The San Diego Padres bats remained cold Friday in Los Angeles, which turned out to be a pretty good night for Dodger fans and players named Hernandez.
Both Kiké and Teoscar Hernández (no relation) went deep as the Dodgers clinched the National League Division Series with a 2-0 victory in Game 5 over the rival Padres.
Kiké celebrated the victory with an X-rated moment on Fox. When asked by reporter Ken Rosenthal what makes the Dodgers “so good,” Kiké first made sure they were “live on television.”
When Rosenthal explained that they were indeed live on television, Kiké proceeded anyway.
“The fact that we don’t give a damn,” he said.
Enrique Hernández (8) celebrates with shortstop Mookie Betts (50) and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) and outfielder Teoscar Hernández (37) after hitting a solo home run
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández (37) celebrates a home run
Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Kiké Hernández (8) celebrates Friday’s victory.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto bested Yu Darvish in a historic playoff matchup between Japanese-born starters.
Yamamoto allowed two hits in five innings for the Dodgers before being retired after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated rivals meeting in a National League 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 National League Championship Series beginning Sunday night in Los Angeles.
The Dodgers won a decisive Game 5 at home for the first time since winning a 1981 National League Division Series against Houston after a season split into halves following a players’ strike. With the majors’ best regular season record, 98-64, they successfully avoided a third consecutive NLDS elimination.
The Padres’ big hitters failed with their season on the line. Three-time batting champion Luis Arráez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado were 1 for 14 in Game 5 as San Diego’s final 19 batters were retired.
San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill, left, watches with relief pitcher Jeremiah Estrada, center, and catcher Kyle Higashioka after the loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
San Diego went scoreless over the final 24 innings of the series, losing the final two games after taking a 2-1 lead at home.
Yamamoto and Darvish were the first Japanese-born starting pitchers to face each other in Major League Baseball playoff history. Yamamoto, 26, 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 through the regular season when their starters were severely hampered by injuries. Evan Phillips got five outs, fanning Profar and Machado in the seventh before Alex Vesia grounded out rookie standout Jackson Merrill to end the inning.
Vesia was warming up for the eighth when he went out injured. Michael Kopech came in 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 when Kike made the play after moving from center field to third base for the ninth.