Kolten Wong made quite the impression in his Los Angeles Dodgers debut.

Wong, who was released by the Seattle Mariners last month, was called up for Friday's game against the Atlanta Braves, then called upon to pinch hit for Freddie Freeman in the eighth inning that night.

With two on and two out, and facing an 0-2 count against Pierce Johnson, the Big Island native and University of Hawaii alumnus lofted a shot into the right-field bullpen.

His blast on the 85 mph sinker traveled 380 feet and cut the Dodgers’ six-run deficit to three. However, the Dodgers lost 6-3 to see their NL West-leading record drop to 83-51. They are six games behind the Braves for the best record in the NL, but lead the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks by a commanding 13.5 games in the division.

Wong, an 11-year MLB veteran who proved himself with the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers before struggling with the Mariners this year, said before the game that he fixed mechanical issues with his swing in Arizona before heading to Triple-A Oklahoma City as he awaited a big league call-up.

"Right when I signed I went down there with the hitting coaches, working in the hitting labs and just kind of cleaned some stuff up that I had creep in in Seattle, which led to my demise," Wong said in a pregame interview, per video from Dodger Blue. "As a lefty, I tend to cross over a lot, so when I cross a lot, I tend to roll over a lot of ground balls. It was a thing I was trying to combat, but with not much playing time I was never able to kinda get over that hump.

"It was a lot of hard work, a lot of sweaty days, but it was all worth it to be here now."

With the OKC Dodgers, Wong was 7-for-13 with a home run and six RBIs in three games playing shortstop.

“Welcome to the Dodgers, Kolten Wong,” said the team’s broadcast crew as he rounded the bases. He played his customary second base in the ninth inning.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.