Kiké Hernández helps Dodgers to a thrilling victory over the Red Sox

Kiké Hernández was having quite the Saturday before he even set foot in Dodger Stadium, the veteran utility man kicking off the weekend with an emotional family reunion to mark the day he completed 10 years of service in the Major Leagues, a milestone less than 10% of players achieve.

“It was at home with my wife, my daughter, my parents, my two sisters and their boyfriends and my dogs,” Hernandez said. “My wife put together an hour-long video of all my friends from my hometown (in Puerto Rico) with messages from people who have influenced my career. It was definitely a great way to start my day.”

Somehow, Hernandez came up with an even better ending, entering the game against the Boston Red Sox as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning and almost single-handedly keeping the Dodgers in the game with clutch hits that tied the score in the ninth and 10th innings.

Will Smith then hit a bases-loaded single to left-center field in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Dodgers a dramatic 7-6 victory in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 48,129 at Chavez Ravine.

“It’s been a day of a lot of reflection,” Hernandez said after the game in his locker room, his forehead still sweaty and his uniform covered in dirt. “This game is very tiring, it’s a very long season. It’s hard to sit back and appreciate what you’ve done or what the game has done for you.”

Hernandez’s afternoon had a certain symmetry. The 32-year-old has played seven and a half seasons of his 11-year career with the Dodgers and two and a half seasons with the Red Sox, the teams that offered all the drama that can be packed into a nationally televised, three-and-a-half-hour regular-season game.

And Hernandez was a teammate of Kenley Jansen, the man off whom he hit the game-tying home run in the ninth inning, in both Los Angeles and Boston.

“It’s funny how things work out,” Hernandez said. “I’ve played for four teams, and the two that I played for the majority of my career are here at Dodger Stadium on the day I celebrate my tenure with the team. It’s a really beautiful thing.”

The lead changed hands three times in the first seven innings, with Tyler O’Neill hitting a two-run homer off left-hander Anthony Banda to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead in the seventh, an inning that began with James Outman making a spectacular leaping catch of a Rob Refsnyder drive as the Dodgers center fielder crashed into the wall.

The bottom of the ninth began with a familiar sight at Chavez Ravine, as Jansen, the former Dodgers closer, came in to protect a one-run lead against the team with which he earned the first 350 saves of his career.

Jansen lined a 2-2 fastball to his old friend, and Hernandez, who entered the game with a .191 average, .557 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, five homers and 15 RBIs in 71 games, hit a 415-foot shot to left field to tie the score at 4-4. It was the first homer allowed by Jansen in 134 batters faced this season.

“I’ve played behind Kenley a lot, but I’ve only faced him once when he was in Atlanta in 2022,” Hernandez said. “I ambushed him on the first pitch and he broke my bat with a two-seam fastball that went into the warning track. The whole way back to the dugout, he was yelling at me, ‘Keep cheating with the cutter! Keep cheating with the cutter!’”

“He’s not throwing two-seam fastballs this year, so there’s no mystery to what Kenley is trying to do. He gave me one to handle and I didn’t miss it.”

Did Jansen say anything to Hernandez this time?

“If he did, I didn’t hear it because the stadium was loud and I was knocked out because it had been a long time since I did anything important in this stadium,” Hernandez said. “But I’m sure he could say a few words tomorrow.”

The Red Sox took a 6-4 lead in the top of the 10th inning when O’Neill hit his second homer of the game, a two-run shot to center off Dodgers closer Evan Phillips, one of the relievers responsible for blowing a five-run lead in the ninth inning of a loss to the Detroit Tigers in the penultimate game before the All-Star break.

The Dodgers came back in the bottom of the 10th inning. Andy Pages lined a one-out double to left field off Red Sox right-hander Greg Weissert to score Freddie Freeman, who started the inning as an automatic runner at second base, and cut the deficit to 6-5.

Miguel Rojas, who lined a return shot to the mound to start a 1-2-3 double play that ended the inning with the bases loaded in the eighth, struck out. Stepping up was Hernandez, who took a sweeper on the first pitch for a strike and fanned a sweeper on the second pitch for Strike 2. But Hernandez worked his way to the full count and hit a 96 mph sinker to center for a single and a 6-6 tie.

Hernandez was thrown out at second trying to advance on the throw home to end the 10th, but his big day wasn’t over yet.

“I’ve never faced that guy, he’s a very unique right-hander with a very powerful pitch,” Hernandez said of Weissert. “He was down 0-2, and after that, it was about slowing down, taking it pitch by pitch and having a lot of self-talk.

“I had a hard time keeping my confidence, but I kept telling myself throughout the at-bat that there’s no one better in these situations. You just have to get a pitch, not chase it and not try to do too much. All I have to do is get a hit or a walk. That 3-2 pitch was right there, and I hit a line drive down the middle.”

Reliever Blake Treinen gave the Dodgers a chance to win by escaping a two-on, no-out jam in the top of the 11th inning, striking out Dominic Smith, getting Ceddanne Rafaela to first base and pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida to third.

“That was huge,” manager Dave Roberts said. “When you inherit the base runner, it’s hard to get out of there without a run.”

Pinch-hitter Cavan Biggio led off the bottom of the 11th with a sacrifice bunt to advance Hernandez, the automatic runner, to third. Chris Taylor walked and Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Boston brought in an outfielder for a five-man infield, but Will Smith hit a ball where the Red Sox weren’t to give the Dodgers their second straight comeback win.

“There was a lot of back and forth, home runs, clutch hits… it was a fun game,” Smith said. “I wish we could have closed it out a little earlier, but we were able to overcome it and come away with the win.”

Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski allowed three hits, struck out five and walked two in 4⅓ innings in his third major league start, and reliever Brent Honeywell, making his second appearance with the Dodgers, pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings.

Gavin Lux hit a solo homer in the second, and the Dodgers scored twice in the sixth for a 3-2 lead when Ohtani doubled, Freeman walked, Teoscar Hernandez hit an RBI single and Pages hit a sacrifice fly.

But when it was over, it was Kiké Hernández who was honored by teammates with a champagne toast in the clubhouse, a tradition Roberts started a few years ago to salute players who reach 10 years of service.

“My family did a great job this morning to make sure I enjoyed the day,” Hernandez said. “I had two great moments in the game and I’m glad we got the win. It was a special day for me.”