Mookie Betts ties career high with 5 hits as Dodgers beat Nationals 6-2
By DAN GREENSPAN
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mookie Betts tied his career high with five hits, doubling twice and driving in two runs to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.
Betts singled leading off the first against Patrick Corbin (0-3) and scored as Teoscar Hernández grounded into a double play. Betts hit an RBI double that increased the lead to 3-0 in the second, singled in the fourth, doubled and scored in the seventh and hit a run-scoring single that drove in the Dodgers’ final run in the eighth.
“You can’t really put extra pressure on yourself,” Betts said after helping the Dodgers to their second win in the past six games. “It’s not like I can just say, ‘Ooh, I’m gonna go get a hit’ and get a hit. Game doesn’t work that way, so extra pressure’s no good. We just have to keep playing the game.”
Betts raised his average to a major league-leading .388. It was the third five-hit game of Betts’ big league career, the first since Aug. 23 against Cleveland.
“Having your stars be stars, that’s why they are on our roster and that’s why they are superstars,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The guy’s step up and carried us when we need it.”
Andy Pages, a 23-year-old Cuban outfielder, went 1 for 4 in his major league debut for the Dodgers. He lined an opposite-field single to right on the first big league pitch he saw, a 91.9 mph fastball in the second inning, and then scored on Austin Barnes’ single.
Pages said through a translator that he would give the ball from his first hit to his wife.
“Obviously felt really great to get that hit,” Pages said. “But it was like kind of a fleeting moment to feel that excitement but also just to take it all in and then be ready for what’s next.”
Kyle Hurt allowed three hits over two scoreless innings as an opener. Ryan Yarbrough (2-0) gave up two runs, two hits and three walks in five innings for the Dodgers, who will try to take the series on Wednesday.
Corbin gave up five runs, nine hits and four walks in 6 1/3 innings, but lowered his ERA from 8.44 to 8.06.
Jesse Winker hit a two-run homer for the Nationals, who have alternated wins and losses over the past four games.
“We just couldn’t score any runs today, couldn’t get nothing really going,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “We swung at a lot of first-pitch breaking balls today, which is uncharacteristic. I think we should have been a little bit more patient.”
CJ Abrams was thrown at the plate for the first out of the game trying to score from first on Winker’s double into the right-field corner. Teoscar Hernández relayed the ball to second baseman Kiké Hernández, and his throw went on the fly to Barnes. The catcher tagged the outstretched arm of Abrams, who made a headfirst slide.
“He was fumbling the helmet all over the place,” Martinez said. “He should have just stopped. He hesitated for a second, and that’s all it took.”
Winker homered in the third, and Kiké Hernández went deep for Los Angeles in the fifth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (Tommy John surgery) is scheduled to start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday, with an expected pitch count of 80-85 balls.
UP NEXT
Nationals: RHP Jake Irvin (0-1, 4.24 ERA) gave up a solo homer in six solid innings against Oakland on Friday and did not factor in the decision.
Dodgers: RHP Landon Knack will make his major league debut on Wednesday. A second-round draft pick in 2020 from East Tennessee State, Knack allowed two runs while striking out seven over four innings in spring training.
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