The Los Angeles Dodgers had relied on the recent bat of Kiké Hernandez within the postseason even earlier than his residence run Friday gave them the lead for good towards the San Diego Padres.
The Dodgers’ eventual 2-0 win clinched the best-of-five Nationwide League Division Sequence and eradicated the Padres, their NL West rivals.
Extra information: MLB Playoffs: Dodgers Make Postseason History With Late Announcement
In Recreation 5 of the 2017 NLCS, Hernández shocked the Chicago Cubs with a three-homer recreation to clinch the Dodgers’ first journey to the World Sequence in 29 years.
The evening earlier than, he tapped into a method that has keyed his postseason success ever since.
Harry How/Getty Pictures
“I am simply going to go to mattress pondering simply how I’ll reply questions the following day as a result of I simply had a fantastic day offensively; I put the crew into the World Sequence, blah, blah, blah,” he mentioned. “Quick-forward to the following day, I hit three residence runs and I have not seemed again since then. You have simply received to know that there is solely two methods it might go. You possibly can both have success or you possibly can fail. You simply cannot be afraid of failure. And you have simply gotta need the second, gotta need the at-bat.”
Hernández spent a part of his Thursday evening visualizing success towards Yu Darvish, the San Diego Padres’ beginning pitcher. In his first at-bat Friday, he hit a solo residence run towards Darvish that gave Los Angeles the lead for good.
It was the 14th residence run of Hernández’s postseason profession. His .535 slugging share within the postseason getting into Friday’s recreation dwarfs his profession common season slugging share of .405.
Teoscar Hernández later got here by with a solo residence run of his personal. Beginning pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto — who was roughed up by the Padres in Recreation 1 — threw 5 shutout innings.
Extra information: Rookie Pitcher Was Tipping Pitches in Postseason Debut
In a postgame interview on the sector with Fox Sports activities’ Ken Rosenthal, Kiké Hernández gave a memorable quote on dwell tv.
Ken Rosenthal: You have been a part of eight totally different postseasons right here. What’s totally different about this explicit crew?
Kiké Hernández: Are we dwell?
Rosenthal: We’re dwell.
Hernández: The truth that we do not give a fuck.pic.twitter.com/kqJ23DroEl
— Terrible Saying (@awfulannouncing) October 12, 2024
Hernández’s capacity to visualise one other massive second earlier than it arrived, and proceed the approach for seven years working within the postseason, is a testomony to his worth to the Dodgers.
Subsequent up for Los Angeles: an NL Championship Sequence date with the New York Mets. Recreation 1 is Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Pitcher Jose Quintana is predicted to begin a minimum of one recreation within the sequence for the Mets. Coincidentally, Hernández already has a postseason residence run towards Quintana — in Recreation 5 of the 2017 NLCS.
For extra MLB postseason information, go to Newsweek Sports,
