MOOKIE'S MONTH
NL home run leader Betts hits his 11th of May, Gonsolin gets win after Dodgers rally
PHOENIX » With a Comic Constyle “Phoenix Fan Fusion” event going on near Chase Field this weekend, downtown Phoenix is filled with people dressed as comic book superheroes.
Mookie Betts just came as himself.
Betts homered to start the game Saturday — his 11th home run this month — and the Dodgers overturned an early deficit with two runs in the fifth inning to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 Saturday.
Betts (who was 2 for 4 in the game) moved back into sole possession of the National League home run lead two pitches into Saturday's game. It was his 14th home run of the season (after hitting none in his first 12 games) and ninth in his past 14 starts.
It also gave him at least one extra-base hit in each of his past nine starts and at least one run scored in each of his past 15 starts.
“He only got two hits tonight, though, so it was kind of a slow night for Mookie,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts joked. “He's been fantastic.” Indeed — have a month, why don't you?
According to the Dodgers, Betts' 11 home runs this month are the most by a Dodger in the month of May since Roy Campanella hit 12 in May 1953. And Betts' 20 extra-base hits this month are the second-most in Dodgers' history for May, trailing only Jackie Robinson's 21 in May 1949.
Campanella and Robinson went on to win the NL Most Valuable Player award in those seasons.
Tony Gonsolin has also been turning in some heroic performances.
The right-hander went six innings again Saturday — the third consecutive start he has completed six innings after never having done it in backto-back starts before in the big leagues. He had a brief lapse in the second inning, giving up
three of the four hits he allowed including a pair of RBI triples.
“I thought today was just an all-around good performance and it's kind of commonplace now,” Roberts said. “I thought the fastball command was a grade better than it's been in past starts. He kept those guys honest in the strike zone with the fastball. I thought his split was really good tonight, all night long. I thought the slider was good to right(-handed hitters) when he needed it.
“Just another solid performance.”
In fact, that was only the third time in his nine starts this season that he has allowed more than one run and his ERA actually went up — from 1.62 to 1.80.
“I feel like I'm throwing strikes when I need to and quality strikes, that is,” Gonsolin said of his recent run of three consecutive quality starts.
“Mechanics are pretty similar to years past. It's just going after and attacking guys . ... Just having more confidence that my stuff is going to work, whatever it is.”
The Dodgers turned around that early 2-1 deficit with a pair of runs in the fifth inning. Gavin Lux led off with a single, moved into scoring position on a ground out by Betts then scored on a Trea Turner single (extending Turner's hitting streak to 20 games, the longest in MLB this season).
Freddie Freeman walked in front of Turner after just missing a two-run home run when his drive went foul down the right-field line. He went to third on Turner's single and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Will Smith.
The Dodgers had a chance to build on their one-run lead in the seventh inning but a pair of replay reviews went against them.
Lux led off with a double, tagged and went to third on a fly out by Betts. But replays showed Lux's pop-up slide took him off the base for a split second and he was ruled out.
Freeman walked after that and was picked off first base, the Diamondbacks winning their second replay challenge of the inning and third of the game.
“We gave away an inning, a full inning,” Roberts said. “They were all kind of tweener plays. But it's an outlier game for us on the bases.
“But to win a game like that when we gave them 24 outs. It was pitching, some timely hitting, but pitching today.”
Justin Bruihl, Alex Vesia and Daniel Hudson held the Diamondbacks scoreless over the final three innings, allowing just one hit. That leadoff double by Ketel Marte did put the tying run in scoring position to start the ninth. But Hudson retired the next three batters to close it out with Craig Kimbrel unavailable.
“Craig just didn't feel good today,” Roberts said of Kimbrel who threw 26 pitches to close out Friday's game. “He said he was available, which he was, but then after talking to the training staff, I just felt that I'm going to have him down.”