Dodgers: Dave Roberts Encouraged by Mookie Betts Finally Breaking Through

The Dodgers got back in the win column with a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals Monday night, but not without a few scares along the way.

If it wasn’t for some late-inning magic, this team could very easily be riding a 4 game losing streak. But thanks to some much-needed contributions from a few different Dodgers, the team is feeling much better going into the second game of the series.

One of those players who finally broke through was Mookie Betts.

Mookie has been struggling to get it going all season long. He entered the game batting a career-low .240 on the year with only 5 home runs, which is a far cry from what this team expects to get out of its All-Star outfielder. Those struggles were put to the side for at least one night, however, as he wound up getting two hits and driving in an important insurance run late in the game.

Following the victory, manager Dave Roberts was asked how it felt to see his star outfielder finally have things go his way. And as expected, he couldn’t have been happier for Betts.

It was great. I thought his work that he’s had with the hitting guys the last couple of days, mainly yesterday, really triggered something. He took five at-bats today and they were all really really good at-bats. And you can see, when he goes, our guys have a way of following.

Related: Dave Roberts not worried about Cody Bellinger’s slow restart

Prior to Monday night’s game, Mookie was in one of the worst slumps of his career. Over his previous 10 games, Betts was hitting a lowly .171 with only 3 runs batted in. Those numbers are nowhere close to what this team expects from him, but it’s hard to put the blame on his effort. 

Betts has been a constant professional through his struggles, and he’s played well in other areas while he waits for his bat to heat up. Hopefully, Monday was a turning point for the season, as the Dodgers could really use the normal consistency at the top of their lineup going forward.

NEXT: David Price Starts Another Bullpen Game for LA on Tuesday