The New York Knicks are heading to the NBA Finals, while the Cleveland Cavaliers are headed home.
New York closed out the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday night, winning Game 4 by a final score of 130-93 to complete the four-game sweep of the Cavaliers.
And Charles Barkley pointed to a lack of “effort,” and how the team “quit” in the first half of Game 4 as a major reason why.
Facing elimination at home against the Knicks in Game 4, the Cavaliers were on the wrong end of a 20-0 run from the Knicks, as New York built a 68-49 halftime lead. And during the halftime show, Barkley “requested special time” to address what he saw in the first half:
After Barkley provided the definition of quit — which included a notation to “see also: Cavaliers in Game 4 vs. Knicks” — the show aired several clips from the first half of Knicks players beating Cleveland defenders back down the court for fast-break points.
“This is just effort here,” began Barkley as the montage of Knicks players rolling up fast-break points aired during the halftime break.
“Players ain’t gonna say they’re gonna quit, but you know what shows? Their actions,” continued Barkley.
By the time Game 4 drew to a close, New York had outrebounded Cleveland 60-33, and had scored 33 fast-break points, compared to just nine for Cleveland.
And those watching at home were treated to a vocabulary lesson, courtesy of Charles Barkley.
Jalen Brunson has been named the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
The captain did his part to lead the Knicks to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
Brunson was absolutely spectacular throughout the series as New York wrapped up a dominant four-game sweep of the Cavaliers on the road on Monday night.
He opened things with a 38-point showing in the Knicks' Game 1 overtime win.
The All-Star point guard then followed that by becoming more of a playmaker in Game 2, finishing with just 19 points while dishing out 14 assists for his first double-double of the postseason.
Brunson led all scorers with 30 points in Game 3, then needed just 15 as he sat the entire fourth quarter during the Knicks' blowout victory to close things out Monday night.
He averaged 25.5 points, 7.8 assists, and 3.3 rebounds during the four ECF games.
The Knicks completed a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals after a 130-93 win on Monday night.
Here are the takeaways...
-- New York has been blowing teams out during this incredible playoff run its on right now and a lot of that has to do with getting out to early leads which happened again in Game 4. It took a minute as the Cavs, desperate to keep their season alive, came out aggressive, particularly Donovan Mitchell, but the Knicks eventually imposed their will and took advantage of Cleveland's lack of hustle while getting back on defense.
-- The two biggest scorers in the early part of the game were, no surprise, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, but the first quarter was truly an all-out team affair with bench players Landry Shamet and Miles McBride also hitting some big shots to kill any momentum the Cavs were trying to create.
Both players kept up their hot shooting in the second quarter where New York continued to extend its lead. Shamet, in particular, was in his bag and had the hot hand from beyond the arc. He finished with 16 points on 5-for-6 from the floor and 4-for-4 from deep.
-- In the blink of an eye, thanks to a 12-0 run to kick off the second quarter, the Knicks had a 24-point lead on the Cavs and were simply the far superior team. They dominated Cleveland in nearly every aspect of the game, most notably rebounding and fast-break points.
-- Other than Mitchell, the Cavs had no answers to keep up with New York's fine-tuned offense and looked disjointed and at times uninterested on most of their possessions. For his part, Mitchell showed up and finished with 31 points, but his scoring mate James Harden had a terrible game and scored just 12 points on 2-for-8 from the floor (0-for-6 from deep). As a team, Cleveland shot a paltry 27.5 percent from three-point range.
-- As for the Knicks, they couldn't miss from downtown. Along with Shamet, Towns literally didn't miss a single three ball (3-for-3) with Brunson and McBride also chipping in from behind the line. As a team, New York shot 44 percent from deep and had 33 assists on the night. But it wasn't just the three-point shot that had New York rolling; everything was working.
The Knicks outrebounded the Cavs, 60-33, including 20-6 on the offensive glass. Towns finished with a game-high 14 rebounds and Mitchell Robinson had 10 in 18 minutes off the bench. They also had 15 steals on the night with contributions up and down the lineup in that department.
