Corey Seager plays hero in Dodgers’ 5-4 walk-off win against the Reds

Corey Seager joined his first baseball league in 1997. He was three. Across a stretch of 20 years — from the Little League fields of North Carolina to showcase events for Perfect Game, from the Midwest League to the California League to the Southern League, from the minors to the majors, from the playoffs to the All-Star Game — he swore he never had a walk-off hit.

It is reasonable to assume that on almost all of those teams, at almost every level, Seager was the best player among the group. Yet he claimed he had never experienced the sensation of teammates mobbing him on the bases, of getting drenched by a water cooler, of feeling responsible for a hit to end it. If Seager can be believed, it was a bizarre streak, an anomaly in a sport that specializes in the anomalous, that he confronted in Saturday’s 5-4 Dodgers victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

In the ninth inning of a tied game, Seager arrived at the plate with a pair of runners aboard and two outs. Cincinnati reliever Tony Cingrani pumped a fastball down the middle. Seager smacked the pitch into left field. The ball evaded the grasp of converted infielder Scooter Gennett by inches, splashing down on the warning track, its historical significance not immediately apparent.

“I probably should get that one,” Seager said. “That one might be gone already. But it would be nice to have, for sure.”

Seager did not appear ready for the celebration. Enrique Hernandez dumped a bottle of pink liquid on his head. Adrian Gonzalez jabbed his ribs. Yasiel Puig, the man who scored the winning run, hugged Seager — then fetched the cooler. “It was cold, that’s for sure,” Seager said. “Don’t know if I enjoyed that one.”

It was Seager’s second double of the night. The offense picked up the bullpen after a blowup in the sixth. A solo homer by Cody Bellinger capped a three-run rally in the first. Chase Utley supplied three hits, including an RBI double in the fifth. The celebration followed a third victory in a row for the Dodgers (38-25).

Making his first start since May 26, Alex Wood was charged with three runs across 5 2/3 innings. Two scored after his departure. Josh Fields surrendered a three-run homer to Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco with two outs in the sixth that tied the score. Despite the ugly exit, Wood reported no soreness in his chest, which had sidelined him for the last two weeks.

“I was pretty gassed there in the last inning,” Wood said. “But I felt good overall.”

The offense battered rookie right-hander Asher Wojciechowski in the first. Utley led off with a single. Seager ripped an RBI double. Gonzalez delivered a sacrifice fly.

With two outs, the Reds shifted their infield against Bellinger and vacated the third-base line. Bellinger tried to drop a bunt, but popped the ball foul. He reconvened for the 1-2 pitch. Wojciechowski flipped a slider over the middle. Bellinger sent the ball soaring beyond the right-field fence for his 13th homer.

In Wood’s hands, the lead looked safe. He was the National League’s pitcher of the month in May, striking out 41 batters in 28 1/3 innings. After five scoreless innings against the Cubs on May 26, Wood underwent an examination that showed inflammation in the joint connecting his sternum to his clavicle. Initially expected to miss one outing, the team gave him another week off after his body was slow to respond to treatment.

By Saturday, Wood felt capable of competing. He retired the first six batters he faced. He fell into some trouble in the third against Gennett. Earlier in the week, Gennett became the 17th player in major league history to homer four times in one game. Wood managed to keep him in the park — except Gennett still stroked a curveball off the right-field wall.

Wood nearly escaped, but former Dodger Jose Peraza punched a two-out single through the left side of the infield. The Dodgers matched that with an RBI double by Utley in the fifth.

Then came the sixth. Wood had thrown 70 pitches. He often falters when facing batters for a third time. Roberts still felt confident Wood could handle another inning. The lack of stamina would haunt Wood.

“He got tired,” Roberts said. “And his stuff started to fall short.”

The trouble started during the first at-bat. Wood hit shortstop Zack Cozart with a fastball. After Chris Taylor leaped into the wall to rob Reds first baseman Joey Votto, third baseman Eugenio Suarez followed with a single. Roberts visited the mound as Wood prepared to face former Dodger Scott Schebler. He would be Wood’s last batter, going down on a three-pitch strikeout.

The crowd showered Wood with adulation as he left the diamond. Fields loped into the game with a 1.50 earned-run average. It was only his second outing since serving up a pair of homers on June 3 in Milwaukee. He would soon add another lowlight to a season without many.

Fields relies on elevated fastballs. He produces enough velocity to suppress opposing hitters, but the danger is always there. Mesoraco crushed an 0-1, 94-mph heater to tie the score.

“It’s a little bit easier to swallow, knowing I didn’t make a mistake,” Fields said. “He got to it. He was ready for it.”

In the eighth, Puig’s arm helped prevent a run. Puig dissuaded Votto from trying to reach second after a one-out hit against Pedro Baez. When Suarez singled, the threat of Puig’s arm held Votto at second. If Votto had doubled, he could have scored on Suarez’s hit. If Votto went to third on Suarez’s single, he could have scored on Schebler’s flyout. Instead, the score stayed tied.

“That really impacted that inning, and the game,” Roberts said.

Puig stroked a single in the ninth. Justin Turner came off the bench to single. Seager took care of the rest, with his first walk-off hit.

“That was his first one?” Roberts said. “I’m betting it won’t be his last.”

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Follow Andy McCullough on Twitter @McCulloughTimes