SAN DIEGO —
This time, Mookie Betts didn’t take a tough left-hand flip between first and second base and begin jogging towards the third-base dugout in Petco Park.
One night time after the Dodgers proper fielder thought he was robbed of one other dwelling run by San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, a misunderstanding that resulted in an ungainly trot that included a U-turn from the again of the mound to second base, Betts took a extra conventional route across the bases within the first inning Wednesday night time.
That’s as a result of there was little doubt his 401-foot shot off Padres starter Dylan Stop would clear the center-field fence, the homer setting the tone for an 8-0 Nationwide League Division Sequence Sport 4 victory over the Padres that tied the best-of-five collection at two video games apiece and arrange a winner-take-all Sport 5 in Dodger Stadium Friday night time.
“When you come on the road, you can’t just book a homer or a crooked number in the first inning — hitting is still hard,” Roberts mentioned. “But for us to strike first, to get to Cease early, to get to their bullpen, obviously it gave us momentum. And it started with Mookie right there.”
It didn’t finish there for Betts, who adopted Shohei Ohtani’s two-out RBI single within the prime of the second by slapping reliever Bryan Hoeing’s first pitch into proper subject for a clutch RBI single and a 3-0 Dodgers lead.
It marked the second straight sport through which Betts hit a house run and a single in his first two at-bats, although his two-hit effort on Tuesday night time got here in a 6-5 Sport 3 loss. Will Smith additionally hit a game-breaking two-run homer within the third inning, and Gavin Lux hit a tack-on two-run shot within the seventh.
“Mookie has been big,” Roberts mentioned. “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of good players, but it’s not on one player, clearly, and today Mookie shined. [Tuesday] night, Mookie shined. And Will had a big hit.
“That’s the great thing about having good players. They don’t need to do anything more than they’re capable of. They just have to do what their abilities allow for. And that’s what they did tonight.”
Mookie Betts follows by on his solo dwelling run within the first inning Wednesday in opposition to the Padres.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Occasions)
That was the gist of Roberts’ message to Betts throughout Monday’s off-day exercise, after Betts had gone hitless in 4 at-bats in Sunday’s 10-2 Sport 2 loss to increase a playoff stoop through which he hit .068 (three for 44) in 12 video games courting to Sport 4 of the 2021 NL Championship Sequence, together with 0 for 11 in final season’s NLDS loss to Arizona.
There was a lot noise rattling round in Betts’ head and he was feeling a lot unfavourable vitality from Dodgers followers and the media that he determined to unplug from the surface world.
“I had to turn off all social media because that was all negative,” Betts mentioned. “I had to get some positive vibes in me, and my team did it.”
Roberts pressured to Betts on Monday that he didn’t should be a playoff superhero, that being Mookie was sufficient.
“When you look at [great] postseason performers, it’s not that they over-performed their career stat line from the regular season — what they’ve done [in the playoffs] is what they’ve done in the regular season,” Roberts mentioned Monday.
“But on that stage they’re considered [great] postseason players. So in this case, all we expect is for Mookie to be the same player he is in the regular season. And that’s it.”
These phrases apparently bought misplaced amid the estimated 300-400 swings Betts took within the batting cage Monday.
“I don’t even remember Doc’s message on Monday, to be honest, it seems like it was so long ago,” Betts mentioned. “I think I just needed to see one fall, man, and to get a little confidence. My teammates did an amazing job trying to instill confidence in me.”
One teammate who has been in Betts’ ear consistently is infielder Max Muncy, whose locker is subsequent to Betts’ within the Dodgers dwelling clubhouse.
“When they walk Shohei to pitch to him and he gets a big hit, I tell him, ‘Hey, you’re getting paid $400 million too, bro, you’re still one of the best players in the game,’ ” Muncy mentioned. “Sometimes you’ve just got to give them a reminder.”
In case Betts forgot, he’s an eight-time All-Star, a six-time Gold Glove Award winner and the 2018 American League Most worthy participant who starred on either side of the ball whereas main the Boston Purple Sox to the 2018 World Sequence title and the Dodgers to the 2020 World Sequence title.
“I know he’s had his struggles in the postseason, but he’s still one of the best players in baseball,” Muncy mentioned. “He’s been an unbelievable postseason player in the past. He had a rough stretch. I think the biggest thing for him was getting out of his head. Now that he’s had a couple of hits, he can get back to being Mookie Betts.”
