The Los Angeles Dodgers needed a hero to save them from a dreaded sweep of their top rivals, the San Diego Padres.
In the critical game, it came in the form of young star Dalton Rushing hitting a clutch three-run home run off Jeremiah Estrada. As the two teams continue to bounce back and forth in the National League West standings, everyone in the baseball community is hoping for a Dodgers-Padres playoff series. Even Rushing himself seems ready for the moment as a young 24-year-old catcher.
Padres-Dodgers continues to be MLB's fiercest rivalry
The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya gave some insight into Rushing's big home run, and what it meant for the series:
"With his team on the verge of getting swept, he unloaded on a full-count slider from Jeremiah Estrada and sent a moonshot into the sun-soaked stands to stir the Los Angeles Dodgers offense to life, salvaging a weekend that could've dropped them into second place."
As of now, the Padres are two games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, with about 30 games left to be played for both clubs. However, their season series is over, and if they match up again, it would be in a highly anticipated playoff series.
Rushing recently spoke about the moment of hitting the big home run and potentially seeing the Padres again:
"Moving forward, I know what that moment feels like," Rushing explained. It's going to come again. Whether it's the regular season, or when it's the postseason when we see these guys again."
Rushing has a good reason to be confident against the Padres after his heroics, and especially off Estrada, who Los Angeles has tabbed for 13 runs in just 6.1 innings this season. Both Los Angeles and San Diego are poised to play in October, but it remains to be seen if the two bitter rivals will square off against each other.