-- New York's lead grew to as large as 45 points in the fourth quarter with Cleveland waiving the white flag. Both teams emptied their bench with still eight minutes to play, and even with their reserves on the court the Knicks didn't miss a step.
Every single player who stepped onto the court for New York had a positive impact on the game with nobody finishing with a plus-minus rating below plus-2.
Game MVP: Landry Shamet
Sham-wow's energy off the bench was the catalyst for the Knicks' annihilation of the Cavs, and he finished with a game-high plus-minus rating of plus-28.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 25: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on during the third quarter against the New York Knicks in Game Four of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Rocket Arena on May 25, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers’ season officially ended at 10:31 P.M. on Monday, but they didn’t show much effort after about 8:30.
The New York Knicks, with nearly as many of their fans in attendance as there were Cavs fans, completed the sweep with a one-sided 130-93 win.
Cleveland started the game strong. Their offense looked much better with the assertion of Max Strus in the starting lineup. They scored on three of their first four possessions, jumping out to an early six-point advantage. Then, the Knicks turned it on and never looked back.
New York took control of the game at the end of the first quarter. They closed the frame on a 13-5 run, then scored the first 12 points of the second quarter. That made it a 24-point Knicks lead. Any hope of extending the series was extinguished with that run.
The remaining 33 minutes of play were just an excuse for the Knicks fans who packed Rocket Arena a chance to celebrate their team’s first trip to the Finals in over a quarter of a century.
Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs in scoring. He put up 31 points on 9-18 shooting. Evan Mobley had 15 points and seven rebounds.
It was a complete team effort for the Knicks.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the starters with 19 points on 8-11 shooting with 14 rebounds. OG Anunoby had 17 points. Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges had 15 apiece.
This was the furthest this Mitchell-led Cleveland group has gone in the playoffs, yet this postseason run was mostly unfulfilling.
The Cavs needed seven games — which was at least two too many — to get past a feisty, but inexperienced Toronto Raptors team that is far from a finished product. That was followed up with a seven-game series against a Detroit Pistons team that really couldn’t establish any consistent offense throughout the postseason. Then, they blew a golden opportunity to take Game 1 against New York by squandering a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter.
We’ll see where this team goes from here.
This was a turbulent regular season that featured injuries at every point and drastic trades in February to try to get the season back on track. On one hand, it’s impressive that they made it this far. But if this game — and series — were any indication of things, the Cavs have a long way to go if they want to compete for championships. Something needs to change.
With a Game 4 win over the Cavaliers on Monday night, the Knicks completed a Eastern Conference Finals sweep.
New York is now headed to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
Mike Brown's squad has been able to do so with one of the most incredible runs in NBA history.
The Knicks have not lost since going down 2-1 to the Hawks with a Game 3 first-round defeat, rattling off 11 consecutive victories against Atlanta, Philly, and now Cleveland.
That is the third-longest postseason winning streak in NBA history.
Brown's team has been clicking on all cylinders from top to bottom, completely dominating their opponents on both ends of the floor on a nightly basis.
They are an incredible +262 during the winning streak, which is the best point differential across 11 games in NBA history, regardless of regular or postseason play.
The Knicks now await the winner of the Thunder and Spurs Western Conference Finals, which is knotted up at two games apiece heading into Tuesday’s Game 5.
They'll be looking for the franchise’s third title, and the first since 1973.
The New York Knicks jumped on the Cleveland Cavaliers early in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals and the "Inside the NBA" crew piled on at halftime.
The Cavaliers, down 3-0 and facing a sweep on their home court at the hands of the Knicks, came out flat and found themselves trailing 68-49 at halftime. During the "Inside the NBA" halftime show on ESPN, the studio crew of Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith made it clear what they thought of Cleveland's effort.
"Kids at home, you oughta see what the word 'quit' means," Barkley riffed. "To give up. The verb of that is 'Ca-va-liers.'"
That was followed by a graphic of a banner for the Cavs' season shown on screen. Rather than celebrating a championship, it simply reads "NBA Playoffs/Taylor Swift came to one of our games."
