Dodgers Interview: Teo Crushes Balls, Then Chats up the Press
“We put a little more of everything in”
LOS ANGELES — Dodger Stadium buzzed all night and Teoscar Hernández rode the wave. Three hits. Two homers. A tone-setting reminder that the lineup carried its September rhythm into October. After the 10–5 win over the Reds, Teoscar kept it simple: enjoy the moment, stick to the plan, and get ready for tomorrow. Speaking in both English and Spanish, Hernandez spoke to the press after the big win.
Asked how it felt circling the bases on his first blast, he smiled. “Excited,” he said. “It’s great, especially in the moment, to put the team more ahead. Sho hit his homer in the first inning, but it’s great to have those moments and win games.” The confidence isn’t new. “I’m always confident in myself,” he added. “I don’t need to hit homers. Right now I’m just focusing on things I can do to help the team win.”
He has been through this stage before, and he didn’t hide what it means. “It means a lot. That’s why we play this game,” he said. “It’s good to have a regular season and win, but it’s better when you win in the playoff. Now that we’re here, we’re going to do everything we can.” The first playoff game of the year still hits different. “It reminds me of last year,” he said. “Playoffs are the playoffs. We’re going to keep pushing, keep playing hard, and try to win tomorrow.”
Hunter Greene arrived with heat and recent dominance. The Dodgers attacked the strikes. “We were able to hit the pitches he gave us in the strike zone and put it in play with hard contact,” Teoscar said. “Not missing a lot of pitches in the zone, I think that was the key for us.”
Did he trust the lineup’s focus would sharpen when the lights came on? “Yeah,” he said. “We’ve been playing really good baseball the last two or three weeks. We know the things we can do, especially in big moments like this. The focus is always there, but as a player you get more when the playoffs start. It’s hard to explain, but we put a little more of everything just to try and win.”
Carrying that late-season groove into October helped. “It wasn’t the case to go straight through,” he said of missing the top two seeds, “so we have to be ready for this and just keep going.” The experience matters too. “It’s really big,” he said. “As a player, you know what to expect — the emotions, the adrenaline, all of those things. You can control it better and have a better idea of what you need to do to perform and do good in the field.”
He kept returning to the basics: team approach over hero swings, pressure applied early, and disciplined at-bats. “We just didn’t miss pitches in the strike zone,” he said. “That was the key.”
There was no victory lap in his voice, only the short turnaround to Game 2. “We’re going to keep pushing,” he said again. “Keep playing hard and try to win tomorrow.”
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