Although Will Smith didn’t start behind the plate on Sunday, he still was in the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup as the designated hitter for the series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It was a bit of a rarity as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts prefers to keep one catcher on the bench in the event of a possible injury to the other backstop. But with Cody Bellinger (recovering from illness) and Justin Turner (planned rest) not starting, Austin Barnes and Smith both found themselves in the lineup.
Smith hit in what’s become a his regular cleanup spot, and delivered a leadoff home run against Zach Davies in the second inning to give the Dodgers an early lead.
Smith’s blast to the pool area in right-center field capped off a 12-pitch at-bat and eased some frustration he felt for not coming up with a hit sooner, via SportsNet LA:
“I was kind of frustrated I hadn’t moved the ball forward before. But spoiled some good pitches he made and finally got one up and out over, and put a good swing on it. … It felt good. I’ll take the hit, take the RBI and all that.”
The homer was Smith’s fifth of the season, which is tied with Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger for third-most on the team. Mookie Betts leads the Dodgers — and National League — with 14 home runs, and he’s followed by Edwin Ríos’ six.
Dodgers’ Will Smith tied Mike Piazza
While Smith hasn’t yet found a consistent power swing this season, he previously tied Mike Piazza’s NL record for a catcher by hitting a 50th career home run in his 233rd game.
Piazza accomplished the feat in his age-26 season, while Smith turned 27 years old in March. Piazza reached 50 career home runs in 1995, when he was an All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner.
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