The Cavaliers pulled out Game 7 wins against the Toronto Raptors in the first round and the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but since their epic collapse in Game 1, they have been no match for the Knicks so far in this series.
Whether authored by Nolan Ryan or Mike Scott or Ronel Blanco or a cast of several to nail down a World Series victory, the Houston Astros simply have a way with no-hitters.
And the one they spun Monday, May 25 might have been the unlikeliest of the 18 no-hitters in franchise history.
Tatsuya Imai, their splash free agent pitching acquisition who was so disappointing he was stashed on the injured list just two starts into his career, pitched the first six innings of a three-man relay and relievers Steven Okert and Alimber Santa – making his major-league debut – took care of the final three innings as the Astros subdued the Texas Rangers, winning 9-0 at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
Imai walked the first two batters of the game. Santa had never thrown a major league pitch before Monday night. Yet somehow, they started and finished a thorough suppression of the Rangers.
Then again, lots of teams are doing that these days.
Just one night before, Los Angeles Angels lefty Reid Detmers struck out 14 Rangers and allowed just a solo homer and the Rangers managed just one more hit in losing to the Angels.
This time, a lineup missing Corey Seager drew just two walks against the Astros’ trio. And even if the competition was meager, Imai’s performance was surely a relief to Houston: Signed for $54 million, he was shipped to the injured list after just three starts, admitting he was struggling acclimating to life in the major leagues and the USA.
He spent five weeks working his way back, yet still entered Monday’s game with an 8.31 ERA in five starts.
By night’s end, he had the biggest piece of the fifth combined no-hitter in franchise history.
ARLINGTON, TX - MAY 25: Tatsuya Imai #45 of the Houston Astros pitches during the game between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Monday, May 25, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Kelcee Skoug/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Tatsuya Imai (W, 2-2) hurled 6 innings of no-hit ball, Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker homered and the Houston Astros (24-31) pummeled the Texas Rangers (24-29) 9-0 in the first game of their four-game series at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
It’s a huge mark for Imai, who was making his 6th start of the season and whose early tenure with the Astros has been marked with struggle and injury. While his most recent performances have been trending in the right direction, Imai’s line tonight of 6 no-hit shutout innings was easily his best performance of the season. While he walked 4 and struck out 2, he also generated 8 ground ball outs which was very important given his recent penchant for ceding the long ball.
Steven Okert pitched the 7th. Alimber Santa set the Rangers down in order over the final 2 innings, punctuated with a strikeout of Brandon Nimmo to end the game. This was Santa’s first appearance with the Astros.
The Astros got to Rangers SP Kumar Rocker (L, 2-5) right away in the first. Jeremy Pena was hit by a pitch leading off the game, and then stole 2nd. After advancing to 3rd on a groundout by Isaac Paredes, Yordan Alvarez hit a sacrifice fly to score Pena and make it 1-0 Houston after 1.
The Astros would get on the board again in the 4th, when Alvarez led off the inning with his 16th HR of the season. The 415 foot blast to center was hit 110.6 MPH, and gave the Astros a 2-0 lead going to the bottom of the 4th.
Houston would get 2 more in the 5th. Zach Dezenzo led off with a walk. Nick Allen then singled to right to put runners on the corners with no out. Christian Vazquez then successfully executed a squeeze bunt to score Dezenzo and increase the lead to 3-0, with Allen advancing to 3rd.
Pena would then rip a ground ball single to right to score Allen to make it 4-0 Astros.
Houston would break it open in the 7th. Vazquez led off with a single to center, followed by Pena being hit by a pitch for the second time in the game to runners at 1st and 2nd with no out. After Paredes and Alvarez both popped up, Christian Walker launched his 15th HR of the season to left center. The 3-run blast made it a 7-0 lead for the Astros.
The next batter, Jake Meyers, would reach on an error by Rangers shortstop Michael Helman. Cam Smith would also reach on an error by Helman, giving the Astros 2 on with 2 out. Brice Matthews then hit a hard single to left to load the bases for Nick Allen.
