Tommy Edman was not in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup for the series opener against the Miami Marlins, but his presence was certainly felt by the time the game came to an end.
Edman pinch-hit for Miguel Rojas in the bottom of the eighth inning and lined out to center field after Max Muncy led off with a single. The Dodgers were looking to recover from blowing a 5-0 lead earlier in the night.
Edman’s second at-bat of the game produced a walk-off, two-run single on the first pitch he saw. The walk-off hit was Edman’s sixth of his career but first with the Dodgers.
It came on a night in which he didn’t start for the first time this season.
“It was a little different,” Edman said of not being in the lineup. I”n the beginning part of the day I did some more recovery stuff and not as much baseball. Then once the game started I kind of started to take some swings and get ready for whatever situation might arise.
“I knew I just had to stay locked in because anything can happen. Obviously a situation came up that I had to go into the game. I was locked in and ready to go.”
While Edman had already produced his fair share of highlights through the first 28 games of the season, he had fallen into a recent slump. Edman entered off the bench hitless in five of his last seven games.
“It feels good to get that walk-off in front of the home crowd. Just being able to put a good swing on that one, get the ball off the ground a little bit, it helps out with confidence,” he said.
“Hopefully I can continue it tomorrow.”
Dave Roberts wants to get Tommy Edman rest
The Dodgers as an organization are mindful of managing players’ workloads, particularly the pitching staff and Will Smith. But if manager Dave Roberts had his druthers, Edman would not have been needed on Monday night.
“Ideally, I would’ve liked to have given him a full day off, but I just felt at that moment in time, inserting him in the eighth inning was the best chance to win the game,” Roberts said.
“But I do think him not having a start was a good mental blow for him. He’s played a lot, but whatever it takes to win a game, and he’s all-in on that.”
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