PHILADELPHIA — Dalton Rushing may not have the championship experience of Will Smith, but the young backstop has done his best to help the Dodgers bridge the gap of their three-time All-Star’s absence due to neck inflammation that has lingered for a month and a half.
Rushing homered and knocked in three runs in Wednesday night’s 9-5 win over the Phillies, helping the Dodgers take two out of three games at Citizens Bank Park. It marked Rushing’s fifth game this season with at least three RBIs, more than any Dodger except for Andy Pages, who has nine such games.
The Dodgers did not have a hit off Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola until the third inning, when Rushing homered with two outs to cut L.A.’s deficit to 2-1. Rushing’s 11th homer of the season traveled a Statcast-projected 438 feet to left-center and left the bat at 107.7 mph.
Rushing gave the Dodgers the lead in his next at-bat, lining a double into the right-field corner to bring home a pair of runs for a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth. The Phillies tied the contest in the bottom of the inning when Bryan De La Cruz took starter Eric Lauer deep for a solo shot, but the Dodgers surged back in front in the sixth on a two-run blast with Max Muncy, whose 229th homer with L.A. moved him out of a tie with Ron Cey for the fifth-most in franchise history.
It was all Dodgers from that point on, with L.A. also hanging a four-spot capped by a Tommy Edman bases-clearing triple in the eighth inning. Rushing went hitless in his final two at-bats, but still had his hands all over the victory.
Rushing has run with the opportunity to be the starting catcher after Smith’s injury. He has been streaky at the plate, but he entered Wednesday with a 118 wRC+ that ranked seventh among catchers with at least 200 plate appearances. Smith, before his injury, had a 102 wRC+, still a tick above average but lower than his career norm.
