Dalton Rushing delivers Dodgers to a walk-off win

Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing spun to face home plate umpire Dan Iassogna, holding up his mitt with the ball inside.

When that didn’t change the protected call, Dalton immediately pointed to the Dodgers dugout, masks in hand urging supervisor Dave Roberts to problem.

Robert’s arms flew up to his ears, asking for a replay review.

The stress in Dodger Stadium broke with the announcement: “The catcher touched the runner’s hand before he reached the plate…”

The crowd’s applause drowned out the remaining.

The go-ahead run had been on the road with that problem in the Dodgers’ eventual 8-7 win over the Rockies in 11 innings. And it began a wild sequence to the Dodgers’ first extra-innings recreation of the season that ended with Rushing hitting a walk-off single to heart discipline to rating Teoscar Hernández.

That brawl with the Rockies — figuratively and virtually actually — completed with the Dodgers changing into the first group to win 60 video games this season.

“That’s a lot of wins,” Roberts said.

It regarded as if the Dodgers would coast to the mark. Dodgers nearer Tanner Scott took the mound in the ninth with a three-run lead. But after giving up an RBI double to Kyle Karros and a two-run double to Cole Carrigg the rating was tied. Only a strong relay throw home by second baseman Miguel Rojas and a profitable problem prevented Hunter Goodman from scoring a go-ahead run.

In the underside of the ninth, the Dodgers bought runners on first and second with two outs. That introduced up Andy Pages with two outs, but a profitable Rockies ABS problem confirmed a strikeout, sending the sport into the tenth.

That ended the Dodgers’ streak of 91 video games without additional innings, the second-longest a group has gone without enjoying an extra-inning recreation in the trendy period, behind only the 2005 Red Sox (99).

The drama wasn’t over. Two batters into the tenth, the benches cleared.

With one out and Carrigg on third, Jake McCarthy hit a sharp ground ball to Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who stepped on the bag and fired home.

Rushing flung his physique into the tag, but Carrigg was called protected.

Carrigg said one thing as started to stroll away, and Rushing spun around.

As the 2 exchanged phrases, Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez pulled his catcher away. But gamers from both dugouts and bullpens already started to spill onto the sphere.

“I think that what happened is Carrigg said something aloud, not directed at Dalton,” Roberts said. “Dalton thought something was directed at him. We cleared the air. Basically a big misunderstanding.”

Said Rushing: “I didn’t mean any harm by the tag or the way I reacted to the ball. Made sure he knew that. Told him I was just reacting to the baseball. I don’t expect it to go any further.”

After a temporary stoppage, Henriquez escaped without additional injury. And the Dodgers bought another shot, with Pages on second to start the inning.

Freeman’s groundout moved him to third. Then Mookie Betts drove him in with a comebacker over the mound and past flailing second baseman Edouard Julien.

Tucker then looped a single into no-man’s land. But the rally ended when Hernández’s liner up the center landed in the glove of Rockies right-hander Jimmy Herget, who just entered the sport, catching Kyle Tucker off first base for a double play.

In the eleventh, Henriquez bought out of the inning unscathed. He bought Julien to come out on a sacrifice bunt attempt and then began a double play himself. He punched the air as he walked off the mound.

“He’s calm in big spots, you’re starting to see it,” Roberts said. “He’s throwing strikes, throwing the breaking ball when he needs to and he’s now unfazed by certain moments and higher leverage. He’s a guy, certainly, we trust.”

In the end, Rushing — who already hit a pair of doubles and scored on Shohei Ohtani’s third-inning home run and fourth-inning two-run single — was the hero.

After Hernández made it to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tommy Edman, Dalton bought the end of his bat on a changeup and despatched it up the center, just out of attain of a diving Julien.

“Infield’s in, they’re kind of doing you a favor,” Rushing said. “So move the ball forward, good things happen. And it wasn’t pretty, but it worked.”

Rushing’s helmet twirled in the filth behind him as he jogged from first toward the middle of the sphere, prepared for the celebration that would meet him there.

“He plays with a lot of moxie,” said Dodgers beginning pitcher Eric Lauer, who held the Rockies to three runs in six innings. “And he definitely doesn’t back down to anybody, and we love him for that. He’s a great guy that you want on your team.”

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning against the Rockies on Monday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

Roster strikes

Dodgers right-hander Evan Phillips is in line to make his first major-league look since May 2025. Phillips only made seven appearances last season, beginning on the injured record with a strained rotator cuff before present process Tommy John surgical procedure in June.

“It’s going to be a lot different tonight getting back out there in a competitive game, the full atmosphere,” Phillips said. “Really excited about that. I feel like probably the past two weeks or so I really took a good turn in my rehab, started bouncing back even better, pitching more like myself, feeling more like myself. So really just happy to carry that over to these games and see how the second half treats us.”

In a pair of corresponding strikes, the Dodgers optioned right-handed reliever Paul Gervase to triple-A Oklahoma City and launched left-hander Jake Eder.

The Dodgers also designated catcher Chuckie Robinson for project and added right-hander Carlos Duran to the 40-man roster. Both gamers are set to keep in Oklahoma City, with Robinson accepting his outright project.