Betts shows display of power
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts hits
LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts hit three home runs Thursday night — for the sixth time in his career.
Now nobody’s more often.
Betts launched half of the season-high six long balls socked by the Dodgers during an 11-2 rout of the Padres. His sixth threehomer game matched the major league mark shared by Sammy Sosa and Hall of Famer Johnny Mize.
Betts accomplished the feat in 813 career games. done it
Sosa needed 2,364, Mize did it in 1,884.
“I just think it’s pretty cool, but it’s not as important as the rings,” Betts said.
The four-time All-Star went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and was hit by a pitch in the leadoff spot, where manager Dave Roberts has been reluctant to lock him in.
However, with Corey Seager back in the lineup after injury, Roberts turned to Betts at the top.
“I’ve been doing it my whole life so I think I’m just comfortable there,” Betts said.
Betts signed one of the richest contracts in baseball and history last month, agreeing to a $365 million, 12-year deal on the eve of opening day, and has mostly batted second in this pandemic-shortened season. The 2018 AL MVP said when he was acquired from Boston in a blockbuster trade last offseason that he thought he’d be hitting leadoff with his new team.
“I’m definitely here to do whatever is best for the team,” said Betts, who talked to Roberts again recently about the leadoff spot. “I think he’s just trying to find a comfort in the lineup in general.”
Indians: After hearing Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac explain their actions, the team sent the pitchers to their alternate training site on Friday after the two broke team rules and Major League Baseball coronavirus protocol last weekend in Chicago. Clevinger and Plesac drove to Detroit separately with their baseball equipment on Thursday for an “open forum” meeting at the team’s hotel before the Indians opened a series with the Tigers. Indians President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti said following “the discussion” that he met with manager Terry Francona, general manager Mike Chernoff and decided it was best to option Plesac and Clevinger to the alternate training site instead of allowing them to rejoin the team. “We had a chance to meet as small group and decided this would be the best path of action for us,” Antonetti said.
Cardinals: Coach Willie McGee has opted out of being with the team for the rest of the season while MLB announced Friday several doubleheaders to make up for games the Cardinals have missed because of the coronavirus. McGee, 61, a four-time AllStar and the 1985 NL MVP for the Cardinals, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he has high blood pressure. The Cardinals are set for a twinbill Saturday with the White Sox. To make up for previously postponed games, the Cardinals will play doubleheaders against the Cubs on Aug. 17, Aug. 19 and Sept. 5. The Cardinals and Pirates will play twinbills on Aug. 27 and Sept. 18, and the Cardinals will have a doubleheader Sept. 8 against the Twins. The doubleheader between the Cardinals and Tigers scheduled for Aug. 13 will be rescheduled at a later date.
Yankees: Oft-injured star OF Aaron Judge was placed on the injured list with a right calf strain before the game against the Red Sox and manager Aaron Boone is optimistic Judge will not miss significant time. The move was retroactive to Wednesday and Boone described the strain as mild after an MRI revealed the injury. To replace Judge on the roster, Thairo Estrada was recalled from the Yankees’ alternate site in Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre. Judge began Friday leading the majors with nine homers and tied with the Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon for the major league lead with 20 RBIs.
Mets: The team scratched two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom from his start against the Phillies. DeGrom says he has neck tightness, but “everything is fine structurally” and he doesn’t plan to go on the injury list. DeGrom is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in four starts this season.
Orioles: The Orioles successfully finished what they started, beating the Nationals 6-2 in a game suspended five days earlier because of a tarp malfunction at another ballpark. The Orioles led 5-2 in the top of the sixth Sunday at Nationals Park when rain halted play. The grounds crew failed to get a tangledup tarp out in time to prevent the infield from becoming an unplayable quagmire that could not be dried.