For opponents, facing the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup is a literal worst-case scenario coming to life.
And Mookie Betts’ recent surge has only made them even tougher.
Homering for the third straight game on Saturday night, Betts capped a nine-run sixth inning that led Los Angeles to a 15-3 rout of the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers will try to improve to 5-1 on their nine-game road trip in the series finale on Sunday.
Betts might only be hitting .230 on the year but he’s cracked 11 homers and knocked in 25 runs despite missing five weeks with a right oblique strain. One of five double-figure long-ball hitters in the lineup at midseason, Betts’ eruption is helping the team successfully negotiate a serious wave of injuries.
“It definitely feels different,” he said. “I think I’m getting much better swings off. So I think that’s leading to better luck, if you want to say. Instead of depending on the one line drive I hit to fall, if I can bunch five or six of them, then I’ve just raised my chances of some falling.”
A whole lot of line drives were falling for Los Angeles Saturday night as it finished with 17 hits. Slumping Kyle Tucker picked up three of those and knocked in four runs in what the team hopes is a breakout game.
In even better news for Los Angeles, manager Dave Roberts revealed that outfielder Teoscar Hernandez will likely be activated before Monday night’s series opener at the Athletics. Hernandez (hamstring) cracked his third homer in a rehab assignment for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday night.
Emmet Sheehan (3-5, 5.32 ERA) takes the mound for the Dodgers on Sunday. He last pitched on June 21 in a 12-1 loss to Baltimore, yielding eight hits and six runs over 3 1/3 innings with three walks and four strikeouts. Sheehan was no-decisioned last month in a start at San Diego, permitting four runs in four innings.
The Padres counter with Michael King (5-6, 3.33), who fired seven shutout innings Monday night in a 1-0 victory over Atlanta, scattering six hits and walking none while fanning five. King owns a 1-0 win from earlier this year against Los Angeles.
San Diego saw a four-game winning streak end in decisive fashion, thanks to the Dodgers’ third nine-run inning of the year. The only good thing about that was that the Padres got to save their high-leverage relievers for Sunday.
“We have our ace going, so we feel good about him going and getting the game off to a good start,” manager Craig Stammen said. “We’ll use our bullpen as best we can tomorrow but we’re looking for a good start from Michael.”
That’s something he generally provides against Los Angeles. King is 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA in six career outings against the Dodgers, four of them starts.
There were a couple of bright spots for San Diego in its blowout loss. Gavin Sheets bagged three hits, including a solo homer, and knocked in two runs. And Miguel Andujar took his best at-bats since coming off the injured list, going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
First baseman Ty France, who sat out Saturday night after being drilled with a 99 mph fastball on the wrist by Roki Sasaki Friday night, could return to the lineup Sunday.
–Field Level Media
