It didn’t take long for Kendall George to make his mark after returning from injury.
George -- the Dodgers’ No. 13 prospect -- is just one of a massive group of highly touted outfield talent in Los Angeles’ system and with Double-A Tulsa. But he was the hero Tuesday night.
George collected four hits in his second game back with the Drillers, including the walk-off single that gave Tulsa a 4-3 win over Springfield at ONEOK Field. It was George’s second four-hit game of the season.
With the game knotted at three runs apiece entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the bottom of Tulsa’s order set the table to George in the leadoff spot. Frank Rodriguez singled, Kole Myers walked and Jose Izarra completed a successful sacrifice bunt to move them into scoring position.
George then watched a pair of balls go by before pouncing on an 0-2 pitch down in the zone. He flared it to center field on a line to score Rodriguez. Teammates met him just beyond first base for a raucous celebration.
This was the second walk-off knock in George’s career, joining a 10th-inning single for then-Dodgers Single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga in 2024.
COMPLETE DODGERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
George’s big night on Tuesday featured a 4-for-4 performance overall, while a seventh-inning walk meant he reached safely in all five of his plate appearances. He singled in the first inning, tripled and scored on a balk in the third, singled in the sixth and ended his day with the walk-off in the ninth.
The 21-year-old returned to Double-A on Saturday after five rehab games with Single-A Ontario. In the middle of an excellent season, George suffered an unlikely injury to his patellar tendon while jumping to avoid a collision with Tulsa’s bat dog in late May.
The speedy 2023 first-rounder is seemingly back to full health, quickly improving on his season slash line of .344/.429/.415. George has stolen 27 bases in 45 games while scoring 53 runs.