GLENDALE, Ariz. -- You have to go back more than 10 years to find the last time the Dodgers went five regular-season games without going deep. And yet this spring, the back-to-back champions were undefeated through five games -- but had yet to leave the yard.
Not that anyone was worried about the power drought. It's Spring Training, and none of the games really mean anything beyond getting ready for the ones that count.
But at long last, the homerless streak came to an end, and at the hands of the man who hit the final home run of the Dodgers' previous season. Will Smith broke the ice with the first long ball of L.A.'s spring, a game-tying solo shot in the fifth inning of Thursday's 7-6 win over the White Sox at Camelback Ranch.
The last homer that Smith hit meant a whole lot more than the one he hit on Thursday. His 11th-inning home run off Shane Bieber in Game 7 of the World Series held as the winning run that sealed the first back-to-back championship Major League Baseball had seen in a quarter century.
But still, it was somewhat fitting that Smith was the first to go deep.
"I guess he was the guy that went back to back as far as the last one of the season, first in the spring," manager Dave Roberts said. "I guess it was fitting. … He's just playing good baseball, and he's another guy we're gonna miss once he joins Team USA."
Once Smith went yard, it opened the floodgates. Non-roster invitee Keston Hiura and Hyeseong Kim went back to back one inning later, putting the Dodgers back on top. They still have not lost this spring -- which, again, means little in the grand scheme of things other than that their overall quality of play has been good.
The Dodgers are already playing shorthanded, and they'll be without other key players soon. Shohei Ohtani was the first to leave for the World Baseball Classic. Kim departs Thursday night, followed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto after his Friday afternoon start. Smith and Edwin Díaz will leave sometime after this weekend. That's not to mention that the team has yet to play Mookie Betts, who has still not seen Cactus League action as he ramps up slowly.
Needless to say, the Dodgers are not trying to win the spring. They're unconcerned about not hitting for power at this time of year. But they're still pleased by the things they are doing well at this early juncture.
"Guys are taking good at-bats. Swinging the bat well," Roberts said. "I've talked about the at-bat quality, I like what we're doing. Defensively, guys are showing out. The guys that are going to be with us to start, they all pitched well today, which is good to see. We're piecing it together."