It was a game of which Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said: “That was, shoot, that was probably the highlight for me of the season thus far.”

The “that” was an eighth-inning two-out 372-foot game-winning three-run pinch-hit home run by 35-year-old/ 15year MLB veteran outfielder Jason Heyward into the visitor’s right field bullpen in front of a Dodger Stadium crown of 48,395 that turned a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 Dodgers win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

“Do my best to keep it simple, stick to an approach, don’t let myself be bigger than the moment,” Heyward told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson following the Dodgers thrilling win over the Mariners. “Like, just trust it, if he doesn’t give me something to hit, it’s not there, that’s the next guy, obviously it’s Shohei (Ohtani). But I didn’t have to think about our line-up, that’s how we got in multiple situations tonight to come through and I just happened to be one of the guys who came through for the club.”

But all that glitters is not gold, as they say. Making his 10th start since returning from his second Tommy John surgery on August 22, 2023, 30-year-old Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler was anything but sharp. Although the Lexington, KY native and Dodgers first round draft pick in 2015 out of Vanderbilt retired the first two batters he faced on three pitches, he needed 25 more to get out of the first inning, in which he gave up two runs. He finished his four-inning start having made 82 total pitches, of which 50 were strikes, allowing three runs on seven hits, while walking three and striking out only one.

Former Dodgers outfielder and current broadcaster Rick Monday summed it up best: “Walker has serious control issues.”

As you might expect, social media was less than kind about Buehler’s rough night, with several going so far as to say that this may have been (or should have been) his final start of the season.

Needless to say, the Dodgers have some difficult decisions to make regarding Buehler’s future. That said, because of Heyward’s heroics on Tuesday night, Buehler remains at 1-4 on the season. Unfortunately, his ERA now sits at an ugly 6.09, which indeed may keep him off of the Dodgers postseason roster.

Stay tuned.

Play Ball!

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