Will Smith walks off Padres, Justin time

Catchers drove in three of the Dodgers’ four runs, while Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski combined for nine innings on a thin pitching depth day.

The Dodgers pitching depth chart of available players on Wednesday was perhaps its shortest of the season, but Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski made it work to get through nine innings. Then Will Smith hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run in the ninth inning for a 4-3 win over the Padres at Dodger Stadium.

The two 2021 draft picks combined to retire 18 batters in a row at one point, including the first 11 faced by Wrobleski before a two-out double in the eighth inning. Facing Fernando Tatis Jr. as the potential tying run, Wrobleski induced a ground out to complete the frame.

Wrobleski was throwing so well, he got the ninth inning as well, with a two-run lead and the heart of the Padres batting order. After a single, Manny Machado grounded into what should have been at least one out, but Tommy Edman could not field Max Muncy’s low but catchable throw for the force at second base. Two more hits brought in the tying runs, but Wrobleski was able to finish the frame with the game still tied.

In the bottom of the inning, Smith delivered his fourth hit in seven pinch-hit at-bats this season, for the Dodgers’ sixth walk-off win of the season.

Since allowing eight runs in five innings in a spot start on April 8, his first major league game of the year, Wrobleski has allowed just seven runs (six earned) in 19⅓ innings since. He walked none on Wednesday, the third time in his last four outings without issuing a free pass, and struck out three.

Sheehan was sharp in his first major league game in 620 days. He walked none and struck out six, including four straight strikeouts to end his night, all swinging. He finished off three strikeouts with his slider, two with the changeup, and one with a fastball.

After never getting more than 10 outs in his rehab outings, Sheehan wasn’t going to be extended too far in this game. He got through four innings on 65 pitches, which was inflated by San Diego fouling off 17 pitches.

The only run Sheehan allowed came in the second on a two-out smash by Elias Díaz that ate up second baseman Edman for a single, scoring Jake Cronenworth from second base. All in all, a very successful outing just 13 months from the hybrid Tommy John surgery and internal brace procedure on Sheehan’s right elbow.

San Diego scored first, as they have in all three games of this series. And just like each of those times, the Dodgers answered. Muncy hit a ball that flummoxed the usually excellent Tatis for a triple to open the fifth inning, then the red-hot Andy Pages hit a sacrifice fly to tie things at one apiece.

Muncy has two triples this season, tying his career high. Both came at home, giving him two of the team’s five triples at Dodger Stadium this season.

The bottom of the order then came to life, including a Edman single. Hyeseong Kim and Dalton Rushing, each making their first starts of the series, followed with hits. Kim’s was a double that bounced over the fence in foul territory in right field. That temporarily prevented a run, but Rushing’s single made it happen anyway, scoring both Edman and Kim for the lead.

Pages also doubled in the second inning, his fourth extra-base of the three-game series, during which he has six hits in nine at-bats. He was also hit by a pitch at the top of his back in the seventh inning, adding to the drama of this series. But Pages and pitcher Stephen Kolek nodded to each other as Kolek was removed during the inning, as cooler heads prevailed. Pages has driven in 10 runs in his last six games.

Wednesday particulars

Home run: Will Smith (8)

WP — Justin Wrobleski (2-2): 5 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), 3 strikeouts

LP — Robert Suárez (1-3): ⅓ IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 strikeout

Up next

This heated series gets one more game on Thursday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound in the finale against rookie Ryan Bergert.