Rushing (HR, 3 RBIs) making most of everyday catcher's role in Smith's absence

PHILADELPHIA -- Dalton Rushing may not have the championship experience of Will Smith, but the young backstop has done his best to help the Dodgers bridge the gap of their three-time All-Star's absence due to neck inflammation that has lingered for a month and a half.

There has been a learning curve as Rushing has assumed the starting catcher role. He's had his share of lows, but Wednesday night was a high as he homered and knocked in three runs in a 9-5 win over the Phillies, helping the Dodgers take two out of three games at Citizens Bank Park.

It marked Rushing's fifth game this season with at least three RBIs, more than any Dodger except for Andy Pages, who has nine such games.

In his second year in the big leagues, Rushing has perhaps drawn more attention for his mercurial personality than his performance on the field. Amid all the ups and downs, he's emerged as a productive -- albeit streaky -- cog in the lineup, which is key for a Dodgers team that is not expecting Smith back from the injured list until mid-August at the earliest.

"If I can control the staff, if I can give us a chance to win every night -- essentially, that's all they ask of me," Rushing said. "Obviously, we've been winning baseball games and playing good baseball as well. So yeah, that's the main objective. And once again, anything I do with the bat is just a bonus."

The Dodgers did not have a hit off Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola until the third inning, when Rushing homered with two outs to cut L.A.'s deficit to 2-1. Rushing's 11th homer of the season traveled a Statcast-projected 438 feet to left-center and left the bat at 107.7 mph.

Rushing gave the Dodgers the lead in his next at-bat, lining a double into the right-field corner to bring home a pair of runs for a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth. The Phillies tied the contest in the bottom of the inning when Bryan De La Cruz took starter Eric Lauer deep for a solo shot, but the Dodgers surged back in front in the sixth on a two-run blast from Max Muncy, whose 229th homer with L.A. moved him out of a tie with Ron Cey for the fifth-most in franchise history.

It was all Dodgers from that point on, with L.A. also hanging a four-spot capped by a Tommy Edman bases-clearing triple in the eighth inning. Rushing went hitless in his final two at-bats, but still had his hands all over the victory.

"It's what I've done for years in the past," Rushing said. "I wasn't used to the [backup] role last year, and by no means do I want to say I wished for this opportunity. But I was making sure if it was given, that I was going to do my best to show them that I could play, show them I'm going to be in this league and play down here for as long as I possibly can."

Rushing has run with the opportunity to be the starting catcher after Smith's injury. His body of work has been strong despite some distinct hot and cold stretches, as he entered Wednesday with a 118 wRC+ that ranked seventh among catchers with at least 200 plate appearances. Smith, before his injury, had a 102 wRC+, still a tick above average but lower than his career norm.

"What stood out is he's learning on the run, learning on the job, thrust into it," manager Dave Roberts said. "But I do think that the last couple weeks, some of the struggles have helped him, and I think they'll help him down the road, whether it's at bat, behind the plate and staying with game plans, and things like that."

Rushing had gone hitless in his last nine games entering Wednesday. In the nine games before that, he reeled off a 12-for-29 (.414) stretch. Finding consistency amid the ebbs and flows of baseball is one way in which the Dodgers would like to see their young catcher continue to grow.

"He's just got to continue to keep controlling emotions, take good at-bats, and stick to that mindset," Roberts said, "and then it'll be really fun to watch him as a player. Certainly, having Will down, we need him right now. We need him to be the player that he expects, that we expect, and that comes with a mindset."