Another day, another hero for the Dodgers.
Enrique Hernandez hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the eighth and the Los Angeles Dodgers won their sixth straight game, 6-4, over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday night at Progressive Field.
Andrew Miller gave up the go-ahead blast to Hernandez, and had faced 120 batters over 32 innings before he surrendered his first homer of the season to Cody Bellinger on Tuesday night.
Less than 24 hours later, it was Hernandez who took arguably the greatest relief pitcher in baseball deep to break a 2-2 tie and give the Dodgers some more late-inning dramatics.
"He's got really good stuff, so you have to keep everything short and battle," Hernandez told Alanna Rizzo of his at-bat against Miller. "He left a fastball over the plate and it was an emergency swing. I wasn't sure if it was going out. Thank God, we're in Cleveland and not LA, because that doesn't go out at home."
Miller has now allowed five total runs to the Dodgers in the last two games, more than he had allowed all season in his previous 50 games.
The Dodgers struck first off former Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber in the second inning.
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After a one-out walk to Yasmani Grandal, Chris Taylor doubled to left field to put two runners in scoring position.
Two batters later, Joc Pederson legged out an infield single to score Grandal, and then helped executed the first and third double steal, allowing Taylor to steal home and give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
Double steal. ��
��: https://t.co/kSZcCr0NMh pic.twitter.com/AhklTojQ76— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 15, 2017
Kluber kept his composure, retiring 15 out of the next 17 batters he faced before leaving in the eighth inning. Kluber did not factor in the decision, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts over seven innings.
One of those strikeouts was against Yasiel Puig in the fifth inning, giving Kluber 1,000 in his big league career. Kluber is the seventh pitcher in MLB history to reach the milestone in less than 150 career games, and the fastest Cleveland Indian in franchise history to accomplish the feat.
Corey Kluber gets Yasiel Puig swinging for his 1000th career strikeout, becoming the fastest in club history to achieve the feat!!! pic.twitter.com/FLiuFt9vsh— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) June 15, 2017
Brandon McCarthy breezed through the first five innings for the boys in blue before he ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth.
Cleveland scratched a run across on McCarthy after back-to-back singles by Bradley Zimmer and Francisco Lindor.
After a pitching change, Grant Dayton got Michael Brantley to fly out to right field, allowing Zimmer to score from third on the sacrifice fly.
McCarthy also did not factor in the decision, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and zero strikeouts in 5 and 1/3 impressive innings.
"That was something else. I couldn't strike anybody out," McCarthy said of his outing. "I kept thinking 'How can I be this lucky?' but somehow things worked out and I'll take it."
Jose Ramirez tied the game in the bottom of the seventh with a solo shot to right field for the equalizer.
Jose Ramirez crushes a solo home run over the wall in right field, tying the game at 2 in the bottom of the 7th inning!!! #RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/V0LDs7rCUf— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB) June 15, 2017
Dodgers' reliever Josh Fields surrendered the game-tying homer, his third home run allowed in his last four appearances.
After a dominant stretch through the first two months of the season, Fields has struggled as of late with an ERA of 9.00 with four runs allowed in four innings of relief.
Despite the Dodgers coughing up the lead, Hernandez played the role of hero as he stroked the go-ahead home run off Miller in the top of the eighth.
"My main focus this season is to do damage and drive the ball," Hernandez told SportsNetLA. "I'm glad I've been able to do that and help the team win."
Hernandez was pinch-hitting on the home run, giving the Dodgers their fourth pinch-hit home run of the season
Five batters later, Chris Taylor broke the game open with a two-run single to center field, giving the Dodgers a temporary 6-2 lead.
Cleveland scored two runs off the Dodgers bullpen in the bottom of the eighth, but Pedro Baez got Lonnie Chisenhall to fly out to third base with runners on second and third to end the inning.
The victory gives the Dodgers the best record in the National League at 41-25, as they remain percentage points ahead of the Colorado Rockies for first place in the NL West.
Los Angeles has won a season-high six consecutive games and the accomplished the feat on the 91st birthday of legendary Dodger pitcher Don Newcombe.
Up Next:
Rich Hill gets the ball in the finally of the three-game interleague series on Thursday opposite RHP Josh Tomlin. Dodgers fans will need to wake up early for this one as first pitch is scheduled for 9:10AM PST.
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