LOS ANGELES — After not scoring at all against Diamondbacks starting pitchers in the first two games of the series, the Dodgers staved off a sweep with a hard-Pfaadt 5-4 win on Sunday afternoon to end the homestand on a high note, thanks to Will Smiith.
The Dodgers catcher didn’t even start on Sunday, after catching the first two games of the series. But he did end it, with a pinch-hit home run to lead off the ninth inning off John Curtiss.
Dating back to 1912, the Dodgers have 25 pinch-hit walk-off home runs. Smith leads the way with four of them, including 2019, 2021, and earlier this year on June 18 against the Padres.
Inconsistency was the talk Sunday pregame, after the Dodgers followed a four-game win streak by scoring once over the first two games against the Diamondbacks.
“To get swept at home, that can’t happen,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Technically it can happen, and has this season. Three times even, by the Angels, Astros, and Brewers.
Smith’s home run saved another potentially embarrassing loss, though the Dodgers never actually trailed on Sunday. It just might have felt that way.
Tanner Scott was staked to a three-run lead in the eighth inning and got the first two outs in short order. A bloop single and a groundball single all of a sudden brought the tying run to the plate. A fastball down the middle to Corbin Carroll ensured it, with a three-run home run to stun the Dodger Stadium crowd.
Scott’s eighth blown save this season, one shy of the major league lead, gave him a 4.44 ERA on the season. He’s allowed nine home runs in 113 batters faced this season, roughly one every 12.6 plate appearances, compared to six home runs in 601 batters faced over the previous two seasons (one every 100.2 PA) when he had a 2.04 ERA. That was when Scott was considered one of the best relief pitchers in the sport, a lofty perch on which he no longer resides.
For starters
After getting no runs and only six total hits in 12 innings against starters Zac Gallen and Eduardo Rodríguez on Friday and Saturday, the Dodgers scored four times on eight hits against Sunday starter Brandon Pfaadt, who was chased in the fifth inning.
Scoring started right away in the series finale, with singles by Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts before an RBI double from Freddie Freeman to open the scoring. Andy Pages grounded out for a second run in the frame, then added his own RBI single in the fifth inning.
In between, Miguel Rojas singled home Alex Call, who got a spot start for a slumping Teoscar Hernández on Sunday. Rojas had two hits out of the ninth spot, and Alex Freeland added two hits while batting seventh.
The four runs must have felt like a bounty for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who struck out 10 batters for the third time this season, matching his major league career high. Yamamoto allowed one run on four hits with no walks, which allowed him to complete seven innings for the seventh time this season.
The rest of the Dodgers pitching staff has combined for seven starts of seven innings this season.
Yamamoto on the season now has 146 2/3 innings, surpassing Gavin Stone’s 2024 team-leading total (140 1/3 innings) on Sunday. It’s the most innings by any Dodgers pitcher over the last three seasons. Yamamoto is vying to be the first Dodgers pitcher to qualify for pitching leaderboards (needing one inning per team game) since Tyler Anderson and Julio Urías in 2022.
Yamamoto averaged just under 186 innings over his final three seasons for Orix in Japan before signing with the Dodgers, topping out at 193 2/3 innings in 2021.
Sunday particulars
Home runs: Will Smith (17); Corbin Carroll (29)
WP — Blake Treinen (1-2): 1 IP , 1 strikeout
LP — John Curtiss (2-1): 1+ IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 2 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers are off on Labor Day and hit the road beginning with a three-game series against the Pirates at PNC Park. Clayton Kershaw starts the opener on Friday (3:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA), with Cameron Mlodzinski pitching for Pittsburgh.
