The Dodgers are on the verge of their second World Series championship in five years. They could be on the verge of their third title in eight years (insert trash can banging sound here).

The 2017 Houston Astros will live in infamy forever. Just ask Clayton Kershaw.

You could say the Astros’ championship rings are tainted. The Dodgers left fielder owns one of these.

Teoscar Hernández played one game for the Astros in 2017. One day he was called up from the minor leagues, got injured the same day and later returned to the minor leagues. Three months later, the Astros traded him for pitcher Francisco Liriano.

Read more: Dodgers take 3-0 lead in World Series over Yankees behind Walker Buehler

At Hernández’s home in the Dominican Republic, he proudly keeps his Astros championship ring. He said Jose Altuve pushed for the Astros to give him a ring.

On Tuesday, Hernández gets the chance he’s been waiting for and dreaming of for seven years: to play for a championship team in the championship series, enjoy that dogpile and earn a ring in recognition of a World Series in which he played .

“That,” he said Monday, “would be huge.”

On Monday night, a night where the Dodgers showcased their defensive prowess by coming within one game of defeating the New York Yankees, Hernández delivered the play of the game.

Read more: Photos: Dodgers, Yankees, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge in the most star-studded World Series in decades

In the fourth inning, with the Dodgers leading 3-0, Hernández struck out Giancarlo Stanton, who was trying to score with a two-out single from second base.

“As a player, you expect plays like that,” Hernández said. “I had the perfect line drive, a jump, and I was able to make a good throw.”

If Stanton had scored, the Yankees would have tied the potential tie. From that point on they never did it again.

“This game was huge for us,” Kiké Hernández said. “If this run scores, it gives this team a lot of life. There is a lot of life in this stadium. It was very important for us. At this point zero is running.

“I would say if we do what we’re trying to do, we’ll look back at what happened in the series and that will be a very underrated game.”

At shortstop, Tommy Edman saved pitcher Brusdar Graterol by reaching up to catch an errant throw while holding his foot for a force play at second base. In right field, Mookie Betts robbed Jazz Chisholm Jr. with a nifty diving catch.

“The Mookie game was interesting,” pitcher Walker Buehler said. “Obviously the ball was spinning a little strangely and he took a step back for a second and made the play. He’s won a few Gold Gloves out there, so that’s something we expect from him.

“Teo threw Stanton out at home and I got in the dugout and said, ‘They don’t know about you in New York.’ ”

Betts has six Gold Gloves. The Dodgers removed Hernández in the eighth inning of Monday’s game for defensive reasons.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game that his team wanted to challenge Hernández, particularly because he had to push to his right to block the ball.

While Hernández may not be the most acrobatic outfielder, he led American League outfielders in assists last year. He has finished in the top three in four of the last six years.

The throw that hit Stanton was clocked at 94 miles per hour, his fastest throw of the season. He didn’t know until after the game, but he smiled when he heard about it. It’s all hands on deck in the World Series and Hernández said he could even pitch an inning if needed.

“If they need me to help us win, yes,” he said.

The 32-year-old Hernández, who signed a one-year contract with the Dodgers last January, made the All-Star team and hit 33 home runs, not including all of those he hit to win the Home Run Derby. He would love to stay with the Dodgers for a long time.

Read more: Plaschke: Get ready for a parade! The Dodgers are one win away from World Series greatness

“Just because of the group,” he said. “This group is really special. They don’t play for themselves. They play for the whole group. Everything we will do together, we will do as a group. There is no one thinking about their numbers. It’s all about winning.”

The New York Post reported Sunday that the Dodgers are “interested in” signing 26-year-old Yankees star Juan Soto, who would presumably replace Hernández in left field. Here’s the thing: The Dodgers have interest in just about every great player. They can afford to sign whoever they want. They might or might not seriously entertain Soto, but they definitely want agents and opposing teams to believe they would.

Free agency begins the day after the World Series ends, and the Dodgers want the World Series to end on Tuesday. There is no rush. Soto’s agent Scott Boras prefers to spend his time in free agency.

That could take months. There could be a parade for Hernández and the Dodgers this week.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.