Dodgers shut out Royals but lose Mookie Betts to fractured hand
LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers won two of three games against the Kansas City Royals this weekend. Other than that, the weekend was filled with losses.
One day after losing right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto to what has been diagnosed as a strained rotator cuff, the Dodgers watched Mookie Betts drop to the ground at home plate, writhing in obvious pain after taking a 98-mph fastball to the left hand.
Betts stayed down for some time after being hit by the pitch in the seventh inning before walking slowly off the field. X-rays revealed a fracture in his left hand. The injury added an unsettling taste to a 3-0 victory over the Royals Sunday afternoon.
“I think that’s the first time I got hit in the hand so I wasn’t sure (how bad it was),” Betts said, his left hand wrapped. “I just went numb and it hurt. Unfortunately, it’s broke.”
Betts will be examined by Dr. Steven Shin, a hand specialist, on Monday while the rest of the team opens a four-game series in Colorado. There is no timetable for his return. But it will likely be weeks if not months.
“It’s a big blow. It is,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I feel really bad for Mookie. He was obviously having an MVP-type season. It’s very unfortunate. You’ve got to move on and that’s what we’re going to do. But for me, it’s more for Mookie personally.
“We’re going to be fine. We have really good players and we have to move on.”
Roberts said he didn’t believe Betts would require surgery but Betts said he had no idea what would be next for him.
“I’m not sure. I’m honestly not sure,” he said. “Obviously, I’ll be watching the boys, cheering them on. But other than that, it’s just rest, maybe use it as a mental break, be ready to go whenever it heals up.”
Roberts said Miguel Rojas will step in and get the majority of the playing time at shortstop with Kike’ Hernandez playing “at times to kind of manage workoad a little bit” for Rojas. There are no plans to promote a shortstop from the minors at this point. Roberts said Miguel Vargas will be recalled to fill a bench spot and start in left field against left-handed pitching.
Roberts also said his “initial thought” is to move Shohei Ohtani into the leadoff spot to replace Betts.
At least that would seem to come at a good time. After slumping through the previous few weeks, Ohtani seems to be warming up again. He hit four home runs on the six-game homestand including two Sunday.
“I’ve been communicating with the hitting coaches about what’s happening on the field versus how I’m feeling. That’s been a constant process,” Ohtani said through his interpreter of the adjustments he had made.
Ohtani established his intent to do damage against Royals starter Brady Singer Sunday with a long fly ball that went foul during his first at-bat. It left his bat at 111 mph and Singer wound up walking him – which he probably looked back on wistfully as the day went on.
Ohtani’s first home run was crushed. He sent a 2-and-1 sinker 451 feet into the seats just left of center field.
According to statistician Sarah Langs, there have been 12 home runs hit at Dodger Stadium since 2015 that Statcast estimated at 450 feet or more, tied with Petco Park for the fewest at any stadium. Ohtani is the only player with two of them. He hit one 454 feet against the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium on May 5.
“That swing that he took for that homer to left-center, that’s as good a swing as I’ve ever seen,” Roberts said. “When he does things the right way, gets his pitch, uses the big part of the field – it’s pretty special.”
In the sixth, Ohtani jumped on a first-pitch slider, down and in, and sent another 111-mph missile, this time a mere 400 feet into the right-field pavilion. Freeman followed with his home run to make it 3-0.
The Dodgers’ balky offense had just two other hits. But Tyler Glasnow pitched like an ace on a day when the Dodgers needed just that.
“I definitely kind of knew I had to be efficient and try to fill up the zone,” said Glasnow aware Dodgers relievers had pitched 22 innings in the previous four games.
“Just try to get ahead, just mix up my pitches a bit more not be so heavily reliant on the fastball, mix in the two-seamer and it worked out today.”
Glasnow retired the side in order in the first inning on nine pitches – eight of them strikes. That set the tone for his outing. He continued to fill up the strike zone and needed 14 pitches or fewer in six of his seven innings. He finished the day having thrown 85 pitches in his seven innings, only 23 called balls.
“He was absolutely fantastic,” Ohtani said. “Really no threats throughout the game.”
Indeed. M.J. Melendez got the Royals’ first hit, a single leading off the third inning. He was erased in a double play.
An inning later, the Royals put two runners on against Glasnow thanks to an infield single and a walk with one out. But Glasnow struck out Salvador Perez and got Adam Frazier to ground out. He stranded another runner after a leadoff single in the seventh.
But that became secondary in the bottom of the seventh inning when Royals reliever Dan Altavilla threw a 2-and-2 fastball inside to Betts. It caught him flush on the back of the left hand.
“You just gotta stay in there. Can’t be scared, you know, kind of stay there, especially with a guy with a pretty good slider,” Betts said. “Just kind of up and in. I was holding my ground. Unfortunately, it hit me in the hand.”
After a hot start to the season, Betts had been slumping. Over his past 16 games, he was just 11 for 61 (.180). But his loss will be hard to absorb for an offense that has been held to two runs or fewer 11 times in their past 30 games.
“Very tough to see as a teammate,” Ohtani said. “He’s obviously a very important part of the team. If he’s out for some time, it’s really up to the rest of the team to pick him up.”