LOS ANGELES — Teoscar Hernández looks towards his dugout as his go-ahead grand slam sailed into the Dodger Stadium bleachers. Credit: @Dodgers
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani struck out nine Padres hitters in six innings on Friday night at Dodger Stadium and still didn’t have a lead to show for it. Michael King was matching him zero for zero across the board, and San Diego had scratched across three runs on a Gavin Sheets RBI single, a Jackson Merrill homer, and a Xander Bogaerts double. The Dodgers had five hits through six innings and nothing to show for them. It looked like one of those nights where the best pitcher on the mound loses anyway, right up until Teoscar Hernández stepped in and turned the whole game inside out.
Ohtani Was Electric, Just Not Enough
Ohtani’s final line undersells how dominant he was for stretches. Six innings, nine strikeouts, and only one real mistake, a Merrill homer in the fourth, his 10th of the year, that barely cleared the wall in center.
Fernando Tatis Jr. went 0-for-4 against him with two strikeouts, and San Diego managed just two runs through six innings, with the third coming around to score in the sixth on a Bogaerts double after Sung-Mun Song had reached and swiped his seventh stolen base of the year.
Ohtani walked off the mound in line for a loss he did not deserve, with King matching him pitch for pitch on the other side and the Dodgers unable to solve him through six. That’s the version of this game that gets buried by tomorrow. Because what happened next made sure of it.
The Seventh Inning That Flipped Everything
Kyle Hurt took over for Ohtani and the Dodgers went to work immediately. Mookie Betts drew a leadoff walk. Max Muncy singled him to second. That was enough to get Michael King pulled after six shutout-caliber innings in favor of Adrian Morejon, and the move backfired within four pitches.
Kyle Tucker reached on what should have been an inning-ending play, but Jake Cronenworth booted it at second base, loading the bases with nobody out and the tying and go-ahead runs standing on the bags.
Teoscar Hernández did not miss the gift. He drove a grand slam to center field, and in one swing the Dodgers went from down 3-0 to up 4-3. Dodger Stadium came unglued.
This is the moment Hernández has been waiting on since he came back from the injured list, the kind of swing that erases every quiet at-bat and every night of feeling his way back into rhythm. He has been grinding for this exact instant since his return, and on Friday night it finally arrived, as loud and as perfect as it could have been. A game that had felt like a quiet loss in the making turned into a celebration in the span of one swing.
LOS ANGELES — Teoscar Hernández celebrates his go-ahead grand slam as Mookie Betts and the Dodger dugout erupt in a 4-3 win over the Padres on Friday night. Credit: @Dodgers
The Bullpen Made It Stand Up
This is where the Dodgers separated themselves from the team they had just come back against a night earlier. Hurt worked around a walk to strand the tying run and picked up the win. Edgardo Henriquez followed with a clean eighth, striking out a batter and stranding a walk of his own. Tanner Scott closed the game by striking out the side in the ninth, including pinch-hitters Samad Taylor and Miguel Andujar before freezing Tatis Jr. to end it, and locking down his 12th save. A 3-0 deficit turned into a 4-3 win without another Padres run crossing the plate.
Compare that to San Diego’s bullpen, which has now let two straight games slip away against this Dodgers lineup. Michael King gave his team six shutout-caliber innings and Morejon undid it in about four pitches.
A Statement, Back to Back
A night after erasing a 6-0 deficit for the biggest comeback in four years, the Dodgers didn’t need a marathon this time, just one big swing at the right moment. Teoscar Hernández has been quietly building his case all series, and Friday night he cashed it in with the biggest hit of the night. The Dodgers take a commanding 2-0 lead in this four-game series, with San Diego struggling to find a way to stop this trip to Chavez Ravine from turning into a disaster.
Up Next
Dave Roberts announced after the game that Shohei Ohtani will not be in the lineup Saturday due to right bicep discomfort, with the team opting to give him some rest.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the ball Saturday night against Griffin Canning, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 p.m. PT at Dodger Stadium. It’s game three of this four-game set, with the Dodgers looking to close it out before the weekend and keep the momentum rolling into this last stretch of games before the All-Star break.
LOS ANGELES — Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes the mound Saturday night against the Padres, looking to keep the Dodgers’ momentum rolling and take a 3-0 series lead. Credit: @Dodgers