LOS ANGELES — Kiké Hernández admitted that he doesn’t wish to mirror an excessive amount of at this level in his profession; there will probably be time for that after he retires. However the veteran utilityman was caught off guard forward of Sport 4 of the Nationwide League Championship Sequence when he discovered he was closing in on Justin Turner’s franchise report of 86 postseason video games performed in a Dodgers uniform.
Hernández, presently sitting at 85 video games, will tie Turner with Sport 1 of the World Sequence on Friday. After that, he’ll want only one extra look on this yr’s Fall Basic to surpass his former teammate.
“Humbled, lucky,” Hernández stated final Friday. “This isn’t simply any franchise, man. That is the L.A. Dodgers. They have been round for a very long time, and so they have plenty of historical past. And for a man like me from Puerto Rico, [who] form of swam towards the present my complete life, to be sitting on this place is fairly particular.”
It’s a milestone that Hernández by no means even dreamed of.
Forward of this yr’s postseason, Hernández gave some perception into his mentality because the calendar flipped to October, which principally boiled all the way down to taking issues at some point at a time.
“The truth is, you are solely residing immediately,” he stated. “And what’s accomplished yesterday is already paid for, it is already accomplished. Nothing issues however immediately. … Within the postseason, I really feel such as you by no means know what pitch will win you a recreation. That mindset of taking it at some point at a time, one pitch at a time, is what permits me to quiet the noise and do what I’ve to do.”
As he closes in on the report, right here’s a glance again at among the most memorable postseason moments in Dodger blue for “October Kiké.”
1) 2017 NLCS Sport 5The legend of October Kiké might have been born on this present day, when he helped the Dodgers safe their first NL pennant since 1988 with a three-homer, seven-RBI efficiency of their 11-1 win over the Cubs in Chicago.
Hernández led off the highest of the second inning, entering into the batter’s field with a one-run lead already in hand. He jumped on a first-pitch sinker from Cubs starter Jose Quintana, launching it into the Wrigley Area basket in straightaway heart discipline to double the Dodgers’ early lead.
He broke the sport open one inning later. With the bases loaded, Hernández was aggressive once more on the primary pitch — this time a dangling slider from Héctor Rondón — and smoked a line drive deep to right-center discipline for a grand slam to offer the Dodgers a commanding 7-0 lead.
The exclamation level got here within the ninth inning when Hernández knocked a two-run shot, his third of the sport. He regarded again towards the Dodgers’ dugout in disbelief as he rounded first base, a ticket to the World Sequence all however punched already.
2) 2020 NLCS Sport 7Game 7 of the 2020 NLCS between the Dodgers and Braves was considerably of a microcosm of the collection as an entire. Down 3-1 within the COVID-19 bubble in Arlington, the Dodgers clawed their means again into the collection, rattling off back-to-back wins to drive the decisive seventh recreation.
The Braves jumped out to an early two-run lead earlier than the Dodgers would tie issues up within the third inning. Atlanta responded instantly with one other run, setting the stage for Hernández.
Main off the underside of the sixth, Hernández labored an extended at-bat towards A.J. Minter, fouling off three pitches in a row. On the eighth pitch, Minter threw a 97.3 mph fastball over the center of the plate. Hernández crushed it 424 ft to left-center, ricocheting off the second deck at Globe Life Area to tie the sport as soon as once more.
Cody Bellinger would comply with him up within the seventh with the go-ahead homer to ship the Dodgers again to the World Sequence en path to their first championship in 32 years.
3) 2024 NLDS Sport 5Hernández wasted no time because the Dodgers accomplished a comeback from the verge of elimination, holding the Padres scoreless over 24 innings throughout the ultimate three video games of the NLDS.
Entering into the batter’s field after a double play, Hernández instantly took the momentum again. He ambushed Yu Darvish with two outs within the backside of the second inning, swinging on a first-pitch fastball and sending it midway up the Left Area Pavilion at Dodger Stadium for a 428-foot solo residence run.
That may find yourself being sufficient, though Teoscar Hernández added yet one more for good measure within the seventh to safe a 2-0 win to ship the Dodgers to the NLCS.
4) 2024 NLCS Sport 3The Mets took Sport 2 in L.A. to steal home-field benefit and ship the collection again to New York, 1-1. In Sport 3, the Dodgers jumped out to a two-run lead within the second inning, which Hernández constructed on with one other large swing within the high of the sixth.
Tommy Edman reached on a single with two outs, and later superior to second on a balk. Hernández proceeded to drive a splitter over the left-field wall at Citi Area to place the Dodgers up, 4-0. They’d go on to win Sport 3 in an eight-run blowout, and the collection in six video games earlier than beating the Yankees in 5 video games for the Dodgers’ second World Sequence title within the final 5 years.
