The Los Angeles Dodgers earned their third straight victory on Wednesday night, defeating the Texas Rangers, 3-2, in 11 innings at Dodger Stadium to complete their first walk-off of the 2018 season.
The way the Dodgers won was quite unusual, as with the bases loaded and one out in the 11th, Austin Barnes hit a chopper back to Rangers reliever Matt Bush. He spun and made an off-balance throw home, which was a bit wide and pulled catcher Carlos Perez off the plate.
Perez was not able to cover and touch home, and Kiké Hernandez was able to avoid his tag attempt to score the winning run. Hernandez began the inning with a walk and made a heads-up play by tagging up to take second base on a fly out to left by Cody Bellinger.
Earlier in the game, Justin Turner got the scoring started for the Dodgers in the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run off Cole Hamels. The long ball was just Turner’s second of the season, as he has not seen his power come back yet coming off a fractured wrist.
Kenta Maeda went five innings, giving up just five hits and two runs in his first start back from a disabled list stint that was due to a hip injury. The bullpen was flawless in relief of Maeda, combining to toss six shutout innings with seven strikeouts to help out the offense, which struggled for most of the night.
One other play of note from the game came in the bottom of the third inning when Matt Kemp was thrown out at home on a base hit to right by Hernandez. The play did not come without controversy though as Kemp barreled over Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos to cross home, which prompted the benches clearing and some shoving. Both players were ejected for the extracurriculars.
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