TORONTO — Will Smith had no choice but to ease his way into the postseason.
After missing the final three weeks of the regular season with a hairline fracture in his right hand, the Dodgers’ All-Star catcher sat out of the National League wild-card series, then came off the bench late in the first two games against the Phillies in the division series.
He’s been making up for that lost time ever since.
Despite spotting his teammates those four starts, Smith’s .314 postseason average is best among Dodgers with at least 10 at-bats. He has 11 hits, the biggest of which came in the seventh inning Saturday when his tie-breaking solo homer sparked the Dodgers to a 5-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, evening the best-of-seven World Series at a win apiece.
The series resumes Monday at Dodger Stadium where the Dodgers, now owning the home-field advantage in the playoff, can close things out.
“We’re 1-1 right now. So we’re heading back to L.A. trying to win three more,” Smith said.
His two hits Saturday — he also had a run-scoring single in the first — gave him nine hits in his last six games, and he has reached base safely in seven of his eight starts. But the home run, a 404-foot drive he pulled just inside the left-field foul pole, was his first extra-base hit of the playoffs, a sign the hand injury may finally be behind him.
“I hope so,” said Smith, who finished with three RBIs.
Smith’s time off with the injury, though unwanted, may be paying dividends for the Dodgers. After playing 101 games behind the plate, Smith was bruised and battered and the break gave him time to heal. The week off between the NLCS and the World Series also helped, manager Dave Roberts said.
“That week off, I think, got him over the hump,” Roberts said. “It was the first time in a while he’s pulled a ball like that. I think that’s part of the healing process.”
But if Smith was a little beat up physically, his mental approach and his ability to keep things simple never wavered.
“I’m just trying not to do too much,” Smith said. “You can let the emotions get the best of you [and] try to hit a homer every time, or be the hero every time. It doesn’t work out.
“So I’m just trying to put together an at-bat, get the right pitch.”
That’s what happened in the seventh inning when Smith came up against Toronto starter Kevin Gausman, who had set down 17 Dodgers in order following Smith’s single in the first.
Gausman threw five straight four-seem fastballs, with Smith just missing the last one, fouling it back to run the count full. Gausman tried the same pitch one more time but left it up and in, and Smith didn’t miss this time, putting the Dodgers ahead to stay.
As he trotted toward first, Smith shouted toward his team’s dugout.
“It’s a big swing, obviously,” he said. “The emotion is running high, but I’m also trying to get the guys going; just trying to keep that, that momentum going for us.”
Apparently it worked because two batters later Max Muncy ended Gausman’s night with a solo home run. The Dodgers tacked on two more insurance runs in the eighth, the last scoring when Smith grounded into a fielder’s choice.
But his contributions Saturday went far beyond cheerleading and what he accomplished in the batter’s box. He also helped guide Yoshinobu Yamamoto through his second straight complete-game victory of the playoffs.
“The game-calling, the relationship with the pitchers, has continued to get better,” Roberts said. “He does his homework. At the end of the day, he’s a guy that just doesn’t panic. He’s really got a flat-line heartbeat, and in the postseason, that’s what you need.”
That’s because the postseason is what Smith plays — and he’s certainly made the most of his opportunities. This is his third World Series and he’s going for this third ring.
“It’s fun. It’s pressure baseball,” he said. “It’s who is going to mess up, who is going to make the right pitch, who is going to move the ball when you need to?
“Basically, who is going to out-execute who?”
On Saturday it was the Dodgers and Smith who did everything right.
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