Game-ending double play by Kiké Hernández rescues Dodgers

The play that saved the Dodgers' season started with a sound, and a feeling.

- BY JACK HARRIS

GINA FERAZZI Los Angeles Times MOOKIE BETTS slugs a two-run single in Game 6 as the shortstop broke out of a prolonged postseason slump. Said Betts, "It felt great to come through for the boys."

There was a faint crack of a broken bat. A ball that was momentarily lost in the lights. And a player with more postseason experience than anyone else in Dodgers history, making the right read, and the perfect play, at the most critical juncture of the entire year.

In the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 6 of the World Series on Friday night, the Dodgers were in danger of succumbing to disaster. The two-run lead they'd held for much of the evening was suddenly under threat.

The Toronto Blue Jays had the tying runs in scoring position with nobody out. The Dodgers had removed closer Roki Sasaki to call on potential Game 7 starter Tyler Glasnow in emergency relief. And inside a sold-out Rogers Centre, the hopes of an entire nation had turned the scene deafening.

On each pitch, however, the raucous crowd of 44,710 briefly quieted down, and collectively held its breath.

What happened next could be the defining moment of this World Series. At the very least, it helped seal the Dodgers’ 3-1 win and force a Game 7 back here on Saturday night.

Andrés Giménez hit a one-out line drive to left that was just a little too far off the end of his bat, cracking the lumber as the ball made impact. In the outfield, Kiké Hernández heard the sound, and let instinct take over as he ran to field it.

“For a split second, as Glasnow threw the ball, the crowd got quiet,” Hernández said afterward. “I was able to hear that the bat broke, so I just got a really good jump on the ball. And I came in.”