Smith clobbers walk-off HR to lift Dodgers over Diamondbacks

LOS ANGELES  -- Off the bench. Into the batter's box. Swinging for the fences. That's exactly how Will Smith's afternoon went on Sunday as he lifted the Dodgers to a walk-off, 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

The all-star catcher's 17th home run of the season was a huge one, helping Los Angeles escape the grasp of a clean sweep for Arizona. He took a center-cut heater from John Curtiss and deposited it 420 feet, landing in a frenzy of Dodger faithful halfway up the bleachers in left field.

Incredibly, the Dodgers have bashed four pinch-hit walk-off home runs since 2019, with every single one coming off the bat of Smith. It's safe to say that the 30-year-old has a knack for coming through when the moment reaches its apex.

Despite Los Angeles holding a lead for the vast majority of the contest, Arizona found the cracks in Tanner Scott's armor to even the score in the eighth. After earning the first two outs of the inning with ease, back-to-back singles from Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte gave Corbin Carroll the chance he needed.

Scott served him a low fastball, which was ultimately skied just over the left field wall to make it 4-4. In the blink of an eye, the momentum from Yoshinobu Yamamoto's gem had evaporated.

Making his 26th start on Sunday, the ace was on a mission to turn the tide following the misfortunes of Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell in the first two games of the series. Yamamoto worked efficiently, carving out seven frames of four-hit baseball, matching a career-high as he fanned 10 Diamondbacks along the way.

Reaching double-digit strikeouts for the third time this season, the right-hander's determination was evident. He displayed elite breaking stuff to pair alongside a fierce heater, leaving the Arizona lineup searching for answers as the afternoon went on.

The Dodger batting order had his back early, scraping across two in the first. A pair of singles from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts got things going before Freddie Freeman's RBI double scored the game's first run. Andy Pages followed with a run-scoring groundout for the second run.

Miguel Rojas and Pages made sure to keep adding on, with Rojas bringing home another on a single in the fourth and Pages making it 4-0 with a base hit to left of his own in the fifth. A well-rounded Dodger attack chased Diamondback's starter Brandon Pfaadt off the mound after just 4 1/3 innings as the right-hander conceded eight hits for the second consecutive outing.

With the Padres falling short to the Twins, the division lead expanded to 2 games over their rivals down south - a much-needed turnaround following an uninspiring two games to open the series. The Dodgers will look to take the momentum of an electric victory on the road as they head to Pittsburgh for a three-game set against the Pirates at PNC Park.

Clayton Kershaw (9-2, 3.06 ERA) will toe the rubber in game one of the series on Tuesday, dueling Pirates' right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski (3-7, 3.86 ERA). Picking up wins in his last five starts, Kershaw will look to extend that streak to six against a Pittsburgh squad unbeaten in their last four series.

First pitch is scheduled for 3:40 p.m. PT.