Dalton Rushing delivered a walk-off hit for the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 20, 2026, ending a night in which he had battled through multiple difficult at-bats.
Rushing said during a press conference that his approach at the plate was built around a clear plan. "The whole mindset was foul off a fastball and just try and move the slider forward through the middle of the field," he explained, adding that avoiding breaking balls out of the zone was central to that strategy. He noted he had "a lot of different thoughts for the first eight and a half innings of baseball" before the decisive at-bat.
The turning point, Rushing acknowledged, came after he went down two strikes chasing a slider in the dirt. He looked into the dugout and saw Mookie Betts showing complete confidence in him. "I kind of look over, I see Muki — just all the confidence in the world in me," Rushing stated. He described Betts as someone who has lived in high-pressure moments, succeeded in them, and failed in them, which gave that encouragement added weight. Betts had also hit a home run in the ninth inning to give the Dodgers a chance to win before Rushing's walk-off.
Rushing credited the broader dugout support of his teammates throughout the night, noting that all they cared about was the next pitch. He also reflected on the mental discipline required in a two-strike count. "You can't get into an 0-2 count and try and go hit a home run to right center field. It's not going to work," he said.
Rushing acknowledged that the stretch leading up to June 20, 2026 had been difficult, saying it "obviously hasn't been my best baseball over the last month" and that it had been "frustrating at times" — particularly following a strong April. He noted he has had stretches of quality at-bats during that period and is still working on managing frustration. Rushing also mentioned that this was his first walk-off celebration as a Dodger, and joked that it gave Freddie Freeman a break from being at the center of the post-game mob.