Steve Webb
CLEVELAND, OH — The only thing that can stop Mookie Betts right now is a rain delay. And barely that. In a discombobulated, rain-delayed, rescheduled game against the Guardians, Mookie went an incredible 5-for-5 to lead the Dodgers to a 6-1 win in the second game of the series in the land of Cleves.
This game actually started on Wednesday evening, but I guess Terry Francona saw Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw strike out four Guardians in the first two innings and had seen enough. Suddenly and conveniently, the grounds crew decided that the rain was coming in and put a halt to the proceedings a full thirty minutes before the weather moved in. Ugh. Before that happened, the Dodgers had taken a 3-1 lead on a Will Smith sac fly and a two-run double from Kike Hernandez.
“Obviously, [Clayton] was disappointed, because he was working through some things,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday night. “I’m sure [Curry] is disappointed too. But it was out of our control.”
CUT TO: Thursday, August 24. The game picked up where they left off, and the Dodgers kept the Guardians off the scoreboard for the rest of the game, thanks mostly to some fine pitching from the hastily assembled bullpen game of Victor Gonzalez, Gus Varland, Ryan Brasier, Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol, and Bryan Hudson. The sextet combine to give up only three hits the entire game, and kept the Guardians at bay all afternoon.
Meanwhile, the offense tacked on another three runs to push the Dodgers’ advantage to a comfortable 6-1. Beyond the 5-for-5, Mookie Betts drove in a pair of runs as well, as his late summer tear shows no sign of lagging. Over his last 30 games, Betts is hitting a scalding .385 with an OPS north of 1.000. Look out behind you, Ronald. Something might be gaining on you.
With the series knotted at a game apiece, the Dodgers had a quick turnaround to get ready for the rubber match, which was slated to start a mere thirty minutes after the end of this one. It was Caleb Ferguson on the bump to get things started as the Dodgers looked to get the road trip off right with a series win.