Allen, coming off a 3-for-3 performance in yesterday’s series finale with the Cubs, continued his hot hitting with a 2-run single to left scoring Meyers and Smith and pushing the lead to 9-0. It also capped a 5-run 7th inning for Houston. Allen would finish 2-for-5 with 2 RBI, he is now batting .317.
The combined no-hitter is the 18th no-hitter in franchise history and the first no-hitter in MLB since September 2024. It is the first Astros no-hitter since Ronel Blanco’s solo gem April 1, 2024. It is the franchise’s 5th combined no-hitter, and first since Cristian Javier led a combined no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series at Citizens Bank Park.
Jason Alexander (1-0, 7.30 ERA) will get the start tomorrow as the Astros look to continue their march towards the 2026 Silver Boot and back towards .500. Houston has now won 4 straight and 7 of their last 10.
The last time the Mets were home they capped off their best stretch of the season with a thrilling come-from-behind win to lock up the first-half of the Subway Series.
A struggling offense showed some much-needed signs of life, signaling perhaps that they were finally ready to make a dent in the gaping hole they put themselves in.
However, a much different club returned to Citi Field on Monday.
With Juan Soto sidelined again with an illness, those bats have quickly returned to their sluggish form, as they dropped their fourth consecutive game with a 7-2 loss to the Reds.
Unlike their sweep at the hands of the Marlins to begin the week, they were able to generate some traffic this afternoon, but that still didn’t lead to runs, as they finished 0-for-6 as a team with RISP.
Bumped up to the cleanup spot, Marcus Semien broke a Mets' three-game homerless drought with a solo shot in the sixth. It was just one of three extra-base hits on the afternoon.
As a result, New York finished with two or less runs for the fifth straight game.
"We can sit here and make excuses with some of the guys we’re missing, but we have big-league hitters here and they are struggling," manager Carlos Mendoza said.
"We're having a hard time putting rallies together, and the biggest thing is our inability to drive the ball out of the park -- look at a night like tonight, we had nine hits but two runs -- it’s hard to score three or four by just singles, you gotta be able to drive the ball out of the ballpark.”
Just like that, any signs of May momentum have quickly been swept away.
With losses in six of their last seven games, the Mets are now back to 10 games under .500 and remain in the basement of the NL East at the one-third mark of the season.
“It sucks,” Mendoza said. “I’ve been saying it, it’s not early anymore -- we’re not putting ourselves in a good position, obviously. We gotta go out and do it.”
CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 25: Cleveland Guardians pitcher Logan Allen (26) leaves the field following the sixth inning of the Major League Baseball interleague game between the Washington Nationals and Cleveland Guardians on May 25, 2026, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Guardians were crushed 10-2 by the Nationals today.
A while back, I went round and round with a Twitter reply guy who said that Tanner Bibee had been “awful.” I pointed out that he had not been awful save for the particular game about which he was commenting afterwards. Bibee than proceeded to put up a 3.08 xERA in the next 30 innings. Then, tonight happened. Bibee gave up seven runs on five homers. That was, indeed, awful. Is it indicative of a future problem? I don’t think so. But, man, it was a bad night. Perhaps offered in solidarity to the Cavs next door? Stephen Vogt was frank saying that he didn’t see much in the way of execution tonight from Bibee. Bibee said he would be too emotional if he tried to talk about what happened tonight. He was upset with himself.
Perhaps more distressingly, the Guardians were dominated by Zach Littell for 7 innings. They need to start hitting the ball, period.
On the bright side, Logan Allen threw the ball well (3 innings, 6 K’s) and saved the bullpen. Hey, try him as a reliever because with Sabrowski gone for a bit, we need the lefty help. Codi Heuer returned for Sabrowski, whom Vogt said they’d have MRI results on tomorrow. Sounds like they are hopeful it’s “just” elbow soreness. Gulp.
Rhys Hoskins hit a home run and Angel Martinez had the other RBI. Forget this one and get ready to hit the Nationals’ one good pitcher tomorrow.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Houston Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai and relievers Steven Okert and Alimber Santa combined to throw a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday night.
