Friday night should not have required late dramatics for the Dodgers.
But boy, what a finish it created.
After leading by three runs early, then trailing by two runs entering the ninth, the Dodgers rallied for a stunning 6-5 walk-off win over the Baltimore Orioles in Los Angeles, with the game ending on an RBI single from Dalton Rushing that was punctuated by a wild throw to the plate that trickled into the Dodgers’ dugout to walk off the game.
Really, the game never should have been that close.
The Dodgers jumped to an early 3-0 lead through two innings. They had loaded the bases with no outs in the third. And they had gotten five scoreless, and nearly hitless, frames out of starting pitcher Roki Sasaki.
But every time they could have pulled away, they let the Orioles hang around.
In the third, the Dodgers left the bases loaded with three-straight strikeouts from the bottom of the batting order.
In the sixth, they watched Sasaki implode in a two-batter sequence with two outs, with the young right-hander giving up back-to-back home runs that tied the game. And in the seventh, they let Baltimore surge in front, with Jeremiah Jackson punching a bases-loaded, two-run, go-ahead single through the infield to give the Orioles their first lead of the night.
The score remained 5-3 until the ninth, when Mookie Betts belted a solo home run off Orioles closer Ryan Helsley for his third hit of the game.
Then, the real drama began, with Max Muncy and Ryan Ward each drawing a walk to put the tying and winning runs aboard.
Up came Rushing, who was previously 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, including one on a low slider in the squandered third-inning chance.
Rushing went chasing a low slider again in the ninth to fall into an 0-2 hole to Helsey. But after taking a high slider, the backstop finally got a fastball in the zone, lining it to right for a single that got pinch-runner Alex Call home from second.
As Call crossed the plate, Baltimore right fielder Tyler O’Neill launched a throw home that got past the catcher and trickled toward the dugout.
The ball nearly hit a Dodgers bat boy who had run onto the field. But once it evaded him, there was nothing to stop it from rolling out of play, allowing Ward to score the walk-off run as the Dodgers came pouring out of the dugout to mob Rushing on the infield.
What it means
The Dodgers (49-27) have opened this homestand with four-straight wins, and now have their fourth walk-off of the season, helping them maintain the most wins in the majors.
Friday was also only the second time this year the Dodgers had won a game after trailing through eight innings. Previously, they were 1-25.
Who’s hot
Welcome back, Tommy Edman.
After going 0-for-3 with a walk in his season debut on Wednesday, the utility man found his swing on Friday night with a three-hit performance, singling in the first and third innings before lining a double in the seventh.
It was a promising sign for Edman, who missed the start of the season recovering from offseason ankle surgery. While playing through that ankle injury during the second half of last year, he hit just .186 after the start of July with only one three-hit game.
Who’s not
Without Ohtani, Teoscar Hernández (who is set to begin a rehab assignment next week as he nears his return from a hamstring strain) and Will Smith (who had a cortisone injection to address his lingering neck injury), the bottom of the Dodgers lineup trended young on Friday.
The inexperience showed in the bottom of the third.
With the bases loaded and no outs, each of Ryan Ward, Rushing and Alex Freeland went down swinging, unable to lay off low sliders from Trey Gibson that cost the Dodgers a golden opportunity to break the game open.
Until the ninth, the team wouldn’t score again.
In the end, however, both Ward and (especially) Rushing got their chance for redemption.
Up next
The Dodgers and Orioles continue this series on Saturday night when Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-4, 2.52 ERA) returns to the mound following his near no-hitter last week. He will face off against Orioles left-hander Trevor Rogers (3-7, 5.86 ERA).