The rookie Pages wins the battle
by Cary Osborne
Fighting. Lunging. Poking.
Andy Pages had the advantage.
Even though veteran Braves reliever Jesse Chavez fooled him with a third-pitch curveball in the bottom of the 11th inning on Friday at Dodger Stadium, Pages had the advantage.
The rookie outfielder was clearly not on the pitch, out in front of it but still managing to foul it off.
Then he checked his swing on another curveball, took another ball and fought off two more curveballs.
Chavez, who broke into the big leagues in 2008 when Pages was 7 years old, thought he’d take the rookie to school and go cutter in after six total pitches on the outside of the strikezone.
Pages put an easy swing down and connected, dunking the ball into a no-man’s land in center field for a walk-off RBI single.
“In those moments, I’m obviously not trying to get too anxious,” Pages said. “I’ve had experiences where I got a little bit out of character, but try to kind of be composed and do my job.”
Pages went 4-for-5 on Friday, giving the Dodgers the game-winner in a 4–3 extra-inning win against the Braves in a battle of goliaths.
The Dodgers are now 9–2 in their last 11 games since a 10–0 win against the Mets on April 21. Pages went 2-for-4 in that game with his first career homer.
The 23-year-old is 18-for-46 (.413) in the last 11 games with 11 RBI.
“For me, he’s stabilized our lineup,” said manager Dave Roberts. “He’s added length, played very good defensively out there in center field and right field and just the at-bat quality, he’s seen a lot of pitches, he’s swinging at strikes, he knows how to get a hit, is driving in runs. And that’s what he’s done. He stabilized our entire lineup.”
Pages is riding a nine-game hitting streak and is 16-for-38 (.421) in that span.
On Wednesday, he ignited the Dodger offense with a two-run home run in the second inning, winning an eight-pitch at-bat against Arizona veteran pitcher Jordan Montgomery.
On April 23, he wore out Washington reliever Hunter Harvey in a 13-pitch at-bat that ended in a flyout.
“Pitch by pitch your confidence grows and grows,” Pages said. “You get more experience by facing these pitchers, you get more chances with these at-bats.”
Pages is the first Dodger since Corey Seager on Sept. 12, 2015, with a four-hit game in one of his first 15 career games.
Three of those hits were late — singles in the seventh, ninth and 11th innings.
“Every time he gets up there, it seems like he takes a good at-bat and the moment certainly doesn’t get too big for him,” Roberts said.
