Pederson lights the Dodgers flame – again

Saturday night’s Dodgers – Diamondbacks game was one of those games where the momentum kept swinging back and forth.

First it swung the Dbacks way when Dodger-killer Paul Goldschmidt slugged his sixth home run of the season with a man aboard in the first inning to make it 2-0 Arizona – momentum Dbacks.

Then it swung back the Dodgers way after a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning by Justin Turner followed by an RBI double by Adrian Gonzalez to tie the game 2-2 – momentum Dodgers.

The Dbacks stole the momentum and a 3-2 lead on a RBI single by Ender Inciarte in the top of the second inning – momentum Dbacks.

The Dodgers tied it 3-3 in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Scott Van Slyke – momentum Dodgers.

Dbacks second baseman Aaron Hill led off the top of the fourth with a solo home run to left to give the Dbacks a 4-3 lead – momentum Dbacks.

But just as he did the night before with his first career grand slam, 23-year-old rookie center fielder Joc Pederson lit the Dodgers flame when he hit an absolute monster 450-foot* opposite field solo home run to left-center with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game at 4-4 – momentum Dodgers.

Pederson's game-tying monster home run in the bottom of the seventh inning was the final momentum swing of the night. (Photo credit - Ron Cervenka)

Pederson gave the Dodgers the final momentum swing of the night with his solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game 4-4. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Ironically, Pederson’s blast topped his 446-foot grand slam to right field on Friday night, which itself was the longest home run by a Dodger at Dodger Stadium since Matt Kemp’s 454-footer against the Atlanta Braves on April 25, 2012.

With the flame now lit, Justin Turner followed Pederson’s solo shot with a two-out double to right, which was followed by a single to right by Howie Kendrick scoring Turner for a 5-4 Dodgers lead. The Dodgers added a huge insurance run in the top of the eighth inning on a RBI single to right by Jimmy Rollins – game, set, match.

Howie Kendrick's two-out RBI single in the seventh inning proved to be the game-winner for the Dodgers. (Photo credit - Ron Cervenka)

Howie Kendrick’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning proved to be the game-winner for the Dodgers. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

With his home run on Saturday night, Pederson became the first Dodger rookie to hit a home run in four consecutive games since Bill Sudakis did so in 1969.

 

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One Response to “Pederson lights the Dodgers flame – again”

  1. OldBrooklynFan says:

    That was truly a see-saw game Saturday night even though the Dodgers didn’t take the lead until the end. It was like someone swinging a child on a swing, stopping it from swinging all the way back to swing it back again .

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