Dodgers continue Jackie Robinson Day dominance on Will Smith homer

By Steve HensonStaff Writer

April 15, 2025 Updated 11:25 PM PT

Share via
- Email
- Facebook
- X
- LinkedIn
- Threads
- Reddit
- WhatsApp

Two sloppy tendencies — one involving gloves, the other bats — repeatedly cost the Dodgers during a slipshod 10-game stretch that followed their 8-0 start to the season: uncharacteristic defensive miscues and an inability to lay off pitches out of the strike zone.

Both were solved early and emphatically in a 6-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers improved to 17-4 on Jackie Robinson Day, the April 15 tradition since 2004 that celebrates and honors the anniversary of the Dodgers’ Black Hall of Fame infielder breaking the color barrier in 1947.

“This is an emotional day for me,” said the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, who along with the Angels’ Ron Washington and the Chicago White Sox’s Will Venable are the only Black manager in the majors.

“People that have certainly never seen Jackie Robinson, just hear some stories, are trying to live in a way that he lived. And that’s something that is so powerful for me.”

Because the Dodgers didn’t chase errant pitches, they chased Rockies starter Ryan Feltner in 2 2/3 innings after he walked six and threw 81 pitches, leading to one run in the second inning and four in the third.

Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman walked, then jogged home when Will Smith crushed a first-pitch sinker over the left-field wall in the third. Smith continued his hot start — his .482 on-base percentage entering the game was the best in baseball — with his second homer of the season, improving his on-base-plus-slugging percentage to 1.026.

“He’s just that steady presence in the middle of the lineup,” teammate Tommy Edman said of Smith. “He always has good at-bats and always seems to come through in those big moments.”

Edman had good at-bats of his own. He doubled with two out in the third — one of his four hits — and scored after Max Muncy walked on Chris Taylor’s single to extend the lead to 5-0. One more walk, this one to Andy Pages, and Rockies manager Bud Black had seen enough, lifting Feltner, who in September had pitched six scoreless innings against the Dodgers.

“That’s exactly the model for what this offense can do: build innings, create stress, then get the big hit,” Roberts said. “I thought we controlled the strike zone really well, got to the starter again and found a way to win a ballgame.”

The Dodgers also made outstanding defensive plays that helped strand runners in each of the first four innings and enabled spot starter Landon Knack to navigate 4 1/3 innings in 65 pitches, including 41 strikes.

With a runner on second and none out in the second inning, second baseman Edman knocked down a hot smash from Mickey Moniak, scooped up the ball and threw him out by a whisker. Then with two out, shortstop Mookie Betts made a slick backhand play deep in the hole and retired Jacob Stallings on a one-hop throw to first.

With a runner on second and none out in the third inning, center fielder Taylor made a diving catch on a line drive directly in front of him, and Knack again stranded the runner. The Rockies scored two runs in the fourth on a two-out double by Jacob Stallings, and Knack exited after retiring the first batter in the fifth, having gone through the lineup twice and faced Ezequiel Tovar a third time.

Roberts said that for a young starter to face a lineup a third time, he needs to have command of his entire arsenal of pitches.

“Tonight his stuff was fine, it wasn’t great,” Roberts said. “He competed really well. He did his job. He found a way to make pitches when he needed to.”

Knack’s previous start was a disaster, lasting only 2 1/3 innings and giving up five runs to the Washington Nationals. He felt he had something to prove Tuesday.

“I was just really determined to come out and just kind of attack a little more,” he said. “Obviously, I still had a couple walks in there, but overall, just a lot better direction with everything, a better feel coming out of the hand, and just getting after it a little bit more. Definitely a lot better feeling.”

The win was the Dodgers’ second in a row over the Rockies, which could be expected. Colorado is 3-14, including 1-10 on the road. The Dodgers, meanwhile, are 13-6, including 9-2 at home, and have won 32 of their last 42 games against the Rockies.

Teoscar Hernández sat out a second game in a row because of illness, but Roberts said the slugging outfielder would return to the lineup Wednesday.

Miller time to arrive early

Bobby Miller will start for the Dodgers on Wednesday, his first big league appearance since September, when he was so ineffective he was deemed unusable during the postseason.

Miller gave up 17 earned runs in 11 1/3 innings over three September starts, capping a perplexing and injury-riddled sophomore season. In 56 innings he posted an 8.52 ERA, the worst in baseball among pitchers who logged more than 50 innings.

It was a precipitous fall from the lofty expectations the Dodgers developed after Miller’s rookie season in 2023 when he went 11-4 in 124 1/3 innings, posting a perfectly acceptable ERA of 3.76 in 22 starts and looking every bit a mainstay of the rotation for years to come.

A bar chart looking at where the Dodgers stand next to the 1906 Cubs and 2001 Mariners for the most wins in a single regular season.

The former first-round draft pick out of Louisville appears to have returned to form at triple-A Oklahoma City this season, posting a 2.25 ERA while giving up only six hits in 12 innings over three appearances.

When he was demoted in September, Miller vowed to return to the Dodgers with a vengeance. Roberts said Miller will replace Knack, who will be sent back to triple-A.

“There is no doubt in my mind, whenever that may be, I’m going to be back better than I ever have,” Miller said.

He’ll get his first chance at fulfilling that promise against the Rockies.