Cease from the game so Taylor dug in against righty reliever Reynaldo Lopez. On a 1-1 count, Taylor got a tasty fastball up in the zone from Lopez and crushed it to left field. It landed among the paying customers in the pavilion and just like that, we had us a tie game on our hands.
“It gave us a pulse,” said Roberts of the blast. “CT is a guy that he prepares, he comes up with big hits, he has his entire tenure with us and this was another big one. [López] is tough on right-handers, he got into a count and put up a four spot. It was a big hit.”
With the game now tied, the next few innings went by without anyone touching the plate. Both teams had scoring opportunities, but neither could manage to scratch a run across. Even the gifted runners in the tenth were both left stranded on the paths. When Caleb Ferguson pitched a clean top of the eleventh and the top of the Dodgers lineup was looming, it seemed like this was the moment for the walk-off.
With earlier hero Chris Taylor the placed runner at second, Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts both drew walks to set up a bases-loaded, nobody-out opportunity for Freddie Freeman. The Betts at-bat in particular was epic, Mookie’s longest of the year, and pitcher Garrett Crochet had to pretty much empty his arsenal before surrendering a free pass on the 12th pitch of the at-bat.
With a sense of impending doom hovering over the White Sox, Freddie Freeman stepped in, knowing all he needed to do was to put the ball in play, somewhere, and the game would likely be over. The infield was in, the outfield was in, and the best left-handed hitter of his generation was ready to hit. After laboring through the Betts at-bat, Crochet was wild, missing on three of his first four pitches.
With nowhere to put him, Crochet had to serve up a strike. When he did, Freddie pounced, sending what would have been a fairly routine flyball to deep centerfield. But with Luis Robert playing in to try to cut off the run, there was nothing the Sox centerfielder could do but watch the ball sail over his head for the game winning single.
“A series win is huge,” Freeman said in the wake of his big hit. “Good to play some good baseball the last couple days and got a series win, so we’ll carry that into the big weekend.”
Amen, to that, Freddie. Amen.
