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Will Smith is the real deal.
The young catcher drove in six runs in the Dodgers 9-2 win over the Nationals. He was 3-for-3 with a sacrifice fly and a solo home run, with the six RBI setting a Los Angeles Dodgers record for rookie catchers, surpassing Mike Piazza who had five. His performance was doubly impressive because it comes in his first 10 career games.
According to @baseball_ref, Will Smith is one of 15 Major Leaguers all time with a 6-or-more-RBI game in his first 10 big league games. Two Brooklyn Dodgers are on the list: Spider Jorgensen (1947) and Bernie Hungling (1922).
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) July 27, 2019
(Note that Hungling was also a catcher.)
Clayton Kershaw earned his ninth win of the season with his great performance on Saturday. He only gave up one hit after a first inning blip where he allowed two earned runs to score. The lefty struck out nine batters, which is tied for his second-most Ks in a game this season.
He also went at least six innings for the 18th time this season, which is all his starts!
The Dodgers were unable to do any damage against Matt Grace, the Nationals opener, in the first two innings. Grace pitched a pair of perfect innings with three strikeouts. But when Grace was replaced by Joe Ross, the offense started to have their act together. The Dodgers smacked nine hits and scored seven runs off of the righthander, including Smith’s home run.
Joe Kelly was the only blemish to the Dodgers bullpen performance on Saturday afternoon, giving up one run via a home run. Caleb Ferguson and JT Chargois each pitched a scoreless inning.
Saturday particulars
WP: Clayton Kershaw (9-2), 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 9 K
LP: Joe Ross (0-3), 4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Home runs: Will Smith (4), Yan Gomes (5)
Up next
The Dodgers look to take the sweep against the Nationals on Sunday with Walker Buehler on the mound. The Fresh Prince of LA is also going to be in the lineup tomorrow.