Will Smith lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a win over the New York Mets in 10 innings snapped the club’s streak of losses in extra innings at 11 games, which was one shy of tying the MLB record held by the 1969 Montreal Expos.
“We’ve struggled this year in extra innings, so yeah, it was nice to come out ahead and have some momentum for [Saturday],” Will Smith said after hitting a two-run home run that proved to be the difference.
Prior to Friday, the Dodgers’ last win in extras came April 16 when they defeated the San Diego Padres in 12 innings at Petco Park. The game memorably was sealed by Mookie Betts making a diving catch that earned Play of the Week honors.
On top of ending their futility in extra innings, the Dodgers’ 6-5 win in the series opener at Citi Field improved their record to 14-21 in one-run games this season. Only the Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins have more one-run losses this year with 23 each.
Per SportRadar research, the difference between the Dodgers’ winning percentage in one-run games and contests decided by at least two runs (57-25, .695) is the largest difference for any National League team since 1900.
“It’s baseball. Like I’ve said, I can’t explain all those losses, but I can tonight explain we got a big hit from Will and Kenley went out there and pitched two innings,” manager Dave Roberts said.
“Just huge performances by our ballclub. We checked a couple boxes off with the one-run and extra-inning game. … Honestly, it just feels good to win that game. Julio put us in a good spot. Offensively, we had a four-run cushion and let the lead slip away.
“To just win the baseball game, I don’t think anyone in that clubhouse cares how we did it. Just happy that we won the ballgame.”
Turner finds silver lining in Dodgers losing close games
Although the Dodgers uncharacteristically have struggled in one-run games this season, Justin Turner downplayed any serious concern.
“I mean, obviously you’d rather win the close games than lose them, but it also tells me that we were in a lot of those games,” he said. “We’re one swing away from tying or winning a lot of those games.
“Like I said, obviously want to win as many games as possible — whether it’s one run or more — but it also means we’re not getting our butts kicked out there. We’re one swing away from tying or winning all these games.”
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