The San Diego Padres’ bats stayed cold on Friday in Los Angeles, which turned out to be a pretty good night for Dodger fans and players named Hernandez.
Both Kiké and Teoscar Hernandez (no relation) went deep as the Dodgers clinched the National League Divisional Series with a 2-0 Game 5 win over the rival Padres.
Kiké celebrated the win with an X-rated moment on Fox. Asked by sideline reporter Ken Rosenthal what makes the Dodgers ‘so good,’ Kiké first made sure they were ‘live on TV.’
When Rosenthal explained they were, indeed, on live television, Kiké proceeded anyway.
‘The fact that we don’t give a f***,’ he said.
Enrique Hernandez (8) celebrates with shortstop Mookie Betts (50) and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) after hitting a solo home run
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) celebrates a home run
Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Kiké Hernandez (8) celebrates Friday’s win
Yoshinobu Yamamoto outdueled Yu Darvish in a historic playoff matchup of Japanese-born starters.
Yamamoto allowed two hits over five innings for the Dodgers before being pulled after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated rivals who were meeting in an NL Division Series for the third time in five years.
The Dodgers will play Pete Alonso and the New York Mets in the best-of-seven NLCS starting Sunday night in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers won a decisive Game 5 at home for the first time since taking a 1981 NL Division Series against Houston after a season split into halves following a players’ strike. Boasting the majors’ best regular-season record of 98-64, they successfully avoided a third straight NLDS elimination.
The Padres’ big hitters went bust with their season on the line. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado were 1 for 14 in Game 5 as the last 19 San Diego batters were retired.
San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill, left, looks on alongside relief pitcher Jeremiah Estrada, center, and catcher Kyle Higashioka following the loss to the Dodgers in LA
San Diego went scoreless for the final 24 innings of the series, dropping the last two games after taking a 2-1 lead back home.
Yamamoto and Darvish were the first Japanese-born starting pitchers to square off in major league playoff history. The 26-year-old Yamamoto was the fifth rookie to start a winner-take-all game in Dodgers history.
Yamamoto handed the ball to a stellar bullpen that carried the Dodgers during the regular season when their starters were hit hard by injuries. Evan Phillips got five outs, fanning Profar and Machado in the seventh before Alex Vesia whiffed rookie standout Jackson Merrill to end the inning.
Vesia was warming up for the eighth when he exited with an injury. Michael Kopech came on and worked a perfect inning before Blake Treinen got three quick outs for his second save of the series.
Tatis grounded out to end it as Kike made the play after moving from center field to third base for the ninth.
