Dodgers power way to four-run rally in ninth inning for 6-5 win over Phillies
Home runs are not the Dodgers’ forte. They entered Saturday with 21 of them this season, 13th-most in the National League, and the middle-of-the-order tandem of Justin Turner and Adrian Gonzalez combined for zero homers through 24 games.
That all changed Saturday night, the Dodgers flexing some serious muscle to stage one of their most dramatic ninth-inning comebacks in recent history, one that ended with a stunning 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Dodger Stadium.
Trailing 5-2, Yasiel Puig led off the ninth with his fifth homer, lining a 94-mph fastball from Phillies closer Hector Neris over the wall in left-center to make it 5-3. Cody Bellinger, who hit his first big league homer in the seventh, smashed Neris’ next pitch high off the right-field foul pole to make it 5-4.
Turner, who was supposed to get the night off to rest, followed with his first homer of the season, a towering pinch-hit shot to left. Chris Taylor struck out, but Austin Barnes singled to center.
Left-hander Joely Rodriguez came on to face Andrew Toles, who flied to left. Corey Seager singled sharply to left to put two on with two outs, and Gonzalez followed with an opposite-field chopper that third baseman Maikel Franco got a glove on put couldn’t stop.
The ball trickled into shallow left field, and Barnes scored for the walk-off win, the Dodgers pouring out of the dugout in a wild celebration.
“You knew we were gonna hit and score runs — did I think it was gonna come like this, a barrage in the ninth inning? No,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But this is a resilient group, one that continues to fight.
“It’s pretty much the same core as last year, so we don’t scare off in situations. I don’t know how many comeback wins we had last year, but this is a group that definitely doesn’t quit.”
The Dodgers dugout barely stirred after Puig’s homer. “You still have to find a way to get two runs,” Roberts said. Then Bellinger, the highly touted prospect, sent a drive down the right-field line.
“It was the other foul pole, but I was doing the Carlton Fisk thing, trying to get it to stay fair,” Roberts said.
Next came Turner, who has been the team’s best hitter this season but had not gone long in April. Turner sent an 0-1 pitch into the pavilion in left. Tie ballgame.
“You always want to get the tying run to the plate, and J.T. responded with a big homer,” Roberts said. “I did say [before the game] that I wouldn’t worry about Justin. It was gonna come. He takes good swings. He’s a heck of a player, man.”
Early power is rare for Turner, who had one homer in 117 career April games before Saturday and did not homer in the first month of 2016. The third baseman finished the year with 27 homers and 90 runs batted in.
“I don’t know why that is,” Turner said before the game. “It’s kind of the way it shakes out. I’ve also hit about six balls [this month] straight into the wind that were probably homers on normal days, so it’s nothing I’m worried about.”
Neither are the Dodgers. Turner entered Saturday ranked first in the league in doubles (10), third in average (.381), sixth in on-base percentage (.447) and 15th in OPS (.947). He finished 2016 with an .832 OPS. He has a 15-game hitting streak and is batting .444 with runners in scoring position.
According to Fangraphs, Turner had a 32.0% line-drive rate, up from his 24.5% career rate, and had not popped out to an infielder this season.
“The way he’s swinging the bat, squaring it up,” Roberts said, “he’s still a very productive player and helping us win games.”
Gonzalez, not so much. The 34-year-old first baseman has not been on the disabled list in 14 years but has been slowed all season by right-forearm tendinitis.
Gonzalez entered Saturday with a .250 average and .653 OPS, well below his career.290 average and .852 OPS. He has five doubles and 10 RBIs in 99 plate appearances.
“There are some things he’s dealing with physically with his arm, maybe a little bit with his back, that we’re trying to manage,” Roberts said. “But we have this same conversation [about] Adrian, it seems, every year. He gets it going, and the slug will come back. I still see him as a productive player.”
Perhaps his singles in his final two at-bats Saturday night, including his game-winner, will help.
“It just had that topspin, in-between hop that’s really tough for infielders,” Gonzalez said. “Luckily for us, it hit his glove and trickled away from the shortstop.”
Follow Mike DiGiovanna on Twitter @MikeDiGiovanna
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