Over the weekend the Los Angeles Dodgers made MLB history behind Matt Beaty and Alex Verdugo hitting a walk-off home run in back-to-back games. They became the first set of rookie teammates to ever accomplish such a feat.
Will Smith not only extended their record on Sunday but put the team in yet another category by themselves. Smith’s blast gave the Dodgers four walk-off home runs hit by a rookie this year, setting an MLB record for most by players of that experience in a single season, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
The young catcher is now responsible for half of those, with his first walk-off home run coming against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 1. That game was also played at Dodger Stadium, and saw Smith’s homer carry over the short fence in left field for a first career homer.
Smith’s latest game-winner was even more impressive as he went to right-center field with just enough carry. The homer is his third this season.
Beaty began the Dodgers’ current streak with a line drive to center field for a two-run home run in the series opener against the Rockies. The following night Verdugo lifted a solo shot into the visitors’ bullpen in the 11th inning for his second home run of the game.
Overall, the Dodgers are the sixth team in MLB history to hit a walk-off home run in three straight games. They are the first club to win three straight games in walk-off fashion since the Oakland Athletics from May 6-8, 2017.
For the Dodgers, it’s the first time they’ve done so since May 31-June 20, 2010, against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
As players dressed in the clubhouse to depart for the airport and a chartered flight to Arizona, many questioned aloud if their record of three separate rookies hitting a walk-off homer in three straight games would ever be broken. The general consensus was it would not.
As for potentially making it a fourth consecutive game, Smith joked the onus now fell to Kyle Garlick.
