Teoscar Hernandez drives in six runs, leads Dodgers to rout of Yankees (2024)

NEW YORK — Teoscar Hernandez is the Bronx bomber this weekend.

After coming through with the game-winning hit in the 11th inning Friday night, Teoscar Hernandez hit two home runs and drove in six runs as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 11-3 Saturday night.

“Yes. I’ll take it. Absolutely,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said with a smile, cutting off a question about whether he would be happy to see this kind of performance again in October. “I’m not even going to let you finish that question.”

A frequent visitor to Yankee Stadium during his six seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, Hernandez now has eight home runs and 23 RBI in 44 games here.

More importantly for the Dodgers, he has been the impactful addition to their lineup they hoped he would be.

He leads the team with 47 RBI (third in the National League) and is tied with Shohei Ohtani for the team lead in home runs (15). In the past three games (two in the Bronx), Hernandez is 7 for 13 with two doubles, three home runs and nine RBI — including the game-winning two-run double in the 11th Friday night.

“I just like to face good teams. The Yankees are having a really, really good season like always. I like it. I don’t know,” Hernandez said.

“That’s what makes you a really good player. I want to be a really good player. I want to be in those situations every time, even if I strike out or I don’t get the job done. The next opportunity, I want it back and just try to do better.”

With Hernandez providing the power, the Dodgers have handed the team with the best record in baseball consecutive losses, guaranteeing themselves a series win in their first visit to Yankee Stadium since 2016.

“We’re here to play,” Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia said. “We come out here and believe we can beat anybody. Doesn’t matter what we did yesterday. It’s just what we’re doing in the present day. One pitch at a time for the pitchers, one out at a time. For the hitters — let’s rake.”

The two teams traded runs early. Aaron Judge hit the first of his two home runs in the game. Hernandez hit the first of his two for the Dodgers. The Yankees scored a run on a fielder’s choice. The Dodgers got one on an RBI single by Shohei Ohtani.

Dodgers rookie starter Gavin Stone was fighting his way through New York traffic most of the night. The Yankees put the first two runners on base in the first and second innings, gave up Judge’s homer in the third and stranded two after an Alex Verdugo double in the fifth.

Stone even loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth before handing the ball to Vesia. Vesia got Anthony Volpe to fly out, ending the threat and leaving the Yankees 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and eight runners left on base in six innings.

Kike’ Hernandez has been slumping recently, getting more notice for his in-game interview Friday than anything he has done at the plate while going 7 for 44 before Saturday. But he went deep to right field in the fifth inning to give the Dodgers the lead. After Alex Verdugo misplayed Freddie Freeman’s line drive into a double, the Dodgers added another run in the sixth.

Thanks to short starts by James Paxton and Walker Buehler in Pittsburgh and Friday’s extra innings, the Dodgers relievers had to cover 16 1/3 innings over three days, leaving Roberts with limited options Saturday.

Vesia did his part, retiring all four batters he faced including striking out Judge in the seventh.

“That kind of flipped the game for us and the offense took off from there,” Roberts said.

In the eighth, the Dodgers took the game out of the bullpen’s hands and broke it open with the help of former Dodgers reliever Tommy Kahnle.

An error by second baseman Gleyber Torres and two walks loaded the bases for Teoscar Hernandez with one out. Hernandez got a 2-and-2 changeup down and in and sent it 424 feet into the Dodgers’ bullpen in left-center field for his second grand slam of the season.

A large contingent of Dodgers fan among the sold-out crowd erupted in cheers — and so did the relievers in the Dodgers’ bullpen.

“We talk about talented players but smart players and the bullpen guys are smart players in appreciating the extra runs, what that means for their workload,” Roberts said.

Teoscar Hernandez wasn’t the biggest headline signing of the Dodgers’ winter. But his value has been a boon for a Dodgers’ lineup looking for production from anyone other than the top four hitters in their lineup.

“He’s been a stalwart,” Roberts said. “I think there’s certainly some chase in there, some strikeout in there certainly. But he’s driven in a lot of big runs for us, taken a lot of good at-bats. To have a guy in there that hits righties, hits lefties, can slug and can smell a run batted in – it’s been big.

“There’s not a lot of talk about Teo but he’s up there in the league in homers and runs batted in. Not having (Max) Muncy here, he’s been big for us.”

The Dodgers piled on with three more runs in the ninth — two on Freeman’s second double of the game and another when the Yankees waved the white flag, brought in utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera and he walked in a run.