Landon Knack was called up to eat innings and reset a very busy Dodgers bullpen, and he filled his role with aplomb on Wednesday night in finishing off a sweep of the Kansas City Royals. On Thursday, Knack was sent back to Triple-A Oklahoma City in favor of another fresh arm in Jonathan Hernández.
Knack got the final eight outs on Wednesday, relieving Eric Lauer in the seventh inning, and pitched scoreless baseball the rest of the way to earn the save of the Dodgers’ 4-2 win. The third save of Knack’s
career was the longest save of the season for the Dodgers, and their first save of exactly eight outs since Brian Holton in 1987.
Hernández is back with the Dodgers for a third time this season. Signed to a major league deal on May 18 after opting out of a minors deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, Hernández has been designated for assignment twice by the Dodgers. Both times he cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City. This time, after getting DFA’d on Monday, Hernández elected free agency but re-signed on a major league deal with the Dodgers on Thursday.
In between all those movies, Hernández pitched in 15 games with the Dodgers, nine of them finishing out either a loss or a lopsided win. The 30-year-old right-hander has a 6.45 ERA and 4.66 xERA this season with 18 strikeouts and 12 walks.
To make room for Hernández on the 40-man roster, Charlie Barnes was sent outright to Oklahoma City, two days after getting optioned. It’s the third time Barnes has been sent outright to the minors since the All-Star break.
