Throughout the Dodgers’ horrible teamwide slump, their worst in recent memory, many Dodger fans – and the players themselves – have been looking for something – anything – to help them turn things around; or a ‘spark,’ as many have called it. If you are a believer in such things, your ‘spark’ may have finally come on Tuesday night, as the Dodgers opened a nine-game homestand following a horrendous 11-game road trip that saw them go 2-9 and drop from first place in the National League West to third place.

In front of a COVID-19 sold-out crowd of 15,570, their 14th consecutive, the Dodgers bested the AL West third-place Seattle Mariners, who (ironically) entered the contest with an identical 18-17 record, by a final score of 6-4, doing so in a manner reminiscent of the 2020 World Series Champion Dodgers and even the ones from the first three weeks of this season.

But it wasn’t easy.

After recording the first out of the game on his very first pitch, Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler gave up a solo home run to Mariners right fielder Mitch Haniger on his third, giving Dodger fans that all-too-familiar ‘Here we go again’ feeling.

By the fourth inning, it was 3-0 until Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy hit a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1. But still playing catch-up, Haniger hit his second solo home run of the night in the top of the sixth to make it 4-1. Yep … ‘Here we go again.’

But then something unusual – and rare – happened.

After going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position through the first six innings, a horribly-slumping Corey Seager hit a two-run single to right in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 4-3 ballgame. Was this it? Was this the ‘spark’ that everyone has been waiting for? A bit anticlimactic, wouldn’t you say?

It was indeed anticlimactic.

The real ‘spark’ came in the bottom of the eighth inning when, with two outs and runners on first and second (scoring position), Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux, their first-round draft pick in 2016 out of Indian Trail High School in Kenosha, WI, crushed a 96.7-MPH four-seam fastball off of Mariners veteran right-hander Rafael Montero for a monster three-run home run to give the Dodgers a 6-4 lead and eventual final score.

“I think it’s a big win in a lot of ways,” Buehler told reporters after his team’s come-from-behind win on Tuesday night even though he had allowed four runs in his seven innings of work. “Having Gavin take a swing like that in a spot like that is huge for us.”

Yes it was.

“Every win’s important, and they all feel good, but they’re not created equal,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “Just the way we came back and won a ballgame, and how we did it. Gavin’s been grinding, and for him to get that big hit was huge for our ball club.”

Although there is no disputing that Lux’s game-changing three-run blast was the difference-maker in Tuesday night’s game and gave his team their sixth win in their last 21 games, was it the season-changing ‘spark’ that everyone has been waiting, hoping, and wishing for, or was it a fluke?

The answer to that question remains to be seen and will require many more ‘sparks’ over the Dodgers’ next 126 games.

Play Ball!

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