Edman delivers walk-off as Dodgers lose Pages to hand fracture

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers had already begun to rediscover their rhythm.

Three straight wins. A sweep in Colorado. A 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night at Dodger Stadium gave them four straight. 

And yet, when the Dodgers celebrated Tommy Edman’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning, there was a feeling that the celebration came with a price.

Edman stepped to the plate with runners on first and third and two outs, and delivered the kind of hit that can change the mood of an entire clubhouse. He slapped a single into left field, bringing home the winning run and sending the Dodgers pouring out of the dugout.

It was particularly impressive considering how Edman had looked earlier in the night.

He entered the 10th inning 1-for-4 with three strikeouts and a single. Three times, the Pirates had beaten him.

But with the game on the line, Edman changed his approach. He didn't try to do too much. He put the ball in play and trusted himself, delivering when the Dodgers needed him most.

That has been the story of this Dodgers team during its recent turnaround: finding a way.

The Dodgers had been searching for that feeling for much of the past few weeks. They had lost 10 of their previous 15 games, including seven straight at one point, putting together their worst stretch of the season and allowing the National League race to tighten.

Then came Colorado.

The Dodgers swept the Rockies in three games, left Denver with some much-needed momentum and returned home looking like a team that had finally remembered what it was capable of.

Friday night continued that trend.

Max Muncy got things started with his 26th home run of the season, a go-ahead two-run blast in the first inning that continued his torrid hitting at Dodger Stadium.

Mookie Betts followed with a two-out, two-run single in the third, giving the Dodgers a 4-2 advantage.

And on the mound, Yoshinobu Yamamoto once again looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Yamamoto settled in after allowing two early runs, finishing his night with 6⅓ innings, five hits, two runs and nine strikeouts on 107 pitches. His ERA dropped to 2.61.

He deserved a win. He didn't get one.

With Yamamoto out of the game, Kyle Hurt allowed a game-tying two-run homer to Oneil Cruz, forcing the Dodgers into extra innings.

Then Evan Phillips inherited a bases-loaded mess in the 10th and somehow escaped it, preserving the opportunity for Edman to become the hero.

And Edman took it.

But the biggest story of the night wasn't the walk-off. It was Andy Pages.

Earlier in the game, Pages was hit in the hand by a 100 mph fastball. He left the game, and the Dodgers were left waiting for the results.

Those results arrived after the game. They weren't good.

Dave Roberts announced that X-rays revealed a fracture on the back of Pages' hand.

“X-Rays unfortunately came up as a fracture, so he'll be out for a while,” Roberts said.

The good news is that the injury is not expected to end Pages' season.

The bad news is that “out for a while” could mean four to five weeks, according to Roberts — a timeline that would bring Pages back just before the postseason.

For a Dodgers team thinking about October, that's a significant blow.

Pages has become an important piece of this roster, and Roberts made it clear that the club's first priority in replacing him will be defense in center field. The Dodgers will now have to figure out who can fill that role while Pages recovers, including whether the answer comes from within the organization or from a call-up.

That's the part of baseball that can be cruel. One moment, you're watching a team celebrate a walk-off win.

The next, you're wondering how long one of its important young players will be unavailable.

There was another subplot Friday night that mattered, too.

Kyle Tucker received a standing ovation in his first at-bat at Dodger Stadium, a sign that fans understand the player behind the numbers even as they continue to wait for the production to match the expectations.

Tucker entered the series against Colorado earlier in the week after struggling through a .232 season and an 0-for-26 skid. He showed some signs of life during the Rockies series, going 3-for-14 with an RBI and a run scored.

The Dodgers' fans wanted to help him find that version of himself again.

They made sure Tucker knew it.

In his first at-bat against Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler, Tucker saw six pitches before grounding out.

In his second plate appearance, he fell behind 0-2 before laying off four straight pitches outside the zone to draw a walk and load the bases.

His third at-bat ended with a fly ball to left against former Dodger Kirby Yates, and Tucker slammed his bat to the ground in frustration.

In the seventh, with the bases loaded again, he flew out to right. But his final at-bat ended up being much more important.

In the 10th, Tucker reached safely on a grounder to second, putting runners on the corners and setting the stage for Edman.

He didn't get the big hit. But he helped create the moment.

“I loved his at-bats tonight,” Roberts said. “I thought tonight he really competed, he controlled the strike zone.”

And maybe that's where Tucker can begin to turn things around.

Sometimes the first step out of a slump isn't a three-hit night or a dramatic home run. Sometimes it's simply controlling the strike zone, competing through difficult at-bats and finding a way to contribute.

Roberts noticed it. So did the fans. And Tucker clearly felt the support.

“That was great, that was great,” Roberts said of the standing ovation. “I love hearing the support. I know he felt it. That’s what fans should do. He’s grinding and he cares.”

The Dodgers are now 78-51 on the season, nine games ahead of the Padres in the National League West and two games behind the Brewers for the top spot in the National League.

The standings are moving in the right direction again.

But Friday night was a reminder that a long season rarely gives you everything you want.

The Dodgers walked it off. Edman became the hero. Yamamoto dominated. Muncy and Betts delivered.

Tucker showed encouraging signs. And the Dodgers won their fourth straight.

But somewhere in the middle of the celebration, the reality of Pages' injury settled in.

The Dodgers are heating up at exactly the time they need to. Now they have to hope they can keep doing it without one of their most important pieces.

On Saturday afternoon, Tarik Skubal gets the ball for his fourth start as a Dodger and his third at home.

The Dodgers will try to keep the streak alive. They'll also begin figuring out how to move forward without Pages.

For now, though, they can celebrate. Edman gave them the ending they wanted. Pages gave them the reminder they didn't.