Stone finding groove with 7 strong innings; Kiké also goes deep for LA
LOS ANGELES — After Shohei Ohtani stole the show the past few days for the Dodgers, Mookie Betts took his turn owning the spotlight.
Betts hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Dodgers to a 3-1 win over the Rays on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. Betts’ homer gave the Dodgers the series victory over the Rays and kept their National League West division lead at three games after the D-backs beat the Red Sox earlier in the day.
“Even from game one, it’s important to win all the games,” Betts said. “Those other teams are really getting hot, they’re playing very well, so it was just important for us to keep playing our game.”
Rays left-hander Richard Lovelady entered in the eighth and hit Ohtani on the left wrist to lead off the inning. Ohtani appeared to be in pain, but he stayed in the game (and postgame X-rays were clean).
On the very next pitch, Betts got a hanging 88 mph slider and drove it 387 feet over the left-center-field fence. The blast snapped a 5-for-30 slump for Betts and was his first home run in eight games.
“I was just looking for a strike to swing at,” Betts said. “I’ve been getting a lot of strikes, especially early in the count. Really the whole count. Just being ready to swing at whatever.”
Gavin Stone pitched seven innings with three hits and one run allowed, two walks and seven strikeouts to continue his run of dominant starts for the Dodgers. The rookie right-hander has completed seven innings in back-to-back starts and has allowed just two runs in his last 19 innings.
After dominating in the first half, Stone hit a speed bump and went 0-3 with a 6.91 ERA in six starts from July 3 to Aug. 7. With his recent outings, those struggles appear long past.
“I think that’s a credit to [pitching coach] Mark [Prior] and the guys that we have around the clubhouse,” Stone said. “They do a great job with video and all that stuff and seeing certain things. Trusting in them, in my delivery and fine-tuning things throughout the season — it’s been a big help.”
Making the outing even more special was that it came with Hunter Feduccia behind the plate. A longtime teammate of Stone’s in the Minor Leagues, Feduccia made his first career start at catcher on Sunday and notched his first career hit with a single in the seventh inning.
“It’s awesome,” Stone said. “He’s one of my best friends in this organization, has been for a while. Just to be a part of his special day is pretty cool.”
Kiké Hernández made a run-saving catch in center field in the top of the fifth and broke a scoreless tie with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to back Stone.
Former Dodgers outfielder Jonny DeLuca hit a solo home run in the seventh to tie the score for the Rays before Betts put the Dodgers ahead for good in the eighth.
“I knew it was a double at least [off the bat], which would have gave us a chance to put one across the board,” Betts said. “That’s all I really cared about. Just get us a lead and get into the ninth and finish it out.”
Since returning from the injured list on Aug. 12, Betts is batting .275/.321/.529 with four doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs in 13 games. Despite missing two months with a fractured left hand and not going out on a rehab assignment, he’s made an immediate impact in his return — never more so than Sunday.
“Obviously, a really good swing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think that even in the last week, I think there’s been some hard outs to center field, to right field. … I don’t think Mookie is far off, but I do think that obviously getting rewarded with the homer was good for him. I think he’s in a good spot.”
