Led by Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Chris Taylor driving in all their runs, the Los Angeles Dodgers came from behind for a second consecutive day to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-4, in the opener of a four-game series.
After squandering an opportunity in the fourth inning, the Dodgers finally got to Madison Bumgarner in the fifth. Taylor led off with a double and Austin Barnes drew a walk to set the table for Betts.
Betts’ hard-hit line drive into center field went under Alex Thomas’ glove and rolled to the wall for a two-base error that also allowed two runs to score. Freeman then broke the tie with an RBI double to left field, prompting fans at Dodger Stadium to again chant his name.
“It’s just fun having Freddie around in general,” Betts said of playing with Freeman. “He’s a professional, goes about his day professionally obviously, and just having him behind me is huge.
“I want to score a lot of runs, and if I was going to have somebody behind me to help me score runs, it would be him.”
Freeman has been one of the Dodgers’ most consistent hitters this season, batting .302/.404/.476 with 11 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 14 RBI in 151 plate appearances (34 games) entering Tuesday’s doubleheader.
Betts, after getting off to a slow start this season, has swung the bat well over the last couple of weeks. He is 6-for-his-last-18 (.333 batting average) with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI.
“Yeah,” Betts answered when asked if things are starting to click for him at the plate. “It’s a lot of hard work and just enjoying the game, being in the game, being in the dugout, watching the game, cheering on teammates, those types of things. It kind of becomes contagious.”
Mookie Betts dodged Trea Turner foul ball
Prior to Betts helping the Dodgers erase a deficit, he was nearly struck by a Trea Turner foul ball that went screaming into the dugout.
“That was terrifying,” Betts said. “I don’t even know what happened, to be honest. I was just kind of watching and saw the ball come towards me, and I got out of there.”
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