ANGELES For months, the Los Angeles Dodgers have had a difficult time, mostly due to their own actions. Creating any real momentum has proven to be challenging and ephemeral. That is what Kiké Hernández feels. It is been a fruitless third trip back to Los Angeles for him. Even though he was having the worst offensive season of his career when he woke up on Saturday morning, he was still proud of himself since his wife Mariana had organized a celebration honoring the veteran’s ten years of major-league service with friends and family.
By the end of the game, he had already shown himself twice as a hero, as the Dodgers defeated the Boston Red Sox 7-6 in a walk-off. He had hit a game-winning home run in the ninth inning and a game-winning single an inning later. I had a hectic afternoon. Twice, the Dodgers bullpen lost leads. Their closer hit a two-run home run with gusto. They mishandled a check-swing double play that had the bases loaded.
Not everything has been simple. Still, it was satisfying for Hernández.
“I’m just really glad that this happened and I was able to come through,” Hernández said. “I haven’t really been able to come through that much this year.”
He spoke in a thoughtful manner. Maybe it was because the day has so much meaning and will always last. Or perhaps it was an admission of a poorly-received season. He mentioned the small details that accompanied his historic day, such as the fact that his game-winning home run was off Kenley Jansen, the strong closer he had spent years playing behind in Los Angeles and Boston, or the fact that he turned ten during a game involving two of the teams he had played all but 42 of his 1,129 major league games for.
On Saturday morning, a group met at his house to celebrate Hernández. In a movie that his wife had produced, she intercut testimonies from people who had influenced Hernández at every stage of his trip from his native island of Puerto Rico. By the conclusion of the season, five Dodgers players will have attained the milestone, and each one has managed to find something unique in it. The celebrations lasted for approximately an hour, after which Hernández went back to Los Angeles and his reality. After a torturous stint in free agency, the 32-year-old re-signed with the Dodgers knowing that the most of his work will be in a part-time capacity. After an inconsistent two and a half seasons as an outfielder, the Dodgers believed that primarily matching Hernández up against left-handed pitchers would help him flourish once more.
KIKÉ KNEW. pic.twitter.com/QhzeBPgQDK
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 21, 2024
It hasn’t worked. Hernández entered Saturday with a .557 OPS, and a .582 OPS against left-handed pitching. The gap between the top and bottom of the Dodgers lineup has been wide. The stat line moves closer and closer under the magnifying glass by the day. Just 10 days remain until the trade deadline, and reinforcements are necessary.
“Kiké, it’s always tough for him because I think he sees himself in a certain light, which I think all players should,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I think that he’s understanding how he fits on this ballclub. A lot of our conversations we have is when you have that clarity or that kind of understanding, then you perform better. And so he’s got a certain role. I count on him a lot.”
Hernández entered the game in the eighth inning against Red Sox lefty Cam Booser and whiffed on four pitches, thus he was not in the starting lineup on Saturday.
“I feel like I was like a fan, just fanning through, swinging and missing through pitches,” Hernández said.
Before entering the box to start the ninth inning, he had only faced Jansen once, despite having watched innumerable save tries. 2022 saw Hernández with the Red Sox and Jansen with the Atlanta Braves. He had swung at the first pitch he saw, breaking his bat on a two-seam fastball and driving the pitch to left field for a flyout. At the time, Jansen chastised him, ordering him to keep attempting to obtain his patented cutter.
There is a good chance that cutter will land Jansen in Cooperstown. And Hernández did not have to search far this time. This year, Jansen has not utilized his two-seamer as frequently. The slider functions in the same way.
“There’s no mystery to what Kenley’s trying to do,” Hernández said.
Hernández was thrown five cutters by Jansen. Hernández glanced as one swung through and another caught the inner corner. Hernández made contact when Jansen’s last cutter broke back over the plate. It was followed by euphoria.
This season, Jansen has faced 134 batters and this was his first home run allowed.
“I was kind of blacked out,” Hernández said, “because it had been a while since I did something in a big moment in this stadium.”
The next came along really quickly. Hernández’s swing necessitated additional runs. The game ended after just one hitter when Tyler O’Neill hit his second game-winning two-run home run of the evening, giving Boston the lead again. The Dodgers were down to their last out and trailed by a run when Hernández’s turn came up again in the bottom half.
Hernández endured a series of sweepers from right-handed reliever Greg Weissert until he managed to find a sinker in the strike zone. In order to guarantee that Andy Pages could score safely, he punched it up the middle, rounded first base and breaking for second.
Roberts switched back to Hernández after Will Smith’s walk-off single an inning later sealed the victory.
“I depend on him, and when he’s kind of in that mode of fighting … I mean those two ABs that he took late were huge at-bats,” Roberts said. “I see the ability, and it’s just getting that consistency night in and night out.”
Hernández was all the Dodgers had hoped for, if only for one significant evening.
(Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