It was the 17th regular-season no-hitter in Astros history, and the fourth one that was a combined effort. They also had a combined no-hitter in the 2022 World Series when four pitchers had one against Philadelphia.
Okert took over to start the seventh inning Monday night after Imai got 16 outs over the last 16 batters he faced. Imai walked three of his first four batters but benefited from a double play in the first inning before settling into a groove.
Santa made his big league debut and retired all six batters he faced, his 24th pitch being a called third strike against Brandon Nimmo that ended it after an ABS challenge by the batter was confirmed a strike.
The Rangers were held without a hit for the sixth time, the first since Corey Kluber threw a no-hitter for the New York Yankees against them on May 19, 2021.
The Astros got the first no-hitter in the majors since Shota Imanaga and two Chicago Cubs relievers combined on a 12-0 win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 4, 2024. The previous pitcher to throw a complete-game no-hitter was Blake Snell for the San Francisco Giants against Cincinnati on Aug. 2, 2024.
Imai’s fourth walk of the game was to Nimmo leading off the fourth, but Ezequiel Duran then grounded into a double play.
Imai threw 57 of his 97 pitches for strikes. He struck out two.
The 28-year-old Imai is in his first big league season after coming over from Japan. He was 1-2 with an 8.31 ERA in his first five starts for the Astros.
Imai joined the Astros in January after agreeing to a $54 million, three-year contract. He was a three-time All-Star during eight seasons in Japan, and went 10-5 with a 1.92 ERA last season for the Pacific League’s Seibu Lions, striking out 178 in 163 2/3 innings.
Rangers leadoff hitter Joc Pederson was retired on a nifty play in the third when shortstop Jeremy Peña made a backhand stop and a twisting throw to first for the out. Justin Foscue and Danny Jansen had deep flyouts in the Texas fifth.
Okert walked Nimmo leading off the seventh before retiring the next three batters.
May 25, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly (29) returns to the dugout after the bottom of the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images
Turns out slam-fest over the weekend against the Chicago White Sox means very little to Merrill Kelly, Ketel Marte, and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The five days that elapsed between the Giants last meeting with starter Kelly wasn’t enough to cleanse the palate. The 2026 Giants can’t figure him out, nor could they over the past seven seasons either. He’s now collected a quality start in his last six games against San Francisco, a streak that dates back to September 2023. Over 22 starts in his career, Kelly has posted a 3.30 ERA over 133.2 innings pitched. That’s a solid two-thirds of a season in which Kelly has pitched admirably against the Giants. Results that bear a quiet dignity, like if a minor British Royal was on the mound. Kelly doesn’t light up the radar gun. He relies heavily on a change-up and a variety of low-90s fastballs that he cuts, sinks, and places pretty much where he wants it. The 37 year old has never been the ace or the star. His celebrity doppelganger is Chris Elliot, who is someone you don’t know by name but absolutely recognize. Elliot isn’t going to win an Oscar, and Kelly probably won’t ever win a Cy Young, or even an All Star nod, but he’s made a career out of dotting 90 MPH cutters on the outside corner of the zone. As Mike Krukow likes to point out, there are throwers and pitchers, and Kelly is the latter.
After a really rough start to the year in which he allowed 19 runs across three consecutive starts, Kelly has found his footing, and the Giants have played an integral part in regaining his form. Kelly has now won his last four starts, following up a quality start (3 ER, 6 IP) on May 25th with another rock solid outing, allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits over 7 innings pitched in San Francisco’s 6-2 loss.
The only breakthrough against him came in the 4th when Rafael Devers took on Triple’s Alley with the second-longest double in the Majors (the longest was hit by Devers yesterday). At the time, it gave the Giants a 2-1 lead. Which was nice. It’s fun when your team is down by a run and then a pitch later, your team is up for a run. Like many leads this year, this feeling of positivity and good-will proved fleeting. I was listening to the game on the radio as I warmed up for my softball game, and the goodwill bought by Devers’s double lasted about as long as it took for me to move a milk carton full of softballs from the left field foul pole to the right.
