First came the return. Then, a long-awaited rally.

On a night Kiké Hernández impressed in his season debut, the Dodgers did the same in just the nick of time.

Down two runs in the seventh inning on Monday, the team needed just two hits to surge to a 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, negating what had been a frustrating offensive performance with a four-run outburst.

The inning began with back-to-back walks from Rockies right-hander Juan Mejia. Lefty Brennan Bernardino then came in and plunked pinch-hitter Miguel Rojas with an 0-2 curveball.

Just like that, the Dodgers had the bases loaded with no outs. The top of their order was due up. And though they had gone 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position to that point of the contest, they finally found a way to push some runs across the plate.

Shohei Ohtani trimmed a 3-1 deficit in half by beating out a potential double-play grounder at first. Mookie Betts then tied the score with a sacrifice fly to left field, hit just deep enough for speedy Hyeseong Kim to race home with a slide. 

After that, the club at long last got some big hits to drop in. Freddie Freeman roped a double off the wall in right to push the Dodgers in front. Andy Pages collected his MLB-leading 46th RBI with an insurance-adding single in the next at-bat.

“I just don’t think our focus was where it needed to be early,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But what we’ve done all year is, seventh, eighth and ninth innings, we start kind of bearing down a little bit more.”

Indeed, the Dodgers had been desperate for such an inning.

Without it, contributions from two of the night’s other stars would have gone to waste.

Hernández went 2-for-2 in his first game back from offseason elbow surgery, getting a loud ovation before his first at-bat –– then an even louder one when he lined an RBI double down the third-base line to open the scoring in the bottom of the third.

“I felt tonight was good to have him in the game, get him a start,” Roberts said. “I thought he was going to bring some energy, just obviously having (not) played for a while. And did bring that, got a big hit for us.” 

Starting pitcher Emmet Sheehan also gutted through a six-inning, two-run, eight-strikeout start. Both runs came in the fourth inning, after Sheehan was drilled in his upper right arm by a 103.8 mph comebacker. But he went on to retire eight of his final nine, after twice convincing Roberts and head athletic trainer Thomas Albert he was OK to stay in during visits to the mound.

“He’s just a good competitor,” Roberts said. “This was his day and he wasn’t about to come out of that game.”

That all kept the Dodgers in striking distance just long enough, allowing their offense to finally capitalize on a golden opportunity late.

“Fortunately, we were kind of [the beneficiaries] of good fortune, allowing ourselves to build that inning,” Roberts said. “We started getting some hits, which was great. It was good to see us show some life tonight.” 

What it means

The Dodgers (34-20) are still hot.

Fresh off an impressive 7-2 road trip, and having won nine of their previous 11 games overall, the club stayed in the win column Monday by picking up their 18th come-from-behind victory already this season. In the seventh inning or later, they led MLB in OPS and rank third in batting average.

It also helped continue a recent stretch in which the Dodgers have produced more consistently. Monday was their eighth time in the last 12 games scoring at least five. On the year, they are back up to third in the majors in scoring.

Who’s hot

Hernández had waited two long months to reach Monday night, after opening the season on the 60-day injured list while recovering from his offseason surgery.

So in his first at-bat, he didn’t hesitate to be aggressive, jumping on the second pitch he saw from Rockies’ right-hander Tanner Gordon for his RBI double on a 100.6 mph grounder.

Hernández would get another hit in his next trip to the plate, chopping an infield single in the fifth that was misplayed by Rockies third baseman Kyle Karros. 

He was only removed when the Dodgers did some strategic pinch-hitting in his spot in the seventh –– initially calling upon Dalton Rushing to get the left-handed Bernardino in the game, before pivoting to Rojas in the at-bat that loaded the bases.

“You’re so excited to get back, [a lot of guys in that situation are] trying to do too much,” Roberts said. “There’s a lot of emotion, adrenaline, anticipation. That’s probably the thing you got to guard against. But he did a good job of managing those emotions.”

Who’s not

The Dodgers’ bullpen, but only barely.

After setting a franchise record by combining for 38 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to May 12, the team’s relief corps finally faltered for the first time in almost two full weeks Monday.

In the top of the seventh, the first man out of the bullpen, right-hander Kyle Hurt, gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar.

With that, the Dodgers’ bullpen streak ended 7 ⅔ innings shy of the all-time MLB record. It went down as the longest such run by any team since Cleveland in 2017.

“All good things are meant to come to an end,” Roberts joked. “and “We’ll start another one.”

Indeed, the unit bounced back once the Dodgers went in front. Will Klein retired the side in order in the eighth, which was puncuated by a 100.5 mph fastball. Alex Vesia and Blake Treinen combined for three outs in the ninth, with Treinen collecting his first save this year.

Up next

The series continues on Tuesday, when Eric Lauer will make his Dodgers debut after being acquired in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays last week. He’ll face off against fellow left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-5, 7.04 ERA).