Add The California Post on Google DENVER –– No, Mookie Betts was not comparing a mid-August series in Denver to last year’s World Series triumph.
But still, in sweeping the Rockies this week, the veteran shortstop was reminded of what makes up the Dodgers’ championship DNA.
“Just got to win the big moments,” Betts said. “That’s usually how you win the games.”
Indeed, the Dodgers won plenty of key moments to take three-straight games against the Colorado Rockies. That was especially true in Wednesday’s 6-4, extra-inning victory at Coors Field, which gave the two-time defending champions their first road sweep in almost two months.
Betts played a leading role in the performance, going 3-for-5 with a fourth-inning homer and an insurance RBI single in the 10th. He shook off an ugly 0-for-5 performance in Tuesday’s game, and a 2-for-18 slump over the last week overall, by providing a level of “energy,” as manager Dave Roberts described it, that the rest of the team could feed off of.
“Especially after a rough day yesterday,” Betts said, “I really wanted to come and help the boys today.”
Betts wasn’t the only slumping Dodgers hitter to find his swing, either.
Kyle Tucker (1-for-his-last-28 entering Wednesday) had two singles that keyed scoring rallies in the second and fourth innings. Kiké Hernández (2-for-24 since coming off the injured list last month) also went deep in the three-run fourth inning as part of his own two-hit performance.
“I think it will help their confidence,” Roberts said of that trio. “Hopefully, it’s something they can keep building on.”
That did not mean Wednesday was a flawless effort for the Dodgers. They blew a 4-0 lead after left fielder Teoscar Hernández misplayed a line drive in the fourth inning for a two-run double (the only blemish in Roki Sasaki’s five-inning, six-strikeout start) and reliever Alex Vesia gave up a two-out walk and game-tying home run to Mickey Moniak in the seventh.
“Sometimes,” Betts said, “there’ll be a stretch in a game where we may have a couple bad innings.”
Responding to such adversity, however, has become a calling card of the Dodgers’ modern-day dynasty.
Answering in key moments –– as they did so often in last year’s Fall Classic –– is the skill their veteran roster has learned to master the most.
On Wednesday, that included scoreless innings of relief from Brock Stewart, Jack Dreyer and Kyle Hurt to get the game to extras. It saw Freddie Freeman bounce back from three early strikeouts to give the Dodgers a lead with a 10th-inning sacrifice fly.
There was also a second-consecutive save from Tanner Scott, who followed up a four-out appearance on Tuesday by retiring all three batters he faced to finish the evening off.
And by the time it was over, Betts couldn’t help but be reminded of the team’s tested playoff mindset.
“[We were] winning those moments,” he said. “Kind of like in the World Series last year.”
The Dodgers, of course, haven’t looked much like a World Series team lately. Before their sweep of the last-place Rockies, they had lost 11 of 16 games to relinquish the top seed in the National League playoff race.
As they enter the stretch run, though, an uptick in form had to start somewhere.
And if they keep winning the key moments, another long October could await.
“A week ago, we were in a dark place,” Roberts said. “So it was just good to see us come back this series and play the way we’re capable of.”
