Dodgers celebrate a walk-off while social distancing

Walk-off wins were old hat for the Dodgers in 2019, with a dozen of them last season. But that was in the Before Times, so while Saturday’s walk-off win over the Rockies might have felt normal in some sense, the lack of fans in the stadium coupled with social distancing protocols during a pandemic made things abnormal.

“The celebration at home plate, it was weird. It kind of felt like a Wii sports game,” Cody Bellinger, who hit the walk-off home run, explained. “Just jumping up and down, throwing your hands up in the air.”

When Bellinger hit ball, he didn’t see it off the bat, and didn’t know it was a home run until after he rounded first base. The Dodgers dugout knew, but it didn’t make it any less weird.

“I was pulling for it to get up over the wall, and then after it did it was kind of awkward. I yell out, ‘Social distance’ and I’m trying to figure out what to do,” manager Dave Roberts said. We’re used to, with walk-offs, jumping on each other. It was very awkward with no fans.

“It was really awkward, but I was trying to do my part.”

Hamstrung

Justin Turner scored the tying run in the seventh inning after leading off the inning getting hit by a pitch. He was hit on the hamstring, which swelled up. Turner received treatment after the game, and his status for Sunday’s game remains to be seen.

“It’s unlikely he’ll play third base, so it might be a DH or we just might give him another day,” Roberts said. “We’ll see how he responds to treatment, and how he comes in tomorrow.”

Turner has started 28 of the Dodgers’ 29 games.