0-for-4 with 3 K's? 'None of it matters' after Rushing knocks 1st career walk-off hit

LOS ANGELES -- Each time he made the walk from the batter's box to the home dugout, Dalton Rushing's frustration was plain as day, from the look on his face down to the cadence of his walk.

Rushing is not one to hide the emotions that accompany everything he does on the baseball diamond. He wears the lows and the highs on his sleeve for all to see. So on a night where he came up empty-handed in his first four trips to the plate, his relief was apparent when he came through in a big way in his final at-bat.

With the Dodgers down to their final out and the tying and winning runs on base, Rushing came up with the big hit his team needed against Orioles closer Ryan Helsley. Rushing drove a line-drive single to right field that brought one run home, and the other scored when the throw home from right fielder Tyler O'Neill got away from catcher Samuel Basallo, sealing a 6-5 walk-off victory for L.A. on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

It was Rushing's first career walk-off in the big leagues, turning the frustration that had built throughout the evening into pure elation as he was mobbed by his teammates.

"You're in that moment right there," Rushing said. "Nothing that's happened the first four at-bats, three at-bats, however many you had before, none of it matters."

By the end of the night, Rushing's trio of strikeouts earlier in the game weren't top of mind. The way he finished the game was.

"You strike out three times, you line out your first at-bat, you're frustrated, you're trying to stay in the game, calling games," manager Dave Roberts said. "And then the game's on the line, and it's your spot. And so for him to flush it all and to flip his entire game and help us win a ballgame was huge."

The Dodgers looked like they were in total control early on in Friday's contest. Roki Sasaki was sharp, and the bats struck quickly to build him an early lead on a Max Muncy two-run single in the first inning and an Andy Pages RBI double in the second.

But at that point, L.A.'s hold on the game slipped away. The Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out in the third inning only for 7-8-9 hitters Ryan Ward, Rushing and Alex Freeland to all go down swinging.

When Sasaki surrendered the tying runs on back-to-back homers in the sixth, and Will Klein gave up a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh, the bats remained quiet. Until the bottom of the ninth.

With one out, Mookie Betts took Helsley deep to cut the Orioles' lead to one run. Muncy and Ward drew walks to put two runners on for Rushing with two outs.

Rushing took a called first strike, then chased a slider in the dirt. He took a few steps out of the batter's box and seemed to say a few words to himself. He looked into the home dugout and saw Betts giving him a look of encouragement, which helped him clear his mind.

“It was just kind of a reset," Rushing said. "It’s one of those moments where you kind of have to take a second, step away and just go back to basic baseball. … Like, all right, move whatever pitch he throws forward, give us a chance to win the baseball game. Give us a chance to extend the baseball game in general."

Rushing was hunting a slider, but he ended up getting a 1-2 fastball that he could drive. He knew that he had at least tied the game once he saw the ball hit the outfield grass.

"I was just trying to get that run in on second," Rushing said. "The runner on first, just a bonus.”

With Will Smith on the injured list longer than expected while dealing with neck stiffness, Rushing has taken over starting catching duties. The second-year backstop has come back down to earth after his torrid April, but his development both at the plate and behind it has been apparent this year.

The Dodgers would like to see even more growth from Rushing moving forward.

"Letting the game come to you," Roberts said. "That's where that's not an emotional thing, that's just kind of trying to slow the game down."

By taking a moment to reset on Friday night, that's just what Rushing did.