{"id":354254,"date":"2026-06-10T05:33:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T05:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/354254\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T05:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T05:33:09","slug":"freddie-freeman-reaches-career-milestone-in-dodgers-rout-of-pirates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/354254\/","title":{"rendered":"Freddie Freeman reaches career milestone in Dodgers’ rout of Pirates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PITTSBURGH\u00a0\u2014\u00a0It was just one moment in the midst of a persistent Dodgers<\/a> scoring spree. But in the context of a long and decorated career, Freddie Freeman\u2019s run-scoring single into shallow center field carried weight.<\/p>\n

In the seventh inning of the Dodgers\u2019 12-3 win<\/a> against the Pirates on Tuesday, Freeman notched his 2,500th major-league hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cAnd then when your manager and teammates appreciate what you\u2019ve done over the course of your career, it does mean a lot. Yeah, there\u2019s always another goal to get to. But to step back and realize how long you have to play, \u2026 to play at a high level over many, many years to get there, it does mean a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The future Hall of Famer isn\u2019t 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\u2019d hold on to it.<\/p>\n

There are still more hits in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you would have asked me 10 years ago, I probably would have brushed it off and kept going,\u2019 Freeman said. \u201cBut as you get older, you do get more emotional and sentimental. It is nice for people to take a moment and appreciate what you\u2019ve done in this game. It is special.\u201d<\/p>\n

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: \u201cYou better get 500 more!\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman chuckled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll hopefully start that tomorrow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers had trailed since the first inning.<\/p>\n

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\u2019Hearn in the first inning, the game seemed to be falling apart. But eventually, the script flipped.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Andy <\/p>\n

Andy Pages is greeted by Freddie Freeman after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning Tuesday.<\/p>\n

(Justin K. Aller \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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\u2019t adjust quickly enough to glove the ball that bounced over him, into shallow right field for a game-knotting single.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s as tough as they come,\u201d Roberts said of Skenes. \u201cTo get him out of the game after the sixth inning was a big feat. You just never know what to expect from that guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Facing the Pirates\u2019 bullpen in the seventh, the Dodgers put together a 10-run inning.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 runs that inning, with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly. And Freeman recorded his 2,500th hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would describe him as a pesky hitter,\u201d said Lauer, who was on the other end of three of Freeman\u2019s 2,500 hits. \u201cHe\u2019s always going to put together a good AB. He\u2019s always going to work the count. He\u2019s not overly aggressive, but he does damage if you miss. He\u2019s just overall obviously one of the greatest hitters of our generation, and in the game in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Betts: \u201cEspecially with the game now, it\u2019s so hard to get hits. But he keeps doing it. So I don\u2019t know if there really are words to [describe it], because there\u2019s so few people that are in that category, so it just shows you how elite he is as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cTall order,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut I\u2019m not going to bet against him. For us, we go through the grind every day, so you have to celebrate certain moments. And that\u2019s a big moment for him. And it just speaks to the longevity and consistency from Freddie.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to deny that. But do I know if I\u2019m going to get there? I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019ll start the trek tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will Smith could go on IL<\/p>\n

Dodgers<\/a> catcher Will Smith<\/a> was out of the lineup for a third straight game on Tuesday, the stiffness in his neck still lingering. He\u2019ll probably also be sidelined Wednesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow the [injured list] is more of a possibility,\u201d Roberts said, noting that the minimum for positions players is 10 days. \u201cWe\u2019re starting to talk about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teams can backdate IL moves by up to three days. Smith\u2019s neck problem cropped up Saturday, when he was scratched from the Dodgers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Smith played catch Tuesday, Roberts said, which \u201cwent OK,\u201d but Smith\u2019s neck bothers him the most while swinging.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still a day-to-day situation,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut 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\u2019ll kind of go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Smith\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year my whole goal was to make sure, if there\u2019s an opportunity [when] Will needs rest \u2026 make sure that I can provide just as much as he does with the bat as well as behind the plate,\u201d Rushing said Saturday. \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019m obviously continuing to work toward. Whatever he needs, I\u2019ll be here. He knows I\u2019ll catch seven days a week. He knows I\u2019ll catch every game if he can\u2019t go back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Dodgers were to put Smith on the IL, it\u2019s unclear who would back up Rushing. After releasing Seby Zavala last week, the Dodgers\u2019 triple-A catchers are Eliezer Alfonzo<\/a> and Chuckie Robinson<\/a>, both journeymen with only Robinson having some major-league experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH\u00a0\u2014\u00a0It was just one moment in the midst of a persistent Dodgers scoring spree. But in the context…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1426,56441,217,426,25419,21354,48,52,51,6131,47,50,49,23760,10195,424,1573,51831,144432,68,316],"class_list":["post-354254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-angels","tag-chuckie-robinson","tag-day","tag-dodgers","tag-dodgers-catcher-will-smith","tag-il","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lineup","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-neck","tag-plate","tag-roberts","tag-smith","tag-third-straight-game","tag-triple-a-catcher","tag-tuesday","tag-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}