The Los Angeles Dodgers came through with a 3-1 win in Game 3 of the 2026 National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday at Truist Park in Atlanta. The win probably wouldn't have been possible without Kike Hernandez providing the much-needed spark at the plate for Los Angeles.
Hernandez sprinkled the Dodgers' offense with life in the fourth inning, when the Dodgers broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home run by the third baseman off Braves ace Chris Sale.
“We needed a little bit of that Kiké dust, he’s always prepared; he loves moments like these,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Hernandez after the game, via DodgersMuse. “It’s one of those things that having him in the postseason adds that urgency.”
Hernandez got ahead in that matchup against Sale, whose first pitch was a 92 mph changeup that went for a ball. Sale offered the same pitch, but slower at 88 mph, on his second offer to Hernandez, who took that one deep for a 406-foot blast that also drove Alex Pages to home plate, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.
Article Continues BelowThe Dodgers never looked back after that. The Braves scored a run in the fifth inning, but that was the only damage Atlanta dealt on the reigning World Series champions, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto put together a splendid performance on the mound.
Hernandez and the Dodgers can end the series and secure a ticket to the NL Championship Series Round as soon as Wednesday, when Los Angeles send Tyler Glasnow to the mound.