Although the final score of Saturday’s game between the (now) NL West second place Los Angeles Dodgers and the (still) NL Central last place Pittsburgh Pirates reads 8-4 Dodgers in the scorebooks, it very well could – and perhaps should – read 5-4 Hernándezs, as in Teoscar and Kiké.
The not-related Hernándezs slugged solo and three-run home runs respectively in the bottom of the eighth inning in front of (another) sold out Dodger Stadium crowd of 54,012 on Saturday evening, turning a 4-4 tie into an 8-4 Dodgers lead and win.
“I think the bottom line is he’s just not afraid to fail,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Teo following his team’s impressive win. “When you’re in big spots and you’re not afraid to fail, that’s a superpower. And with that, he’s always got a good frame of mind, and he’s aggressive, and the moment never gets too big for him,” Roberts added.
Although Kiké is still slashing a DFA-able .145/.200/. 436/.683 on the season, he is 2-for-7 (.286) over his last five games, including one double, one home run, and three RBIs over his last five games.
And then there’s the Dodgers starting pitching.
After a less-than-stellar start by 23-year-old Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki, who allowed three runs on five hits through his 5.2-inning sixth start of the season on Saturday, Roberts pulled the Rikuzentakata, Japan native in the top of the sixth after he plunked Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes on the butt with a 85.7-MPH slider that was three feet off the plate with two outs and the game tied 3-3.
“Actually, I felt pretty good with my fastball in my (bull)pen, so I wanted to be aggressive,” Sasaki told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson postgame through interpreter Will Ireton. “And I know one went out, I really wanted to stick to that throughout the game.”
“I think that he’s slowly starting to get some real confidence. I think that he’s certainly throwing a lot more strikes, he’s being a lot more efficient, which is allowing us to let him go deeper into a game,” Roberts said of Sasaki postgame. “And I think that he understands that his stuff plays here in the hitting zone, in the Big Leagues, stuff plays in the strike zone, and he’s just not pitching to the edges as much. I thought there were some good fastball throws tonight. And like I said, I just think he’s gaining a lot more confidence, and it’s fun to see.”
As noted, with the Dodgers win on Saturday and that by the San Francisco Giants, and losses by the Padres, D-backs, and Rockies, the Dodgers are now tied with San Diego for second place in the NL West.
Hang on, Dodgers fans, it’s going to be a wild ride this season!
Play Ball!
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