Dodgers pitchers shut down the Padres' bats for the second consecutive game on their way to the NLCS, but Friday night belonged to Kiké Hernández.
Hernández's solo home run in the third inning was one of two for Los Angeles to power the Dodgers to a Game 5 win. And he stole the show again after the final out with a hilarious moment during a postgame interview with Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal.
Hernández, 33, has been to the World Series three times with the Dodgers, and he's now four wins away from a fourth trip if Los Angeles can get past the Mets in the NLCS. But if the Dodgers do punch their ticket to the Fall Classic, don't be surprised to see Fox steer clear of the super-utility man during the postgame celebration.
Here's a look at what Hernández had to say after Friday's win against the Padres at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
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Kike Hernandez postgame interview
Hernández fielded a pretty standard question from Rosenthal at the end of an on-field interview after Game 5: What's different about this Dodgers team?
The short answer would be they just spent more than $1 billion last offseason. But of course, the Dodgers came up short in the NLCS in 2022 and 2023, when they also had a sky-high payroll.
Hernández had a different take. He paused for a few seconds and looked around before asking Rosenthal: "Are we live?"
Told by Rosenthal that they were, in fact, live on TV, Hernandez answered: "The fact that we don't give a f—."
Kiké Hernández had an interesting final comment in this interview with Ken Rosenthal. pic.twitter.com/3nxclVD2Ub
— The Comeback MLB (@thecomebackmlb) October 12, 2024
Hernández and Rosenthal appeared to stare at each other for about four more seconds before the veteran reporter thanked him and sent it back to the broadcast booth.
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Most players would ask if the interview is live so they could avoid saying something that isn't ordinarily allowed on TV. Hernandez, though, hilariously seemed emboldened when he heard he was live. The awkward silence after his answer from the Fox broadcasters only added to the bizarre moment.
The interview capped a strange week for Rosenthal, who was barred from the Padres' dugout for a game after writing a scathing column about the behavior of some San Diego players. Rosenthal's thoughts weren't received well by fans or players, but Padres players had a hard time backing up the confidence Rosenthal railed against from that point on — San Diego was shut out by the Dodgers over the final two games of the series.
The Dodgers will need production from both their stars and their lower-profile bats if they want to win eight more games, so this level of energy from Hernández is a welcome sight for Los Angeles — even if Fox might not appreciate it.
