The Los Angeles Dodgers’ visit to Yankee Stadium this week was just their second all-time during the regular season. They are of course historic rivals, with the Yankees winning eight of 11 World Series matchups.
Prior to Monday the Dodgers’ last time playing in the Bronx was in June 2013 when the two clubs split a doubleheader. On top of the rare visit, there was added intrigue as the Dodgers started rookies Jose De Leon and Julio Urias, and Clayton Kershaw during the three-game set.
There was a strong contingent of Dodger fans in attendance for the series opener, which saw De Leon turn in five innings of work.
He earned the win and said after the game he was motivated to beat the Yankees, because of his childhood days as a Boston Red Sox and Nomar Garciaparra fan.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, extended it to 4-0 in the second, and led 6-1 after three innings. They cruised to an 8-2 victory, buoyed late by solo home runs from Yasiel Puig and Justin Turner.
The pinch-hit home run was Puig’s first of his career. He remained in the game in right field and recorded the final out on a Ronald Torreyes fly ball. After making the catch, he threw the ball into the stands but Dodgers fan Alyssa Gerharter didn’t react quickly enough, via the New York Daily News:
“I saw it coming at me and I remember thinking, ‘I don’t have a glove to catch this ball,'” Gerharter told the Daily News. “And I think I put my hands up in front of my face. I saw it was coming at me and registered that it was coming at me, and I felt it hit me. It wasn’t so much painful as it was shock. So I felt it hit me and I could feel immediately with my tongue there’s a hole. And I looked down at my hand and saw there’s a tooth in my hand.”
Gerharter posted a before-and-after of the incident on her Twitter account:
Just got home from the ER… But at least we won the game? @YasielPuig @Dodgers pic.twitter.com/RxwR4HiC12
— Alyssa Gerharter (@alyxxg) September 13, 2016
Although Puig did not play Wednesday, he met with the Gerharter, via Twitter:
Had to make sure my friend was ok after she was hit with a ball #PuigMyTooth ⚾️?? pic.twitter.com/D2PLptUX39
— Yasiel Puig (@YasielPuig) September 15, 2016
The Dodgers came away with a 2-0 victory in the rubber match, sparked by Justin Turner’s go-ahead double in the ninth inning.
