MIAMI -- Every day that Heriberto Hernández wakes up, he thanks God for another day in the Major Leagues after growing up dreaming about moments like Sunday.
Hernández hit the first grand slam of his career to lift the Marlins to a 4-0 walk-off win over the Mets at loanDepot park, capping a three-game sweep of their NL East foes. Hernández's Statcast-projected 416-foot shot was the first walk-off grand slam in a 0-0 MLB game since the Royals' Justin Maxwell hit one on Sept. 22, 2013.
“My whole life, I wanted to be in the Major Leagues,” Hernández said in Spanish. “Whether I am playing or not, I feel great and happy to be here. Even if I am not playing a lot, just knowing that I can contribute, having that in my heart so that the team can win is what has helped me.”
Hernández came to the plate in the ninth inning after reliever Devin Williams had intentionally walked Xavier Edwards to load the bases. Christopher Morel led off the inning with a double, and Liam Hicks drew a one-out walk to put two men on.
After taking a first-pitch changeup at the bottom of the zone for a called strike, Hernández connected on Williams’ second offering -- an 83.9 mph changeup -- sending it to right-center field with an exit velocity of 104.9 mph. It was his second home run of the season and the second-longest of his career, topped only by the 439-foot blast he hit against the Rays on May 16.
“I thought that the ball was going to go over the center fielder, but I didn't know that the ball was going to leave,” Hernández said. “I was just trying to put it in play. I wasn't trying to do too much. I knew that if I put it in play, the runner was going to be able to come in.”
Hernández was brought in to pinch-hit for Owen Caissie against left-hander Brooks Raley with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. He singled to load the bases, but Raley coaxed Kyle Stowers to ground out and keep the game scoreless.
“Since the first inning, [manager] Clayton [McCullough] told me that I was going to play in case Caissie had a turn against Raley,” Hernández said. “So I prepared like I was playing, like I do every day.”
Hernández was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville on April 27 before being recalled on May 7 when the Marlins optioned infielder Graham Pauley.
With the roster moves throughout the season, the 26-year-old said that his mentality has helped him remain ready.
“I have been staying positive every day,” Hernández said. “I know that I can enter at any time to help with defense, running or batting.”
What McCullough has liked from Hernández recently is that he has started to look more like the player the Marlins saw last season, when he slashed .266/.347/.438 with a .785 OPS.
“The look in the box from the swings he's getting off, the balance,” McCullough said. “He performed well here, and early on in the year, it's a little different. You make the team out of Spring Training, it's a different feeling when you come up during the season. You're kind of already in a rhythm, so you can get behind the eight ball like that and start to press a little bit.
“It seems like [the time in the Minors] was a little bit of a breather for [Hernández]. I think mentally, again, he should know that he can perform here.”
The win completed Miami’s first three-game sweep of the Mets at home since 2019 and gave the Marlins their first three-game winning streak since opening the season with a sweep of the Rockies. Miami has won five of its past six games against New York dating back to last August.
“We have a good team, and the pitching was really good, too,” Hernández said. “Untouchable, like it has been all these three days.”
Miami's pitchers held New York to two runs over the three-game series, including Sunday’s outing from Tyler Phillips, who made his first Major League start of the season.
Phillips was in the training room during Hernández's at-bat, so he didn’t hear the crack of the bat at first. The players in the room initially exchanged a quick, “Good win, guys,” thinking Hernández had simply delivered a walk-off single before they realized the ball had cleared the wall.
Once they saw it leave the park, the room erupted.
“Everyone exploded; we were jumping up and down,” Phillips said. “It was a blast in there, though. We had a huge group in there, and we were just pulling for our boys.”