The Los Angeles Dodgers took the first of three games against the New York Yankees, living up to the hype as two top teams in Major League Baseball.
Yankee Stadium had an announced 48,048 in attendance, their fourth sellout of the year and the toughest ticket to acquire in the Bronx this season. Both teams entered Friday with the best combined record for a single matchup in MLB, adding to the aura.
Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton heightened the name power, but void of that is Juan Soto, who was limited with a forearm injury that held him out of the starting lineup.
Both teams were held scoreless through 10 innings as a result of incredible pitching, adding to the weight of each at-bat. Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernández detailed that feeling, a veteran himself of big game spots, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com:
“It felt like a playoff game today,” Hernández said with a smile. “I like that. I like to play in these atmospheres.”
Hernández tallied a double and a walk in the contest, smoking a ball down the left-field line in the seventh inning with two outs. Both teams combined to go 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
However, he also made an error and was picked off after reaching on an error.
The Dodgers broke through in the 11th inning, when Tesocar Hernández missiled a two-strike double, plating two runs. The Yankees were unable to even the score, losing 2-1.
Kiké Hernández having tough go as of late with Dodgers
Hernández has been on the tough end of some really poor play. Even with his back-to-back games with an extra base hit, the veteran has posted a 64 wRC+ since the start of May.
Batting .164/.263/.284 in that stretch with just four extra base hits isn’t doing much from the Dodgers bench. He’s also been rough on the defensive end, making some errant plays while filling in for injured third baseman Max Muncy.
Some speculation surrounding Hernández and his ability to stick on the roster past the All Star break has begun to creep up, and his postseason performance over his career would be tough to part with.
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