Kiké Hernández has just one hit in the 2026 MLB playoffs, but it’s the biggest hit of the year for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
With Game 3 of the National League Division Series scoreless in the top of the fourth inning and a runner on first base with nobody out, Hernández smashed a changeup from Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale over the left-field wall for a two-run home run, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Ultimately, that long ball would be enough to give Los Angeles a 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves and take a 2-1 series lead.
“He’s a great player,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Hernández in his postgame press conference Tuesday night. “I said it earlier, we needed a little bit of that Kike dust, and he’s always prepared, and he loves moments like that. He has a way of closing down. He doubled a shift, and he made a good move on it and made some really nice plays on defense, too.
“It’s just one of those things where having him in a lineup in the postseason just adds that extra kind of urgency and that kind of grit that you need.”
The aforementioned home run was the 12th long ball of the postseason for Hernández in a Dodgers uniform; Hernández, who has extensive experience at every position but catcher (he’s even made 11 appearances on the mound), is in his second season and 10th overall with the Dodgers (2015-20 and 2023-present).
Two batters after Hernández went deep, first baseman Freddie Freeman did the same, launching a solo home run to right. On the hill, Los Angeles got seven strong innings from right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who recorded 10 hits and gave up just one run and five hits (four strikeouts and one walk). Tanner Scott and Edwin Díaz followed with one inning of scoreless relief each.
The 35-year-old Hernández, traditionally praised for his defensive play and versatility, has been a postseason hero for the Dodgers. With Los Angeles trailing the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 in the 2025 World Series and trying to extend the streak, Hernández turned a game-ending double play into left field with the tying run in scoring position to force Game 7, which the Dodgers would win in 11 innings.
In 2020, Hernández hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the sixth against the Braves in Game 7 of the NLCS, which the Dodgers went on to win, and he drove in one of the Dodgers’ two runs against the San Diego Padres in Game 5 of the 2024 NLDS on a solo home run.
Meanwhile, Hernández blasted three home runs for the Dodgers in a Game 5 win against the Chicago Cubs in the 2017 NLCS and hit five home runs in 11 postseason games for the Boston Red Sox in 2021.
Kiké Hernández 2026 campaign
Hernández, who started at third base for the Dodgers in Game 3 and later moved to left field, was limited to 41 games in the 2026 regular season due to elbow and oblique injuries, respectively.
In all, the Dodgers have scored just 10 runs in the NLDS, but they have held the Braves to seven runs. The Dodgers have a chance to advance in the NL Championship Series in Game 4 on Wednesday afternoon (6 p.m. ET on FS1). Atlanta will send Tyler Mahle to the mound, while Los Angeles counters with Tyler Glasnow.
If the Dodgers advance, they would play the winner of the NLDS game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Padres, who avoided elimination with a Game 3 win Tuesday night, in the NLCS.
