Needing a knockout blow all series, Betts delivers it in Game 3
by Cary Osborne
The ground at Dodger Stadium hadn’t even settled from the shaking after Cody Bellinger’s improbable score-tying home run in the eighth inning on Tuesday when Mookie Betts stepped to the plate three batters later.
The way things had gone for the Dodgers throughout this series — with near-silence from the offense with runners in scoring position and men on base — it added an element of doubt that even one of baseball’s clutch performers could pull through.
But Betts jumped on the first pitch he saw from Atlanta left-handed reliever Jesse Chavez and drove it into the gap in right-center field, scoring Chris Taylor — who earlier singled and stole second base.
This has been Betts throughout the 2021 postseason — a battery on offense in a multitude of ways.
His RBI-double gave the Dodgers the go-ahead run in a 6–5 win against Atlanta in a game where they were nearly left for dead. Now a 3–0 Atlanta-series lead isn’t. The Dodgers are back in it, down 2–1.
“It was a big hit,” said manager Dave Roberts. “To tie the game up, but then to have another base runner out there and to build on that momentum and take the lead and not let the momentum that we created subside and make it a new ballgame. They certainly have a lot of arms left in the pen, so then to take the lead and get it to our closer was huge.”
Throughout the NLCS, the Dodgers have been able to land blows, but no knockout punch.
Bellinger’s three-run home run against Luke Jackson on a 95.6-mph fastball was his 11th hit all season against a fastball of at least 95 mph and his second home run. That homer, with the Dodgers trailing 5–2 at the time, set the stage. But the following Dodgers had to perform.
First, it was Taylor with a single and stolen base, then Matt Beaty moved him to third base on a ground out.
Betts followed.
Coming into the eighth inning on Tuesday, the Dodgers were 1-for-8 with men on base and 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. To that point in the series, they were 6-for-38 with men on base and 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position. Atlanta pitchers took shots and wobbled, but always found a way to stop the Dodgers from building momentum.
“I think we had we’ve had some bad approaches. We’ve been in scoring position. We can always take the blame, take the blame, but I think we should give some credit those arms over there,” Betts said. “They’re really good. I know Belli drives a Benz, but they drive Benzes, too.”
Betts slaughtered a Chavez fastball, connecting with a 107-mph exit velocity.
Betts is 14-for-34 in this postseason batting .412/.475/.529/1.004. And he has consistently had success against tough pitching.
He had two of the Dodgers’ four hits against Adam Wainwright in the Wild Card Game on Oct. 6. He had two of the Dodgers’ five hits against Logan Webb in a Game 1 loss in the NL Division Series. He homered and drove in three runs in the NLDS Game 4 win and then collected four hits the next day in the Game 5 win against Webb and Giants pitching.
Betts went 0-for-4 in Game 1 of the NLCS but has reached base seven times in 10 plate appearances with three stolen bases over the last two games.
In Game 2, he led off the game with a single, then Corey Seager immediately homered giving the Dodgers a 2–0 lead. In Game 3, Betts led off with a walk against Braves starter Charlie Morton. Seager homered again, giving the Dodgers another 2–0 first inning lead.
“You saw Charlie tried to quicken up with his delivery and slide step, and he left a breaking ball up,” Roberts said. “And when you try to be quick and 1.2 (seconds) instead of his 1.4 (seconds) to execute a pitch, that was a byproduct of Mookie being on first base.”
In the end, Betts said there was an energy after Bellinger’s homer. It relieved tension. He stepped in the batter’s box with the potential to finally put the Dodger offense over the top.
“It’s tough to calm down and relax and try and get a good pitch to hit,” Betts said. “But the eighth right there when Belli comes through, it’s kind of a sigh of relief. Like we finally did it. And now it becomes contagious. And so I think that’s kind of how that kept everything going.”
