What a rollercoaster week for the Dodgers. Just a week ago, they were all steamrolling the rivals and boasting a 9-0 record. And now, a series loss to the Phillies – the Dodgers scoreboard says 9-2. Their record-breaking winning streak came to a sudden halt. While a loss or two is normal in a 162-game season, a back-to-back loss for LA – that might be hard to accept. But slugger Teoscar Hernandez didn’t hold back on recognizing the beautiful play by the Phillies!

It all started in the first game against the Phillies when Trea Turner took advantage of a throwing error by Yoshinobu Yamamoto to give the Phillies a lead in the bottom of the first inning. Consider it a high expectation from the Dodgers or the star-studded lineup, failing to obtain hits and making baserunning errors is not a typical Dodger-like performance.

With Mookie Betts at the plate and two outs in the eighth inning, Shohei Ohtani made the risky attempt to steal second base. What followed was Ohtani getting tagged out by Bryson Stott. And talking about LA’s hitting, apart from Hernandez’s two homers, no other sluggers could score a homer. All these lapses just ended up offering the Phillies two more runs in the seventh inning to grab a 3-0 lead.

So, was it more of a Dodgers’ loss or the Phillies’ win? It was a game for the Phillies. “They play really good baseball, they take good at-bats today and a lot of walks that can close pitches,” pointed out Hernandez.

While two consecutive losses may look concerning for the fans, Teoscar Hernandez thinks otherwise. “We know the team that we have, especially from last year, we know we can get back into the game easily.“ Hernandez sounded confident talking to the Dodgers Bleed Blue Podcast. It is just about time to witness a comeback of the Dodgers.

In May 2024, the Dodgers went seven games without a loss. And this season, as well, they are off to the finest start. With 8 straight wins, they are the 9th defending WS champion to begin the season with four back-to-back wins. So, yeah, a good start anyway! And a little slump should be acceptable, no? After all, they’re humans, too.

But it’s time for the Dodgers to not get over-confident and get back to the drawing board again. The Dodgers’ pitching rotation was hyped before the regular season, but their pitchers might be getting swayed away by those talks. The instance of Tyler Glasnow’s struggle is worrisome, indeed!

But despite everything, some were in the bright spots from yesterday’s game, too. There comes Teoscar Hernandez.

Hernandez is shining amid the Dodgers’ rough patch

The only hope for the Dodgers from yesterday’s loss. Teoscar Hernandez’s five runs, just one run shy of his career-best 6 runs in a single game.

Just after the Phillies scored six runs in the third inning, Hernandez was the first to chip away with a single shot in the fourth inning. And yesterday’s game was also the first multi-homer game for Hernandez since his last against the Yankees in June 2024.

“Today, he pretty much single-handedly kept us in this one.“ Skipper Dave Roberts’ words speak a lot about the importance of his stint yesterday.

Remember Hernandez’s “prove-it” one-year deal with the Dodgers last year? What followed was a 3-year qualifying offer by the same team this year. The Dodgers were right in re-signing him as Hernandez’s career-high 33-homer last season is just getting forward this year.

As per Teoscar Hernández’s 2025 season statistics as of April 7, 2025, he has a .235 batting average, is tied for 29th in home runs and 12th in RBIs, and has an OPS of .768.

And well, talking about Los Angeles, their star-studded lineup is too good to get devastated by a two-game loss. Last year, the team went on to win 98 games to get the ring. So, Hernandez might be right when he said that they will be back in the game soon. Plus, there is Shohei Ohtani, too, who is reportedly getting back to the mound by next month. And with Blake Snell going to a 15-day injured list, Ohtani is now needed on the mound.

Let’s see if Hernandez’s words start making sense again. We are waiting for the next one with the Nationals.

Meanwhile, imagine the bar set by the Dodgers that a 2-game loss is creating concerns. Shocking, eh!