Teoscar Hernandez makes up for horrific defensive mistake with key hit in Dodgers win over Giants
It’s a good thing Teoscar Hernández’s bat is starting to heat up.Because on Thursday night, he needed it to redeem a horrific defensive mistake.With the Dodgers leading the Giants by two runs in the fifth inning, Hernández made an unthinkable play in left field, turning what should have been a routine hit into a two-run, game-tying, inside-the-park home run.It started with Jung Hoo Lee hitting a shallow flare down the line.It got worse when, after initially giving chase, Hernández pulled up early, evidently expecting the ball to bounce over the short wall in foul territory for a ground-rule double.Instead, disaster struck. The ball not only stayed in play, but hopped past Hernández and rolled all the way into the left field corner.
By the time he retrieved it, Lee was already at full speed and getting waved home.The relay was too late.
The game was suddenly tied.For a Dodgers team that has been scuffling lately, entering Thursday with a 10-14 record since April 18, it was the kind of sequence that threatened to lead to another maddening defeat.For Hernández, who has only recently begun to emerge from a deep early-season slump, it nearly dropped his campaign to a new, disappointing low.An inning later, however, all was forgiven.In the Dodgers’ eventual 5-2 win, Hernández didn’t have to wait long for his moment of atonement to arrive.In the bottom of the sixth, Hernández keyed a decisive three-run rally with his third hit of the game.He worked a full count against Giants starter Landen Roupp.
He roped a line drive into left and hustled to second to put two runners in scoring position.Then, he came racing home on a two-run, pinch-hit single from Alex Call with two outs in the inning, sliding across the plate safely with one deep –– and much-needed –– sigh of relief.The Dodgers (26-18) would tack on another run via Miguel Rojas’ RBI single in the next at-bat.
They would cruise the rest of the way to their second-straight win, salvaging a sp...