The Los Angeles Dodgers began their 2024 postseason journey with another National League Division Series showdown against the San Diego Padres.
It was a highly anticipated matchup between two NL West rivals that have no love lost for each other. Tensions were high throughout the series, with Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts all involved in some form of controversy.
L.A. at one point trailed 2-1 in the matchup but won two consecutive games to eliminate San Diego and advance to the NL Championship Series.
Teoscar Hernández, who is in his first postseason with the Dodgers, wanted the team to face the Padres for the challenge of going up against a quality opponent, via Fox:
“They were playing really good baseball at the end of the season and we knew they were not going to give up easily. Personally, I wanted the Padres. Not because I have anything against them or I have bad feelings against them. I think it’s better for baseball when you have these two teams facing each other, trying to advance to the next step.”
As Hernández noted, the Padres played excellent baseball down the stretch as they finished an MLB-best 43-20 after the All-Star break.
The Padres appeared to have the upper hand with their offense, but Dodgers pitching shut them down by throwing 24 consecutive scoreless innings to end the NLDS.
“I think ‘stunning’ is appropriate,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said after the Game 5 loss. “Yeah. I’ve got to tip your hat, and while we’re doing it, congratulations to the Dodgers.
“Hard fought, a lot of things going on in the season. Had them down. They were able to come back. So congratulations to them.”
Teoscar Hernández: Dodgers team meeting ‘changed everything’
With the Dodgers reeling from injuries, Roberts arranged a team meeting during their series against the Atlanta Braves in the middle of September, which Hernández credited for the club’s turnaround.
“It was one time that we saw a lot of fans, that we saw not from the team but from the outside, everybody was panicking because we got a lot of injuries,” Hernández recalled. “We lost a lot of pitchers. It was one time that we felt like we were down as a team.
“One meeting changed everything. Then we realized that we have the potential, that we have the players, that we’re still the Dodgers and we can do special things with the people we have healthy throughout the year and just the opportunity to maintain the team until those guys were able to come back and keep helping the team win.”
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