While Landen Roupp was perhaps not the sharpest he’s been, it was a couple of costly defensive mistakes in the 5th that Arizona capitalized. Number-9 hitter Tommy Troy reached second on a throwing error by Willy Adames. Ketel Marte tied on the next pitch when Casey Schmitt, playing left due to the health of Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee, misplayed an opposite-field flare. Maybe a more experienced or confident corner outfielder would’ve reeled the ball in, but with an xBA of .610, it’s hard to argue that Ramos, or any other player on the Giants roster who’s played left this year, is that outfielder. The major mistake on the play wasn’t not catching the ball, but letting it skip past. Instead of a single with runners on the corners giving Roupp to work out of it (which he essentially did in the 3rd), the lead was gone, and the Diamondbacks were set-up to retake it.
By the time the 4-run 5th was over Roupp had thrown 93 pitches. He bagged 7 strikeouts but lacked an efficiency in at-bats (against a tough contact-oriented Arizona lineup to be fair) to survive any deeper in the game. The error and misplay obviously didn’t help either. And with Roupp out of the game and Joel Peguero in, Marte continued to be the bat-wielding version of Kelly, extending Arizona’s lead with a 2-RBI single that effectively put the game to bed.
That’s two wins in a row for Kelly, four more hits and three more runs batted in for Marte (bumping up his totals to 10 H and 10 RBI vs. SF), and Arizona’s fourth win in as many games so far against our Giants.
A fan dressed as Santa Claus waches the action during first half action against the Philadelphia Eagles at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Dec. 28, 2025. | Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Texas Rangers had zero hits but the Houston Astros scored nine runs.
I think in some regards it is at least interesting that we are getting to experience the worst lineup that perhaps the Rangers have ever fielded in franchise history. It certainly isn’t pleasant but at least it’s historic.
All you really need to know about this game from a Rangers perspective is Kumar Rocker hit the first batter of the night and that runner eventually scored without the benefit of a Houston hit. Meanwhile, in the bottom of the inning, the Rangers drew three walks and didn’t score a run. It was over right then and there, essentially.
Before it ended, however, Sam Haggerty pitched a scoreless final inning for Texas. It was the best performance by Sam Haggerty on a baseball field all year. Sam Haggerty is a hitter*.
*it says that on his business card at least
By that final inning the Rangers had not had a hit all night. They did not get a hit that inning, either. The night’s starter Tatsuya Imai came into the evening with a 8.31 ERA. He’s now sporting a svelte 6.17 ERA. The final six outs came via a guy named Santa making his MLB debut. Merry Christmas!
This Texas lineup followed up a 16-strikeout almost perfect game last night with the first no-hitter in the big leagues in like two years. I’ve written this like it’s an achievement for the lineup because it very much is. Congratulations on finally securing that no-hitter, fellas!
Player of the Game: Dan Jansen fielded a throw on a delayed squeeze play bunt where Jansen caught the ball flipped from in front of the plate by Rocker and immediately moved his knee/leg further away from the plate as to provide the Astros’ runner a red carpet experience on his way to scoring Houston’s third run.
I’ve appreciated the moment because it allowed me to no longer invest emotions into tonight’s game. Thanks, Dan.
Up Next: The Rangers will play the Astros on Tuesday night. Someone will pitch for Texas against someone for Houston thanking their lucky stars that they get to face the Rangers.
The first pitch from The Shed will be at 7:05 pm CDT. It’ll be on the Rangers Sports Network if you want to tune in.
People might show up and take their off shirts in a section of the top deck in the hopes of going viral on social media.
They might do the pledge of allegiance during the seventh inning.
The Rangers will allow a first inning run.
You won’t know whether or not the Rangers will get a hit all evening and that will replace the suspense that used to exist for the outcome of the run column.
Kiké Hernández was still in an anesthetic haze when he woke up from the elbow operation he underwent in the offseason, so forgive him if the details of this story aren’t entirely accurate.
But as far as he could recall, when he came to, his surgeon told him his injury was the worst of its kind that he’d ever seen.
“I don’t know how you played,” Dr. Neal ElAttrache told him.
