Will Smith’s late home run lifts the Dodgers to a season-opening sweep

The Dodgers have shown one thing in their opening three games of the season.

They have no problem clearing the deficit early.

For the third straight night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers found themselves in a two-run hole early in the game.

But for the third straight night, they rallied behind strong pitching and timely offense, riding Will Smith’s two-run homer in the eighth for a 3-2, sweep-clinching victory.

Smith’s big swing was almost sentimental, coming on a night he celebrated both his 31st birthday and the gift of a bobblehead commemorating his game-winning, Game 7 World Series home run last year.

For much of the night, however, it seemed unlikely that the late-night heroes would come to the Dodgers — whose star-studded lineup once again waited until the end to come alive.

While Tyler Glasnow pitched well in his first season — allowing just two runs in six innings, while striking out six batters and striking out 10 of his last 11 — Arizona lefty Eduardo Rodriguez has been better.

In five solid frames, he limited the Dodgers to one unearned run; when Freddie Freeman doubled home Kyle Tucker in the sixth following an error to start the inning.

After that, the Dodgers (3-0) struggled to shut down the Dbacks bullpen, reeling off six straight runs as Freeman hit a double before Mookie Betts’ double in the eighth.

That, however, cracked the door open enough, with Smith sending a 98 mph heater off Juan Morillo sailing into center field in the next at-bat.

What does it mean

The Dodgers are hitting on all cylinders right now. But they did enough, with a few moments that helped swing Saturday’s game.

There was Kyle Tucker hacking a home run in front of the short fence in the bottom right field corner of the sixth; then used his speed to set up Freeman’s RBI double in the sixth with a game-tying run at first and a steal at second to get into scoring position.

It was Betts’ walk that set the stage for Smith’s victory, a 4-point free pass that took away the frustration of his 0-for-3 night to that point.

And finally, there was Edwin Díaz, completing a scoreless three-inning effort from the bullpen by collecting his second save in as many nights.

Who is hot

Entering Saturday, Freeman was hitless — despite some hard-hit balls in his first two games (in fact, each had an exit velocity of at least 90 mph).

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That quickly changed, however, when Freeman singled in his first two outs before putting the Dodgers on the board with his sixth RBI double, hitting a ground ball just inside the third base bag.

Alas, Freeman finished the night 3-for-4 after watching another fly ball die on the warning track, the fifth time it’s happened this season. Anyway, you finally have some results with what appears to be a synchronic turn.

Who is not

There’s still time before Shohei Ohtani leaves.

But the one-series, four-time MVP hasn’t really blossomed yet.

Ohtani has been at his best, already collecting four walks (including two free passes on Saturday) and a hit-by-pitch. However, he hasn’t hit a home run since taking the lead on Thursday. And in Saturday’s loss, he missed several chances to help start a rally, going 0-for-his-last-7 following a double play in the fifth inning and a leadoff walk to lead off the eighth.

Next

Due to the strange constraints of MLB’s opening week schedule, the Dodgers will get a rare day off on Sunday, before hosting the Cleveland Guardians in a three-game series that begins Monday night. Roki Sasaki will start in that game, trying to reverse the fortunes of his disastrous spring training.