Needing a win on Sunday to avoid an embarrassing three-game sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers relied on the heroics of catcher Will Smith to score a dramatic 5-4 win in the series finale against their visiting National League West rivals.
Smith, who did not have catching duties on Sunday, was called upon in the bottom of the ninth to pinch hit for catcher Dalton Rushing against Diamondbacks reliever John Curtiss.
With the score tied at 4-4, Smith fouled Curtiss' 96 mph four-seam fastball before making the right contact on the next pitch, which was another 96 mph fastball from the Arizona righty. Smith took that pitch deep for a 420-foot dinger that gave the Dodgers their 75th win in the 2025 MLB regular season.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts surely made the right decision to insert Smith into the contest, showing belief in his player's bat despite having a poor performance at the plate in August. Smith hit entered the Arizona series finale batting just .147/.318/.250 in August, but that did not keep Roberts from trusting the three-time All-Star backstop.
“I think he’s got a calm heartbeat,” Roberts said of Smith following the game, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com. “He’s not afraid to fail. He loves being in that moment. And he’s always a good choice. And has obviously come up with a lot of big hits. That was a big one.”
It was a great way for Smith to cap off a down month, and he'll now look forward to having a much better September, as the Dodgers set their sights on the upcoming 2025 MLB postseason. So far in the 2025 campaign, the 30-year-old Smith is batting .293/.404/.497 go go along with 17 home runs and 60 RBIs through 107 games.
While they lost the series to the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers sit atop the NL West standings with a 78-59 record. It's not a very comfortable spot at the moment for Los Angeles, as it is only two games ahead of the San Diego Padres in the division.
Coming up next for the Dodgers is two series on the road, beginning with a trip to Pennsylvania, where they will face the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-leg set that begins this Tuesday at PNC Park. That is followed by a three-game series versus the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
