Teoscar Hernández Walks Off Cardinals as Dodgers Avoid Sweep With 3-2 Win
For most of Thursday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers appeared headed toward one of the most frustrating outcomes of their season.
They were two outs away from being swept at home.
They had scored only one run.
And after another night of missed opportunities, their continued struggles with runners in scoring position were once again threatening to become the biggest story.
Then Teoscar Hernández changed everything.
With Tommy Edman on second, Mookie Betts on first and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Hernández drove a full-count sinker from Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien into the left-center-field gap.
Edman scored easily.
Betts raced around from first and slid home with the winning run.
Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2.
Instead of opening September with a three-game sweep at the hands of St. Louis, the Dodgers celebrated their eighth walk-off victory of the season.
And considering everything surrounding Hernández lately, there probably could not have been a more fitting player to deliver it.
Teoscar Comes Through When Dodgers Need Him Most
Hernández entered September facing legitimate questions about his role.
His production had fallen well below expectations for much of the season, particularly after returning from a hamstring injury in late June. The Dodgers had even discussed becoming more matchup-oriented with his playing time when rosters expanded.
Instead, they gave Hernández another opportunity to work through his struggles.
He is beginning to reward that patience.
Hernández homered in Sunday’s series-clinching win in Detroit, collected three hits Wednesday against St. Louis and then delivered the biggest hit of the homestand Thursday.
He finished the Cardinals series 6-for-13, and Thursday’s performance included two hits, two walks and the two game-winning RBIs. MLB noted that Hernández reached safely four times in the finale.
Afterward, Dave Roberts said Hernández’s at-bats against right-handed pitching during the series were as good as he had seen from him since April.
That is a significant development for a Dodgers team beginning to decide which players it can trust most in October.
Dodgers Fall Behind Early Against Cardinals
The night did not begin well.
St. Louis immediately attacked Tarik Skubal.
José Fermín and Iván Herrera opened the first inning with singles before Joshua Báez drove home Fermín with another single to put the Cardinals ahead 1-0.
St. Louis continued peppering Skubal with hits.
The Cardinals added three more singles in the third inning, with Ramón Urías driving home another run to extend the lead to 2-0.
What made the outing unusual was how St. Louis produced its offense.
There were no doubles.
No triples.
No home runs against Skubal.
Instead, the Cardinals collected 10 singles against the Dodgers left-hander — only the second time in Skubal’s career he has allowed 10 hits in a game. MLB noted it was the first time this season a starting pitcher had surrendered at least 10 hits with every one of them being a single.
Skubal still found a way to limit the damage.
His final line:
5⅔ IP | 10 H | 2 ER | 1 BB | 6 K
Allowing 10 hits and only two runs is hardly conventional, but Skubal repeatedly prevented St. Louis from turning traffic into a big inning.
Tommy Edman Carries the Offense Without Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani was not in the lineup Thursday.
The Dodgers gave him the day off after he showed discomfort in his right arm during Wednesday’s loss and struck out four times. The club is trying to give Ohtani an opportunity to recover physically rather than continuing to push him through a stretch in which his swing has not looked normal.
That moved Edman into the leadoff spot.
He responded with one of his best games of the season.
Edman went 4-for-5, accounting for four of the Dodgers’ six hits.
His first major contribution came in the fifth.
Edman doubled to open the inning, advanced to third on a Hernández groundout and scored when Cardinals rookie Quinn Mathews threw a wild pitch.
That cut the deficit to 2-1.
It remained the Dodgers’ only run until the ninth.
Another Night of Missed Opportunities
For much of the game, Thursday looked like a continuation of Wednesday’s biggest problem.
The Dodgers simply could not cash in.
Mathews worked around four hits and four walks over five innings, holding Los Angeles to one run despite repeatedly pitching with traffic on the bases.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the third and failed to score.
They put another runner at third in the fifth but managed only the wild-pitch run.
Then came perhaps their most frustrating missed opportunity.
Los Angeles loaded the bases again in the eighth.
Dalton Rushing came to the plate with an opportunity to tie the game or put the Dodgers ahead.
He struck out.
Another threat disappeared.
The Dodgers had gone 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position Wednesday.
They then went hitless in their first eight such at-bats Thursday.
That meant Los Angeles had gone 24 consecutive at-bats with runners in scoring position without a hit dating back to Wednesday.
The streak finally ended at the best possible time.
Edman Starts the Ninth-Inning Rally
O’Brien entered the ninth needing three outs to complete the Cardinals sweep.
He got one.
Then Edman singled to left.
With Betts at the plate, Edman stole second to put the tying run in scoring position.
Betts worked a walk.
That brought Hernández to the plate.
The at-bat went full.
O’Brien threw a 3-2 sinker over the middle of the zone.
Hernández drove it.
The ball split the outfielders in left-center, and there was never much doubt Edman would score.
The real question was whether Betts could make it all the way from first.
He did.
Betts slid across home plate ahead of the throw, and Dodger Stadium erupted.
After two games in which Los Angeles repeatedly failed in run-scoring situations, one swing finally erased the frustration.
Dodgers Bullpen Keeps the Game Alive
Hernández does not get the opportunity to win the game without the bullpen keeping the deficit at one.
After Skubal departed in the sixth, Dodgers relievers prevented St. Louis from adding another run over the final 3⅓ innings.
That mattered because the offense provided virtually no margin for error.
A third Cardinals run could easily have changed how Roberts managed the late innings and would have required a much larger comeback.
Instead, the Dodgers remained one swing away.
Eventually, Hernández provided it.
A Big Moment in Teoscar’s September
The Dodgers still have bigger offensive questions to solve.
One walk-off double does not erase two months of inconsistency.
But Hernández’s recent trajectory is becoming difficult to ignore.
Entering last weekend’s series in Detroit, MLB noted that Hernández had hit just .210 with a .592 OPS in 47 games since returning from the injured list in late June.
Then he started showing signs of life.
A long fly ball in Detroit helped Hernández recognize something in his swing.
He homered the following day.
He carried that improvement into the Cardinals series.
And Thursday he produced exactly the kind of late-game swing the Dodgers may eventually need in October.
Hernández said afterward that individual results are nice, but winning remains what matters most to him.
For a player whose role was being questioned only days ago, the timing could hardly be better.
Dodgers Avoid a Disastrous Sweep
The win improved Los Angeles to 83-57.
It did not turn the homestand into a success.
St. Louis still won two of three.
The Dodgers have still lost six of their last nine games and are just 27-27 since July 1.
But there is a significant difference between losing a series and being swept at home to begin September.
Thursday's victory at least gives the Dodgers something positive to carry into their next series.
Edman delivered four hits.
Skubal battled through an unusual outing and kept the game close.
The bullpen did its job.
And Hernández continued what is suddenly becoming one of the most encouraging developments in the lineup.
For much of the series, the Dodgers kept waiting for someone to deliver the big hit.
On Thursday, with the game — and a potential sweep — hanging in the balance, Teoscar Hernández finally gave them one.