There is an exceptionally good chance that you, like many Dodger fans, were getting a little concerned about the return of 25-year-old Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager as he works his way back from May 4, 2018 Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

I mean let’s face it, heading into Sunday’s series finale against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium, the extremely popular Charlotte, North Carolina native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2012 out of Northwest Cabarrus High School in Concord, NC was 31-for-138 (.225) with 10 doubles, no triples and only two home runs in the 40 (of 42) games in which he has appeared thus far this season, with an on-base percentage of .325 and a slugging percentage of .341 for a rather dismal .666 OPS. He has also struck out 35 times while walking 20 times.

But just when many Dodger fans were proclaiming that the two-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger and 2016 National League Rookie of the Year was “broken” (or at least not fully recovered from his surgery), the 6′-4″ / 215-pound Dodgers shortstop pulled a rabbit out of his hat with a crucial grand slam home run to right-center field on Sunday afternoon in front of a Dodger Stadium Mother’s Day crowd of 45,667 that also saw 32-year-old South Korean left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu come within four outs of pitching a no-hitter.

“You know, you just try to get a ball over the plate, I’ve been battling a little bit and I’ve been trying to get a good pitch and put a good swing on it,” Seager told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo after the Dodgers 6-0 shutout win. “I’ve been grinding pretty good, you know. One swing does feel good but hopefully it turns things around.”

Asked if today’s grand slam helped his psyche and confidence, the Dodgers shortstop gave a brief but honest answer.

“You always want to see some reward. You put the hard work in, you like to see it pay off, and hopefully it keeps paying off,” he answered.

There is no argument that Seager’s grand slam on Sunday was exciting, but it most certainly does not mean that he is beyond his “battling a bit.” In fact, prior to his eighth-inning heroics, Seager was 0-for-2 with a strikeout. In other words, it’s going to take more than his one hit on Sunday, albeit a big one, to convince Dodger fans that he is indeed back … but it’s certainly a good start.

As for Ryu, he was nothing short of brilliant on Sunday. In his 8.0 innings of work, the 6′-3″ / 255-pound crafty left-hander’s control was spot on, allowing just an eighth-inning / one-out double to (you guessed it) perennial Dodgers nemesis Gerardo Parra. But that would be it for the Nationals, as Ryu retired the next two batters he faced to finish the day with no runs, just the one hit, with one (extremely rare) walk and nine strikeouts to earn his team-best fifth win (against one loss) and lowering his ERA to a team-best 1.72 among all Dodgers starters.

What makes Ryu’s outing all the more remarkable is that it follows his outstanding complete-game ‘Maddux’ shutout only five days ago, in which he made only 93 pitches. And even though Ryu made a career-high 116 pitches on Sunday afternoon, to his credit, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts left him in there through eight innings in an attempt to earn the Dodgers their first (individual) no-hitter since Clayton Kershaw’s near perfect game on June 18, 2014 (damn you, Hanley).

It would be negligent not mention Cody Bellinger‘s extremely rare 9-3 putout on what was clearly a single to right field by Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, who himself pitched a gem on Sunday. With Ryu’s no-hitter still intact and with one out in the top half of the sixth inning, Bellinger broke hard towards Strasburg’s grounder and fired an absolute bullet to Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy, which beat Strasburg by a fraction of a second. Understandably, Nats manager Dave Martinez challenged the call, but first base umpire Gerry Davis’ initial (and correct) call stood. Belly’s remarkable play will be talked about for many years to come, near no-hitter notwithstanding.

It would also be negligent not to acknowledge the other great defensive play of the game. That would be the fan in the Right Field Pavilion who caught Seager’s grand slam home run ball with his hat.

The Dodgers get a much-needed day off on Monday before beginning a brief two-game series against their division-rival San Diego Padres, which will conclude their current nine-game homestand. The aforementioned Kershaw (2-0, 3.31 ERA) will take the mound for the Dodgers on Tuesday evening opposite Padres rookie phenom right-hander Chris Paddack (3-1, 1.55 ERA). Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda (4-2, 4.03 ERA) will square off against Padres left-hander Matt Strahm (1-2, 3.00 ERA) on Wednesday evening.

After another off day on Thursday, the Dodgers will hit the road for an eight-game road trip that will take them through Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, and Pittsburgh before they return home on Monday, May 27 to open a four-game series with the new York Mets.

Play Ball!