Will Smith Hits Go-ahead Homer On His Birthday

It’s not about how you start it; it’s about how you finish it. Following in the script of Friday’s win, this time with even more drama, the Dodgers waited to take command of the game for the first time in the bottom of the eighth inning. Diamondbacks reliever Juan Morillo came in on the highest possible leverage spot, trying to protect a 2-1 lead with the top of the order up. Morillo retired Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker and appeared in line to survive this gauntlet, but Mookie Betts and Will Smith had other plans. Betts walked on four pitches, and Morillo fed Smith one too many high fastballs until Smith caught the timing of one and knocked it out of the park for a go-ahead two-run bomb.

The birthday boy decided the game felt a tad too cliché, but you won’t hear anyone complaining in the home crowd. Smith, who hit 12 of his 17 home runs last season at Dodger Stadium, already has two in his home park in 2026.

Before the Dodgers could find a way to take the lead in this game, they had to survive for a rather lengthy period despite very little offense, and that went through Tyler Glasnow. For all the control a pitcher has on the mound, his performance and the perception of it can be subject to what those around him will and won’t accomplish. Glasnow delivered, by all accounts, a rather productive game. Through six innings, the Dodgers starter allowed only five baserunners, two of whom came around to score; he struck out eight and walked only one. Glasnow did his part, and still, he most likely left the game with a bitter taste that wasn’t erased until that eighth inning, having trailed from start to finish, only because his offense couldn’t do anything behind him.

Moving to the other half of this pitching match-up, it doesn’t really work that way, but if it did, one might be inclined to argue that Eduardo Rodríguez was due for a good performance at Dodger Stadium—the southpaw had previously known a great struggle when pitching at this ballpark. Rodríguez, who came into this game boasting a 1-3 record in four starts away against the Dodgers, allowing a total of 12 runs in 19 innings, had his best performance at Chavez Ravine.

Kyle Tucker is a terrific player, but Rodríguez sort of showed the blueprint, not that it is a particularly easy one, for left-handers facing this current version of the Dodger lineup. Step one, don’t let Shohei Ohtani beat you—Rodríguez walked him in two out of their three duels—and step two, find a way to take care of business against Tucker. Rodríguez got Tucker the two times he followed an Ohtani walk, and in his third at-bat, the Dodgers’ right fielder reached following an error, thus prompting an end to Rodríguez’s outing. It is the first week of the season, but even with that in mind, Torey Lovullo was quite conservative, removing Rodríguez on 79 pitches after an error allowed Tucker to reach base to lead off the sixth. Sure, the righty-righty matchup against Mookie Betts made sense with Jonathan Loáisiga up next, and Freddie Freeman had been responsible for half of the Dodgers’ four hits up to that point, but Rodríguez had more left in the tank. It turns out that Freeman’s success was about him being Freeman, much more than anything related to Rodríguez. Loáisiga did his job against Betts, but Tucker would eventually score on a Freeman double, his third hit of the game. That run to cut the deficit to 2-1 at the time meant that Smith’s two-run blast could decide the game and not just give the Dodgers new life.

Ultimately, that early hook to Rodríguez meant that the Diamondbacks needed 12 outs from their bullpen to close out this game, and those were a few too many despite all of the Dodgers’ struggles.

While we are on the subject of birthdays, let’s consider Smith’s Homer a special gift to Eric Stephen. True Blue LA’s longtime Managing Editor and fellow birthday boy.

Game particulars

• Home run— Will Smith (2)
• WP— Will Klein (1-0): 1 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
• LP— Juan Morillo (0-1): 0.2 IP, 1 hit, 2 earned run, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts
• SV— Edwin Diaz (2): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

It’s a rare off-day at home for the reigning champs, as they don’t return to action until Monday night, when the Cleveland Guardians roll into town. Roki Sasaki will face Parker Messick; start time at 7:10 p.m (PT).