LOS ANGELES -- To the naked eye, one might have thought that Teoscar Hernández's bat traveled nearly as far as the long ball that sent the Dodger Stadium faithful into a frenzy that had been building all night long.
It took one swing for Hernández to flip Friday night's game on its head, hitting a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning that propelled the Dodgers to a second straight comeback victory, 4-3, over the Padres at Dodger Stadium.
Statcast projected that the home run -- Hernández's first since he returned from a month-long IL stint for a strained left hamstring on Monday -- traveled 419 feet. Of course, there was no data available for the bat that Hernández slung toward the home dugout as he watched the ball fly.
"It's just a little bit of everything," Hernández said, of the emotion that accompanied his reaction. "I'm just trying to find the same swing that I had before I got hurt. And at the same time, just do something for the team. It happened to be a big swing."
If there's one thing these Dodgers have shown during this weekend's series against the Padres, it's that they should never be counted out.
Not when they trailed by six runs after two innings on Thursday, and certainly not when they managed just three baserunners through six innings on Friday. The pair of comeback victories have extended the Dodgers' lead in the NL West to a season-high 14 games.
"For us, we're just stacking wins," manager Dave Roberts said. "Certainly, [the Padres] are going through it right now. Last night, the way we came back and won. Tonight, the way we came back and won, it certainly takes the wind out of your sail."
Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani was solid despite struggling with his command early, tossing a quality start. But the offense couldn't put a dent in the three-run deficit while Padres starter Michael King dominated through his first six innings, not allowing a hit until the fourth. L.A. also put a pair on base with a base hit and a walk in the sixth, but King stranded both.
Things changed quickly in the seventh. A Mookie Betts walk and a Max Muncy single knocked King from the game. Southpaw Adrian Morejon entered and got Kyle Tucker to hit a grounder to the right side of the infield that should have at least resulted in at least one out at second base, but Jake Cronenworth bobbled the ball, and the bases were full of Dodgers.
Hernández stepped to the plate, Morejon hung a first-pitch slider and suddenly the game was in the Dodgers' hands after the no-doubter sailed out to left-center field and Dodger Stadium erupted, perhaps as loud as it had been all season.
The crowd reaction matched Hernández's own perfectly.
"Obviously, Teo missed a lot of time lately," Roberts said. "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."
Hernández was the latest to play the hero for the Dodgers, who have seen hitters step up from top to bottom of their order. Having a lineup as deep as theirs has become with the return of Hernández makes a difference, but perhaps not so much as the mentality they carry into every game.
"I think the biggest thing is that we never give up," Hernández said. "We believe in each other, we know what we can do, we know the players that we have. And we're never out of the game."