Will Smith hits go-ahead HR on birthday, Dodgers sweep D-Backs

LOS ANGELES — The script couldn’t have been written any cleaner in Hollywood.

On a night that already carried the weight of celebration — a birthday, a bobblehead giveaway, and a packed house of 53,340 at Dodger Stadium — Will Smith delivered the kind of moment that has come to define both his career and this Dodgers team.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday night, Smith turned on a 98-mph fastball and drove it straightaway to center field, a no-doubt, go-ahead home run that lifted the Dodgers to a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks and completed a season-opening sweep.

“Late in innings we never feel like we’re out of the game; it always feels like someone is gonna come up with a big hit,” Smith said postgame. “Tonight it was me that got the big hit.”

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) celebrates with right fielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger St...

It felt inevitable, even if it didn’t look that way for most of the night.

Smith entered the eighth inning 0-for-3, emblematic of a Dodgers offense that sputtered through seven innings. They managed just four hits through the first five and only one more before Smith’s decisive swing — a quiet night that suddenly roared to life.

And yet, if there’s a setting where quiet nights flip into defining moments, it’s this one — and often, it’s Smith at the center of it.

Saturday marked his 31st birthday. He wasn’t even supposed to be in the lineup. Manager Dave Roberts had planned to give his catcher the night off after two straight starts. Smith had other ideas.

“We always talk about stuff and he was giving me the day off,” Smith said. “I kinda dropped the bobblehead card for tomorrow and he left me in there.”

It was a decision Roberts won’t second-guess.

“When you talk about big hits, clutch, you know Will is at the top of the list,” Roberts said.

The giveaway itself only added to the symmetry. The bobblehead commemorated Smith’s go-ahead home run in the 11th inning of Game 7 of the 2025 World Series — another pressure moment, another lasting image. Saturday became a real-time sequel.

“It’s fun,” Smith said. “You dream of those situations. I just feel prepared, feel calm, feel under control, not trying to do too much.”

Before the late-inning drama, Tyler Glasnow quietly authored a strong Dodgers season debut. The right-hander went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out six on 90 pitches.

His only real trouble came early. Corbin Carroll helped manufacture both Arizona runs — scoring in the first and driving in another with a sacrifice fly in the third — but Glasnow settled in from there.

“As the game went on, I got a better feel,” Glasnow said, noting improved command of his two-seamer.

From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen continued its early-season dominance. Alex Vesia and Will Klein combined for two scoreless innings, keeping the deficit at one and setting the stage for Smith.

Then came the trumpets.

For the second straight night, Edwin Díaz emerged from the bullpen to the now-familiar blare, and for the second straight night, he delivered. A clean ninth inning sealed his second save and preserved a perfect start for a bullpen that has yet to allow a run through three games.

“It’s great to have one of the, if not the best closer in the game,” Roberts said. “You can see the anticipation from the fans… right when Will hit the homer, everyone knew what else is to come.”

Earlier, it was Freddie Freeman who kept the Dodgers afloat. He reached base in his first three at-bats and sparked the offense with an RBI double in the sixth — the 548th of his career, tying Alex Rodriguez for 33rd all-time.

That swing nudged the Dodgers back into the game. Smith’s finished it.

A birthday. A bobblehead. A packed stadium. A late-inning comeback.

For the Dodgers, it was a perfect night. For Will Smith, it was just another reminder: when the moment finds him, he rarely misses.