The Los Angeles Dodgers evened their weekend series against the San Francisco Giants with a seven-run victory to set up a Sunday rubber match. And while the 14-7 score looks as though L.A. won with ease, the reality of the game was far from that.
The Dodgers trailed 5-2 after three innings behind a rough start from Tyler Glasnow, but rallied to send the game to extra innings. In the 10th inning, the Giants had the bases loaded with one out in a 7-7 game before Daniel Hudson was able to record a strikeout and a popout to keep the Dodgers alive.
That led to the 11th inning. Will Smith broke open the scoring with a two-run double. From there, Freddie Freeman, Chris Taylor, Jason Heyward and Miguel Rojas all followed by driving in runs in what wound up being a seven-run inning to secure the win.
Not only that, it helped the Dodgers achieve something their franchise has only done once before in the last 125 years, via Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
today’s 7-run victory was the Dodgers’ 2nd-largest extra-inning win since at least 1901, behind only:
8/29/54 at Braves, won by 8 in 11 innings https://t.co/05Ig5sUlmX
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) June 30, 2024
Even with the injuries to players like Mookie Betts and Max Muncy, the Dodgers still have a way of being able to run up the score. L.A. is no stranger to massive innings, but to do so in the 11th with the game on the line shows a deep lineup capable of performing in the biggest moments.
All nine Dodgers players in the lineup batted in the 11th inning, and only two — Gavin Lux and Kiké Hernández — recorded non-run-scoring outs.
Miguel Rojas: Dodgers always going to fight
According to Rojas — who tallied an RBI in the 11th as part of a 3-for-5 night with four RBI — the reason the Dodgers were able to pull through on Saturday is their ability to fight. He believes the Dodgers will always be able to keep themselves in, and eventually win, tough games because of that ability.
He thinks the Dodgers showed that in the way they came back in the fourth inning after Glasnow’s tough third. Then did so again in the 11th when they nearly lost the game in the 10th.
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