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Mookie Betts erupts as the Dodgers get close to the World Series

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Mookie Betts erupts as the Dodgers get close to the World Series

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NEW YORK – He's the other man in the Los Angeles Dodgers' strong lineup.

He's the guy whose face isn't on every billboard in Los Angeles.

The guy who can actually enjoy a peaceful dinner at a restaurant in Beverly Hills without TMZ and every other camera crew following him.

The guy who is a star in this game but has never been compared to Babe Ruth or declared one of the greatest players in baseball history.

The name is Mookie Betts, and in the Dodgers' 10-2 win over the New York Mets on Thursday night – which gave LA a 3-1 lead in the NLCS – he reminded everyone loud and clear of his preternatural talent.

“He’s one of the best players in the game,” Dodgers infielder Max Muncy said. “Sometimes you just have to remind him. And sometimes, in games like this, he reminds you of that.''

Betts put on a show in front of the sellout crowd of 43,882 at Citi Field, going 4 for 6 with a home run and four RBI, becoming only the third player in Dodgers history to record at least four hits and drive in four runs drove in a postseason game.

“I can’t really describe it, but I felt pretty good,” Betts said. “It's good to feel good. It's good to help the team. “It was fun.”

Betts and Shohei Ohtani, who led off the game with a home run, combined for seven runs and tied for the most runs scored by a team's first two hitters in the lineup in postseason history (most recently achieved by Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez with the New York Yankees 2004). ).

“Mookie is ridiculous,” said Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman, who struggled to clean up. “He is one of the best players in baseball and has been for some time. “He works so hard and hits behind Shohei, I don’t envy the opposing pitcher having to go 1-2 against those guys.”

The Dodgers' lineup has outscored the Mets in this series, outscoring them 30-9 and showing so much patience that they have already drawn 31 walks – the most in a four-game span in postseason history. Muncy reached a postseason record 12 straight times in the series, including three more walks on Thursday. Ohtani walked three times after his first home run. Teoscar Hernandez walked twice and now has six walks in the series.

“That’s what makes this team such a good team,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s not just Ohtani, it’s Mookie and Teoscar and it’s Freddie (Freeman). And there's also Muncy and Kiké (Hernandez), doing things that Kiké does this time of year.

“I think it's a strong lineup, but the biggest thing is they're going to force you into the zone. They won't hunt. When you get into the zone, you have to execute. Because if you don’t, they’ll make you pay.”

That's exactly what Betts did over and over again on Thursday. He hit a one-out single in the third inning that led to a two-run rally and a 3-1 lead. He hit a two-run double in the fourth inning to give the Dodgers a 5-2 lead. And in the sixth inning, he hit a two-run home run to open the game by giving the Dodgers a 7-2 lead.

Betts, an eight-time All-Star, six-time Gold Glove winner, MVP winner, batting champion and two-time World Series champion, played in 67 postseason games in his career. He's never had a game like this before.

Those playoff ghosts suddenly disappeared.

The hate and vitriol on social media is gone.

Betts, who deleted his social media accounts last week while mired in a 3-for-44 postseason loss that left him completely insane, has triumphantly come out the other side.

“You know, it’s hard to really get away from it all,” Betts said, “because everyone’s watching. There are family, friends, you, everyone is watching. There's no real way to escape it.

“Basically, stepping away from social media and spending time with my kids, wife and family is really the easiest way to escape. Sometimes I just go into the locker room and just sit by myself to get away from everything that's going on and you can reset and get back to business.

“It’s hard, but if you want to do it, you’ll find a way.”

The postseason doldrums that dogged him the past two winters, when the Dodgers bowed out early, are finally over.

Betts is now hitting .333 with two doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI and eight runs scored in the Dodgers' last seven postseason games, helping lead the Dodgers to the brink of the World Series.

“I mean, a lot of things clicked,” Betts said. “It worked today. But (Friday) is a new day, and I'll come to work trying to find the same feeling.

“It's just a lot of work. “God really does answer prayers.”

The biggest difference now, the Dodgers say, is the confidence he exudes at the plate, on the field and in the clubhouse. He took 500 swings in the batting cage every day, trying to get the ball right and beating himself up in the process. If he was having problems, he said, it wasn't because he lacked work.

“Mookie is still one of the best players in baseball,” Muncy said. “I know he gets a little overshadowed because we have Shohei Ohtani, but Mookie still gets $400 million too. Come on, look what he did. “It's just that sometimes we have to remind him.”

Betts said: “My teammates did a great job trying to instill confidence in me. “Sometimes I need this.”

Of course, the Dodgers will tell you how much they need him. Without him, they won't win the ultimate prize, march in the downtown parade, and become heroes forever cherished in Los Angeles.

“We need him, and he knows it,” Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez said. “He's great. You learn a lot from a guy who has won MVPs, World Series and all sorts of awards in baseball, and he has.

“He’s just Mookie. “He does special things.”

He's also the reason pitchers are forced to play against Ohtani, knowing Betts can pay them to pitch around him. When Ohtani led off the game with a 422-foot home run off Jose Quintana, the Mets crowded around him the rest of the game. Ohtani made his next three plate appearances. And all three times, Betts delivered an immediate hit.

“It was fun to see him play really well, obviously in the situation that I’m on base,” Ohtani said. “He looks really good and locked up.”

Actually, the Dodgers say, it's quite simple.

“It’s just Mookie,” Freeman says, “being Mookie.”

“And it’s a beautiful thing.”

Follow Bob Nightengale on X: @BNightengale

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