World Series hero Kiké Hernández, after beginning the season on the IL following elbow surgery, returned to the Dodgers lineup on Monday night. Getty Images
He made a video-call to Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, and asked ElAttrache to repeat what he just told him.
“I did this for you,” Hernández recalled telling Freidman, “so you better bring me back.”
Not as if Friedman had to be pushed into doing so.
The now-34-year-old former class clown is one of the most emblematic players of the golden era of Dodgers baseball. Activated from the injured list on Monday, Hernández started his ninth season with the franchise in the opening contest of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Uniqlo Field.
“I’m still the clown in the clubhouse,” Hernández said.
Hernández is known for his acrobatics defensively and power offensively. Getty Images
Except when he first joined the Dodgers, he was thought of as that and little else. He was a part-time player who knew how to attract eyeballs, once popping up in the dugout in a full-body banana costume in hopes of inspiring a comeback.
But Hernández didn’t work his way into the position he is now just by thrusting his pelvis whenever he heard reggaeton playing in Dodger Stadium.
If his playful antics granted him entry into the hearts of fans, his on-field performances kept him there.
Who could ever forget the three home runs Hernández hit against the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the 2017 National League Championship Series to advance the Dodgers to their first World Series in 29 years?
Or his game-tying pinch-hit home run against the Atlanta Braves in the 2020 NLCS that contributed to the Dodgers finally breaking their championship drought?
Or his solo blast against the San Diego Padres that drove in the deciding run in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the 2024 NLDS?
Or how he doubled off a runner at second base to seal a win over the Toronto Blue Jays that extended the World Series last year to a seventh game?
Hernández will go down as one of the best postseason performers in Dodgers history. Getty Images
What’s especially striking about those games is how Hernández seems to be a completely different player in the playoffs than in the regular season. He’s a career .236 hitter in the regular season. Wanting to be a full-time player, he left the Dodgers after the 2020 World Series, only for the Boston Red Sox to discard him in his third season with them.
Hernández returned to the Dodgers and resumed creating postseason moments. He now has 16 career postseason homers, tying him for 20th-most all-time – one fewer than Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and David Ortiz; and one more than Babe Ruth.
Producing last October, however, was particularly difficult. His left elbow problems sidelined him for nearly two months, and he reaggravated the injury diving for a ball in left field against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the NLCS.
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“Every time I would get in my batting stance, I would feel like I had a blowtorch on,” Hernández said.
In his eight games before the dive, Hernández batted .379. In the nine games after, he hit .143.
He still managed to make one of the most memorable plays of a World Series won by the Dodgers.
“He’s a tough, tough competitor, tough player,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And I don’t think anyone appreciated how severe the injury was (last year). He was not going to come out of the lineup and gave himself every opportunity to play with the kind of pain that he was going through. That’s kind of what makes him special.”
While he’s best known for his miraculous catch to save the Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2025 World Series, Hernández has a clutch gene at the plate as well. Getty Images
The operation to repair the torn extensor tendon and muscle in his left elbow cost Hernández the chance to represent Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic, which he said “hurt my soul a little more than I was in pain physically last year.”
While appreciative of his place in Dodgers history, Hernández said, “I don’t like to sit back and think about it at all because that’s when you start thinking about, ‘Oh, life after baseball,’ and things like that.”
But he said he’s aware of the different roles he has to take on as a veteran player, whether it’s as a leader in the clubhouse who is “in charge of checking guys” or a representative of the Latino community.
“We’re living in some rough times, especially in this city in the last few years,” Hernández said.
Hernández’s fiery personality is just a small part of what’s made him a key figure in the Dodgers clubhouse. Getty Images
Last year, Hernández was the only Dodgers player to speak out against the ICE raids staged across Los Angeles.
“I always say that one baseball year is kind of like cat years,” he said. “One baseball year is like seven years of life with how much you learn and all the stuff that happens in one season. And, you know, I love being here. I love being a Dodgers. I love the grind of a baseball season.”
He reflected on the three weeks he spent in the minor leagues on a rehabilitation assignment.
“Now I’m back with my guys here,” he said, “and am ready to go.”
