Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn’t view the catching tandem of Will Smith and Austin Barnes as a starter and backup, instead referring to them as “1 and 1A” earlier this spring.
On Wednesday, the two Dodgers backstops were in the lineup against the Chicago White Sox and both contributed in a 4-3 win. After the Dodgers fell behind in large part due to Barnes’ throwing error, Smith tied the game with a leadoff home run in the second inning.
The homer was Smith’s first of the spring in nine Cactus League games. He’s now hit safely in four of the past six games. Wednesday was also the first time Smith has played back-to-back days, but Roberts indicated that should become more common moving forward.
With the game still tied in the third inning, Barnes delivered a go-ahead double with two outs. Gavin Lux, who walked with one out, raced around from first base to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.
Leadoff 💣 for Will Smith to start the 2nd! #DodgersST pic.twitter.com/6J8fzkHbP8
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) March 17, 2021
That advantage held until the eighth inning when Ryan Noda was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Rangel Ravelo followed with an RBI single. The insurance runs at the time wound up being necessary as Ryan Pepiot struggled in the bottom of the ninth.
He surrendered a leadoff home run and gave up a second run before coming out of the game with two outs. Enny Romero inherited a bases-loaded jam but quickly retired Billy Hamilton to wrap up the win.
Strong Dodgers pitching
Although Pepiot almost allowed the game to get away, the Dodgers received encouraging pitching performances from Walker Buehler, Kenley Jansen, Corey Knebel and Scott Alexander. Buehler allowed just one run and collected five strikeouts over four innings of work.
Jansen, Knebel and Alexander followed that with one inning each. Jansen added to his dominance this spring and now has struck out nine of 16 batters faced over his five relief appearances.
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