The primary standoff between players with a similar name in postseason history ended up being astoundingly earth shattering.
Enough, maybe, to reverse the situation in this National League Championship Series, even.
In a clash of Will Smiths that was five games really taking shape, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ adaptation set up a noteworthy at-bat against his Atlanta Braves partner, falling into a two-strike opening before clouting a full-check fastball into the left-field seats at Globe Life Field, a basic three-run grand slam for a club battling end.
It transformed a one-run Dodgers deficiency into a 4-2 lead heading into the lower part of the 6th in Game 5, with the Braves holding a 3-1 NLCS lead.
The Dodgers would go on to a 7-3 triumph, constraining Game 6 Saturday evening.
“That was a great AB,” Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, who slugged two grand slams, said of Smith’s down turning homer. “He battled his ass off the whole time, got a ball down and away and put a great swing on it.”
Smith, the Dodgers’ second-year catcher, and Smith, in his first year in the Braves warm up area, had met previously. The left-hander was the San Francisco Giants closer last season, and he experienced the Dodgers’ then-tenderfoot catcher with two outs in the lower part of the ninth of a 5-4 game on Sept. 7, 2019.
Smith the pitcher won at that point, striking out his more youthful partner to end the game.
Appeared to be a huge spot for a random data question. At that point came Friday night.
“I’ll always bet on our Will Smith,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts quipped.
With the two groups focused on warm up area games, Smith figured to come in ahead of schedule, and he was brought with two outs in the 6th, expressly to resign lefty slugger Max Muncy.
In any case, Smith tossed three sequential balls to Muncy, combat to a full tally before strolling Muncy, whose bat never left his shoulder.
In more straightforward occasions, that may have been it for Smith the pitcher. Yet, the new three-hitter least ordered the Smith-Smith matchup happen, and history was made.
Not that Friday’s legend was taking the trap on the peculiarity, all things considered,
“Who knows? It’s a common enough name,” he said.
Can’t envision what Act III will bring.
