If you are not on board the Teoscar Hernández train by now, you probably never will be.

In Monday’s 3-2 Dodgers win over their much-disliked NL West division rival San Francisco Giants in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 49,576, the 31-year-old Cotui, Dominican Republic native, two-time All-Star, and 2024 Home Run Derby champion drove in all three runs for the NL West first-place Dodgers.

The first of those three runs came on Teo’s 21st home run of the season, a 411-foot solo shot halfway up the Left Field Pavilion in the bottom of the fourth inning, to tie the game at 1-1.

Hernández drove in the Dodgers other two runs on RBI singles in the sixth and eighth innings, with the latter being the game-winner.

“I had a plan, tried to go there, execute it, look where I wanted to be the pitch, and just not trying to do too much, and I put it in play,” Hernández told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson postgame. “Big moments I try to calm myself down so I can do my job, and that’s what I did today.”

A job well done.

And then there’s the new kid on the block, 25-year-old Dodgers rookie right-hander River Ryan, who, in his MLB debut, allowed only one unearned run (on a passed ball) and only four hits, while walking three and striking out two.

“It was great. There was definitely a lot of emotions, ups and downs all day,” the Charlotte, NC native and 11th-round draft pick in 2021 by the San Diego Padres out of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke told reporters postgame. “I just tried to stick to the same approach I’ve been doing all year, kind of my whole career versus righties and lefties, talked to Will (Smith) before the game, and (Mark) Prior, we got the game plan down and just stuck to it.”

Of Ryan’s 73 total pitches, 42 were strikes

“Getting through this one I feel good about him making his next start and we’ll go from there,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Ryan’s MLB debut. “I think that it was a good one, and him getting into the sixth inning allowed for us to save some guys, and I still feel that we’ve still got good coverage for tomorrow in a plus or minus game.”

Play Ball!

  *  *  *  *  *  *