Kiké Hernandez hits 3 home runs, including a grand slam, in NLCS Game 5

Kiké Hernandez had never hit a postseason home run before NLCS Game 5 against the Cubs. He had hit 28 in his career but never one in the playoffs. He fixed that with his first one in the second inning of the game with a solo homer against Jose Quintana.

But things were only going to get better for Hernandez after that, as he made it to the plate in the very next inning.

In the third, when the Dodgers batted around, Hernandez got to the plate again. Since Quintana had loaded up the bases and been pulled, he instead faced Hector Rondon who had just struck out Logan Forsythe.

There would be no strikeout for Hernandez though, as he smashed a grand slam to put the Dodgers up 7-zip on the Cubs.

Both of his dingers came on the first pitch, so Hernandez saw two pitches through the third inning of the game and brought in five runs off of them. A pretty good return on his time investment at the plate, if you ask me.

Also, as icing on the cake, look how happy he is!

He’s only the fourth Dodger to hit a grand slam in the postseason after Ron Cey and Dusty Baker in 1977 (in NLCS Games 1 and 2, respectively) and James Loney in 2008.

A 3-0 lead was already bad for the Cubs, but adding Hernandez’s four extra runs makes this an extra tough hole to dig out of in a must-win game. And the bleeding isn’t over as the Dodgers continue to put runs on the board.

Update: In the top of the ninth inning he hit another one. He set the record for most RBI in an LCS game with seven and tied the record for most home runs in an LCS game.

You couldn’t wipe the smile off his face all night, and it was great.