Teoscar Hernández’s grand slam powers another Dodgers comeback victory

LOS ANGELES — Teoscar Hernández took three steps before leaving the batter’s box, his bat outstretched and his eyes locked on the towering arc of a baseball leaving the field.

He knew that on contact he had gotten all of Adrian Morejon’s first-pitch slider. A crowd of nearly 50,000 at Dodger Stadium knew so, too. It left the bat at 106.6 miles per hour and sailed 419 feet, far into the left-field bleacher seats. When the ball cleared the fence, Hernández whirled around to face the Dodgers dugout, chucked his bat and began a trot around the bases he had just cleared.

Hernández’s go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday night powered the Dodgers to a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres, their second emphatic comeback in as many nights. They delivered another devastating blow to a reeling Padres squad, which has now lost seven straight.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers (58-31) improved to an MLB-best 27 games over .500 and expanded their division lead to 14 games.

“We’re never out of the game,” Hernández said after the win. “That’s our mentality every day.”

For the majority of the night, a Dodgers win seemed unlikely. Shohei Ohtani logged a quality start — three earned runs over six innings with nine strikeouts — though he recorded a season-high 110 pitches and later left the game as a precaution after he felt “a little concerned” with his right biceps while swinging during an at-bat.

Ohtani will not play Saturday, manager Dave Roberts said, and while the Dodgers will err on the side of caution with their two-way superstar, they are not overly concerned.

“We’ll give him a day to fully recover, treat it up,” Roberts said. “And then we’ll just go from there.”

Ohtani was outdueled by Padres starter Michael King, who stymied the Dodgers’ offense, allowing one hit and a walk over six shutout innings. However, no lead is safe against this juggernaut of a baseball team.

If you give the back-to-back champs an inch, they’ll take a mile — and they’ll snatch the win from you, too. They need an opportunity, and in the bottom of the seventh, the Dodgers gift wrapped them one.

The Dodgers batted around the order in the seventh, knocking King out of the game after Mookie Betts walked and Max Muncy singled to start the frame. The Padres, whose bullpen is usually an advantage, played the matchups and turned to left-handed Morejon to face the bottom half of the Dodgers’ lineup, starting with Kyle Tucker.

It almost worked. Morejon induced what appeared to be a tailor-made double-play ball, but second baseman Jake Cronenworth booted it. Muncy beat out any chance of a redemption play at second base, leaving the bases loaded for Hernández.

After missing a month recovering due to a left hamstring strain and being activated off the IL on Monday, Hernández had been searching for an impact moment.

It took one pitch for him to deliver.

“It was great,” Hernández said. “The stadium was in good vibes. The fans were there, trying to make something happen, trying to just give the energy that we needed.

“It happened in that at-bat. He left one over the plate. I just put a good swing on it.”

TEOSCAR GRAND SLAM! pic.twitter.com/IiL6ziPJ36

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 4, 2026

As they play through their final homestand before the All-Star break, the Dodgers have left no question that they are once again the powerhouse this season. They have weathered the absence of Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Edwin Díaz, Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández for most of the first half.

Edman’s season debut midway through June, combined with Teoscar Hernández’s return, has made the Dodgers’ lineup arguably the deepest in the league, even with Will Smith (neck) out at least until after the break.

With Hernández back, the Dodgers now have the right-handed thump they were seeking to plug in the bottom half of their lineup.

“It elongates the depth,” Roberts said. “Obviously, Teo missed a lot of time lately. So, to be able to get back and contribute, there’s a lot of anxiousness and anticipation to do something to help us win. That was a big hit. Morejon has had our number for quite some time. He left a slider middle-middle, and Teo took a good swing.”

That depth allows the Dodgers, who have won 13 of their last 17, to play their way out of any problem essentially. Much was made about Friday’s game, as it was the first time Dalton Rushing would catch Ohtani since a viral spat between the two during their last start against the Minnesota Twins.

Rushing took accountability for the miscommunication between the two and vowed he’d be better.

The pitch-calling and in-game communication appeared to improve in Friday’s start.

“I felt tonight I had a good idea of what he was trying to do. Thought we were on the same page a lot tonight, and obviously that … is a boost of confidence moving forward,” Rushing said.

Added Roberts: “I thought they were fine. They seemed to be on the same page tonight.”

With a potential crisis averted, the Dodgers can go back to what they’re good at: winning games. Their biggest question each night is who will lead the charge.

“(We) have a really good team,” Hernández said. “But I think the biggest thing is that we never give up. We believe in each other. We know what we can do.”