Will Smith drove in two runs to begin an 11th-inning rally, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the San Francisco Giants 14-7 on Saturday night.
Smith, batting first in the inning after Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked, scored two runs with a strong double into the left-center field gap off Sean Hjelle (3-2). The Dodgers then put together five consecutive hits, with Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, Chris Taylor, and Jason Heyward all reaching base against Hjelle.
The game remained close until the 11th-inning outburst, with both teams scoring their automatic runners in the 10th inning. Miguel Rojas hit an RBI single for the Dodgers, and David Villar tied the game for the Giants with a double. However, Daniel Hudson (5-1) managed to escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam to send the game into the 11th inning.
“It was a long game, but the team showed incredible effort,” Rojas commented. “That’s just who we are as a team. We always fight and stay in games.”
The Dodgers have now won five of their last six games and hold a 6-2 record against the Giants this season. The seven-run margin of victory was their second-largest extra-inning win since records began in 1901.
“It was definitely unexpected,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about the sudden offensive surge. “Games like this are rare.”
The Giants had initially scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning, but the Dodgers responded with four runs of their own in the fourth to take a 6-5 lead. Brett Wisely then tied the game again in the fifth with an RBI single despite breaking his bat.
