Yasiel Puig’s return from the 15-day disabled list was delayed by one day this week, with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts electing to give his outfielder an extra night off.
The decision in some regard was due to the Washington Nationals starting Stephen Strasburg, who has been one of baseball’s best pitchers thus far in 2016. Puig was activated from the DL on Tuesday, and went 1-for-3 with one run scored in the Dodgers’ victory.
On Wednesday, he provided another reminder of how electric he can be. The Dodgers entered the bottom of the ninth trailing by one run and facing the prospect of their season-high five-game winning streak coming to an end.
Pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick slapped a one-out single into right field, which brought Puig to the plate as the winning run. He snuck a base hit under Danny Espinosa’s diving attempt, and it turned into a walk-off Little League home run, because of Michael Taylor’s error:
Puig said after the game his goal was to run as far as his troublesome hamstring(s) would let him. As for running through Dodgers third base coach Chris Woodward’s stop sign, Puig said he didn’t see Woodward’s signal.
