CINCINNATI — Will Smith might win the quietest batting title in baseball history.
The Dodgers catcher went 2 for 5 on Tuesday night, driving in two-out runs with each of his hits including a two-out RBI double in the top of the ninth inning that broke a tie and lifted the Dodgers to a 5-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
Smith’s offense has cratered in the second halves of the past three seasons as he dealt with the toll of catching in the major leagues. This year, though, he is pulling away in July, going 21 for 60 (.350).
With a .325 average for the season, Smith is lengths in front of the National League field. Only two other NL hitters – Padres star Manny Machado (.302) and Miami’s Kyle Stowers (.300) – with enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title are even hitting .300.
The rest of the offense has had a less productive July, scoring just 89 runs this month (28th in the majors). The Dodgers managed just two in the first six innings Tuesday while striking out 11 times against Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo. With three more against the Reds’ bullpen, the Dodgers have struck out 218 times this month, the fourth-most in the majors.
Those runs came on a home run by Tommy Edman in the second inning against Lodolo (a Damien High product). Briefly, it looked like that might be enough for Glasnow.
He allowed just one hit in the first three innings but walked two – foreshadowing of trouble ahead.
He walked Austin Hays with one out in the fourth inning then hung sliders to Jake Fraley and Noelvi Marte. The home runs they gratefully collected made it a 3-2 Reds lead. It was the first time in his major-league career that Glasnow had allowed multiple home runs on his slider in a game.
He had lost his way and he didn’t get it back. Jose Trevino led off the fifth with a double and Glasnow walked the next two batters to load the bases with no outs. That was it for him. Jack Dreyer and Ben Casparius nimbly escaped the combustible situation while allowing just one more run.
That kept the game close enough for the Dodgers to tie it in the seventh. After Michael Conforto drew a one-out walk, Mookie Betts, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman singled – the last two drove in runs with two outs after Shohei Ohtani had struck out for the fourth time in the game.
Conforto drew another walk to start the ninth inning. Betts flew out to right and Ohtani did the same, putting the ball in play for the first time on his night. With two outs, Smith got a 1-and-1 fastball from Reds reliever Emilio Pagan down and in. He drove it off the wall in left field, sending James Outman (pinch-running for Conforto) home with the winning run.
More to come on this story.
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