Smith had to live out a scenario that many imagine growing up would be a Game 7, and when it was his moment, he made sure he made the most of it.
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“You dream about those moments, you know, extra innings, putting your team ahead – I’ll remember that forever,” Smith said.
The All-Star backstop gave his team its first lead of the night, and especially after the way his regular season ended, the colossal moment of his own making couldn’t have been better described.
Smith broke his right hand on September 3 after a foul ball made direct contact with him. He was scheduled to play another game a few days later, but was then moved to the injured list, ending his regular season.
The backstop was left out of the Wild Card round, but made his first postseason appearance during Game 1 of the NLDS and has played every game since. He finished the postseason with a .276 batting average and a .777 OPS. He collected eight RBIs and a pair of home runs, both of which came in the World Series (Games 2 and 7).
From Max Muncy’s solo shot in the top of the eighth inning to erase the deficit, to Miguel Rojas unleashing the game-tying home run with one out to go in the ninth inning (his first hit in a calendar month), to Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching the final 2.2 innings of the game on zero days’ rest, Smith was the final piece of the puzzle, choosing a perfect moment to deliver the hit of a lifetime.
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Photo credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn images
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