Two-Time All-Star Catcher Hits Fourth Career Walk-Off Home Run in Dodgers Win

The Los Angeles Dodgers took on the San Diego Padres for the third game of a four-game set between the two on Wednesday night. The Dodgers have grabbed the first two games of the series with the bullpen grinding out a hard-earned victory Tuesday night. Matt Sauer got the win, getting a bit of revenge for the pouncing the Padres gave him last week. In tonight’s matchup, Los Angeles would have Emmet Sheehan taking the mound for the first time in almost two years. 

Just like the previous two matchups, the Padres jumped on the Dodgers quickly, taking the first lead of the game in the second inning. Elias Díaz notched an RBI single to score Jake Cronenworth after Cronenworth led off the inning with his seventh double of the year. Sheehan was able to limit the damage to just that one run. Stephen Kolek took the ball for the Padres in this one and was shoving against an explosive Dodgers offense through four innings, holding them to just two hits.

It was not until the top of the fifth that the Dodgers’ offense gained a spark from the bottom half of the lineup. Max Muncy led off the inning with a rare triple due to a misplay in the outfield by Fernando Tatis Jr. that allowed Muncy to reach third base. Andy Pages did not waste any time getting Muncy home on the very next pitch with an RBI sacrifice fly. Pages has been incredible in this series, including his first career four-hit night, which also included hitting two home runs for his first career multi-homer night. The next two batters reached base, and with both in scoring position, Dalton Rushing made his mark on the rivalry, ripping an RBI single to give the Dodgers their first lead of the night by a score of 3-1.

From then on, that was all the Dodgers needed, especially for one of the unsung heroes of the night in left-handed reliever Justin Wrobleski. He came in for relief for Sheehan after the fourth inning and dominated the Padres up and down for four innings of near-perfect baseball, allowing just one double in his appearance to go with three strikeouts. For Sheehan himself, he finished his first start in nearly two years with a stat line of four innings pitched, six strikeouts, one run allowed, and just three hits given up. It was time for Wrobleski to shut the doors down in the bottom of the ninth and give the Dodgers five innings of shutout baseball for the first time in four years from a relief pitcher. 

One thing to note is over the course of the season, Wrobleski had struggled; however, over his last three appearances, he had an ERA just above three. Ultimately, the Dodgers made the wrong decision, at the time leaving Wrobleski out too long, and the Padres came storming back to tie the ball game up in the top of the ninth. Los Angeles was reeling as they led for half of the game. Now, it would be up to the bats to get the win. Will Smith was up to the challenge; coming straight from the bench in his first plate appearance all night, Smith drove a ball to right field that barely got over the glove of Tatis Jr. and cleared the fence to walk it off for the Dodgers, giving them their fifth win in a row. Smith now leads the National League in batting average, and with the home run, it was his fourth career walk-off home run. The Dodgers will look to complete the four-game sweep tomorrow as Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the start, while San Diego will throw out Ryan Bergert.