A 'Hercu-Liam' effort by Hendriks propels A's
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OAKLAND -- When Liam Hendriks was pulled from the A¡¯s win over the White Sox in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card Series on Wednesday after throwing a career-high 49 pitches in an unsuccessful save attempt, the right-hander wondered if that would be the final time he took the mound this year.
There was no guarantee Hendriks would be back on the field for Oakland¡¯s win-or-go-home Game 3 on Thursday due to his heavy workload. But when manager Bob Melvin met with Hendriks before the game, the A¡¯s closer made it clear he wanted a chance to atone for his struggles from the previous day.
| Game | Date | Result | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm 1 | Sept. 29 | CWS 4, OAK 1 | Watch |
| Gm 2 | Sept. 30 | OAK 5, CWS 3 | Watch |
| Gm 3 | Oct. 1 | OAK 6, CWS 4 | Watch |
Shop for postseason gear: Hendriks got his chance.
Carrying a two-run lead into the ninth inning on Thursday, Melvin¡¯s faith never wavered as he called upon his All-Star closer. Hendriks responded by striking out the side to cap off a 6-4 victory that sent the A's to the AL Division Series, where they'll face the Astros at Dodger Stadium beginning Monday.
Not only did Hendriks look to be in command of his pitches, but he also showed no signs of fatigue from the day before. On the contrary, Hendriks touched 100 mph on the Coliseum radar gun at one point, throwing five of his 19 pitches at a higher velocity than the 98.3 mph fastball that registered as his fastest pitch of the regular season.
¡°It was a mixture of adrenaline, fear, there was a whole range of emotions,¡± Hendriks said. ¡°I think I could actually feel my wife scowling from the suites behind us, so that was a little bit of a driving force as well. It was one of those situations where, I can build my adrenaline a lot, but it definitely gets you going.
¡°A win-or-go-home game, I¡¯m just happy I was able to make my pitches, because in the past I¡¯ve been known to get a little too excited.¡±
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One could say Hendriks¡¯ effort was Herculean. Though in a stroke of marketing genius, Melvin may have coined a new phrase for the A¡¯s to use in reference to their closer.
¡°[Melvin] actually called it, ¡®Hercu-Liam,¡¯¡± Hendriks said. ¡°I¡¯m going to need a shirt with that on it. I feel like that¡¯s something I can actually frame and put on the wall. If anybody wants to print that. 'Hercu-Liam.' That would be great.¡±
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Hendriks earned at least his own special T-shirt for that performance, especially considering the rarity of it. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, there were no instances in the postseason in which a relief pitcher had thrown at least 49 pitches and then came back on no days of rest to get a one-inning save since 2000, before Hendriks.
In the end, Hendriks was grateful for his rough outing on Wednesday, when he was tagged for two runs on four hits, including a two-run homer by Yasmani Grandal, over 1 2/3 innings. The reason? Hendriks went back and watched that appearance to identify that he was yanking his fastball and gripping his breaking ball too hard.
On Thursday, Hendriks had it all working. The right-hander threw 14 of his 19 pitches for strikes, 10 of which were swinging.
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¡°Even today warming up, I threw my first couple of pitches and didn¡¯t feel like I was really getting down the mound,¡± Hendriks said. ¡°Days like this, you have to lock yourself in mentally. Knowing how many pitches I threw yesterday and what my faults were, that definitely helped.
¡°I had something to work on in the bullpen, and that was the game-changer for me. If I felt like I knew where the ball was going [in Game 2], today would have been a lot harder.¡±