Betts’ eighth-inning home run breaks a 4-4 tie and completes the sweep with a 5-4 win over the Padres. It also extends a hot streak born of a different approach.
A week or so ago, Dodgers’ Mookie Betts talked about reacting to a nearly season-long slump by giving up the chase for individual stats and going at-bat to at-bat, with an emphasis on whatever benefits the team the most.
It’s working. And maybe it’s contagious, and if so perhaps the Dodgers have less to worry about than we anticipated just days before.
They were dreadfully down just a few days ago, a four-game losing streak punctuated by blown saves and runners left on base, capping a 12-21 stretch, which in turn dissipated what had been a nine-game division lead.
They are riding high again, just three games later, after Sunday’s 5-4 victory over San Diego completed a three-game sweep of the Padres and put the Dodgers back up in the National League West by two games.
And Betts, relieved of worrying about individual honors in large part because of what for him is a sickly slash line – .242 batting average, .312 on base percentage, .371 slugging percentage – put the crowning touch on Sunday’s triumph with his 13th home run of the year leading off the eighth inning, on a 2-0 pitch by Padres relief stud Robert Suarez, to break a 4-4 tie.
To clarify, this is what Betts told reporters two Fridays ago, in the wake of an extended slump – possibly the residual effects of last season’s broken hand, possibly influenced by the position switch that has made him a full-time shortstop – that kept him out of the All-Star Game and has resulted in career lows in several categories:
“My season’s kind of over. We’re going to have to chalk that up as not a great season. But I can go out and help the boys win every night, do something, get an RBI, make a play, do something that I’m going to have to shift my focus there. Obviously, everyone wants to have great seasons, but it’s a lot easier when you just don’t worry about the season. You just worry about game to game.”
Now, let’s clarify something here: This is a sport in which chasing individual stats doesn’t necessarily translate to not being a team guy.
