During his team’s resurgence at the plate in recent weeks, Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts has used one adjective above all.
On more than one occasion lately, Roberts has praised his lineup’s “fight” at the plate, extolling its ability to fight pitches, extend at-bats and stay in games.
On Tuesday, in perhaps the most improbable of the Dodgers’ 46 wins this year, the club embodied everything Roberts had been talking about, exploding for seven final runs for an 11-9 comeback victory.
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Entering the ninth inning on Tuesday, the story revolved around Walker Buehler, who put the team in a seemingly insurmountable hole with a seven-run start in four innings.
But then, even facing a 9-4 deficit, the Dodgers found a way to rally.
The team loaded the bases with one out. So, Jason Hayward He clipped the right field foul pole for a grand slam.
Shohei Ohtani followed with a hit. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Freddie Freeman was intentionally walked.
Regardless, the Rockies were still one strike away from ending the game.
Is when Teoscar Hernandez completely changed the script.
With two swings, Hernandez contorted his body to control what would have been a game-ending swing. An appeal to first base umpire Lance Barksdale upheld the decision.
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Rockies manager Bud Black stormed out of the dugout and was immediately ejected for arguing the decision.
Then, on the next pitch, Hernandez got a fastball up the middle. He sent it flying to right field for a go-ahead three-run homer.
In total, the Dodgers sent 10 batters to the plate in the ninth inning. They had four hits and three walks. And, after trailing by five runs on three different occasions earlier in the night, he fought until the end to earn his biggest comeback victory this year.
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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.
