Jason Heyward Reacts to Incredible Pinch-Hit Grand Slam in Dodgers Comeback

Maren Angus-Coombs | Jun 19, 2024

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies sent their closer, Tyler Kinley, to the mound in the ninth inning to protect a 9-4 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The bottom of the Dodgers' lineup was due up and the Rockies thought they were leaving Coors Field with a win.

Instead, the Dodgers loaded the bases on a single and two walks. Jason Heyward entered the game as a pinch-hitter and pulled the Dodgers within one run with a grand slam off the right-field foul pole.

“I wasn’t sure if that was going to stay fair or not,” Heyward said. “It’s Colorado, so maybe that helped straighten it out a little bit. But given that it was a slider and in the location it was, it definitely was a tough pitch to keep fair. I was like, ‘Come on, come on, squeak in, squeak in, and it hit off the pole,’ and I said, ‘All right, we’re good.’ I honestly feel like we got rewarded for our process.”

Jason Heyward speaks on his grand slam and how the #Dodgers battled back in the 9th.

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Heyward turned the lineup over for Shohei Ohtani, and the Dodgers capped off a seven-run inning with a three-run home run from Teoscar Hernández to win 11-9. Los Angeles has now won eight of its last 12 games. The Dodgers are averaging more than 6.25 runs per game during this stretch and have scored 20 runs in two games against the Rockies.

Heyward simplified his approach at the plate. After swinging through a slider on a 2-and-1 count, he fouled off another on the next pitch.

“I just told myself, ‘All right, you got a feel for the take, you got a feel for the swing. So right here, take your time,’ ” he said. “If it’s there, it’s there. If it’s not, tip my cap.”

Heyward drove the next one into the right field seats.

“That’s our approach to every single at-bat, every single day,” Heyward said. “Sometimes it looks ugly. Sometimes it looks pretty. But when you’re able to stick with that over the course of a season, to fill out big games, big spots, big moments, I think that’s how you get better. That’s how you improve.”