Mookie Betts Moving Onto ‘Normal Business’ In Facing Red Sox

Dodgers star Mookie Betts is done with the sentimental side of Los Angeles’ three-game visit to Fenway Park against the Red Sox.

After a six-year run in Boston, Betts was welcomed back with a well-deserved standing ovation on Friday night, but that’s it. With the return game now behind the 30-year-old, it’s time to focus on Dodgers baseball and treat the rest of the series at Fenway Park, as “just normal business” moving forward.

“Today was just normal business,” Betts told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Ovation was cool, I wasn’t expecting it. That was cool. But I’m just here for business now. I gotta make sure we get some wins now. Today we lost and it didn’t feel too good.”

Right after receiving a second standing ovation on Saturday, Betts certainly didn’t waste any time redirecting focus, crushing a double off the Green Monster wall against Boston’s James Paxton to lead off the contest. Betts finished the night going 3-for-6 at the plate, now hitting .537 with nine extra-base hits amid a red-hot, 14-game hitting streak.

However, in a big spot, the 2023 National League MVP candidate came up short as Boston snagged an 8-5 win to set up a rubber match on Sunday.

In the ninth inning, Betts stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs, but settled for a deep flyout to centerfield, making for a loud final out. A solid swing, just toward the deepest part of Fenway Park’s outfield.

“It wasn’t anything that I haven’t been faced with before. I didn’t come through though,” Betts explained. “So, it is what it is. I put a good swing on a good pitch and it went in his glove. But, in the moment, it’s just a moment.”