Dodgers: Gavin Lux hit biggest HR of season and trolled Walker Buehler

After weeks of muted anticipation, the Los Angeles Dodgers got the spark they were looking for out of the top prospect they’ve been waiting for.

Down 4-3 in the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Dodger Stadium in a repeat performance of every game we’ve watched for the past three weeks, Gavin Lux strode to the plate with two on and two out.

A dribbler, pop up, or whiff would send the Dodgers trudging to the ninth and likely sulking home, based on recent trends.

Instead, Lux absolutely got into one, destroying a baseball into the bleachers and preening for the crowd in statuesque fashion before taking his celebratory trot.

This was a sleepy 4-1 loss. This was the game that would drop the Dodgers to .500, perhaps finally instilling in them the idea that they’d finally hit rock bottom, and could begin the climb back upwards.

Instead, Corey Seager knocked in two in the seventh, Lux finished the job with a cathartic blast, and Los Angeles has rejoined the fight.

Dodgers star Gavin Lux hit the biggest home run of the season Tuesday.

Lux, with all the pedigree in the world, is still hitting .222 on the season with just that singular home run. He’s still been worth only 0.1 WAR in a season where the Dodgers would really like to see him take “The Leap” and seize the starting job that’s long been promised to him.

Despite the slow start, though, he is hitting .296 over his past seven games, and he proved he could deliver when called upon to be the team’s engine late in Tuesday’s game.

Oh, and Lux hit the homer wearing Walker Buehler’s trademark tight pants, which he famously refused to discuss following a difficult playoff game in 2020.

Maybe he’d be more amenable to the conversation now, after a massive win?

We’ve seen blowouts during this losing streak. We’ve seen games where every bat in the order lights up and every problem seems solved, only to wake up the next morning and realize everything’s still stuck in neutral.

We haven’t seen a lot of success in late-and-close situations, though, or a flashpoint moment like this Lux bomb. Hopefully this is the image that lingers, one of a rookie approaching his ceiling and taking his sweet time around the bases, partially because he was soaking in the moment and partially because he probably couldn’t move in those tight pants.

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