Those who were at Dodger Stadium on a gorgeous Friday night seemed to be in for an all-nighter.
They have Tommy Edman to thank for getting home a bit earlier.
With two outs in the 10th, Kiké Hernández on third and Kyle Tucker on first, the second baseman hit a walk-off single against Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed reliever Gregory Soto, earning the Dodgers a 5-4 win.
“Just tried to get something up,” Edman said in an on-field interview after the game.
That’ll work.
The Dodgers have won four consecutive games for the first time since late July and are inching closer to playing like a first-place team after enduring a worrisome 5-11 stretch that ended with their sweep of the Colorado Rockies this week.
“I think our guys are kind of reinterested, you know, collectively,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before Friday’s win.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up five hits and two runs over 6⅓ innings, striking out nine and walking one in his latest strong outing.
And the Dodgers’ offense continued to look disciplined at the plate, especially after outscoring the Rockies 24-15 over three games.
“Well, I think that our overall swing percentage, [I’m] guessing, was considerably lower; our chase percentage, I’m guessing, [was] considerably lower; quality of contact, considerably higher, which makes sense,” Roberts said of the promising stretch in Denver.
“So, those are components for me that I think are sustainable.”
All the Pirates could score against Yamamoto was a pair of RBI singles — one in the first and one in the third — from Pirates designated hitter Nick Gonzales.
Muncy gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the first after launching a 100-mph sinker from Pirates right-handed starter Bubba Chandler 392 feet to right, also scoring Shohei Ohtani, who was on after a walk. And with two outs and the bases loaded in the third, Betts delivered an RBI single up the middle to score Hunter Feduccia from third and Ohtani from second.
Chandler, who gave up four hits and four runs with six strikeouts, was pulled after four innings.
The Pirates gave the Dodgers a scare after right-handed reliever Kyle Hurt gave up a tying two-run homer to center fielder Oneil Cruz in the eighth, which was enough to send the game into extras.
But Edman, as he’s done well throughout his Dodgers tenure, stepped up when needed. And in the top of the 10th, Evan Phillips earned the win after getting Henry Davis to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
Injury updates
Will Smith faced live pitching for the first time since June, and Roberts said that the plan is to activate the catcher during the first week of September.
“Today was a good day for Will,” Roberts said. “Taking at-bats. He’ll catch a couple bullpens today. He’ll do a couple more lives. … He still needs to get his legs back under him before we feel confident that he can take down a major league game and feel good coming out of it.”
Roberts added that Smith is “gonna play in the postseason” and that there is enough time for him to reach 100% strength.
Tyler Glasnow will likely be activated during the Dodgers’ upcoming road trip to Atlanta.
“I just saw him. He had a great outing — his last rehab outing,” Roberts said. “I’m not sure which day we’re gonna pencil him in against the Braves, but if all of things check out, it’ll be that [series].”
Ohtani will return to the mound at some point this season.
“It’s gonna happen,” Roberts said. “[Ohtani] threw another bullpen. … I think that there’s going to be a live or two, and then he’ll be on the mound. I just don’t know when we’re going to do that with the scheduling.”
Dalton Rushing is “pain-free” and close to facing live pitching, according to Roberts, but the catcher is “unlikely” to return to catching this season.
“I hope I’m wrong,” Roberts said. “But he’s determined to go through the process, the progression, the build-up and get back. And we’ll see where we’re at.”
Roberts didn’t rule out the possibility of Rushing being activated as a designated hitter down the line.
And Andy Pages was replaced in center field by Kiké Hernández in the fifth after being beamed in the left hand by Chandler in the third. In the seventh inning, the Dodgers announced Pages had a left-hand contusion.
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