LOS ANGELES -- For the majority of seven innings, it looked and felt like the Dodgers were on their way to yet another disappointing and frustrating loss, something that has, uncharacteristically, been a theme over the past few weeks.

There’s no denying the Dodgers, a squad battling through a flurry of injuries to key players, haven’t been playing up to their full potential. However, when a team is struggling, they usually turn to their superstars to swing the momentum back to their side.

The Dodgers have no shortage of stars, and over the past three seasons, Freddie Freeman has come up clutch time and time again. It was no different on Friday, as Freeman sent the Dodger Stadium crowd into a frenzy with a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning to lead the Dodgers to a 4-1 win over the Red Sox.

“It’s always good no matter where we are in the standings or how we’ve been playing, it’s always good to get wins, but especially after the first seven innings,” Freeman said. “I think the crowd was waiting for something to happen. … Obviously, last week going into the All-Star break was not ideal. So to start the second half with a win, Gavin [Stone] pitched great, bullpen was awesome.”

After getting shut out for six innings by starter Nick Pivetta, the Dodgers needed to get something started against the Red Sox bullpen. But what ended up jumpstarting them wasn’t necessarily something that happened inside the batter’s box. Instead, it was a defensive play from Miguel Vargas in left field.

An inning before, Vargas and Andy Pages had had some miscommunication in left-center that allowed a ball to land for a double in the outfield. Vargas, who hasn’t played much outfield in his career, said he couldn’t hear Pages calling him off and added that he takes full responsibility for the miscue.

At the end of the frame, Vargas had a conversation with manager Dave Roberts in the dugout. It was another teaching moment for Roberts, and much-needed learning experience for the young Cuban outfielder.

When he’s right, Vargas is one of the most confident players on the roster. He exuded that confidence right away in the eighth inning as he completed a double play, throwing out Tyler O’Neill from left field to end the frame and keep the Dodgers within one run.

“That was a weird play. You don’t see a lot of assists from the outfield like that,” Vargas said. “I saw him jogging back slowly, so I said, ‘Maybe I got him.’”

Vargas did, indeed, get him, and it lit a fire the Dodgers desperately needed. In the eighth, it was Vargas who got the rally started with a leadoff walk. Two batters later, Shohei Ohtani hit a ground-rule double to get the tying run just 90 feet away.

With a base open, the Red Sox had a decision to make: have left-hander Brennan Bernardino pitch to Will Smith, or walk him to face Freeman? Red Sox manager Alex Cora decided to walk Smith and load them up for Freeman. It’s the pick-your-poison scenario opponents have to deal with. This time, Freeman took advantage, launching a grand slam into the visiting bullpen off Bernardino.

“It was a great inning,” Roberts said. “Good at-bats, and we just didn’t have any answers for Pivetta tonight, but it was good for us to hang in there and a credit to the pitching. Gavin did a heck of a job minimizing just one run, and then the guys in the bullpen did a fantastic job, too.”

With the July 30 Trade Deadline looming, the next 11 days will be crucial for most teams around the league. The Dodgers, of course, are expected to be among the many teams looking for upgrades.

After a 1-5 road trip to end the first half of the regular season, the Dodgers understand how important the next few weeks are. They’re trying to figure out what type of team they’ll be down the stretch. They hope Friday’s heroics can be the start of a hot streak that has become the norm over the last decade. Having stars certainly doesn’t hurt.

“Anytime you hit a home run, it feels pretty good,” Freeman said with a smile. “Especially when I think the team needed it. Big situation. It’s always fun to hit those.”