LOS ANGELES — The version of Will Smith the Dodgers are looking for turned on a fastball over the inside part of the plate on Sunday afternoon and transformed growing despair into jubilation.
The late-inning drama, when the Dodgers lost the lead in the eighth and won the game in the ninth, encapsulated an entire season.
Considered by some as the greatest roster ever assembled, the defending champions have spent much of the season navigating injury issues and a post-All-Star break swoon, creating concerns that momentum will be hard to recapture in order to turn this season into a mirror image of last one.
Sunday’s development has helped to inspire the Dodgers’ latest hope, that Smith can lead the charge down the stretch after he was not at his best in the second half last season.
Smith’s pinch-hit, walk-off home run in a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks helped prevent a third three-game sweep by an opponent at Dodger Stadium since the second half resumed.
The Milwaukee Brewers, currently the top team in the National League, handed the defending champs one of those sweeps.
Now comes a three-game series at Pittsburgh and another at Baltimore before a return home for three against the last-place Colorado Rockies.
Even with Smith’s penchant for ending games on pinch-hit homers, his turn as hero was somewhat unexpected after he entered Sunday’s plate appearance batting .147 with two home runs in 21 August games (68 at-bats).
“Yeah, still working through things. You always are,” Smith said. “That helps build equity there.”
Adding in the August numbers of backup catcher Dalton Rushing changes nothing. Smith and Rushing have combined for a .147 batting average in the month, with four home runs in 102 at-bats.
“It was a huge swing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Sunday’s game-winner. “I always say the game honors you, and Will has been going through it, but he’s been working his tail off. And (Sunday) he reaped some benefit. So it was really good to see, from a guy who is an All-Star player, who’s ready when called upon, and delivered in a big moment, which he’s done.”
As game-winning home runs are known to be – with their majestic flight paths, home-plate celebration scrums and sports-drink showers – Smith’s pinch-hit walk-off blasts have been memorable:
June 23, 2019: Dodgers 6, Rockies 3
In his return to the major leagues after playing in just six prior games, Smith turned on a 1-and-0 slider from Colorado’s Scott Oberg in the ninth inning for what already was his third career home run. It was the first time in MLB history that three different rookies on the same team delivered walk-off home runs in three consecutive days (Matt Beaty, Alex Verdugo).
“It was cool to go one, two, three. It’s sick,” Smith said at the time. “We were saying it’ll probably never be broken again.”
July 20, 2021: Dodgers 8, Giants 6
Smith’s three-run blast to left field on an 0-and-1 slider from San Francisco side-armer Tyler Rogers capped the Dodgers’ rally from a 6-1 deficit in the fifth inning. The previous walk-off home run against the Giants was 15 years prior by Russell Martin. The last one against the Giants when the Dodgers trailed was in 1953 by Roy Campanella. Call it a catcher thing.
“I try to keep my breath under control, try to keep your heart rate down and not try to do too much,” Smith said. “Just keep it simple in that situation, get a pitch you’re looking for and not try to muscle up and hit it out, just put a good swing on it.
June 18, 2025: Dodgers 4, Padres 3
On the second pitch from San Diego right-hander Robert Suarez, Smith appeared to end it on a drive to left that was just foul while traveling nearly 400 feet. One pitch later, he hit a low changeup just over the wall in right-center. Smith was batting .333 at the end of the night.
“Walk-off homers are always fun,” Smith said. “They’re exciting, the crowd loves them. It’s fun to go home with fireworks and everything.”
Aug. 31, 2025: Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4
On a second-pitch fastball from Arizona’s John Curtiss, Smith put the ball over the wall in left-center, 420 feet away. The Dodgers lost a three-run lead in the eighth inning when Corbin Carroll hit a three-run home run off of Tanner Scott. Only former Oakland A’s and New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi has more career pinch-hit walk-off homers with six.
“That’s pretty cool,” Smith said. “Always be ready to go. Not checking out of the game early or whatever. Just doing what you can, just being ready for that spot.”
*****
Turning Sunday’s bit of drama into extended success is Smith’s goal now. He batted just .206 with five home runs in the second half last season after batting .272 with 15 home runs in the first half.
A bone bruise in his left ankle led to that decline, although Smith did not reveal the issue, at least not publicly. He has not divulged an issue this season, but the ankle was bothering him into spring training this year.
“I think he’s got a calm heartbeat,” Roberts said. “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.”
More will be needed in the weeks ahead. During last season’s playoffs, Smith’s hitting woes continued with a .143 batting average while starting all 16 games. He added three home runs.
Yet his biggest contribution came behind the plate, when he helped piece together multiple bullpen games. The Dodgers had four bullpen games in the 2024 playoffs with Ryan Brasier starting two, while Michael Kopech and Ben Casparius started one each.
“It’s just really focus on this last month,” Smith said. “Just go pitch to pitch, really focus and do what we need to do, do the little things. We can’t try to win the game in one pitch. But all the little things add up each and every day, each and every inning. That’s how you win baseball games.”
UP NEXT
Dodgers (LHP Clayton Kershaw, 9-2, 3.06 ERA) at Pirates (RHP Carmen Mlodzinski, 3-7, 3.86 ERA), Tuesday, 3:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM
