On Tuesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a decision.
A day after Teoscar Hernández returned to the Dodgers’ lineup, activated from the injured list Monday following a two-week absence because of an adductor strain, Roberts decided to sit the veteran slugger for the second of a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It was a surprise choice, but with a simple reason.
Knowing Hernández would play only twice this week coming off his injury, Roberts wanted to ensure Hernández would be available Wednesday to face former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes.
“I just felt like having him in there tomorrow,” Roberts said Tuesday, “I feel good with.”
Twenty-four hours later, the result was even greater than he expected.
In the Dodgers’ 3-1 rubber-match victory over the Diamondbacks, Hernández delivered the night’s biggest swing in the bottom of the sixth, taking a wrecking ball to what had been a flawless outing from Burnes with a three-run home run that turned the game upside down.
Entering the sixth, the Dodgers (31-19) had managed just one hit against Burnes, the four-time All-Star and 2021 Cy Young winner who had just blanked them over six innings at Chase Field two weekends ago. They were in danger of squandering their own strong start from right-hander Dustin May, whose only blemish in a six-inning, eight-strikeout outing came on a solo home run by Ketel Marte in the fourth inning. And they were staring down a potential series defeat to the Diamondbacks (26-24), one that would have further underscored the tight early-season battle they are facing in a competitive National League West.
But then, Miguel Rojas led off the inning with an infield single. Mookie Betts rolled another base hit through the left side to put two runners aboard. And with two out, up stepped Hernández, the second-year Dodger who has endeared himself in Los Angeles with his ability to produce clutch hits and game-changing moments.
What happened next was one of his biggest highlights yet.
After a first-pitch ball, Burnes beat Hernández with his trademark cutter, dialing up the pitch for consecutive whiffs that put Hernández in a two-strike hole.
Hernández didn’t panic, however. He walked a lap around the hitting circle, called for a timeout and took a deep breath. When Hernández dug back in, Burnes fired a slider that didn’t have nearly enough break. The pitch stayed over the outer half. Hernández barreled it up with a one-handed finish. And as the ball sailed out to straightaway center, he admired it all the way, watching his 10th long ball of the season travel every bit of 413 feet.
That was the only scoring the Dodgers did Wednesday, finishing the game with just five hits.
But between May’s solid start (which dropped his ERA to 4.09), a four-out relief appearance from Lou Trivino (a recent minor league signing called into action with the Dodgers woefully short on right-handed relief options), and a bounceback save from closer Tanner Scott (who gave up two home runs in Tuesday’s come-from-behind win), it was just enough — Hernández’s well-timed day off resulting in an even better-timed home run.
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