Kiké Hernández’s two-run homer off Chris Sale in the fourth inning put the Dodgers ahead for good in their 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NL Division Series on Tuesday night. Hernández, starting at third base and batting ninth in the lineup, broke the deadlock against the Braves’ ace with a swing that gave Los Angeles a lead they never surrendered.
The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series and can clinch a spot in the National League Championship Series with a win on Wednesday. Hernández said he was focused on avoiding a double play with a runner on first and one out, aiming to hand the lineup over to leadoff hitter Mookie Betts. After Sale’s first pitch, a changeup called a ball, Hernández recognized the next delivery and connected cleanly.
“He kind of showed me where that changeup was going to start for a ball, and then the next pitch, kind of like my eyes recognized, it popped, and lucky that (I) put a good swing on it,” Hernández said.
Sale pitched five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, and singled out the home run as the one pitch he wished he could take back. “Really only one pitch I would take back from that entire outing,” he said. “This was a game of adjustments. They seem like they made the adjustment. They were battling, but again, just one swing changed the whole trajectory of that game.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pointed to Hernández’s postseason pedigree as a factor in the victory. “I said earlier, we needed a little bit of that Kiké dust,” Roberts said. “He’s always prepared. And he loves moments like this. He has a way to lock in.”
Hernández’s home run was his 17th in 104 postseason games, projecting to a 26-home run pace over a full 162-game season. In contrast, his career regular season home run rate averages 16 per 162 games. According to OptaStats, Hernández is the only player in Major League Baseball history to have at least 10% of his career home runs come in the postseason with a minimum of 100 total home runs. The next closest is Houston Astros star Jose Altuve.
His career OPS (on-base plus slugging) sits at .706 in the regular season but jumps to .826 in postseason play. With 12 postseason homers for the Dodgers, Hernández ranks fourth in franchise history.
“It’s something I take a lot of pride in, but don’t really think about it too much,” Hernández said. “That’s probably something that once I’m done playing, it's going to be something that’s going to look back and be really proud of my career because of how my career has gone in terms of finding myself each and every year in October, and experience helps a lot.”
The encounter between Hernández and Sale has history. They last faced each other in the 2018 World Series when Sale closed out Game 5 for the Boston Red Sox by striking out Hernández among others to secure the championship. Hernández was reluctant to frame Tuesday’s home run as redemption.
“Dude, I mean, that was eight years ago,” he said. “(Sale) made JT (Justin Turner), myself and Manny (Machado) look like Little Leaguers going against a big leaguer. So no, that’s not something that I’ve even thought about ever since that happened. I played with (Sale). We’ve gone through a lot together in terms of health. He’s aging like fine wine. He’s gone on to win his first Cy Young past his mid-30s. He’s winning Gold Gloves and everything. No, I was not thinking about that. I am just glad that I was able to put a good swing on a pitch to give us the lead.”
Freddie Freeman, who homered two batters after Hernández, acknowledged Hernández’s postseason reputation and suggested he might seek advice. “I’ll wait for him to explain it so then we can maybe take a little bit from him,” Freeman said, calling Hernández a “Swiss Army knife” in the playoffs.
The Dodgers head into Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead and the chance to clinch their National League Championship Series berth on Wednesday.
According to Yahoo Sports.
