Smith powers Dodgers to comeback victory over Brewers

Will Smith was a one man wrecking crew Friday night, jolting three home runs while Freddie Freeman provided the game-winning hit for the Dodgers in an 8-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Dodger Stadium.

Smith, who is a candidate to be an All-Star Game reserve at catcher in 10 days, boosted his stock by raising his home-run total to 14. The Dodgers rallied from a 5-2 deficit with six unanswered, shocking one of the majors best bullpens. 

Not long after Smith tied it with a solo shot off the foul pole in the seventh, Freeman lined a two-RBI single and gave the Dodgers the 7-5 lead. Teoscar Hernandez added an RBI double down the line to make it 8-5.

Evan Phillips earned the save with a clean ninth inning, overcoming a start in which Tyler Glasnow allowed five earned runs. 

The Dodgers are now 54-35 and in first place in the National League West. 

Here are the takeaways:

Smith joins elite company  

With his three home run performance, Smith became the fourth catcher in franchise history with a three homer game, joining Mike Piazza, Yasmani Grandal and Roy Campanella. 

Smith had been stumbling over the past month, hitting .234 in his last 30 games. There will always be slumps and large portions of time in a regular season where hitters don’t seem like themselves. 

Glasnow shelled again  

Tyler Glasnow has been touted as the Dodgers' ace since he arrived this spring. That was the case at the start of the season, but his ERA has ballooned every month — from 2.45 in April to 3.72 in June. 

Glasnow pitched six innings, walking two and giving up a grand slam to Rhys Hoskins. 

Glasnow, whose ERA has jumped to 3.47, struck out seven Brewers as his command appeared to be subpar. 

Bats come alive late 

Smith was the star of the night, Freeman and Hernandez provided the heroics. Since Mookie Betts was injured on June 17, they have have been hitting back-to-back in the lineup.

That pairing has jelled this week as Freeman and Hernandez have a combined two homers and 11 RBIs this week.

Freeman has not come up clutch in the past two postseasons, but this year he is proving to be a guy that you expect to do something productive in those situations. This season, 17 of his 58 RBIs have come in the eighth inning or later.

The Dodgers at 4:15 p.m. Saturday will send out left-hander James Paxton (7-2, 4.28 ERA) against Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta (6-4, 3.83).