DENVER —
During his team’s resurgence at the plate in recent weeks, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has used one adjective above all else.
On more than one occasion of late, Roberts has praised his lineup’s “fight” at the plate, extolling their ability to fight off pitches, extend at-bats and stay in games.
On Tuesday, in perhaps the most unlikeliest of the Dodgers’ 46 wins this year, the club epitomized everything Roberts had been talking about, exploding for seven late runs to pull off a come-from-behind 11-9 win.
Entering the ninth inning Tuesday, the story was about Walker Buehler, who put the team in a seemingly insurmountable hole with a seven-run, four-inning start.
But then, even facing a 9-4 deficit, the Dodgers found a way to rally back.
The team loaded the bases with one out. Then, Jason Heyward clipped the right-field foul pole for a grand slam.
Shohei Ohtani followed with a base hit. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Freddie Freeman was walked intentionally.
Regardless, the Rockies were still one strike away from ending the game.
That’s when Teoscar Hernández completely flipped the script.
With two strikes, Hernández contorted his body to check what would have been a game-ending swing. An appeal to first base umpire Lance Barksdale upheld the call.
Rockies manager Bud Black stormed out of the dugout, immediately getting ejected for arguing the call.
Then, on the very next pitch, Hernández got a fastball down the middle. He sent it soaring to right field for a go-ahead three-run homer.
In all, the Dodgers sent 10 batters to the plate in the ninth inning. They collected four hits and three walks. And, after trailing by five runs three different times earlier in the night, fought all the way back for their biggest comeback win this year.