Eliezer Alfonzo delivers emotional first hit in Dodgers’ loss to Yankees

NEW YORK — Eliezer Alfonzo jumped on a first-pitch cutter, keeping his hands inside to send it into shallow center field.

Two weeks after making his major league debut under tragic circumstances, Alfonzo recorded his first hit.

“The guys have been supporting me, pushing me every day,” Alfonzo said. “And they told me, ‘You’re going to get it here at Yankee Stadium, it’s going to be really good.’”

It was a heartwarming moment early in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader. By dropping the series finale after an 8-2 win in the opener, the Dodgers settled for a series win instead of sweep.

With starting catcher Will Smith sidelined indefinitely because of a neck injury, Alfonzo has served as the backup to Dalton Rushing for the last two weeks.

The morning of Alfonzo’s debut, his sister and stepmother, who had been missing since two powerful earthquakes devastated Venezuela last month, were found dead. Alfonzo still played, honoring them on the field.

“It was good to see him shorten up and get a knock,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously he has gone through a lot so it was good to get that first major league hit here. Behind the plate, he’s been great.”

Alfonzo’s familiarity with the Dodgers’ pitching staff from spring training has helped provide some stability in Smith’s absence. But he had yet to contribute at the plate, going 0 for 9.

Until the third inning of Sunday’s nightcap.

Alfonzo rounded first base, kissed his closed right hand and pointed to the sky. Then he turned to the visitors dugout, grinned and lifted both fists above his head.

“The first thing I said, as soon as I saw the ball going through, [was] ‘Thanks, God, for this,’” Alfonzo said.

A pitching change later in the inning, after Shohei Ohtani singled, gave Alfonzo a chance to grab a drink of water outside the dugout. His teammates flocked to him, reaching over the railing for high-fives.

Ohtani, who Alfonzo said had encouraged him with “Let’s get the first hit today” before the game, greeted him with: “Congratulations! I told you.”

Notching his first hit at Yankee Stadium was even sweeter, Alfonzo said, because of his grandmother’s affinity for the Yankees.

His teammates made sure to get the ball back. And Teoscar Hernández held it up to show him.

Alfonzo’s two-out single didn’t start a rally. But in the bottom of the fourth, he helped squash one.

Dodgers right-hander Edgardo Henriquez was on the mound as their third pitcher in a bullpen game, and his command was faltering, to the tune of back-to-back walks and a wild pitch. Then with runners on second and third, he induced José Caballero to hit a grounder to third baseman Max Muncy.

Anthony Volpe, the Yankees’ runner on third, took off on contact. Muncy threw on the run to Alfonzo, who was set up on the inside of the basepath. Alfonzo made a diving tag on Volpe to prevent a run.

Dodgers catcher Eliezer Alfonzo tags out Yankees runner Anthony Volpe at the plate in the fourth inning.

(Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)

The Dodgers (63-37) used seven pitchers, the first six combining to limit the Yankees (55-44) to Cody Bellinger’s first-inning RBI single for seven innings. Brock Stewart had a standout performance, entering in the fifth with no outs and the bases loaded and retiring three straight batters. He then threw a clean sixth. Alex Vesia struck out the side in the seventh.

Utility man Tommy Edman’s pinch-hit homer in the eighth tied the score, but with two men on, Ohtani struck out and Andy Pages popped out against Yankees closer David Bednar. In the bottom half, Yankees star Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a solo homer off Evan Phillips to regain the lead. Freddie Freeman led off the ninth with a walk, but Bednar retired the next three Dodgers to end it.

“I think everyone’s pleased with the results of the series,” Phillips said. “But I think what we do well here as a team is treat games individually and just go out there and try to perform well as a group each and every game. So sure, you can look back on the series and reflect and say this was a quality series, but I think everybody’s disappointed about the loss.”