Moving Teoscar Hernández in lineup pays off for Dodgers in sweeping win over Tigers
The Teoscar Hernandez ‘tax’ that won the Dodgers their home opener vs. Tigers
The Los Angeles Dodgers remained perfect to start the 2025 campaign, picking up a hard-fought 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers in their home opener on Thursday. Teoscar Hernandez delivered the big blow for the Dodgers, smacking a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead for Los Angeles.
With last season’s American League Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, on the hill for the Tigers, they wanted him to get through Hernandez so that he could get a lefty-on-lefty matchup against Freddie Freeman. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts knew that this is what his opponent would want to do, as he explained that there’s a “tax” involving Hernandez that is required to get to Freeman when facing his team’s lineup.
“There’s a Teoscar tax to get to Freddie a third time,’’ Roberts said before the Dodgers win over the Tigers. “It makes it tougher for a pitcher and manager to navigate (through) our lineup with Freddie facing a lefty.’’
Teoscar Hernandez, Dodgers continue hot start to 2025 campaign
The Dodgers kicked off the 2025 campaign by sweeping the Chicago Cubs in their two-game Tokyo Series, and they kept up the momentum with this win over the Tigers. Hernandez only has two hits in his first 12 at-bats, but he’s managed to make them court, as he’s already racked up the aforementioned home run and four runs batted in over his first three games.
Everyone expected Los Angeles to be absolutely dominant in 2025 thanks to their loaded roster, and through three games, they have lived up to the hype. There’s still a lot of work to be done, though, but Roberts’ comments about Hernandez show just how deep this team is. They will look to push their record to 4-0 on the season when they face off against the Tigers in the second game of their series on Friday night.
Dave Roberts’ scary admission after Dodgers walk-off win vs. Tigers
After the Dodgers walked it off to be 4-0 on the season, Dave Roberts had a message that should scare the MLB.
As the Los Angeles Dodgers face the Detroit Tigers to close out the series on Saturday night, the team is coming off a special game on Friday due to the walk-off win. It would be Dodgers star Mookie Betts who walked it off for the team bringing them to a 4-0 start to the season as manager Dave Roberts spoke after the special moment and had a statement that should put the whole MLB on notice.
Dave Roberts on the Dodgers not playing their best
Los Angeles had a little bit of a head start on their season as they beat the Chicago Cubs twice in Japan for the international series to add to the two wins already against Detroit. Roberts would say via USA Today that besides it being the “best opening week” he’s ever been a part of, the team is “not even playing” at their best.
“This is by far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced,” Roberts said. “I think that if you’re a Dodger fan, I think that you feel the same way I do. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better. Obviously, we’re 4-0, finding ways to win, and we’re not even playing our best baseball and are still finding ways to win.”
Betts would be up to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning with two on base and facing a full count where on the eighth pitch, he connected on the ball just under the strike zone with enough power to send it into the stands.
“That was super special,” Betts said. “I know it sounds super selfish, but just more for me, man. I was proud of myself coming in, and playing underweight. Not that it’s a big deal playing underweight, but just the fight. I’ve kind of been through ups and downs, the night where I’m just crying because I’m sick. My wife, they’re kind of holding me, you know, so that’s where that emotion comes from.”
Dave Roberts on the “hallmark” of the Dodgers
As the Dodgers are looking to repeat as World Series champions, the first four games have shown in a small sample size of how dangerous they are. Betts’ walk-off win is more impressive since he is coming off an illness where he lost around or more than 20 pounds, and still hit two home runs Friday. Plus, the team was getting no-hit up until the fourth and shut out until the sixth.
“It’s kind of the hallmark of our ballclub,” Roberts said. “We just don’t quit. We keep going, and as bleak as it might look at times, we keep competing and putting it back together.”
Besides the win, the team before the game was celebrating the championship from 2024 by receiving their rings, a moment that Roberts mentioned staying present in.
“I’m kind of in a place where I’m embracing enjoying moments. They aren’t mutually exclusive, in that you can enjoy the moment and not bleed into the game itself. You can enjoy last year and not say this year’s not important,” Roberts said Friday via True Blue LA. “It’s hard to win a championship, and this is part of the tradition. It’s something we’ll all enjoy.”
