Mookie Betts Leads Dodgers Attack Against Marlins

MIAMI — Just a couple hours prior to first pitch, Mookie Betts led a group of Dodgers players into the opposing clubhouse at loanDepot Park. Given that the meeting started at 12:00 ET, which was earlier than normal, there were many weary looks in the room.

On the third pitch of the game, Betts jumped on an Edward Cabrera changeup and made sure to give the Dodgers a jolt of energy that could only be rivaled by some Cuban coffee found in South Florida. Betts smashed his 36th career leadoff home run to help the Dodgers defeat the Marlins 8-1 on Sunday at loanDepot Park.

MIAMI — Just a couple hours prior to first pitch, Mookie Betts led a group of Dodgers players into the opposing clubhouse at loanDepot Park. Given that the meeting started at 12:00 ET, which was earlier than normal, there were many weary looks in the room.

On the third pitch of the game, Betts jumped on an Edward Cabrera changeup and made sure to give the Dodgers a jolt of energy that could only be rivaled by some Cuban coffee found in South Florida. Betts smashed his 36th career leadoff home run to help the Dodgers defeat the Marlins 8-1 on Sunday at loanDepot Park.

He currently has 31 home runs this season with his latest power surge, one short of tying his career record. It’s a run similar to the 28-game span he had in May during which he blasted 12 home runs.

“He’s just swinging the bat so well,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “He’s playing his tail off. … Obviously when he’s like this, he stays in the strike zone and it seems like every swing he takes is center-cut.”

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Betts always likes to say he tries to make history every time he takes the field. That’s the type of standard he holds himself up to, even though achieving that is practically impossible. But he’s enjoyed some of that in Miami.

He passed Hank Aaron to become the MLB’s all-time leader in multihomer games on Friday. He scored the sole run for the Dodgers against Marlins pitcher and NL Cy Young front-runner Sandy Alcantara twenty-four hours later. In addition, he tied Shin-Soo Choo on Sunday for the 11th-most leadoff home runs in Major League history, moving up a list. To tie Ichiro Suzuki and move up to position 10, he needs just one more win.

“Yeah, it’s been a good couple days or whatever,” said Betts, who doesn’t usually hype up his accomplishments. “I’m just swinging at decent pitches. I know I’ve swung a little more out of the zone than I’d like to, but the pitches I’m getting to hit, I’m just hitting them.”

Following a quiet night on offense on Saturday, the Dodgers were able to resurrect the offensive with Betts at the helm. Trayce Thompson hit a home run that was projected by Statcast to travel 413 feet and have an exit velocity of 111.9 mph, making it the hardest-hit ball of his career. Justin Turner and Austin Barnes both contributed two RBIs to the team’s total.

For left-hander Julio Uras, who struggled with his command but still managed to carry on his unstoppable streak since the All-Star break, that was enough of run support. Uras claimed that his irregular delivery and the four walks he permitted did not meet with his approval.

“What I really dislike the most is to walk people, and I gave up a lot of walks today,” Urías said in Spanish. “But I just have to go back and look at the tape to see what adjustments I can make.”

Despite his displeasure with his outing, Urías won’t have to make many adjustments moving forward. He only allowed one run on one hit — a home run to Brian Anderson in the fourth — and struck out seven over six innings. The Mexican left-hander is 7-1 since the All-Star break, allowing six runs over 50 innings.

A noon start on the East Coast is challenging for most teams, but this Dodgers club has proven that it isn’t bothered by those factors. It also helps when you have stars like Betts and Urías who can overpower opposing teams, as was the case on Sunday.

“Julio was ready to go, set the tone and everyone followed,” Roberts said. “I thought the fastball command was good, the life to it was good; he wasn’t threatened at all today. Then we just got to the [bullpen] and kept adding on. It’s kind of the formula we’ve had for quite some time.”

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