Will Smith makes Dodgers postseason history

There have been a lot of great games in Dodgers postseason history. There have also been a lot of players. However, through the decades and decades of the storied franchise, something happened on Thursday night that had never been done before.

After going 0-for-11 to start his postseason, catcher Will Smith snapped his streak with a five-hit night. No Dodgers player had ever recorded five hits in a postseason game prior to tonight.

“I didn’t see that one coming,” Smith said following the game. “I’ll take it.”

So will the Dodgers.

On the night, Smith finished 5-for-6 with three RBI. This production shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Smith was hitting the ball harder than arguably anyone else on the team through the first week of the postseason.

“He wasn’t getting rewarded for it,” Justin Turner said. “It was awesome tonight to see hm get results. He’s been good all year. He stays in the strike zone better than anyone, he hits the ball harder than anyone. He kept showing up and working and it paid off tonight.”

Smith said that although his numbers weren’t reflecting how his at bats were going, he still tries to take it one at bat at a time. He said as long as he’s giving the Dodgers quality at bats and is making quality contact, he’s happy. “Each new at bat I could help the team win, it was nice to get some hits tonight.”

Yes it was. Following the game, he said he was doing some rituals with the hitting coach prior to the game. He wouldn’t go in to detail as to what exactly it was they did... but hey, it worked.

Smith kicked things off with a double in the second, snapping his 0-for-11 streak. His next hit came in the fourth inning, as he singled in Mookie Betts to give the Dodgers a comfortable five-run lead. Smith then added two more singles, one coming in the sixth and one coming in the eighth. Finally, he got his record-breaking hit in the ninth, a double to right field to bring in two more runs.

“I think he’s continuing to take good at bats,” Dave Roberts said following the game. “Finally, he got some luck. I was happy for him.”