Kik Hernndezs season debut was worth the wait for Dodgers

Down two runs in the seventh inning on Monday night, the Dodgers needed only two hits to flip the game.In a 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, the Dodgers turned what had been a frustrating night at the plate into a fruitful one late, taking advantage of some wild Rockies pitching with a three-run go-ahead rally that gave them a third-straight victory.The seventh inning began with back-to-back walks from Rockies right-hander Juan Mejia.Lefty Brennan Bernardino then came in and plunked Miguel Rojas with an 0-2 curveball.Just like that, the Dodgers had the bases loaded with no outs.

The top of their order was due up.And though they had gone 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position to that point of the night, their string of missed chances wouldn’t last any longer.Instead, Shohei Ohtani got one run home by beating out a potential double-play grounder at first.

Mookie Betts tied the score with a sacrifice fly to left field, hit just deep enough for speedy Hyeseong Kim to sprint to the plate. After that, at long last, the team got some big hits to drop in.Freddie Freeman roped a double off the wall in right to give the Dodgers their first lead at 4-3.

Andy Pages extended it in the next at-bat with an RBI single to shallow right.The two-run advantage wouldn’t be threatened again.All night, the Dodgers had been desperate for such an inning.Without it, contributions from two of the night’s other stars would have gone to waste.Kiké Hernández went 2-for-2 in his first game back from offseason elbow surgery, getting a loud ovation before his first at-bat –– then an even louder one when he lined an RBI double down the line in the third to put the Dodgers on the board.Starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan gutted through a six-inning, two-run start.He gave up the 1-0 lead by allowing two runs in the fourth, an inning that included a 103.8 mph comebacker that drilled his right shoulder.However, despite two separate visits from manager Dave Roberts and head athletic trai...