Freddie Freeman reaches career milestone in Dodgers’ rout of Pirates

PITTSBURGH — It was just one moment in the midst of a persistent Dodgers scoring spree. But in the context of a long and decorated career, Freddie Freeman’s run-scoring single into shallow center field carried weight.

In the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 12-3 win against the Pirates on Tuesday, Freeman notched his 2,500th major-league hit.

“It means a lot,” Freeman said. “And then when your manager and teammates appreciate what you’ve done over the course of your career, it does mean a lot. Yeah, there’s always another goal to get to. But to step back and realize how long you have to play, … to play at a high level over many, many years to get there, it does mean a lot.”

Only 101 other players have achieved the milestone, according to Baseball Reference. And Freeman, in his 17 major-league seasons, leads all active players in hits.

The future Hall of Famer isn’t really a memorabilia collector, but for this one, Freeman made sure to get the ball and the lineup card. When asked if he wanted his bat authenticated, he said he’d hold on to it.

There are still more hits in it.

“If you would have asked me 10 years ago, I probably would have brushed it off and kept going,’ Freeman said. “But as you get older, you do get more emotional and sentimental. It is nice for people to take a moment and appreciate what you’ve done in this game. It is special.”

The Dodgers raised clear plastic glasses to Freeman in a toast after the game. He gave a speech. And manager Dave Roberts chimed in with: “You better get 500 more!”

Freeman chuckled.

“We’ll hopefully start that tomorrow,” he said.

Freeman entered Tuesday two hits shy of the milestone. His first hit, a double roped into the right-field gap, set him up to score the tying run in the sixth.

The Dodgers had trailed since the first inning.

They were only going to get so many chances against Pirates reigning Cy Young winter Paul Skenes. And when Skenes started the game by making quick work of the top of the order, and Dodgers starting pitcher Eric Lauer gave up back-to-back home runs to Bryan Reynolds and Ryan O’Hearn in the first inning, the game seemed to be falling apart. But eventually, the script flipped.

The Dodgers began chipping away at their deficit right away, with a leadoff double from Mookie Betts, a single from Max Muncy that moved him to third, and a sacrifice fly from Kyle Tucker to the edge of the warning track in center field in the second inning.

In each of the next three innings, the Dodgers put a runner on with one or fewer out. They stranded all three of them, with an interference call on Dalton Rushing exacerbating the problem.

Andy Pages is greeted by Freddie Freeman after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning Tuesday.

(Justin K. Aller / Getty Images)

The Dodgers needed a little good fortune to tie the score in the sixth inning. Freeman was standing on third with two out when Muncy stepped up to the plate and sent a spinning one-hopper to the right side of the infield. The funky bounce tripped up second baseman Brandon Lowe, who couldn’t adjust quickly enough to glove the ball that bounced over him, into shallow right field for a game-knotting single.

“He’s as tough as they come,” Roberts said of Skenes. “To get him out of the game after the sixth inning was a big feat. You just never know what to expect from that guy.”

As the skies darkened and a swift downpour swept through the ballpark, both teams turned to their bullpens. Lauer only gave up one more hit after those first-inning homers, and he handed the ball over with two out in the sixth inning. Against Skenes for six innings, the Dodgers logged six hits, two walks and seven strikeouts.

Facing the Pirates’ bullpen in the seventh, the Dodgers put together a 10-run inning.

Tuesday marked the first time the Dodgers had scored in the double digits in an inning since June 2, 2021 against the Cardinals, when they had an 11-run inning. But it was the second time in three games that the Dodgers had scored nine or more runs in an inning, also racking up nine against the Angels on Saturday.

On Tuesday, the Dodgers tallied seven hits in the seventh inning and took advantage of two throwing errors to rack up the score. Andy Pages drove in three of the Dodgers’ runs that inning, with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly. And Freeman recorded his 2,500th hit.

“I would describe him as a pesky hitter,” said Lauer, who was on the other end of three of Freeman’s 2,500 hits. “He’s always going to put together a good AB. He’s always going to work the count. He’s not overly aggressive, but he does damage if you miss. He’s just overall obviously one of the greatest hitters of our generation, and in the game in general.”

Said Betts: “Especially with the game now, it’s so hard to get hits. But he keeps doing it. So I don’t know if there really are words to [describe it], because there’s so few people that are in that category, so it just shows you how elite he is as a player.”

The next milestone is 3,000, an exclusive club of just 33 players, including the Pirates legend whose name graces the bridge that dominates the view from PNC Park, Roberto Clemente.

“Tall order,” Roberts said. “But I’m not going to bet against him. For us, we go through the grind every day, so you have to celebrate certain moments. And that’s a big moment for him. And it just speaks to the longevity and consistency from Freddie.”

Freeman goes back and forth on how much he wants to get to 3,000 hits. The 36-year-old is realistic about what it would take, both physically and measured in time away from his family. And he knows that the six-year, $162-million deal he signed with the Dodgers only runs through 2027.

“I would love to,” Freeman said. “I’m not going to deny that. But do I know if I’m going to get there? I don’t know.

“But we’ll start the trek tomorrow.”

Will Smith could go on IL

Dodgers catcher Will Smith was out of the lineup for a third straight game on Tuesday, the stiffness in his neck still lingering. He’ll probably also be sidelined Wednesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

“Now the [injured list] is more of a possibility,” Roberts said, noting that the minimum for positions players is 10 days. “We’re starting to talk about that.”

Teams can backdate IL moves by up to three days. Smith’s neck problem cropped up Saturday, when he was scratched from the Dodgers’ lineup against the Angels. Though Roberts speculated then that Smith could have slept on it awkwardly, he said the cause of the injury is unclear.

Smith played catch Tuesday, Roberts said, which “went OK,” but Smith’s neck bothers him the most while swinging.

“It’s still a day-to-day situation,” Roberts said. “But for me, just talking to him, talking to the trainers, I would like him to go through a full day [of work] before he plays. So that would probably take [Wednesday] off the table. And then we’ll kind of go from there.”

In Smith’s absence, 25-year-old Rushing has started three straight games behind the plate, including his four-hit performance in the series finale against the Angels, and six of the past nine games.

“This year my whole goal was to make sure, if there’s an opportunity [when] Will needs rest … make sure that I can provide just as much as he does with the bat as well as behind the plate,” Rushing said Saturday. “That’s something I’m obviously continuing to work toward. Whatever he needs, I’ll be here. He knows I’ll catch seven days a week. He knows I’ll catch every game if he can’t go back there.”

If the Dodgers were to put Smith on the IL, it’s unclear who would back up Rushing. After releasing Seby Zavala last week, the Dodgers’ triple-A catchers are Eliezer Alfonzo and Chuckie Robinson, both journeymen with only Robinson having some major-league experience.