On April 29, the Los Angeles Dodgers hosted the Philadelphia Phillies in what initially was nothing more than an early-season matchup. By the end of the night, the Dodgers had their best and most memorable highlight of the 2017 season.
Brandon McCarthy struggled to find a groove, as he gave up two home runs and an RBI single, and four overall runs in just five innings of work. The Phillies carried a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, and with closer Hector Neris coming on it looked as if the game was just about over.
But Yasiel Puig gave the Dodgers a glimmer of hope when he led off the inning with a towering home run to left field, cutting the Dodgers’ deficit in half. Then Cody Bellinger, who’d already hit the first home run of his career, made it back-to-back homers by clanking one off the foul pole in right field.
With an opportunity to do something special, Justin Turner stepped to the plate and on the second pitch of his at-bat capitalized on that opportunity by hitting the Dodgers’ third straight home run.
The crowd at Dodger Stadium erupted as Turner rounded the bases, and broadcaster Joe Davis uttered the two most memorable words of the 2017 season: “Absolute madness.”
While the moment was special and that alone could make it the top highlight, the comeback was not yet complete. Later in the ninth inning, Adrian Gonzalez stepped to the plate with two on and two outs.
He hit a chopper to the left side that skipped off Maikel Franco’s glove and rolled into shallow left field, resulting in the winning run scoring from second base.
Complete ranking of Dodgers top highlights from 2017 season:
1. ‘Absolute Madness’ comeback
2. Kyle Farmer walk-off double in MLB debut
3. Yasiel Puig’s walk-off hit, bold claim
4. Yasiel Puig’s game-winning home run against Marlins
5. Ninth-inning rally on Diamondbacks closer Fernando Rodney
6. Pinch-runner Ross Stripling scores winning run from first base
7. Cody Bellinger hits for cycle against Marlins
8. Corey Seager’s first career walk-off hit
9. Justin Turner’s walk-off against Braves
10. Fifth consecutive NL West title clinched
