Teoscar Hernandez keeps proving he is worth every penny. His ninth-inning two-run double lifted the Dodgers to a 3-2 win over the Cardinals on Thursday, and the timing could not have been better with the playoff picture tightening.
LA had been trailing the whole game before Hernandez stepped in with runners on and the game hanging in the balance. He drilled a shot into the gap that scored both runners and stole a win the Cardinals deserved to have.
This is exactly why the Dodgers brought him back on a new contract. The version of Teoscar that shows up in September and October is the reason he has always been paid well, and Thursday was that version.
The Cardinals are the ones left kicking themselves. Their bullpen has been shaky all year and Oli Marmol has to be furious about how his relievers handled that ninth inning. This is not the first time St. Louis has given away a winnable game.
For the Dodgers, this keeps them running comfortably in front of the pack in the NL West. Their lineup has been the best in baseball all year and they now have Hernandez heating up at exactly the right time.
The bigger context is that the Dodgers are locking in for another deep postseason run. Their pitching staff is banged up but the offense is scoring in bunches, which is a formula that has worked for them for a decade.
Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts have been the headliners all year. But it is Teoscar coming up with clutch hits like this that makes the difference between winning 100 games and winning 110.
The Cardinals have been fighting to stay relevant all year and moments like this game are why they keep falling short. They cannot afford to blow games late against the elite teams of the NL.
Los Angeles keeps rolling. The Cardinals keep chasing. Baseball in September is finally here.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
