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This time, Mookie Betts did not take a hard left-hand turn between first and second base and start jogging toward the third-base dugout in Petco Park.
One night after the Dodgers right fielder thought he was robbed of another home run by San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar, a misunderstanding that resulted in an awkward trot that included a U-turn from the back of the mound to second base, Betts took a more traditional route around the bases in the first inning Wednesday night.
That’s because there was little doubt his 401-foot shot off Padres starter Dylan Cease would clear the center-field fence, the homer setting the tone for an 8-0 National League Division Series Game 4 victory over the Padres that tied the best-of-five series at two games apiece and set up a winner-take-all Game 5 in Dodger Stadium Friday night.
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“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 said. “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 did not end there for Betts, who followed Shohei Ohtani’s two-out RBI single in the top of the second by slapping reliever Bryan Hoeing’s first pitch into right field for a clutch RBI single and a 3-0 Dodgers lead.
It marked the second straight game in which Betts hit a home run and a single in his first two at-bats, though his two-hit effort on Tuesday night came in a 6-5 Game 3 loss. Will Smith also hit a game-breaking two-run homer in the third inning, and Gavin Lux hit a tack-on two-run shot in the seventh.
“Mookie has been big,” Roberts said. “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.”
That was the gist of Roberts’ message to Betts during Monday’s off-day workout, after Betts had gone hitless in four at-bats in Sunday’s 10-2 Game 2 loss to extend a playoff slump in which he hit .068 (three for 44) in 12 games dating to Game 4 of the 2021 NL Championship Series, including 0 for 11 in last season’s NLDS loss to Arizona.
There was so much noise rattling around in Betts’ head and he was feeling so much negative energy from Dodgers fans and the media that he decided to unplug from the outside world.
“I had to turn off all social media because that was all negative,” Betts said. “I had to get some positive vibes in me, and my team did it.”
Roberts stressed to Betts on Monday that he didn’t need to be a playoff superhero, that being Mookie was enough.
“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 said 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.”
Those words apparently got lost amid the estimated 300-400 swings Betts took in 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 said. “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 constantly is infielder Max Muncy, whose locker is next to Betts’ in the Dodgers home clubhouse.
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“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 said. “Sometimes you’ve just got to give them a reminder.”
In case Betts forgot, he is an eight-time All-Star, a six-time Gold Glove Award winner and the 2018 American League most valuable player who starred on both sides of the ball while leading the Boston Red Sox to the 2018 World Series title and the Dodgers to the 2020 World Series title.
“I know he’s had his struggles in the postseason, but he’s still one of the best players in baseball,” Muncy said. “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.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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